艺术家的脑回路不同吗？- 6分钟英语：英语精读讲义

6 Minute English from BBCLearningEnglish.com.

来自 BBCLearningEnglish.com 的 6 Minute English。

Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.

大家好，这里是 BBC Learning English 的 6 Minute English。

I'm Neil.

我是 Neil。

And I'm Sam.

我是 Sam。

Would you say you're artistic, Sam? 語氣意圖

Sam，你会说自己有艺术细胞吗？

Can you draw or paint?

你会画画吗？

Do you dance or play music?

你会跳舞或玩音乐吗？

I play the piano a bit. 語氣意圖

我会弹一点钢琴。

Yes, I'd say I'm quite artistic. 語氣意圖

是的，我觉得我挺有艺术细胞的。

How about you, Neil?

你呢，Neil？

Well, if you count playing football as artistic, 語法

嗯，如果你把踢足球也算作艺术的话，

then yes, but basically no,

那我是，但基本上不是，

I can't paint.

我不会画画。

We've been wondering why artistic ability comes more naturally to some people than others. 短語搭配

我们一直想知道，为什么有些人天生就比别人更有艺术天赋。

So in this program,

所以在本期节目中，

we'll be asking, are artists' brains different? 表達脈絡

我们要探讨的是，艺术家的大脑结构和普通人不同吗？

We'll hear two expert opinions and as usual,

我们将听取两位专家的意见，和往常一样，

we'll learn some useful new vocabulary as well. 短語搭配

我们还会学习一些有用的新词汇。

So what do you think, Neil?

那么你怎么看，Neil？

Are artists' brains different from other people's?

艺术家的大脑和普通人不同吗？

I'm not sure, Sam,

我不确定，Sam，

but it's true that many artists behave differently, 表達脈絡

但确实许多艺术家的行为与众不同，

often in very strange ways.

通常方式非常古怪。

For example,

例如，

did you know that Michelangelo worked so hard he never took a bath? 語法

你知道米开朗基罗工作太拼命以至于从不洗澡吗？

Or that guitar legend Jimi Hendrix once set fire to his guitar on stage? 短語搭配

或者吉他传奇人物吉米·亨德里克斯曾在舞台上点燃他的吉他吗？

We'll hear more about the artist’s brain soon,

我们很快会听到更多关于艺术家大脑的内容，

but first I have a question for you. 表達脈絡

但首先我有一个问题要问你。

As you said,

正如你所说，

artistic ability comes naturally to some people,

艺术天赋对某些人来说是天生的，

including the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

包括著名的作曲家沃尔夫冈·阿马德乌斯·莫扎特。

Mozart was considered a child prodigy, 用詞

莫扎特被认为是个神童，

a young child with very great musical talent.

一个具有极高音乐天赋的小孩。

So how old was Mozart when he composed his first piece of music? 語法

那么，莫扎特创作他的第一首曲子时是几岁？

Was he A, 5 years old,

他是 A，5岁，

B, 10 years old,

B，10岁，

or C, 15 years old?

还是 C，15岁？

I'll guess he was A, 語氣意圖

我猜他是 A，

5 years old.

5岁。

Okay, Sam.

好的，Sam。

I'll reveal the answer later in the program. 短語搭配

我将在节目稍后公布答案。

If artists' brains are different, 語法

如果艺术家的大脑确实不同，

it could mean they see the world in unusual ways. 習語

那可能意味着他们以不同寻常的方式看待世界。

Dr. Rebecca Chamberlain is a researcher in the neuroscience of art. 文化背景

丽贝卡·张伯伦博士是艺术神经科学的一名研究员。

She investigates how artists see the objects they are drawing

她研究艺术家在画画时是如何观察物体的，

by measuring saccades, 用詞

通过测量扫视，

the rapid movements our eyes make as they jump from one thing to another.

即我们的眼睛从一个事物跳到另一个事物时的快速运动。

Here she shares her findings with BBC World Service program Crowd Science.

在这里，她向 BBC 世界频道节目《人群科学》分享了她的发现。

Artists seem to be processing the visual world in a different way to non-artists, 短語搭配

艺术家在处理视觉世界时似乎与非艺术家不同，

particularly when they're drawing.

尤其是在他们画画的时候。

The artists actually take a more global approach to looking, 短語搭配

艺术家实际上在观察时采取了更宏观的视角，

so they make bigger saccades,

所以他们的扫视幅度更大，

bigger eye movements,

眼球运动更大，

and shorter fixations on the image. 用詞

而且在图像上停留的时间更短。

So it's almost like they're getting much more of a kind of 表達脈絡

所以这几乎就像是他们获得了更多关于

gist level view of the thing that they're looking at. 用詞

他们正在看的东西的主旨层面的视角。

Rebecca's experiments seem to confirm that artists' brains work differently 表達脈絡

丽贝卡的实验似乎证实了艺术家的大脑运作方式不同，

because of their processing of the visual world,

因为他们对视觉世界的处理，

the way their brains make sense of information. 短語搭配

也就是他们的大脑理解信息的方式。

Interestingly,

有趣的是，

processing also means the act of developing pictures from photographic film. 用詞

处理（processing）也指从胶片冲洗照片的过程。

When they draw,

当他们画画时，

artists make bigger, quicker eye movements,

艺术家的眼球运动幅度更大、速度更快，

so they're able to see the whole picture, 習語

所以他们能够看到全貌，

something also known as the gist,

这也叫主旨（gist），

the overall general impression of something

即对某事物的整体大致印象，

without focusing on the details.

而不去关注细节。

If you get the gist of what someone is saying, 短語搭配

如果你明白了某人说话的主旨，

you understand the overall meaning of what they say,

你就明白了他们所说内容的整体含义，

but not the details.

而不是细节。

The second expert to answer our question about the artistic brain is Mike,

回答我们关于艺术家大脑问题的第二位专家是迈克，

a BBC World Service listener from Malawi.

一位来自马拉维的 BBC 世界频道听众。

Mike is a self-taught painter who creates large colorful pictures in his studio. 用詞

迈克是一位自学成才的画家，在他的工作室里创作色彩鲜艳的大幅画作。

According to him, 表達脈絡

根据他的说法，

artistic ability isn't something you're born with. 短語搭配

艺术天赋并不是与生俱来的。

It can be learned,

它可以被学习，

as he explained to BBC World Service's Crowd Science.

正如他向 BBC 世界频道《人群科学》解释的那样。

I had this other student. 表達脈絡

我还有另一个学生。

He was like really at the zero,

他简直是零基础，

like he could not draw at all. 語法

就是他完全不会画画。

So I gave him some tips and in a month, 短語搭配

所以我给了他一些提示，一个月后，

he was like really good.

他就画得非常好了。

He was like really surprised,

他当时非常惊讶，

blown away.

震撼到了。

He never expected.

他完全没想到。

So there are some things that are trainable.

所以有些东西是可以训练的。

It's like a bike.

就像骑自行车一样。

In my case,

就我而言，

I learned how to do those things without anyone telling me,

我在没有别人指导的情况下学会了做这些事，

you know, like

你知道，就像

if you are drawing the face,

如果你在画脸，

a human face,

一张人脸，

the distance between your eyes is the same as one of your eyes.

你两眼之间的距离就和一只眼睛一样宽。

Mike gives tips to his students,

迈克给了他的学生们一些提示，

helpful pieces of advice about how to do something,

也就是关于如何做某事的有用建议，

in this case,

在这里是指，

to paint.

如何画画。

After getting Mike's tips,

在得到迈克的提示后，

one of his students really improved and started painting much better.

他的一个学生确实取得了很大进步，画得更好了。

Mike was blown away, 習語

迈克被震撼到了（blown away），

an informal way to say very impressed or surprised.

这是一种非正式的说法，表示印象深刻或非常惊讶。

Like learning to ride a bike, 表達脈絡

就像学骑自行车一样，

Mike thinks that painting is trainable, 用詞

迈克认为画画是可以训练的（trainable），

a word from American English meaning that it can be taught or trained.

这是一个美式英语单词，意思是它可以被教授或训练。

For him,

对他来说，

this is proof that artists' brains are not so different after all. 表達脈絡

这证明了艺术家的大脑其实并没有那么与众不同。

So there we have it, 表達脈絡

我们听到了，

two different opinions,

两种不同的观点，

but no final answer to our question.

但我们的问题没有最终答案。

Still,

尽管如此，

some scientists think there may be a third possibility, 表達脈絡

一些科学家认为可能存在第三种可能，

everyone's brain works by focusing on some areas and ignoring others, 表達脈絡

每个人的大脑在工作时都会关注某些区域而忽略其他区域，

making a kind of jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces. 習語

就像在拼一幅缺失了碎片的拼图。

Maybe all of us, you, me,

也许我们所有人，你、我、

Mozart and Jimi Hendrix are just filling in the missing pieces our own way. 習語

莫扎特和吉米·亨德里克斯都只是在用自己的方式填补缺失的碎片。

Speaking of Mozart, 表達脈絡

说到莫扎特，

Neil,

Neil，

it's time to reveal the answer to your question.

是时候公布你问题的答案了。

Right.

好的。

I asked how old child prodigy Mozart was when he first composed music. 語法

我问神童莫扎特第一次作曲时是几岁。

And I said he was 5 years old.

我说是5岁。

So was I right?

所以我说对了吗？

Your answer was correct.

你的答案是正确的。

Mozart was 5 when he first wrote music

莫扎特在5岁时第一次写了音乐，

and by the age of 6, 短語搭配

而到了6岁时，

he had performed in front of the emperor of Austria twice. 語法

他已经在奥地利皇帝面前演出了两次。

Now there's an artistic brain. 語氣意圖

这才是充满艺术细胞的大脑啊。

Yeah.

是啊。

Okay, Neil.

好了，Neil。

Let's recap the vocabulary from this program starting with child prodigy, 表達脈絡

让我们复习一下这节目的词汇，从神童（child prodigy）开始，

a young child,

一个年幼的孩子，

like Mozart,

像莫扎特一样，

with a great talent in something.

在某方面具有极高的天赋。

Processing describes how your brain makes sense of the information it receives. 短語搭配

处理（processing）描述了你的大脑如何理解它接收到的信息。

The gist of something is a general understanding of it without the details.

某事的主旨（gist）是对其总体理解，不包括细节。

Tips are useful pieces of advice about how to do something better. 用詞

提示（tips）是关于如何把某事做得更好的有用建议。

If you are blown away,

如果你被震撼到了（blown away），

you are very impressed or surprised by something.

你就是对某事印象非常深刻或非常惊讶。

And finally,

最后，

trainable means able to be trained or taught in American English. 用詞

可训练的（trainable）在美式英语中表示能够被训练或教授。

Once again,

再次提醒，

our 6 minutes are up. 短語搭配

我们的6分钟到了。

It's goodbye for now.

现在该说再见了。

Goodbye.

再见。

6 Minute English from the BBC.

来自 BBC 的 6 Minute English。