Level 4 Reading 7A

Reading 7A

阅读7A

A CROWD IN HARMONY It is before dawn on the second major bathing day of the festival, and fog shrouds the river. In a single day, tens of millions of people will bathe in the Ganges River here in Allahabad, India. In the moonlight, the crowds begin to swell on the riverbank. There are thousands here already, but the crowd is calm and united. There is no pushing or panic, only a sense of purpose as pilgrims enter the icy water to bathe and come out again. People cooperate and help one another. Afterward, they are joyful. As the day progresses, the number of people stepping into the river increases. Some splash in the water, some drop flowers into it, and others light oil lamps and set them floating on the river. There are men who splash into the water theatrically with swords in hand. There are unwilling children whose parents drag them in fully clothed. There are holy men dressed in bright orange robes with skin covered in sacred white ash. There are other devout men wearing the ash but little or no clothing, as their religion requires. There are people everywhere, but somehow, incredibly, no one is stepped on, no one is drowned, and no one is heard screaming for help. All is harmony. It is the Kumbh Mela, the largest and most sacred gathering of all Hindu pilgrimages. It is also considered to be the largest peaceful gathering of people anywhere in the world. Each year, as part of the Kumbh, several million Hlindus bathe here in the sacred Ganges River. Every 12 years, the gathering becomes much larger, and a giant tent city is set up to house the participants. In 2013, the Kumbh lasted 55 days, and it is estimated that 120 million pilgrims participated in activities such as ritual bathing, praying, singing, feeding the poor, and religious discussion. The Kumbh tent city covered more than 25 square kilometers. It was divided into 14 areas, each with its own hospital, police station, roads, grocery store, and supplies of electricity and drinking water—an extraordinary achievement. The basic crowd-control strategy was to avoid dangerous overcrowding at "hot spots," such as bridges and train stations. "Incredibly well organized, incredibly clean, very efficiently run," said Rahul Mehrotra, a professor of urban design and planning at Harvard University, who observed the festival. The Scientific Approach Psychologists like Stephen Reicher from the University of St.Andrews in the U.K. suspect that crowds have a positive impact on the health of the individuals within them. "What our research shows is that, actually, crowds are critical to society," he says. "They help form our sense of who we are, they help form our relations to others— they even help determine our physical well-being."

和谐的人群 这是节日的第二个主要沐浴日黎明前，雾气笼罩着河流。 在一天之内，数千万人将在印度阿拉哈巴德的恒河中沐浴。 在月光下，河岸上的人群开始膨胀。 这里已经有数千人了，但人群平静而团结。 没有推搡或恐慌，只有朝圣者进入冰冷的水中沐浴并再次出来时的目的感。 人们相互合作，互相帮助。 之后，他们很快乐。 随着时间的推移，走进河里的人数越来越多。 有人在水中嬉戏，有人将花投入水中， 其他人点燃油灯，让它们漂浮在河上。 有些人手里拿着剑戏剧性地跳进水里。 有些不情愿的孩子，他们的父母拖着他们穿上衣服。 有圣人穿着明亮的橙色长袍，皮肤上覆盖着神圣的白色灰烬。 还有其他虔诚的人穿着灰烬，但很少或根本没有衣服，这是他们的宗教要求。 到处都是人，但不知怎么的，令人难以置信的是， 没有人被踩到，没有人淹死，也没有人大声呼救。 一切都是和谐。 这是Kumbh Mela，是所有印度教朝圣中规模最大、最神圣的聚会。 它也被认为是世界上最大的和平集会。 每年，作为Kumbh的一部分，数百万Hlindus在神圣的恒河中沐浴。 每12年，聚会变得更大， 并搭建了一个巨大的帐篷城来容纳参与者。 2013年，大壶持续了55天，估计有1.2亿朝圣者参加了活动 如仪式沐浴、祈祷、唱歌、喂穷人和宗教讨论。 大壶帐篷城占地25多平方公里。 它分为14个区域，每个区域都有自己的医院、警察局、道路、杂货店， 以及电力和饮用水的供应——这是一项非凡的成就。 基本的人群控制策略是避免在桥梁和火车站等“热点”出现危险的过度拥挤。 Rahul Mehrotra说：“组织得非常好，非常干净，运行效率非常高。”， 哈佛大学城市设计与规划教授，他观察了这个节日。 科学方法 英国圣安德鲁斯大学的StephenReicher等心理学家。 怀疑人群对其中个体的健康有积极影响。 他说：“我们的研究表明，实际上，人群对社会至关重要。”。 “它们帮助我们形成自我意识，帮助我们建立与他人的关系-- 它们甚至有助于决定我们的身体健康。"

Reicher and his colleagues came to this, the largest Hindu festival, to test the idea that crowds are beneficial and to confirm the healthful effects of the Kumbh on its participants. Before the start of the 2011 festival, his researchers went out into the Indian countryside to question a group of prospective pilgrims about their mental and physical health. They also questioned people who didn't plan to attend. The researchers returned to question both groups a month after the Kumbh had ended. Those who stayed in their villages reported no real change over the period of the study. The pilgrims, on the other hand, reported a 10 percent improvement in their health, including less pain, less anxiety, and higher energy levels. What's more, the good effects lasted long afterward. Why should belonging to a crowd improve your health? Psychologists think a shared identity is the cause. "You think in terms of 'we' rather than 'I'" explains Nick Hopkins from the University of Dundee in the U.K. This way of thinking alters human relationships. Members of the crowd support one another, competition becomes cooperation, and people are able to achieve their goals in a way they wouldn't be able to alone. The Power of Crowds Unfortunately—in spite of the mutual support so evident elsewhere at the Kumbh— 36 people died in a stampede at the Allahabad train station on February 10, 2013. Somehow the crowd had lost its harmony. Reicher wrote that one possible cause was that the pilgrims no longer formed a psychological crowd. They no longer saw those around them as fellow pilgrims, but rather as competitors for seats on a train. Strangely, before this unfortunate incident, Reicher had interviewed a pilgrim who was asked to describe the feeling in the crowd at the station. "People think they are more powerful than you. They can push you around,"she said. She was then asked to describe the feeling at the Kumbh: "People are concerned about you. They treat you in a polite manner." The stampede was an example of what can happen when the psychological cooperation of a crowd breaks down. Incidents such as the stampede are rare at the Kumbh, and this one is unlikely to deter pilgrims from attending the event in the future. The police will undoubtedly learn from this experience and make the station safer. But in crowds as large as those at the Kumbh, individuals must put their faith in the power of "psychological cooperation," as Stephen Reicher calls it. In other words, "Love thy neighbor."

Reicher和他的同事们来到这个最大的印度教节日， 测试人群有益的想法，并确认壶对参与者的健康影响。 在2011年电影节开始之前， 他的研究人员深入印度农村，向一群潜在的朝圣者询问他们的身心健康状况。 他们还询问了那些不打算参加的人。 大壶结束一个月后，研究人员再次对两组人进行了询问。 那些留在村庄的人报告说，在研究期间没有真正的变化。 另一方面，朝圣者报告说，他们的健康状况改善了10%， 包括更少的疼痛、更少的焦虑和更高的能量水平。 更重要的是，良好的效果持续了很长时间。 为什么属于一个群体会改善你的健康？ 心理学家认为，共同的身份是原因。 英国邓迪大学的尼克·霍普金斯解释道：“你认为的是‘我们’，而不是‘我’。”。 这种思维方式改变了人际关系。 群众相互支持，竞争变成合作， 人们能够以一种他们无法独自实现的方式实现他们的目标。 人群的力量 不幸的是，尽管在大壶的其他地方，相互支持是显而易见的-- 2013年2月10日，阿拉哈巴德火车站发生踩踏事件，造成36人死亡。 不知怎么地，人群失去了和谐。 Reicher写道，一个可能的原因是朝圣者不再形成心理群体。 他们不再把周围的人看作是朝圣者，而是火车座位的竞争对手。 奇怪的是，在这起不幸事件之前， Reicher采访了一位朝圣者，他被要求描述车站人群中的感受。 她说：“人们认为他们比你更有力量。他们可以左右你。”。 然后，她被要求描述在Kumbh的感受： “人们关心你。他们以礼貌的方式对待你。” 踩踏事件是一个例子，说明当人群的心理合作破裂时会发生什么。 踩踏等事件在大壶馆很少见， 这次不太可能阻止朝圣者将来参加这次活动。 毫无疑问，警方将从这次经历中吸取教训，使车站更加安全。 但在像大壶一样大的人群中， 个人必须相信斯蒂芬·赖彻所说的“心理合作”的力量。 换句话说，“爱你的邻居。”

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