外刊精读 | 考研英语素材:掰手指到底会不会掰出关节炎
- 2026-11-03 23:17:36
一、背景速览
掰手指会不会掰出关节炎，是诊室和餐桌上都被问过无数遍的问题。弹响本身来自关节腔：滑液因压力下降析出气泡，气泡破裂就是那一声，最响能到 83 分贝。多组研究都没找到掰手指与骨关节炎的关联，一位美国医生还拿自己的左手做了 50 年对照实验，X 光片显示两只手没有差别。真该收敛的是脖子，那里有脊髓和通向大脑的动脉，自己掰或找人掰都不被建议。
二、英文节选
Growing up, Donald Unger was warned – by his mother, several aunts, and later his mother-in-law – that constant knuckle cracking would cause arthritis. Determined to prove them wrong, he cracked his left knuckles at least twice a day for 50 years – around 36,500 cracks in total – while leaving his right untouched.
In 1998, aged 72, he took X-rays of both hands to find out the result of his lifelong endeavour. "There was no arthritis in either hand, and no apparent differences in the two hands," he concluded.
What happens when we crack our joints is actually relatively simple. A joint is where two bones meet, and the ones found in our knuckles, neck, and back are surrounded by synovial fluid – an egg white-like substance that acts as a lubricant. When you twist, pull, and bend your joints to crack them, the space within the joint temporarily expands. This causes the pressure of the synovial fluid to fall, and as a result, gases that were once dissolved in the fluid begin to emerge as bubbles.
三、中文译文
从小到大，唐纳德·昂格尔一直被警告：他母亲、几位姑姨，后来还有岳母，都说成天掰手指会掰出关节炎。他偏要证明她们错了，于是每天至少掰两次左手的手指关节，一掰就是 50 年，合计约 36500 次，右手则一直不碰。
1998 年，72 岁的他给两只手都拍了 X 光片，想看看这场持续半生的努力结果如何。「两只手都没有关节炎，也看不出有什么差别，」他这样总结。
我们掰关节时到底发生了什么，其实相当简单。关节是两块骨头相接的地方，手指、脖颈和背部的关节外面包着一层滑液，那是一种像蛋清一样的物质，起润滑作用。当你扭转、拉扯、弯折关节把它掰响时，关节内的空间会短暂扩大，滑液的压力随之下降，原本溶解在其中的气体于是开始析出，变成气泡。
四、高频词短语
【debunk】 /diːˈbʌŋk/ v. 揭穿，驳倒（某种说法或迷思）
例句：A 1975 study helped debunk the idea that knuckle cracking causes arthritis.
译：1975 年的一项研究，帮助驳倒了掰手指会招来关节炎的说法。
【osteoarthritis】 /ˌɒstiəʊɑːˈθraɪtɪs/ n. 骨关节炎
例句：Osteoarthritis is tied to ageing and joint injury rather than to everyday habits.
译：骨关节炎更多与年龄增长和关节受伤有关，而不是日常的小动作。
【old wives' tale】 /teɪl/ n. 无稽之谈，老掉牙的说法
例句：That cracking your knuckles ruins your hands is an old wives' tale.
译：掰手指会毁掉双手，这纯属无稽之谈。
【get a kick out of】 /kɪk/ v. 从……中得到乐趣
例句：Some people get a kick out of the sound a joint makes when it pops.
译：有些人就爱听关节掰响的那一声。
【impetus】 /ˈɪmpɪtəs/ n. 动力，推动因素
例句：If the habit does no harm, there is little impetus to give it up.
译：如果这个习惯并无害处，也就没什么动力去戒掉它。
五、长难句速拆
原句：A joint is where two bones meet, and the ones found in our knuckles, neck, and back are surrounded by synovial fluid – an egg white-like substance that acts as a lubricant.
前半句先给关节下定义，is 后面跟的是 where 引导的表语从句，说明关节就是两块骨头相接的那个位置。中间用 and 一拐，话题从「关节是什么」转到「有些关节外面包着什么」，the ones 指代的就是前者里的 joints，found in our knuckles, neck, and back 是分词短语作后置定语，把范围缩到手指、脖颈和背部这三处。破折号后面那截是 synovial fluid 的同位语，先打一个比方（像蛋清），再用 that 从句补出它的功能是润滑。整句的难点在用词轻、信息密：全句没有一个生僻词，却塞了三处后置修饰，读的时候要习惯把修饰语先摘掉、只看主干。
六、考场应用
考研阅读·例证题：开头讲完昂格尔的 50 年实验，作者马上补一句 This of course, was a sample size of just one. 这是主动给自己的例子降级。考研科普文常在这里设题，问举这个例子是为了什么，答案往往不是「证明掰手指无害」，而是「引出流传很广的那个担忧」。看到作者补一句限定，就要警觉这处可能是考点。
考研翻译与写作：The sound of a joint cracking… can be surprisingly loud, up to 83 decibels. That's roughly the volume of a diesel truck rumbling past at 40 miles an hour. 把抽象数字换算成生活里听得见的东西，是科普写作的常规动作。图表作文里写数据也能这么处理，句式直接借 That's roughly the… ，比干巴巴地堆数字好读。
雅思阅读·科普文结构：这类文章不让读者一路松下去。前面反复说「无害」，到 Watch the neck 一节立刻转向颈椎的风险，最后再落回「总体没事」。这种「安全—危险—回到安全」的转折是长文维持张力的常见做法，读的时候把每个小标题当路标，主旨题就不容易只抓住半句。
试译：A 1990 study of 74 knuckle-crackers who'd been honing the art for between 18 and 60 years discovered they had weaker hand grips and more hand swelling compared with non-crackers.
这句你打算怎么翻？提示：hone 本义是把刀磨快，这里用在掰手指上带了点调侃，先想清楚它对谁下的判断。
七、来源
来源：BBC Future ｜ 2026 年 8 月 7 日
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