题型：阅读选择 题类：常考题 难易度：普通
北京航空航天大学实验学校2019-2020学年八年级下学期英语期末试卷
We touch our faces all the time, and it had never seemed to be a big problem–until COVID-19 arrived. Touching our faces–the "T-zone" of our eyes, nose and mouth in particular–can mean giving ourselves the deadly virus.
This is why organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have suggested that we avoid touching our faces. "Just stop this simple behavior," William Sawyer, founder of Henry the Hand, a nonprofit organization that promotes hand hygiene (卫生), told The Washington Post. "It's the one behavior that would be better than any vaccine ever created."
Yet, stopping this "simple" behavior might be harder than you think because it's already into our system.
Some face touching is an automatic reflex (反射) – like when there is an itch on your nose, you'll scratch (挠) it without thinking. According to CNBC, a 2014 study found that touching your face also helps to reduce stress and regulate emotions. For example, you're more likely to do it when you feel awkward or embarrassed. According to Dacher Keltner, a psychologist at the University of California Berkeley, US, this action may also come with a social function: When you are talking to someone and want to change the subject, for example, touching your face is like "the curtains on a stage, closing up one act of the social drama, leading to the next," Keltner told the BBC.
Moreover, face-touching in almost all of these is subconscious, which means it's very hard to change "because you don't even know you're doing it", said Sawyer. But you're not alone. In a 2015 study, where a group of medical students were filmed in class, it was found that they touched their faces an average of 23 times an hour–with 44 percent of the touches being in the"T-zones". That was particularly surprising since medical students were supposed to know better.
Since it's so hard to shake the habit, maybe the easiest way is to wash our hands more often. This way, we can be sure that our hands are free from the novel coronavirus.
Tips for keeping your hands away
Tie up your hair so your face won't be tickled (使发痒) by stray strands (松散的发缕).
Keep your hands occupied, eg. with a stress ball.
Ask a friend to keep an eye on your hands.
试题篮
