藝術家的腦部構造不同嗎？- 6分鐘英語：英語精讀講義

6 Minute English from BBCLearningEnglish.com.

來自 BBCLearningEnglish.com 的 6 Minute English。

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

大家好，這裡是 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，你會說自己有藝術細胞嗎？

Can you draw or paint?

你會畫圖或繪畫嗎？

Do you dance or play music?

你會跳舞或玩音樂嗎？

I play the piano a bit. 語氣意圖

我會彈一點鋼琴。

Yes, I'd say I'm quite artistic. 語氣意圖

是的，我覺得我滿有藝術細胞的。

How about you, Neil?

你呢，Neil？

Well, if you count playing football as artistic, 文法

嗯，如果你把踢足球也算作藝術的話，

then yes, but basically no,

那我是，但基本上不是，

I can't paint.

我不會畫畫。

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

我們一直想知道，為什麼有些人天生就比別人更有藝術天分。

So in this program,

所以在本集節目中，

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

我們要探討的是，藝術家的大腦和普通人不同嗎？

We'll hear two expert opinions and as usual,

我們將聽取兩位專家的意見，和往常一樣，

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

我們還會學習一些有用的新詞彙。

So what do you think, Neil?

那麼你怎麼看，Neil？

Are artists' brains different from other people's?

藝術家的大腦和普通人不同嗎？

I'm not sure, Sam,

我不確定，Sam，

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

但確實許多藝術家的行為與眾不同，

often in very strange ways.

通常舉止非常古怪。

For example,

例如，

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

你知道米開朗基羅工作太拚命以至於從不洗澡嗎？

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

或者吉他傳奇人物吉米·罕醉克斯曾在舞台上點燃他的吉他嗎？

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

我們很快會聽到更多關於藝術家大腦的內容，

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

但首先我有一個問題要問你。

As you said,

正如你所說，

artistic ability comes naturally to some people,

藝術天分對某些人來說是天生的，

including the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

包括著名的作曲家沃夫岡·阿瑪迪斯·莫札特。

Mozart was considered a child prodigy, 用詞

莫札特被認為是個神童，

a young child with very great musical talent.

一個具有極高音樂天分的小孩。

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

那麼，莫札特創作他的第一首曲子時是幾歲？

Was he A, 5 years old,

他是 A，5歲，

B, 10 years old,

B，10歲，

or C, 15 years old?

還是 C，15歲？

I'll guess he was A, 語氣意圖

我猜他是 A，

5 years old.

5歲。

Okay, Sam.

好的，Sam。

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

我將在節目稍後公布答案。

If artists' brains are different, 文法

如果藝術家的大腦確實不同，

it could mean they see the world in unusual ways. 慣用語

那可能意味著他們以不同尋常的方式看待世界。

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

蕾貝卡·張伯倫博士是藝術神經科學的一名研究員。

She investigates how artists see the objects they are drawing

她研究藝術家在畫圖時是如何觀察物體的，

by measuring saccades, 用詞

透過測量掃視，

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

即我們的眼睛從一個事物跳到另一個事物時的快速運動。

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

在這裡，她向 BBC 世界頻道節目《人群科學》分享了她的發現。

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

藝術家在處理視覺世界時似乎與非藝術家不同，

particularly when they're drawing.

尤其是在他們畫圖的時候。

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

藝術家實際上在觀察時採取了更宏觀的視角，

so they make bigger saccades,

所以他們的掃視幅度更大，

bigger eye movements,

眼球運動更大，

and shorter fixations on the image. 用詞

而且在影像上停留的時間更短。

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

所以這幾乎就像是他們獲得了更多關於

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

他們正在看的東西的主旨層面的視角。

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

蕾貝卡的實驗似乎證實了藝術家的大腦運作方式不同，

because of their processing of the visual world,

因為他們對視覺世界的處理，

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

也就是他們的大腦理解資訊的方式。

Interestingly,

有趣的是，

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

處理（processing）也指從底片沖洗照片的過程。

When they draw,

當他們畫畫時，

artists make bigger, quicker eye movements,

藝術家的眼球運動幅度更大、速度更快，

so they're able to see the whole picture, 慣用語

所以他們能夠看到全貌，

something also known as the gist,

這也叫主旨（gist），

the overall general impression of something

即對某事物的整體大致印象，

without focusing on the details.

而不去關注細節。

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

如果你明白了某人說話的主旨，

you understand the overall meaning of what they say,

你就明白了他們所說內容的整體含意，

but not the details.

而不是細節。

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

回答我們關於藝術家大腦問題的第二位專家是麥克，

a BBC World Service listener from Malawi.

一位來自馬拉威的 BBC 世界頻道聽眾。

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

麥克是一位自學成才的畫家，在他的工作室裡創作色彩鮮豔的大幅畫作。

According to him, 表達脈絡

根據他的說法，

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

藝術天分並不是與生俱來的。

It can be learned,

它可以被學習，

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

正如他向 BBC 世界頻道《人群科學》解釋的那樣。

I had this other student. 表達脈絡

我還有另一個學生。

He was like really at the zero,

他簡直是零基礎，

like he could not draw at all. 文法

就是他完全不會畫畫。

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

所以我給了他一些提示，一個月後，

he was like really good.

他就畫得非常好了。

He was like really surprised,

他當時非常驚訝，

blown away.

被震撼到了。

He never expected.

他完全沒想到。

So there are some things that are trainable.

所以有些東西是可以訓練的。

It's like a bike.

就像騎腳踏車一樣。

In my case,

就我而言，

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

我在沒有別人指導的情況下學會了做這些事，

you know, like

你知道，就像

if you are drawing the face,

如果你在畫臉，

a human face,

一張人臉，

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

你兩眼之間的距離就和一隻眼睛一樣寬。

Mike gives tips to his students,

麥克給了他的學生們一些提示，

helpful pieces of advice about how to do something,

也就是關於如何做某事的有用建議，

in this case,

在這裡是指，

to paint.

如何畫畫。

After getting Mike's tips,

在得到麥克的提示後，

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

他的一個學生確實取得了很大進步，畫得更好了。

Mike was blown away, 慣用語

麥克被震撼到了（blown away），

an informal way to say very impressed or surprised.

這是一種非正式的說法，表示印象深刻或非常驚訝。

Like learning to ride a bike, 表達脈絡

就像學騎腳踏車一樣，

Mike thinks that painting is trainable, 用詞

麥克認為畫畫是可以訓練的（trainable），

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

這是一個美式英語單字，意思是它可以被教授或訓練。

For him,

對他來說，

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

這證明了藝術家的大腦其實並沒有那麼與眾不同。

So there we have it, 表達脈絡

我們聽到了，

two different opinions,

兩種不同的觀點，

but no final answer to our question.

但我們的問題沒有最終答案。

Still,

儘管如此，

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

一些科學家認為可能存在第三種可能，

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

每個人大腦在工作時都會關注某些區域而忽略其他區域，

making a kind of jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces. 慣用語

就像在拼一幅缺失了碎片的拼圖。

Maybe all of us, you, me,

也許我們所有人，你、我、

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

莫札特和吉米·罕醉克斯都只是在用自己的方式填補缺失的碎片。

Speaking of Mozart, 表達脈絡

說到莫札特，

Neil,

Neil，

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

是時候公布你問題的答案了。

Right.

好的。

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

我問神童莫札特第一次作曲時是幾歲。

And I said he was 5 years old.

我說是5歲。

So was I right?

所以我說對了嗎？

Your answer was correct.

你的答案是正確的。

Mozart was 5 when he first wrote music

莫札特在5歲時第一次寫了音樂，

and by the age of 6, 片語搭配

而到了6歲時，

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

他已經在奧地利皇帝面前演出了兩次。

Now there's an artistic brain. 語氣意圖

這才是充滿藝術細胞的大腦啊。

Yeah.

是啊。

Okay, Neil.

好了，Neil。

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

讓我們複習一下這集節目的詞彙，從神童（child prodigy）開始，

a young child,

一個年幼的孩子，

like Mozart,

像莫札特一樣，

with a great talent in something.

在某方面具有極高的天分。

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

處理（processing）描述了你的大腦如何理解它接收到的資訊。

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

某事的主旨（gist）是對其總體理解，不包括細節。

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

提示（tips）是關於如何把某事做得更好的有用建議。

If you are blown away,

如果你被震撼到了（blown away），

you are very impressed or surprised by something.

你就是對某事印象非常深刻或非常驚訝。

And finally,

最後，

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

可訓練的（trainable）在美式英語中表示能夠被訓練或教授。

Once again,

再次提醒，

our 6 minutes are up. 片語搭配

我們的6分鐘到了。

It's goodbye for now.

現在該說再見了。

Goodbye.

再見。

6 Minute English from the BBC.

來自 BBC 的 6 Minute English。