Mark Ramirez, a senior executive at AOL, could work in the cushiest leather chair, if he wanted. No, thanks. He prefers to stand most of the day at a desk raised above stomach level.

　　"I've got my knees bent, I feel totally alive," he said. "It feels more natural to stand."

　　In the past few years, standing has become the new sitting for 10 percent of AOL employees at the firm's Virginia campus, part of a standing ovation among accountants, programmers, telemarketers and other office workers across the nation.

　　GeekDesk, a California firm that sells $800 desks raised by electric motors, says sales will triple this year.

　　Standers give various reasons for taking to their feet: It makes them feel more focused, prevents drowsiness, makes them feel like a general even if they just push paper. (Former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld works standing up. So does novelist Philip Roth.)

　　But unknown to them, a debate is percolating among ergonomics experts and public-health researchers about whether all office workers should be encouraged to stand — to save lives.

　　Doctors point to surprising new research showing higher rates of diabetes, obesity, heart disease and even mortality among people who sit for long stretches. A study earlier this year in the American Journal of Epidemiology showed that among 123,000 adults followed over 14 years, those who sat more than six hours a day were at least 18 percent more likely to die during the time period studied than those who sat less than three hours a day.

　　"Every rock we turn over when it comes to sitting is stunning," said Marc Hamilton, a leading researcher on inactivity physiology at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana. "Sitting is hazardous. It's dangerous. We are on the cusp of a major revolution." He calls sitting "the new smoking."

　　Not so fast, other experts say. Standing too much at work will cause more long-term back injuries. Incidences of varicose veins among women will increase. The heart will have to pump more.

　　Hedge, the Cornell professor, isn't a fan of all this standing. "Making people stand all day is dumb," he said.

　　The sensible and most cost-effective strategy, he said, is to sit in a neutral posture, slightly reclined, with the keyboard on a tray above the lap. This position promotes positive blood flow. Workers should occasionally walk around, stretch and avoid prolonged periods at the desk. The key, he said, is movement, not standing.

　　美國在線公司的高級主管馬克•拉米瑞茨完全可以坐在最舒適的皮椅上工作——如果他愿意的話。但是，謝謝了。大部分時間他更喜歡站在一張桌面高于他的腹部的桌子前辦公。

　　他說：“我的膝蓋可以彎曲，我覺得自己充滿活力。站著工作感覺更自然。”

　　過去幾年來，在美國在線位于弗吉尼亞州的分公司中，10%的員工都采取站立這一新“坐姿”，除了他們以外，全國有許多會計人員、編程人員、電話營銷人員和其它辦公室職員都開始流行站著工作。

　　總部位于加州的GeekDesk公司出售電動辦公桌，價格可達800美元。該公司稱今年的銷售額預計將增長兩倍。

　　站著工作的人給出了選擇站立的各種理由：站立可以使他們注意力更集中，驅散睡意，而且就算他們只是在做瑣碎的工作，也會感覺自己像個將軍。(美國前國防部長唐納德•拉姆斯菲爾德也是站著工作的。小說家菲利普•羅斯也是如此。)

　　但他們并不知道，圍繞著是否應該鼓勵所有辦公室職員都站著工作這一話題，在人類工程學專家和公共健康研究員當中展開了一場以拯救生命為目的的辯論。

　　醫生們指出，新研究驚人的結果顯示，長時間坐著工作的人患糖尿病、肥胖癥、心臟病甚至是死亡的幾率都比站立工作者要高。《美國流行病學雜志》在今年早些時候發表的一項研究表明，在研究進行期間，那些一天靜坐超過6個小時的人的死亡率，比那些靜坐時間少于3小時的人，高出至少18%。該研究在14年的時間內對12.3萬名成人進行了跟蹤調查。

　　馬克•漢密爾頓是美國路易斯安那州彭寧頓生物醫學研究中心的權威研究人員，他的研究方向是缺乏運動狀態下的生理學。他說：“我們有關久坐的每項研究結果都令人震驚。久坐是有害的，是危險的。我們正處于一場重大變革的風口浪尖。”他將久坐稱為“一個像吸煙一樣有害的新殺手”。

　　但是，其他專家認為，還不應該過早下結論。工作中站立過久會導致更多的慢性背部損傷。而且女性靜脈曲張發病率會增加。心臟負荷也會加大。

　　康奈爾大學的海奇教授也不提倡站著工作。他說：“讓人們整天站著工作是愚蠢的主張。”

　　他認為，一個合理且經濟的方法就是，坐姿要適中，微微靠向椅背，將鍵盤放在高于膝蓋的托盤上。這個姿勢可以促進血液循環。員工應該不時地四處走動，舒展一下身體，避免長時間坐在辦公桌前。他說，關鍵在于運動，而非站立。

　　Vocabulary:

　　cushy: very easy and pleasant; needing little or no effort(輕松愉快的;安逸的;不費勁的)

　　ovation: enthusiastic clapping by an audience as a sign of their approval(熱烈鼓掌;熱烈歡迎)

　　take to one's feet: 在這里相當于get to one's feet，意思是“站起來”。

　　push paper: 做瑣碎的工作

　　percolate: to gradually become known or spread through a group or society(逐漸流傳;傳開)

　　ergonomics: the study of working conditions, especially the design of equipment and furniture, in order to help people work more efficiently 工效學，人類工程學(研究如何改善工作條件，提高工作效率)

　　cusp: a pointed end where two curves meet (兩曲線相交的)尖點，會切點，交點

　　varicose veins: 靜脈曲張

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