Have you ever looked into the eyes of a person in a portrait hanging on the wall and had the eerie feeling that they were staring right back at you? Even when you walk around the room, their watchful gaze __1__ your every move. This phenomenon has actually been confirmed as a __2__ illusion with a scientific explanation. Long ago, it was given the term the “Mona Lisa effect” after the masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci.
It occurs when the person portrayed in the picture has their gaze set at a zero-degree angle—looking directly ahead, that is. This would be the same as when a person looks straight into the camera lens when they have their __3__ taken. Even if there’s a slightly sideward glance to the left or right of 5° or less, you’ll still have the __4__ feeling that the person in the picture is looking you right in the eye.
Due to the name of the phenomenon, it would be natural to __5__ that it applies to the actual Mona Lisa itself. Ironically, however, this isn’t the case. In a 2019 study, researchers at Bielefeld University in Germany had 24 subjects look at __6__ of the Mona Lisa on a computer screen. They did so from different distances and angles and made over 2,000 __7__ in total. Interestingly, all of them indicated that she was not gazing directly at them. Instead, they found that her gaze was directed to their right-hand side.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock 照片：Shutterstock 提供
This actually __8__ perfect sense. The Mona Lisa’s angle of gaze does not fall within the 0° to 5° limit required to experience the phenomenon. Rather, her gaze is set at over 15°, which is well outside the __9__ necessary to experience the effect bearing her name.
So why is this phenomenon named after her even though the painting doesn’t even __10__ the illusion? Perhaps it is because the people who first coined the term simply thought it was a cool name.
你有沒有曾經看著牆上所掛之肖像中的人的眼睛，然後有一種他們也正盯著你看的怪異感覺？即使當你在房間裡走來走去，他們的目光也會跟隨你的一舉一動。這種現象其實被證實為一種有科學解釋的合理錯覺。很久以前，這種現象被稱為「蒙娜麗莎效應」，是以李奧納多達文西的傑作來命名的。
當圖片中人物的視線被置於零度角──也就是直視前方時，就會發生這種情況。這就像一個人在拍照時直視相機鏡頭一樣。即使稍微向左或向右看五度或更小的角度，你仍然會有照片中的人正直視你的怪異感覺。
由於此現象的名稱，可以自然地推斷它適用於實際的《蒙娜麗莎》本身。然而諷刺的是，事實並非如此。在2019年的一項研究中，德國比勒費爾德大學的研究人員讓二十四名受試者觀看在電腦螢幕上的《蒙娜麗莎》圖像。他們從不同的距離和角度觀看，總共進行了兩千多次的評估。有趣的是，他們全都表示她並沒有直視著他們。相反地，他們發現她的目光是投向他們的右手邊。
這實際上完全合理。《蒙娜麗莎》的凝視角不在體驗這種現象所需的零度到五度範圍內。相反地，她的凝視是設在十五度以上，這遠遠超出了體驗以其名字命名的效應所需的界限。
那麼，如果這幅畫甚至不能顯示出這種錯覺，那這種現象為什麼還要以她的名字命名呢？也許是因為最先創造這個詞的人，很單純地認為那是個很酷的名字罷了。
What Did You Learn?
(A) exhibit (B) makes (C) infer
(D) images (E) follows (F) bizarre
(G) assessments (H) photograph
(I) legitimate (J) margin
參考答案
1. (E) 2. (I) 3. (H) 4. (F) 5. (C)
6. (D) 7. (G) 8. (B) 9. (J) 10. (A)
Word in Use
1. portrait n. 肖像，畫像
The artist has been commissioned to paint a portrait of the mayor.
該畫家被委託畫一張市長的肖像。
2. gaze n. & vi. 注視，凝視（常與介詞at並用）
My mother shifted her gaze from me to my brother, trying to find out who was lying.
我媽把目光從我移到我弟身上，試著要找出誰在說謊。
3. confirm vt. 確認
I confirmed the information and then went about writing my paper.
我確定那項資料後就著手寫我的報告。
4. illusion n. 錯覺，幻覺
The room’s large mirrors created the illusion of space.
房間裡的那面大鏡子營造出空間感的錯覺。
5. masterpiece n. 傑作
The film was rated as a masterpiece by critics.
這部電影被評論家評為一大傑作。
Practical Phrases
1. in the shape of... 以…的形狀
Grace was wearing a pin in the shape of a heart.
葛瑞絲佩戴著一枚心型的別針。
1. look sb right/straight in the eye 直視某人眼睛
Tim looked Mandy right in the eye and told her he loved her.
提姆直視曼蒂的眼睛說他愛她。
2. apply to... 適用於…
The new regulations apply to everyone in the office.
這些新規定適用於辦公室裡的每個人。
3. be (not) the case 情況（不）是如此
Life for the Johnsons is easier now, but that wasn’t the case a few years ago.
強森家的日子現在好過多了，但幾年前並非如此。
If what Peter said is the case, you will have to be more careful.
如果情況真如彼得所說，那你就得更加小心了。
聽文章朗讀及講解: https://ivy.pse.is/455bfu
本文出自常春藤解析英語雜誌: www.ivy.com.tw
Undersea cables are conductors wrapped in insulating materials and laid on the seabed. Their main functions are telecommunications or power transmission. The core of the undersea cables used for Internet signals is optical fiber, using light to transmit Internet signals. Taiwan’s communications are currently handled by 10 domestic undersea cables and 14 international undersea cables. About 99 percent of Taiwan’s Internet bandwidth relies on undersea cables, making them Taiwan’s “digital lifeline.” The demands on the cables’ bandwidth are only set to increase with the development of artificial intelligence (AI), which relies on the data fed into it. Today, data is
Street lights are often taken for granted until a power outage plunges the world into darkness. When that happens, the value of these lighting installations becomes evident as the world turns into a more dangerous place for pedestrians and motorists alike. The Chinese could claim to be the first to have constructed a crude type of street light. Around 500 BC, residents of Beijing employed a type of street lamp that used hollow bamboo pipes and natural gas vents to create burning torches. Later, ancient Romans adopted lamps fueled by vegetable oil, which relied on slaves to light and
Recent events in Taiwan have highlighted the contentious nature of “priority seating” on public transportation. Incidents, such as passengers experiencing emotional distress after being compelled to give up their seats and elderly individuals attacking others after being refused a seat, have prompted a national reassessment of this policy. Some voices in Taiwan now advocate for abolishing priority seats to prevent such conflicts. This issue is not unique to Taiwan. In South Korea, where respect for the elderly is deeply ingrained, priority seating has led to similar confrontations. Younger passengers often face accusations of disrespect if they do not yield seats. In
Spoiler alert and shift blame 破梗&甩鍋 在新冠疫情期間，無論是因為封城 (lockdown) 還是居家隔離 (self-isolation at home)，人們關在家中使用網路的時間大增。這也讓一些原本只存在於網路論壇的用語廣為普及。我們來談一下破梗 (spoiler alert) 與甩鍋 (shift blame) 這兩個用語。 有位古典文學教授 Joel Christensen 針對領導統御與疫情控制寫了一篇以古喻今、相當深入的文章：“Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales”，文中出現一些講法，可用來翻譯上述的流行語： In the 5th century B.C., the playwright Sophocles begins Oedipus Tyrannos with the title character struggling to identify the cause of a plague striking his city, Thebes. (Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.) (Joel Christensen, “Plagues follow bad leadership in ancient Greek tales,” The Conversation, March 12, 2020) 作者提到 Oedipus（伊底帕斯）想找出瘟疫何以降臨他的城邦的緣由，加了一句：Spoiler alert: It’s his own bad leadership.（破梗：領導無方）。Spoiler alert 就是「破梗」，如果用在有人洩漏電影劇情的情境中，也可以翻作「小心爆雷」或「劇透警告」。疫情之下，在家看影集、電影成了很多人的娛樂，但要小心劇透 (spoilers)，很多 YouTube 上的影評在開頭也都會說 Spoiler alert!，警告還沒看過電影的觀眾小心爆雷、劇透。 至於「甩鍋」，源自大陸網民用語，通常意指某人犯了錯之後想推卸責任、轉移焦點、甚至讓別人背黑鍋的做法。疫情爆發後，相關網路資訊量爆增，許多中國網民也想找人為這場疫情負責，紛紛呼籲地方政府首長、地方黨書記不要「甩鍋」。 其實，在古代文學《奧德賽》中，就有「將自己的責任怪罪眾神」的說法，試用時下流行的「甩鍋」來重新翻譯： Humans are always blaming the gods for their suffering, but they experience
RSS