Abraham Lincoln was famous for his intelligence, cool head, and powerful speeches. But he was never known for his good looks. In fact, in his time, Lincoln was teased2 for being ugly. Some people said he resembled a baboon3. Even Gutzon Borglum, who sculpted4 the heads on Mount Rushmore5, said the president’s face looked primitive6.
　　Now, two doctors might have figured out why. Using bronze and plaster copies of masks7 of Lincoln’s face, they created a 3-D8 image on a computer so they could study his bone structure.
　　The image shows that Lincoln had a defect called cranial9 facial microsomia10. “The left side of his face was smaller than the right,” study author11 and retired eye doctor Ronald Fishman told WR News. The defect makes it look like Lincoln is raising his left eyebrow questioningly in some photos.
　　The defect resulted in a loss of coordination12 between his eyes. Historians note that sometimes the president’s left eye would roll straight up into his head. The condition occasionally caused him to see double. In fact, Lincoln reportedly once saw two images of himself in a mirror—and chalked it up13 to a ghostly experience.
　　Lincoln’s defect was mild, but Fishman says its discovery offers a valuable lesson. “Not every body works perfectly,” he says. “Some kids have handicaps14, and they can overcome their handicaps just like Abraham Lincoln did.”

亞伯拉罕·林肯以其聰明才智、冷靜的頭腦和雄辯的演說聞名于世。但他從未因帥氣的長相而聞名。事實上，在他那個年代，林肯因貌丑而遭人嘲笑。一些人說他長得像一只狒狒。甚至連拉什莫爾山上偉人頭像的雕塑者古曾·伯格勒姆也說，這位總統(tǒng)的臉看上去很粗糙。
　　  如今，兩位醫(yī)生也許找到了其中的原因。他們用青銅和石膏制作了數(shù)個林肯的面部模型，然后在電腦上繪制出一個三維圖像，以便研究他的頭骨結(jié)構。
　　  圖像顯示林肯患有一種被稱為頭顱面部短小的缺陷�！八�的左臉比右臉小，”研究發(fā)起人、退休眼科醫(yī)生羅納德·費什曼對《每周文摘》說。這個缺陷使得一些照片中的林肯看上去好像故意抬高左眉，在質(zhì)疑什么。
　　  這個缺陷導致他的雙眼之間失去協(xié)調(diào)性。歷史學家們注意到總統(tǒng)的左眼有時會往上翻白眼，這種情況偶爾使他看到重影。事實上，據(jù)傳林肯曾在鏡子里看見自己的兩個影像——并把它歸于一次鬼怪經(jīng)歷。
　　  林肯的缺陷并不嚴重，但費什曼說這個發(fā)現(xiàn)為我們提供了一個寶貴經(jīng)驗�！安⒎敲總�人的身體都完美無缺，”他說，“有些孩子患有殘疾，但他們可以克服這些殘疾，就像亞伯拉罕·林肯那樣�！�

1. lopsided adj. 不平衡的，不對稱的
2. tease v. 嘲弄，取笑
3. baboon n. 狒狒
4. sculpt  v. 雕刻
5. Mount Rushmore 拉什莫爾山，位于美國南達科他州西部，海拔1,708米。山石上雕有華盛頓、杰佛遜、林肯和西奧多·羅斯福的巨大頭像。
6. primitive  adj. 原始的，粗糙的
7. mask  n. 面部模型
8. 3-D three-dimensional 三維的，立體的
9. cranial  adj. 頭蓋的，頭顱的
10. microsomia  n. 短小，矮小
11. author n. 發(fā)起人，創(chuàng)始人
12. coordination  n. 協(xié)調(diào)，協(xié)同
13. chalk up 把…歸于
14. handicap n. 殘疾；障礙