If winning is everything, British anthropologists have some advice: Wear red. Their survey of four sports at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens shows competitors were more likely to win their contests if they wore red uniforms or red body armor.

　　如果獲勝對您來說很重要，那么英國人類學家建議您: 請穿紅色的衣服參加比賽。他們對2004年雅典奧運會上的四個運動項目進行了調查研究，結果表明穿紅色運動服或防護外套的運動員在比賽中獲勝的可能性更大。

　　"Across a range of sports, we find that wearing red is consistently associated with a higher probability of winning," report Russell A. Hill and Robert A. Barton of the University of Durham in England. Their findings are in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

　　“通過對不同體育項目的研究，我們發現穿紅色衣服通常意味著更高的獲勝可能性。”英格蘭杜倫大學的拉塞爾·A·希爾和羅伯特·A·巴頓說。他們的研究結果發表在本周四出版的《自然》雜志上。

　　Red coloration is associated with aggression in many animals. Often it is sexually selected so that scarlet markings signal male dominance.

　　對很多動物來說，紅色象征著進攻。就兩性而言，動物身上的紅色斑紋象征著雄性的統治權。

　　Just think of the red stripes on the scowling face of the male Mandrill, Africa's largest monkey species. But red is not exclusively a male trait. It's the female black widow spider that is venomous and displays a menacing red dot on her abdomen.

　　只要想想雄性大狒狒愁眉不展的面孔上的紅色條紋就很容易理解吧，它們可是非洲最大的猿類動物。但紅色并不僅僅是雄性的特征，在雌性毒蜘蛛“黑寡婦”的腹部同樣可以看到有威懾作用的紅點。

　　Similarly, the color's effect also may subconsciously intimidate opponents in athletic contests, especially when the athletes are equal in skill and strength, the researchers suggest.

　　研究者們認為，同樣，在體育比賽中，紅色也能夠在潛意識上對競爭對手產生威懾作用，尤其當競爭雙方的技巧和力量都不相上下時。

　　In their survey, the anthropologists analyzed the results of four combat sports at the summer games: boxing, tae kwon do, Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling.

　　人類學家們還分析了雅典夏季奧運會中四項對抗性運動的比賽結果，它們分別是拳擊、跆拳道、古典式摔跤和自由式摔跤。

　　In those events, the athletes were randomly assigned red protective gear and other sportwear. Athletes wearing red gear won more often in 16 of 21 rounds of competition in all four events.

　　在這些賽事中，紅色的護具和運動裝束被隨機分配給運動員們。在這四項賽事中，穿紅色防護外套的運動員在21輪比賽中共獲得16次勝利。

　　The effect was the same regardless of weight classes, too: 19 of 29 classes had more red winners, and only four rounds had more blue winners.

　　即使在不同重量級的比賽中，紅色產生的效果也是相同的。在29個級別的比賽中，有19個級別的獲勝者以穿紅色居多，只有四輪比賽里穿藍色的獲勝者較多。

　　The red effect also might come into play in team sports.

　　紅色還可能會在集體運動項目中發揮效力。

　　The anthropologists made a preliminary analysis of the Euro 2004 international soccer tournament, in which teams wore jerseys of different colors in different matches. They found that five teams scored more goals and won more often when they wore shirts that were predominantly red, as opposed to blue or white jerseys.

　　人類學家們還對2004年歐洲國際足球錦標賽做了初步分析，就各支球隊在不同的比賽中所穿的不同顏色的隊服進行比較。他們發現有五支球隊在穿紅色基調的球衣與穿藍色或白色球衣的對手抗衡時，他們的進球和獲勝次數都增加了。

　　Scientists don't precisely known how wearing red might give athletes an advantage. But the color delivers implicit messages of vigor and danger. When people get angry, their faces turn red. It's also a reason why stop signs are red. So are most Ferraris.

　　科學家們并不很確定穿紅色衣服是如何使運動員獲得優勢的，但這種顏色暗含著活力和危險的信號。當人們憤怒時，他們的臉會漲得通紅。這也是為什么停車標志被做成紅色的一個原因，還有那么多紅色的法拉利跑車。