作为双胞胎是种怎样的体验？⏲️ 6分钟英语：英语精读讲义

Six Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com.

来自 bbclearningenglish.com 的六分钟英语。

Hello, this is Six Minute English

你好，这里是六分钟英语

from BBC Learning English.

来自 BBC 英语教学频道。

I'm Neil.

我是 Neil。

And I'm Beth.

我是 Beth。

In this episode,

在本期节目中，

we're talking about twins.

我们来聊聊双胞胎。

Non-identical or fraternal twins 用詞

异卵双胞胎

come from two separate eggs 短語搭配

由两个不同的卵子发育而来，

and share half their genes. 短語搭配

共有百分之五十的基因。

More uncommon are identical twins 語法

更为罕见的是同卵双胞胎，

who come from a single fertilized egg 用詞

他们由同一个受精卵发育而来，

and share 100% of their genes. 短語搭配

共有百分之百的基因。

As humans,

作为人类，

we're fascinated by twins. 短語搭配

我们对双胞胎很着迷。

When people discover that someone's a twin,

当人们发现某人是双胞胎时，

they start asking all kinds of questions. 短語搭配

就会开始问各种各样的问题。

What question would you ask a twin, Neil? 語法

Neil，你会问双胞胎什么问题？

Oh,

哦，

probably quite an annoying one.

可能会是很招人烦的问题。

Maybe,

比如，

do you share each other's thoughts? 語法

你们能知道彼此在想什么吗？

Ooh, I might ask,

哦，我可能会问，

if one of you is hurt, 語法

如果你们其中一人受伤了，

does the other one feel the pain?

另一个人会感觉到痛吗？

Mm, interesting.

嗯，很有趣。

Well, some common questions for twins include,

针对双胞胎的一些常见问题包括：

do you have psychic powers? 文化背景

你们有特异功能吗？

Have you ever swapped boyfriends?

你们交换过男朋友吗？

And do you have the same dreams?

你们会做同样的梦吗？

But according to Anand Jagatia, 短語搭配

但据 Anand Jagatia 介绍，

who presented a recent episode 語法

他最近主持了一期

of BBC World Service's CrowdScience

BBC 世界频道 CrowdScience 的节目，

all about twins, 短語搭配

内容全是关于双胞胎的。

If you meet a twin

如果你遇到双胞胎，

and you ask them one of these questions,

并问他们这些问题之一，

don't be surprised if they roll their eyes at you. 講解

如果他们对你翻白眼，不要感到惊讶。

Ask a twin about psychic powers 語法

问双胞胎关于特异功能的问题，

and they might roll their eyes,

他们可能会翻白眼（roll their eyes），

a way of showing boredom or irritation. 短語搭配

这是表示无聊或恼怒的一种方式。

But nevertheless, 表達脈絡

但尽管如此，

twins continue to capture our imagination 習語

双胞胎仍然不断激发我们的想象力，

and in this episode,

而在本期节目中，

we'll be finding out why, 短語動詞

我们将弄清楚其中的原因，

using some useful new words and phrases.

并学习一些实用的新词汇和短语。

And remember,

请记住，

you'll find all the vocabulary for this episode,

你能找到本期节目的所有词汇，

along with a quiz and a worksheet 短語搭配

以及随堂测试和练习表，

on our website,

就在我们的网站上：

bbclearningenglish.com.

bbclearningenglish.com。

First,

首先，

I have a question for you, Beth.

我有一个问题问你，Beth。

These days, 表達脈絡

如今，

twins are more common 短語搭配

双胞胎比你想象的

than you might think.

要常见得多。

In fact,

事实上，

one in every 42 babies is born a twin. 語法

每 42 个出生的婴儿中就有一个是双胞胎。

But do you know

但是你知道

which famous Hollywood star is a twin?

哪位著名的好莱坞明星是双胞胎吗？

Is it A, Jennifer Lawrence,

是 A，Jennifer Lawrence，

B, Angelina Jolie,

B，Angelina Jolie，

or C, Scarlett Johansson?

还是 C，Scarlett Johansson？

Ooh, I don't know.

哦，我不知道。

I'm going to guess Scarlett Johansson. 語氣意圖

我猜是 Scarlett Johansson。

Well, we'll find out the answer 表達脈絡

我们将在节目结束时

at the end of the program.

揭晓答案。

Professor Karen Dillon is the author of a book 短語搭配

Karen Dillon 教授是一本书的作者，

on twins in American literature,

该书探讨了美国文学中的双胞胎，

and a twin herself. 語法

而且她本人也是双胞胎。

Here,

在这里，

she discusses the good and bad sides 短語搭配

她讨论了作为双胞胎

of twinship

好与坏的一面，

with Anand Jagatia,

采访者是 Anand Jagatia，

for BBC World Service program CrowdScience.

代表 BBC 世界频道 CrowdScience 节目。

Being a twin isn't always plain sailing. 習語

做双胞胎并不总是一帆风顺的。

Yeah, it is nice.

对，这很好。

There's never that fear

从来都不会有那种恐惧感，

because you're going through school together. 短語搭配

因为你们一起上学。

You're sometimes in the same class together.

有时你们在同一个班。

You're making friends together. 短語搭配

你们一起交朋友。

So,

所以，

all of those milestones of childhood 用詞

那些童年时期的里程碑，

in some ways are made easier for twins. 語法

在某种程度上对双胞胎来说变得更容易。

But then the older you get, 語法

但是随着年龄的增长，

the more you realize

你会越来越发现

how much people really think of you 短語搭配

人们真的有多么倾向于把你

as a twin rather than as an individual.

当作双胞胎的一员，而不是一个独立的个体。

Twins go through many childhood milestones together.

双胞胎一起经历许多童年的里程碑。

A milestone is an important stage of development.

里程碑（milestone）是指发展过程中的一个重要阶段。

So,

所以，

a childhood milestone could be something

童年的里程碑可以是

like your first day at school.

比如你上学的第一天。

But being a twin isn't always plain sailing,

但做双胞胎并不总是一帆风顺（plain sailing），

an idiom meaning easy and problem-free.

这是一个习语，意思是轻松且没有问题的。

Many twins find it hard to establish their own identity 短語搭配

许多双胞胎发现很难建立属于自己的身份认同，

as a separate and unique individual.

作为一个分离且独特的个体。

Our fascination with twins

我们对双胞胎的迷恋

also comes from the age-old nature versus nurture debate. 文化背景

也源于由来已久的先天与后天之争。

How much of our lives is determined by nature, 語法

我们的生活有多少是由先天决定的，

the genetics we're born with, 短語搭配

即我们与生俱来的基因，

and how much by nurture,

又有多少是由后天决定的，

the environment we grow up in? 短語動詞

即我们成长的环境？

Because twins are so genetically similar, 語法

因为双胞胎在基因上如此相似，

differences between them tell scientists a lot.

他们之间的差异能告诉科学家很多信息。

Here's presenter of BBC World Service program CrowdScience,

这是 BBC 世界频道 CrowdScience 节目的主持人，

Anand Jagatia,

Anand Jagatia，

discussing this with Helena de Bres,

他正在和马萨诸塞州韦尔斯利学院的哲学家

a philosopher at Wellesley College, Massachusetts.

Helena de Bres 讨论这个问题。

And that's right,

没错，

another twin.

又是一位双胞胎。

Yeah,

是的，

you hear about twins

你会听说有些双胞胎

that were separated at birth,

出生时就被分开了，

grew up in different parts of the world, 短語搭配

在世界不同的地方长大，

and they kind of have these eerily similar life courses. 講解

而他们却有着不可思议般相似的人生轨迹。

And you think,

然后你就会想，

gosh,

天哪，

like how much choice have I had 語法

对于我人生的走向，

over the way that my life's turned out? 短語動詞

我究竟有多少选择权？

Absolutely.

绝对的。

And yeah, there's that really famous case

是的，有一个非常著名的例子，

of the Jim twins

就是吉姆双胞胎（Jim twins），

who were reunited at age 39 短語搭配

他们在 39 岁时重聚，

after being separated at birth.

他们出生时就被分开了。

And they just had so many similarities.

他们之间居然有那么多的相似之处。

It was crazy. 用詞

太疯狂了。

They both married someone called Linda

他们都娶了一个叫 Linda 的人，

and then divorced her for someone called Betty. 用詞

然后为了一个叫 Betty 的人与她离婚。

They both named their dog Toy.

他们都给自己的狗起名叫 Toy。

It was like ridiculous. 語氣意圖

简直太不可思议了。

The twins,

这对双胞胎，

Jim Lewis and Jim Springer,

Jim Lewis 和 Jim Springer，

were separated at birth.

在出生时就被分开了。

The phrase separated at birth 習語

短语“出生时被分开”（separated at birth）

can be used to describe two people

可以用来描述两个

with strong similarities,

有极强相似性的人，

although in this case, 表達脈絡

尽管在这个例子中，

the twins were literally separated 用詞

这对双胞胎是真正在出生时被分开的，

and adopted by different parents at birth.

并由不同的父母收养。

When the Jims were reunited in the 1970s,

当这两个吉姆在 20 世纪 70 年代重聚时，

everyone was amazed at how similar their lives were. 語法

每个人都惊讶于他们的生活如此相似。

Anand used the adjective eerie, 用詞

Anand 使用了形容词 eerie，

meaning strange in a frightening, mysterious way.

意思是以一种令人害怕、神秘的方式表现出的奇怪。

And Helena says it was crazy,

而 Helena 说这很疯狂（crazy），

using crazy to mean strange and fantastic.

用 crazy 来表示奇怪且不可思议。

Yes,

是的，

I think strange, mysterious, and fantastic

我觉得奇怪、神秘和不可思议

describe being a twin quite well.

能很好地描述做双胞胎的感受。

Okay,

好了，

Neil,

Neil，

it's time to reveal the answer to your question. 短語搭配

是时候揭晓你那个问题的答案了。

I asked which Hollywood star is a twin,

我问哪位好莱坞明星是双胞胎，

and you said C, Scarlett Johansson.

你说选 C，Scarlett Johansson。

I did.

我是这么说的。

Which was the right answer.

这是正确答案。

Yay!

好耶！

Let's recap the vocabulary we've learned, 表達脈絡

让我们回顾一下我们学过的词汇，

starting with roll your eyes, 表達脈絡

从 roll your eyes（翻白眼）开始，

to move your eyes upwards

就是把眼睛往上看，

to show you are bored or annoyed.

以表示你感到无聊或恼怒。

A milestone is a significant stage

A milestone（里程碑）是一个重要阶段

in the development of something.

在事物的发展过程中。

The idiom,

习语

it's not plain sailing,

it's not plain sailing（并非一帆风顺），

describes difficult and problematic situations.

描述的是困难重重且多问题的状况。

The phrase separated at birth

短语 separated at birth（出生时被分开）

can describe two people who are unusually similar.

可以描述两个异常相似的人。

It also refers to siblings

它也指那些兄弟姐妹

who were adopted by different parents at birth.

在出生时就被不同父母收养。

And the adjective eerie means strange

形容词 eerie 的意思是奇怪，

in a frightening and mysterious way.

以一种令人害怕和神秘的方式。

And finally,

最后，

if someone says, it was crazy,

如果有人说 it was crazy，

they mean it was strange and fantastic.

他们的意思是这很奇怪且不可思议。

Once again,

再次提醒，

our six minutes are up. 習語

我们的六分钟时间到了。

But remember,

但请记住，

you can find worksheets, quizzes,

你可以找到练习表、测验，

and loads more resources to improve your English 用詞

以及更多有助于提高你英语水平的资源，

on our website,

就在我们的网站上：

bbclearningenglish.com.

bbclearningenglish.com。

See you there soon.

稍后见。

But for now,

不过现在，

goodbye.

再见。

Goodbye.

再见。

Six Minute English

六分钟英语

from bbclearningenglish.com.

来自 bbclearningenglish.com。