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0Is listening to a book better than reading it?
Picture yourself sitting at home in a quiet reading nook, ignoring the world around you, engrossed in a tale. You read the blurb, instantly became intrigued and now you're in the middle of an absolute page-turner. But, there's a hot debate – physical books vs. e-books vs. audiobooks. Does the device you're using to read affect your reaction to the book?
想象一下，你坐在家中安静的阅读角落，无视周围的世界，全神贯注地阅读着一个故事。你看了简介，立刻就被吸引住了，现在你正沉浸在一个绝对令人目不暇接的故事中。但是，现在有一个热门话题——实体书与电子书、有声书之争。你使用的阅读设备会影响你对书的反应吗？
Generally, reading uses several areas of the brain. There's attention span, reasoning, reading fluency, memory and language comprehension. Reading is known to strengthen communicative ability, vocabulary and increase emotional intelligence and social perception. So, whichever way you're reading, there are definitely benefits.
一般来说，阅读会用到大脑的多个区域。包括注意力、推理能力、阅读流畅性、记忆力和语言理解能力。众所周知，阅读可以增强交流能力、词汇量，提高情商和社会感知力。因此，无论你以哪种方式阅读，肯定都有好处。
But, let's look at the pros to reading with your eyes – that's physical books and e-books. They can help to retain information better. This is because when you can actually see the words, your attention is held more closely. Add to this the fact that with physical books you can go back and find any part you missed, especially if your mind wanders, which it likely will at some point or other.
但是，让我们看看用眼睛阅读的好处——那就是实体书和电子书。它们可以帮助更好地保留信息。这是因为当你真正看到单词时，你的注意力会被更牢牢地抓住。此外，对于实体书来说，你还可以回过头来查找遗漏的部分，尤其是当你的思绪游离的时候，而这很可能会在某些时候发生。
On the other hand, there's the audiobook. Headphones in, you're switched off from life and the story really comes alive, almost like watching a film – in your head. From a scientific perspective, listening to an audiobook is likely to help you develop a greater sense of empathy as you hear the emotion of the narrator. We can more easily understand inflection and intonation. Hearing the story engages different parts of the brain, heightening the intensity and imagery, making you enjoy it more. Yet, going back to attention span, with an audiobook it's true that it's much harder to go back and listen again.
另一方面，还有有声读物。戴上耳机，你就会从生活中解脱出来，故事也就真正鲜活起来，就像在脑海中看电影一样。从科学的角度来看，听有声读物很可能会让你产生更多的共鸣，因为你能听到讲述者的情感。我们可以更容易地理解语气和语调。听故事可以调动大脑的不同部分，增强故事的强度和想象力，让你更喜欢听故事。然而，回到注意力集中的问题上，有声读物确实更难让人回过头来再听一遍。
All in all, it seems that there are advantages to both physical books and audiobooks. Perhaps, next time you find yourself browsing bookshop shelves, also consider the format. It may just change your whole literary experience.
总而言之，实体书和有声读物似乎都有优势。也许，下次你发现自己浏览书店的书架时，也要考虑一下阅读格式。它可能只是改变了你的整个文学体验。
词汇表
reading nook 读书角
engrossed 全神贯注的，专心致志的
tale 故事
blurb 简介
page-turner 令人爱不释手的书
e-book 电子书籍
audiobook 有声读物
attention span 注意力的持续时间，注意广度
fluency 流畅度
emotional intelligence 情商
social perception 社会知觉
retain 记住
attention is held 注意力集中
wander 走神，开小差
come alive 变得有趣，显得逼真
narrator 讲述者
inflection 音调变化
intonation 语调
imagery 意象，比喻
browse 随意看，浏览
bookshop shelves 书店的书架
literary 文学的
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