It’s a question we often ponder, especially as we age: How many years do I have left? Well, thanks to Brazilian physician Claudio Gil Araujo, there’s now a simple test you can perform right at home, in just a few seconds, that could predict how many years you have left to live, according to Discover.

　　我到底能活多久?这是一个我们常常思考的问题，尤其是当我们开始老去。据发现杂志报道，多亏有了巴西的克罗迪奥-吉尔-阿劳霍医生，他发明了一项简单的测试，在家就能做，短短几秒钟，就能预测出你还能活多久。

　　Araujo came up with the test after noticing that many of his patients, especially older ones, often have difficulty with simple feats of balance and strength, such as picking up something off the floor or getting up out of a chair. Since balance and conditioning problems are known to increase the risk of dangerous falls and accidents (and can also harm cardiovascular health), he wondered if a patient’s flexibility, balance and strength could be used as a measure of life expectancy.

　　阿劳霍医生在临床执业过程中注意到，有很多病人，特别是上了年纪的人，通常在完成一些相对简单的平衡和力量技能时有困难，比如从地板上捡东西，或是从椅子上起身。因为平衡性和体能问题通常被认为会增加摔跤和意外(也会影响心血管健康)的风险，他就想是否可以将病人的柔韧度、平衡性和身体力量作为他们预期寿命的测量手段，所以，他设计出了这项测试。

　　His idea was that patients might be more motivated to get in better shape if they had a more tangible way of conceptualizing how their overall health was being affected by their conditioning. If a patient is simply told to get in shape, they’re not likely to change their behavior. But if they’re told "if you don’t get into better shape, you could be dead in five years," they’re apt to take notice.

　　他的想法是，如果人们对他的体能对身体整体的健康状况的影响能有概念化的、更具体的认知，那么他们就更愿意主动的去保持身体健康。如果只是简单的告诉一个病人，要注意身体健康，他们的行为习惯可能不会有任何改变。但如果这样说，“如果你再不注意身体健康，你最多只能活5年了”，他们就会给予足够的重视。

　　Of course, the test also needed to be simple. If it required expensive equipment or measuring devices, the test probably wouldn’t be accessible to many people. So Araujo and colleagues developed the sitting-rise test, or SRT. It requires no equipment whatsoever and can be performed in seconds.

　　当然，这项测试也得简单易行才好。如果需要昂贵的器材或测量工具，那么它就无法适用于所有人。所以，阿劳霍医生和同事发明出了这项坐立测试，或称SRT。它无需任何设备，任何人在几秒钟内都可以完成。

　　In fact, you can grab a friend try the test out yourself right now. A simple illustration , provided by Discover, can help you to visualize the steps. It’s recommended that you wear loose or comfortable clothing.

　　事实上，你马上就可以叫上一个朋友来做这个测试。发现杂志提供的这个简单的图解，能让你直观的了解操作步骤。建议穿着宽松舒适的服饰来测试。

　　Begin by standing upright in the middle of a room. Without using your arms or hands for leverage, carefully squat into a cross-legged sitting position. Once you’re comfortable, attempt to stand back up from the sitting position — again, without using your arms for help.

　　首先，身体笔直的站立在房间中间，在不借助双臂或双手所能起到的杠杆平衡作用下，小心谨慎的让身体下沉，呈深蹲姿势，然后处于盘腿坐的位置。调整好身体后，再从坐姿恢复到原来的站姿，仍然不能借助双臂的帮助。

　　The test is scored on a point scale between 1 and 10 (5 points for sitting, 5 more points for standing back up). Each time you use an arm or knee for help in balancing during the test, you subtract one point from 10 possible points. Half a point is subtracted each time you lose balance, or when the fluidity of the feat becomes clumsy.

　　这项测试的得分在1-10分之间(坐占5分，立占5分)。在完成动作的过程中，每借用一次臂膀或膝盖的力量，就从10分中扣去1分;身体每失去一次平衡的重心，让动作完成的流畅性变差或显得姿势笨拙，就从10分中扣去0.5分。

　　It seems like a pretty rudimentary test of conditioning, but Araujo found that it could predict life expectancy with alarming accuracy. He tested it on more than 2,000 of his patients aged 51 to 80, and found that people who scored less than 8 points on the test were twice as likely to die within the next six years. Those who scored three points or less were five times more likely to die within that same time period. Overall, each point achieved in the test accounted for a 21-percent decrease in mortality.

　　这看起来是一个相当基础的体能测试，不过阿劳霍医生发现它对于预测患者寿命令人吃惊的准确。他通过对2000多名年龄在51~80岁之间的患者进行测试，发现测试结果低于8分的人，未来6年内死亡的可能性会翻倍，而那些低于3分的人，在同一时间段内死亡的可能性会增加5倍。从总体上来看，测试得分每增加1分，人们的死亡率就会降低21%。

　　Araujo’s study was only performed on patients older than 50, so the results won’t mean the same thing for younger individuals taking the test. But regardless of your age, the test should provide a useful benchmark for your overall health. If you’re younger than 50 and have trouble with the test, it ought to be a wake-up call. The good news is that the younger you are, the more time you have to get into better shape.

　　阿劳霍医生特别提醒：这项研究仅仅是针对50岁以上的人群进行的，所以如果更年轻的人做这个测试，这个结果并不适用。但无论你的年龄长幼，这一测试对于衡量人体的总体健康程度都是适宜的。如果50岁以下的人完成这个测试存在困难，那么就给健康敲了一记警钟。不过好消息是，你越年轻，你就越有更多的时间来加强锻炼。

（编辑：何莹莹）