乐观主义者与悲观主义者 - 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 from BBC learning English.

大家好，这里是 BBC 英语教学的六分钟英语。

I'm Neil.

我是 Neil。

And I'm Sam.

我是 Sam。

We often hear phrases such as dream big or reach for the stars, 習語

我们经常听到诸如“大胆梦想”或“摘星”之类的短语，

which reflect an optimistic view of life.

这些都反映了一种乐观的人生观。

Are you an optimist, Sam?

你是个乐观主义者吗，Sam？

I hope so.

希望如此。

I try to see the positive side of life, 短語搭配

我努力看到生活中积极的一面，

even when something bad happens.

即使在发生坏事的时候。

It sounds like you're a glass half full person, 習語

听起来你是个“半杯水是满的”那种人，

someone who always thinks that good things will happen.

也就是总是认为会有好事发生的人。

How about you, Neil?

你呢，Neil？

Are you optimistic?

你乐观吗？

Look,

听着，

things go wrong all the time. 短語動詞

事情总是会出错的。

That's a fact of life. 短語搭配

这是生活的事实。

Call me a pessimist if you like, 語氣意圖

如果你愿意，叫我悲观主义者吧，

but I'm just being realistic.

但我只是比较现实。

Hmm,

嗯，

it sounds like Neil is more of a glass half empty person, 習語

听起来 Neil 更像是一个“半杯水是空的”那种人，

but the truth is that the age-old debate between optimism and pessimism is more complex than we think. 用詞

但事实是，关于乐观与悲观之间古老的争论，比我们想象的要复杂得多。

Yes,

是的，

whether you're a sunny optimist or a gloomy pessimist 語法

无论你是个阳光的乐观主义者，还是个阴郁的悲观主义者，

may be determined more by your birthplace and your age than your attitude,

可能更多是由你的出生地和年龄决定的，而不是你的态度，

as we'll be finding out in this program. 短語動詞

我们将在本期节目中一探究竟。

Great.

太好了。

I've got a good feeling about this,

我对此有种很好的预感，

Neil.

Neil。

But first,

但首先，

as usual,

像往常一样，

I have a question for you, Sam.

我有个问题要问你，Sam。

Psychologists define optimism as an attitude which overestimates the chances of good things happening to you, 講解

心理学家将乐观定义为一种高估自己遇到好事几率的态度，

while underestimating the chances of bad things occurring.

同时低估坏事发生的几率。

So,

那么，

what proportion of the British population do you think describe themselves as optimistic?

你认为有多少比例的英国人称自己是乐观的？

Is it A,

是 A，

20%,

20%，

B,

B，

50%,

50%，

or C,

还是 C，

80%?

80%？

I'll choose the largest,

我选最大的那个，

80%.

80%。

Okay,

好的，

Sam.

Sam。

We'll find out if your optimistic answer is the correct one later in the program. 短語動詞

我们稍后会在节目中看看你乐观的回答是否正确。

Someone who probably wouldn't agree with you,

有个人可能不同意你的看法，

though,

不过，

is BBC World Service listener Hannah.

她就是 BBC 世界服务节目的听众 Hannah。

Hannah grew up in Germany before moving to the United States. 短語搭配

Hannah 在德国长大，后来搬到了美国。

She thinks Americans tend to be more optimistic than people back home in Germany, 短語搭配

她认为美国人往往比德国老家的人更乐观，

as she told BBC World Service program Crowd Science.

她在 BBC 世界服务节目 Crowd Science 中这样说道。

Well,

嗯，

I think the stereotypical perceptions of Germans is that we're quite pessimistic, 用詞

我想对德国人的刻板印象是我们相当悲观，

and that kind of tends to come across as being a bit of a Debbie Downer, 講解

这往往会让人觉得我们有点像 Debbie Downer，

when in actuality,

而事实上，

Germans just tend to be avid planners for all eventual negative eventualities as well. 短語搭配

德国人只是倾向于为所有最终可能发生的负面情况做充分的计划。

Mhm.

嗯。

So that's kind of us being pessimistic,

所以我们那是有点悲观，

but actually being cautious,

但实际上是谨慎，

as opposed to, 短語搭配

而与之相反，

for example,

例如，

what I've noticed in America that a lot of people tend to be hyper optimistic. 用詞

我在美国注意到很多人倾向于极度乐观。

I've always admired how Americans tend to be able to sugar coat everything. 習語

我一直很佩服美国人似乎能把所有事情都美化（sugar coat）。

As a stereotypical pessimist,

作为一个刻板印象中的悲观主义者，

Hannah sometimes feels like a Debbie Downer.

Hannah 有时会觉得自己像个 Debbie Downer。

This expression is American slang for someone who makes others feel bad

这个表达是美国俚语，指的是那些让人感觉糟糕的人，

by focusing on the depressing aspects of things.

因为他们只关注事情令人沮丧的一面。

Americans,

美国人，

on the other hand, 表達脈絡

另一方面，

are typically seen as optimists who tend to sugar coat things,

通常被视为乐观主义者，倾向于美化事物，

make things seem better than they really are.

让事情看起来比实际更好。

According to Hannah,

根据 Hannah 的说法，

many Americans are hyper optimistic.

许多美国人是极度乐观的（hyper optimistic）。

She uses the prefix hyper to say that there is too much of a certain quality. 用詞

她使用前缀 hyper- 来表示某种特质过多。

Hypersensitive people are too sensitive.

极度敏感（Hypersensitive）的人就是太敏感了。

A hyper optimist is too optimistic.

极度乐观（hyper optimist）就是太乐观了。

Besides your country of birth,

除了你的出生国，

age is another consideration in the optimism debate.

年龄是乐观辩论中的另一个考量因素。

When we're young,

当我们年轻时，

we have our whole life ahead of us, 習語

我们的整个人生都在前面，

and it's easier to optimistically believe that everything's going to be all right.

很容易乐观地相信一切都会好起来的。

The belief that everything's going to be fine is called the optimism bias. 文化背景

相信一切都会好的这种信念被称为乐观偏见（optimism bias）。

It isn't fixed, 表達脈絡

它不是固定不变的，

but changes as we age,

而是随着我们的年龄增长而变化，

something neuroscientist Professor Tali Sharot explained to BBC World Service program Crowd Science.

神经科学家 Tali Sharot 教授在 BBC 世界服务节目 Crowd Science 中对此做了解释。

So it's quite high in kids and teenagers.

所以它在儿童和青少年中相当高。

They think,

他们会想，

oh,

噢，

everything's going to be fine,

一切都会好起来的，

you know.

你懂的。

And then it goes down,

然后它就开始下降，

down,

下降，

down,

下降，

and it hits rock bottom in your midlife, 習語

在你中年时跌至谷底（hits rock bottom），

at which point the optimism bias is relatively small, 表達脈絡

此时的乐观偏见相对较小，

and then it starts climbing up again, 短語動詞

然后它又开始回升，

and it's quite high in the elderly population,

在老年人群中相当高，

and that goes absolutely against our view of the grumpy old man or woman. 講解

这完全打破了我们对脾气暴躁的老爷爷或老奶奶的看法。

After starting out high in children,

乐观偏见在儿童时期很高之后，

the optimism bias hits rock bottom,

会跌至谷底，

the lowest possible level in middle age,

在中年时达到可能的最低水平，

often because of work pressures,

通常是因为工作压力、

family responsibilities,

家庭责任、

or caring for elderly parents.

或照顾年迈的父母。

But optimism seems to increase again as we get older.

但随着我们变老，乐观情绪似乎又增加了。

This is surprising as it goes against the image we have of the grumpy old man,

这很令人惊讶，因为它违背了我们对“脾气暴躁的老头”（grumpy old man）的印象，

a phrase to describe someone who complains a lot,

这个短语用来形容经常抱怨、

is moody,

喜怒无常、

and gets easily annoyed.

而且容易惹恼别人的人。

Optimistic women,

乐观的女性，

meanwhile,

与此同时，

can look forward to longer, 短語動詞

可以期待更长寿、

healthier lives.

更健康的生活。

Good news for you,

这对你来说是个好消息，

then,

那么，

Sam.

Sam。

But I'm sticking with my pessimism. 短語動詞

但我还是要坚持我的悲观主义。

If I anticipate things going wrong, 短語搭配

如果我预料到事情会出错，

then I don't get disappointed when they do.

那么当它们真的出错时，我就不会失望。

That's actually a fairly positive way of looking at things, 短語搭配

这实际上是一种相当积极的看待事物的方式，

Neil,

Neil，

but I'm not sure if most people would agree with you,

但我不确定是否大多数人都会同意你的观点，

or maybe they would.

或者也许他们会同意。

It depends on the answer to your question. 短語搭配

这取决于你那个问题的答案。

Right.

对。

I asked Sam,

我问了 Sam，

what proportion of British people describe themselves as optimistic?

有多大比例的英国人认为自己是乐观的？

And optimistically,

而我乐观地，

I said it was C,

回答是 C，

80%.

80%。

Which was the correct answer.

也就是正确答案。

Of course it was.

当然是了。

Whether you expect good or bad things to happen to you, 語法

无论你预期会发生好事还是坏事，

you're probably right.

你可能都是对的。

So why not focus on the sunny side of life, 習語

所以为什么不关注生活中阳光的一面呢，

Neil?

Neil？

That way you've got nothing to lose. 短語搭配

那样你什么都不会失去。

Okay,

好了，

let's recap the vocabulary from this program,

让我们回顾一下本期节目的词汇，

Sam.

Sam。

You're certainly a glass half full person,

你绝对是个“半杯水是满的”那种人（glass half full person），

someone with an optimistic attitude to life.

对生活持乐观态度的人。

And you're something of a Debbie Downer,

而你有点像个 Debbie Downer，

American slang for someone who brings everyone down 短語動詞

这是美国俚语，形容那种让所有人都扫兴的人，

by talking about the negative side of things.

因为他总是谈论事情消极的一面。

If you sugar coat something,

如果你对某事进行糖衣包装（sugar coat），

you make it appear more positive than it really is.

你就是让它看起来比实际更积极。

The prefix hyper is used before an adjective to show having too much of that quality.

前缀 hyper 用在形容词前，表示拥有过多的某种特质。

For example,

例如，

hypercritical means being too critical.

吹毛求疵（hypercritical）的意思是过于挑剔。

If something hits rock bottom,

如果某事跌入谷底（hits rock bottom），

it reaches its lowest possible level.

它就达到了可能达到的最低点。

And finally,

最后，

the phrase grumpy old man can be used to describe someone who always complains,

词组“脾气暴躁的老头”（grumpy old man）可用来形容总是抱怨、

is intolerant,

不宽容、

and gets annoyed easily,

且容易恼怒的人，

a bit like Neil.

有点像 Neil。

Huh.

呵。

Thank you very much.

非常感谢。

Unfortunately,

不幸的是，

our six minutes are up,

我们的六分钟时间到了，

but join us again soon for more trending topics and useful vocabulary here at Six Minute English. 短語搭配

但请很快再加入我们，在六分钟英语这里获取更多热门话题和实用词汇。

Goodbye for now.

暂时再见。

Bye.

再见。

Six Minute English from the BBC.

来自 BBC 的六分钟英语。