胡楊

Imagine1 youre just about to relax on the couch2 on a Saturday afternoon. You have a bag full of potato chips...or a hot dog...or a chocolate...to eat while you watch TV. But on your way to sit down， you drop something on the floor. The food from the plate falls to the floor.

想象一下，周六下午你正準(zhǔn)備躺在沙發(fā)上休息。你有一整袋薯片，或者一根熱狗，或者一塊巧克力，可以一邊看電視一邊吃。但是在你坐下的時候，你把東西掉在了地上，盤子里的食物掉到了地上。

What are you going to do？ Youre so hungry. If you pick it up quickly—for example， in five seconds—shouldnt it still be okay to eat？ The food wont go bad in a short time， right？ Or could it have？

你打算做什么？你太餓了，如果你很快就把它撿起來——比如在五秒鐘內(nèi)——它還可以吃嗎？食物不會在短時間內(nèi)變壞，對嗎？或者有這個可能？

Today we will take a closer look at the idea we all know as the five-second rule. It is that food falling to the ground is still safe as long as it is eaten within five seconds of falling to the ground. But is it true？ Is it really safe for you to eat the food？

今天，我們將深入探討大家都知道的五秒鐘定律，即食物掉到地上后，只要能在五秒鐘內(nèi)撿起并食用，就仍然是安全的。但這是真的嗎？吃這些食物真的安全嗎？

Some of you may ask why we should talk about this question. Many people just cant buy the idea of eating food picked up from ground. You can always get another potato chip， right？ But others will think potato chips will soon be eaten， its okay. They often are with an idea of “Five-second rule”！

有些人可能會問，我們?yōu)槭裁匆懻撨@個問題。許多人就是不能接受吃從地上撿起來的食物。你總是能拿到另一塊薯片，對嗎？但其他人會認(rèn)為薯片很快就會被吃掉，這沒什么。他們經(jīng)常會有“五秒鐘定律”的想法！

As this “rule” is so common3， we think it is worth4 to talk about. We want to know whether it has any real value5， or it just may be bad for us. Scientists6 are good at studying whether we need to follow the rules.

由于這個“定律”如此普遍，我們認(rèn)為值得討論。我們想知道它有沒有真正的價值，或者有可能對我們有害。科學(xué)家善于研究我們是否需要遵守這類規(guī)律。

According to the study， it seems that the five-second rule is just a myth7. Foods dropped onto the floor can quickly become contaminated8 with germs9 in a few seconds. The longer food stays on the floor， the more germs it has. Where food falls is important. Clean， dry floors are less likely to have germs than moist10 places. A high-traffic area， such as a hallway11， will likely have more germs and dirt than other areas.

根據(jù)這項研究，“五秒鐘定律”似乎只是一個神話。掉在地上的食物在幾秒鐘內(nèi)就會很快被細(xì)菌污染。食物在地板上停留的時間越長，就會沾上越多的細(xì)菌。食物掉落的地方很重要，干凈、干燥的地板不像潮濕的地方那樣容易滋生細(xì)菌。一個“交通繁忙”的區(qū)域，比如走廊，可能比其他區(qū)域有更多的細(xì)菌和灰塵。

Are a few germs a big deal， though？ Of course. All in all， viruses12 can cause13 a lot of diseases14. So， if your food hits the floor， you can just pick it up and put it in the trash15. Your health is important. Get some more food. No potato chip is worth the risk16 of disease！

不過，幾個細(xì)菌有什么大不了的嗎？當(dāng)然啦?？偠灾《究梢詫?dǎo)致各種疾病。所以，如果你的食物掉到地上，你可以把它撿起來，然后扔進(jìn)垃圾桶，你的健康更重要。再拿點(diǎn)吃的，沒有什么薯片值得你冒生病的風(fēng)險！

（英語原文選自：wonderopolis.org）