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　　The Sixth Sense(第六感)

　　As we all know, there are five senses, the abilities to hear, smell, see, taste and touch. Now, however, a scientist has shown that we have a sixth sense: the ability to know when someone is watching us.

　　Many people have noticed this feeling in the past. For example, you are sitting in a cinema and you feel that someone is watching you. You look around quickly and find that you are right: A friend, at the back of the cinema, is staring at(盯着)you.

　　Up till now, no one has been able to prove(证明)scientifically(科学地)that people really do have this ability, but recently a scientist called Dr. Rupert Sheldrake has announced(宣布)the results of some new experiments. Dr. Sheldrake has studied children in Britain, America and Germany.

　　The experiments worked in this way. Emma sat on a chair and wore a blindfold(遮眼布)over her eyes, so she could not see anything happening. Claire sat a few meters behind Emma. A teacher gave a signal(信号)by blowing a whistle(哨子). Then in random(随意的)order, Claire either looked at Emma or looked in a different direction. Emma had to say if Claire was looking at her or not. The experiment was repeated 20 times.

　　Dr. Sheldrake repeated this simple experiment with hundreds of children. The results were that the person who was wearing the blindfold, like Emma, could often feel that the other person was watching him or her. Generally(总的来说), the children knew about 60% of the time when they were being watched. If the children were just guessing “yes” or “no”questions, the result would only be 50%.

　　Some scientists say they do not agree that there is a sixth sense. They say it is impossible to feel something in this way, but Dr. Sheldrake says that the results are accurate(精准的). “These experiments were carried out by different people in different countries,” he said, “and yet they all showed roughly(大概地)the same results.”

　　Some people wondered if the children were cheating(作弊). Perhaps they were telling each other whether they were looking or not. To prevent(防止)this, Dr. Sheldrake arranged some more experiments, with the blindfolded(被蒙住眼睛的)children on the playground(运动场)and the others inside a classroom. The results were the same.

　　Dr. Sheldrake does not try to explain why or how we can tell that someone is watching us. He is keeping an open mind on the question. It seems amazing that we should have a sixth sense, but if you don’t believe it, he says, “Anyone can repeat the experiments themselves.”