你能保守秘密吗？⏲️ 6分钟英语：英语精读讲义

Six Minute English

六分钟英语

from BBCLearningEnglish.com.

来自 BBCLearningEnglish.com。

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. And I'm Beth.

我是尼尔。我是贝丝。

Can you keep a secret, Neil?

尼尔，你能保守秘密吗？

Or are you someone who spills the beans? 習語

还是说你是那种会‘泄漏天机’（spills the beans）的人？

That's an idiom meaning to tell people a secret.

这是一个习语，意思是把秘密告诉别人。

I'm pretty good at keeping secrets, Beth. 短語搭配

我挺擅长保守秘密的，贝丝。

Unless it's giving away the ending of a movie. 短語動詞

除非是剧透电影的结局。

I'm always doing that.

我总是干那种事。

Whether you find it hard to keep secrets 語法

无论你是觉得保守秘密很难

or take them with you to the grave? 習語

还是会把秘密带进坟墓？

Keeping secrets is often considered something bad.

保守秘密通常被认为是不好的事情。

But what if some secrets could actually make your life better? 語法

但如果有些秘密实际上能让你的生活变得更好呢？

Now, psychological studies are uncovering a more positive side to secrets, 短語搭配

现在，心理学研究正在揭示秘密更积极的一面，

suggesting that keeping good news to yourself can actually make you feel more alive, 講解

表明把好消息藏在心里其实能让你感觉更有活力，

especially if you plan to share your secret with someone later.

尤其是当你打算以后和别人分享这个秘密的时候。

In this program, we'll be discussing the advantages of keeping secrets, 表達脈絡

在本期节目中，我们将讨论保守秘密的好处，

and, as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well. 短語搭配

而且，像往常一样，我们也会学习一些有用的新词汇。

But first, I have a question for you, Neil. 語氣意圖

但首先，我有个问题要问你，尼尔。

One very famous secret is the recipe for the world's favorite soft drink, Coca-Cola.

一个非常有名的秘密就是世界上最受欢迎的软饮料——可口可乐的配方。

While traveling in Indonesia, 語法

在印尼旅行时，

BBC TV presenter Joanna Lumley believes she discovered the unknown secret ingredients.

BBC电视主持人乔安娜·拉姆利相信她发现了这种不为人知的秘密配料。

So, is Coca-Cola's secret spice

那么，可口可乐的秘密香料是

A) cinnamon, B) nutmeg, or C) ginger?

A) 肉桂，B) 肉豆蔻，还是 C) 生姜？

Well, I don't know.

嗯，我不知道。

So, I'm going to guess it's nutmeg. 語氣意圖

那我猜是肉豆蔻吧。

Okay.

好的。

I'll reveal the secret at the end of the program. 表達脈絡

我会在节目最后揭晓这个秘密。

This year, a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 語法

今年，《个性与社会心理学杂志》上发表的一项研究

introduced a new term to the discussion, positive secrets. 講解

在讨论中引入了一个新术语：积极的秘密（positive secrets）。

Here, the study's author, Dr. Michael Slepian of Columbia University,

在这里，该研究的作者，哥伦比亚大学的迈克尔·斯莱皮恩博士，

discusses positive secrets with BBC World Service program Newsday.

在BBC世界频道《Newsday》节目中讨论了积极的秘密。

Yeah, so what's interesting about the idea of positive secrets is, 表達脈絡

是的，关于积极秘密的想法，有趣的一点是，

you know, there's there's a set of them where the the plan is to never reveal them.

你知道，有一类秘密是打算永远不公开的。

You know, we might say a guilty pleasure is something we enjoy but don't want to tell other people about. 習語

你知道，我们可能会说‘内疚的快乐’（guilty pleasure）是我们喜欢但不愿告诉别人的事情。

And then there's other secrets that the whole point of keeping them secret is to reveal them, 短語搭配

然后还有其他秘密，保守它们的全部意义就是为了揭开它们，

you know, the surprising marriage proposal, the pregnancy announcement, 用詞

你知道，比如令人惊喜的求婚、宣布怀孕、

unwrapping a gift that you've that you've wrapped.

拆开你曾经包装过的礼物。

Dr. Slepian distinguishes between positive and negative secrets. 短語搭配

斯莱皮恩博士区分了积极秘密和消极秘密。

Negative secrets hurt people and damage relationships.

消极秘密会伤害他人并破坏人际关系。

They're like a guilty pleasure, an activity you really enjoy doing,

它们就像一种‘内疚的快乐’，一种你真正喜欢做、

but which also gives you a feeling of guilt or shame for doing it. 短語搭配

但做完后又会让你产生内疚或羞耻感的活动。

Positive secrets, on the other hand, include things like marriage proposals, 表達脈絡

另一方面，积极的秘密包括求婚这类事情，

the act of asking someone to marry you.

即请求某人与你结婚的行为。

Revealing positive secrets lets us share and celebrate those things with others. 語法

揭露积极的秘密能让我们与他人分享并庆祝这些事情。

In fact, the whole point of positive secrets is to reveal them.

事实上，积极秘密的‘全部意义’就在于揭露它们。

Here, the phrase the whole point

在这里，‘the whole point’这个短语

is used to mean the most important reason or purpose for something.

用来指某事最重要的原因或目的。

Because positive secrets give us the feeling we are in control of our emotions, 講解

因为积极的秘密让我们觉得我们能控制自己的情绪，

they energize us. 用詞

它们给了我们力量。

However, Dr. Slepian's research comes from the United States. 表達脈絡

然而，斯莱皮恩博士的研究来自美国。

Would the results be the same in other cultures and countries?

在其他文化和国家，结果会是一样的吗？

Here's Dr. Slepian again talking with BBC World Service program Newsday.

这里又是斯莱皮恩博士在BBC世界频道《Newsday》节目中的谈话。

Some cultures, it is said that if it's a good news, especially around pregnancy, 講解

在某些文化中，人们会说如果是好消息，特别是关于怀孕的，

don't share it till the time, you know, it's safe

不要在安全期之前分享它，你知道的，

because they feel that it may lead to some negative vibes, 短語搭配

因为他们觉得这可能会带来一些负面的影响，

evil eye as many people call it. 文化背景

很多人称之为‘邪眼’（evil eye）。

Is that also a part of what you found why people keep secrets?

这也是你发现人们保守秘密的部分原因吗？

Are there any kind of cultural influences when they keep the good secrets and the positive secrets? 用詞

当他们保守好秘密和积极的秘密时，是否有任何文化上的影响？

Yeah, it's interesting you bring this example because we're studying it right now.

是的，你举这个例子很有趣，因为我们现在正在研究它。

Now, um we have this intuition that pregnancy and secrets around pregnancy, 短語搭配

现在，嗯，我们有一种直觉，那就是怀孕和有关怀孕的秘密，

in early in early um in earlier periods,

在早期，在早期，嗯，在更早期的阶段，

that it looks more like a burdensome secret 用詞

它看起来更像是一个‘令人负担的’（burdensome）秘密

and then and when it's later and you know people feel comfortable discussing it more like positive secrets. 短語搭配

然后到了后期，你知道，人们觉得讨论它很舒服，那就更像是积极的秘密了。

In some cultures, secrets about pregnancy are related to the evil eye, 短語搭配

在某些文化中，关于怀孕的秘密与‘邪眼’有关，

a superstition in which someone causes injury or bad luck through a look. 語法

这是一种迷信，认为有人通过眼神就会导致伤害或带来厄运。

It could be bad luck to reveal a pregnancy too early, 語法

过早透露怀孕消息可能会带来厄运，

and Dr. Slepian calls these secrets burdensome, 語法

斯莱皮恩博士称这些秘密为‘burdensome’，

meaning worrying, troublesome, or distressing.

意思是令人担忧的、麻烦的或令人苦恼的。

It seems secrets do vary from culture to culture, 短語搭配

看来秘密确实因文化而异，

but what everyone wants to know is the missing ingredient in Coca-Cola. 表達脈絡

但大家都想知道的是可口可乐缺失的配料。

So, come on, Beth. 語氣意圖

那么，来吧，贝丝。

Tell us the secret answer to your question.

告诉我们你问题的秘密答案吧。

Okay.

好的。

I asked about TV presenter Joanna Lumley,

我刚才提到了电视主持人乔安娜·拉姆利，

who thinks she's found out Coca Cola's secret spicy secret ingredient. 短語動詞

她认为自己发现了可口可乐秘密的辛香配料。

Well, I guessed that it was nutmeg.

嗯，我猜是肉豆蔻。

And that was the correct answer.

这是正确答案。

Good guess, Neil.

猜得好，尼尔。

Traveling in Indonesia,

在印尼旅行时，

Joanna noticed lots of nutmeg being grown

乔安娜注意到那里种了大量的肉豆蔻，

and asked who was buying it, only to be told Coca-Cola. 語法

并问是谁在买，结果被告知是可口可乐。

Okay, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned from this program, 表達脈絡

好的，让我们回顾一下本期节目中学到的词汇，

starting with the idiom spill the beans, meaning to reveal a secret.

从习语‘spill the beans’开始，意思是泄露秘密。

A guilty pleasure is something you really enjoy doing,

‘guilty pleasure’是指你真正喜欢做，

but which also gives you a feeling of guilt or shame.

但也会让你感到内疚或羞耻的事情。

A marriage proposal is the act of asking someone to marry you.

‘marriage proposal’是指向某人求婚的行为。

The phrase the whole point of something describes the most important reason or purpose for it.

‘the whole point’这个短语描述了某事最重要的原因或目的。

The evil eye is a superstition in which someone causes injury or bad luck through a look.

‘evil eye’是一种迷信，认为有人通过眼神就会导致伤害或带来厄运。

And finally, the adjective burdensome means worrying, troublesome, or distressing.

最后，形容词‘burdensome’意思是令人担忧的、麻烦的或令人苦恼的。

Once again, our six minutes are up, but I'll tell you a secret. 短語搭配

我们的六分钟时间又到了，但我告诉你一个秘密。

You can join us again next time for more topical vocabulary here at Six Minute English. 講解

下次你可以继续加入我们，在《六分钟英语》学习更多热门词汇。

Goodbye for now.

暂且再见。

Bye.

再见。

Six Minute English

六分钟英语

from BBCLearningEnglish.com.

来自 BBCLearningEnglish.com。