Crying is hardly an activity encouraged by society.
社会不会鼓励哭泣行为。
Tears, be they of sorrow, anger, on joy, typically make Americans feel uncomfortable and embarrassed.
然而眼泪，不管是由于伤心，气愤还是喜悦，都会让美国人感到不安和尴尬。
The shedder of tears is likely to apologize, even when a devastating tragedy was the provocation.
流泪的人常常会道歉。即使是因为遭到了毁灭性的悲剧的刺激才哭的。
The observer of tears is likely to do everything possible to put an end to the emotional outpouring.
而看到别人哭泣的人则很可能会千方百计想办法来制止这种情感宣泄行动。
But judging from recent studies of crying behavior, links between illness and crying and the chemical composition of tears,
但是，从最近的关于哭泣行为的研究来看，疾病和哭泣及眼泪的化学成分之间存在着某种联系，
both those responses to tears are often inappropriate and may even be counterproductive.
前面所提到的两种对眼泪的反应都是不合适的，甚至会产生反面效果。
Humans are the only animals definitely known to shed emotional tears.
人类是唯一知道通过落泪来宣泄情感的动物。
Since evolution has given rise to few, if any, purposeless physiological responses,
进化论，即使有的话，也很少会产生无意义的生理反应，
it is logical to assume that crying has one or more functions that enhance survival.
那么按照逻辑，我们可以设想哭泣对于提高生存能力具有一项或更多的功能。
Although some observers have suggested that crying is a way to elicit assistance form others (as a crying baby might from its mother),
尽管一些观察家认为哭泣是向他人寻求帮助的一种方式（如哭泣的婴儿是在向它的母亲寻求帮助），
the shedding of tears is hardly necessary to get help.
但是哭泣并不都是为了求助。
Vocal cries would have been quite enough, more likely than tears to gain attention.
大声呼喊就够了，这比眼泪更能引起他人注意。
So, it appears, there must be something special about tears themselves.
由此看来，眼泪本身还一定具有某种特殊的意义。
Indeed, the new studies suggest that emotional tears may play a direct role in alleviating stress.
确实，最新的研究表明，情感性泪水可以直接减轻人的压力。
University of Minnesota researchers who are studying the chemical composition of tears have recently isolated two important chemicals from emotional tears.
美国明尼苏达大学研究眼泪化学成分的研究人员最近已将情感性眼泪中的两种重要化学物质分离出来。
Both chemicals are found only in tears that are shed in response to emotion.
这两种化学物质仅仅存在于由于情感反应而流出的眼泪中。
Tears shed because of exposure to cut onion would contain no such substance.
因切洋葱而流出的眼泪中不含有这两种物质。
Researchers at several other institutions are investigating the usefulness of tears as a means of diagnosing human ills and monitoring drugs.
其他几个研究所的研究人员正在研究如何把眼泪作为诊断病情和监控药物的工具。
At Tulane University's tear Analysis Laboratory Dr.Peter Kastl and his colleagues report that
在图拉大学的眼泪分析实验室，比特·喀斯特博士和他的同事报告说，
they can use tears to detect drug abuse and exposure to medication,
他们可以用眼泪去检测滥用毒品问题及药物的性能，
to determine whether a contact lens fits properly of why it may be uncomfortable,
确认隐形眼镜戴起来是否合适或者是为什么戴着不舒适。
to study the causes of "dry eye" syndrome and the effects of eye surgery,
还能用来探究"干眼"综合症的产生原因和眼部手术的效果。
and perhaps even to measure exposure to environmental pollutants.
甚至还能用来测量环境污染特的情况。
At Columbia University, Dr.Liasy Faris and colleagues are studying tears for clues to the diagnosis of diseases away from the eyes.
哥伦比亚大学拉瑞斯博士和他的同事们正在研究把眼睛作为线索来诊断除眼部疾病以外的其他病症。
Tears can be obtained painlessly without invading the body and only tiny amounts are needed to perform highly refined analyses.
不用伤害到身体，眼泪便可轻松获得，仅取少量便可做高度精确的分析。
