本能的第一反应
Knee-jerk reaction
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak,
大家好，欢迎收听地道英语，
I'm Neil and joining me is Feifei…
我是尼尔，今天和我一起的是菲菲…
Hello.
大家好。
I've got a medical experiment to perform on you in this programme, Feifei.
在这期节目里，我有一个医学实验要在你身上做一下，菲菲。
Righhhhht…
啊…
Come on – it's for our listeners.
来嘛，这是为了我们的听众们。
We've got an expression which means to react to something without thinking about it carefully first.
我们有一个表达方式，意思是不经仔细思考就对某事做出反应。
So, come on, cross one leg over the other, like that.
所以，来，把一条腿放在另外一条腿上，就像这样。
What are you doing with that hammer?
你拿着那把锤子要干嘛？
Keep calm –
淡定，
it's OK, I'm not going to hurt you.
没事的，我不会伤害你的。
And I'll just tap your knee…
我会轻轻地敲打你的膝盖…
And… it worked!
嗯…有效果了！
Yes Neil, well done.
是的尼尔，做得好。
You've just tested my reflexes.
你刚只是在测试我的条件反射。
When you hit my knee with the hammer,
你用那把锤子敲我的膝盖的时候，
my leg kicked automatically.
我的腿会自动踢一下。
I didn't even think about it.
我甚至都没有思考。
It was a knee-jerk reaction.
这是膝跳反应。
And in English we can say that someone has a knee-jerk reaction when they act after an event without thinking carefully.
在英语里，当有人不经仔细思考对一个事件做出反应时，我们可以说这个人有本能的第一反应。
Let's hear some examples of 'knee-jerk reaction'.
让我们听几个关于“本能的第一反应”的例子吧。
After the terrorist attack, the government should be careful to avoid a knee-jerk reaction.
恐怖袭击之后，政府应小心避免本能的第一反应。
A declaration of war could lead to even bigger problems later.
宣战将在之后引起更大的问题。
He left his wife after he saw her having a drink with another man
他在看见自己的妻子和另一个男人一起喝酒之后离开了她，
but it was a knee-jerk reaction.
但这只是一种本能的第一反应。
He'll be back.
他会回来的。
Putting up interest rates because of inflation is a knee-jerk reaction.
因为通货膨胀而提高利率是一种本能反应。
They haven't thought of the other consequences.
他们没有考虑过其他后果。
A knee-jerk reaction.
本能的第一反应。
Acting automatically,
自动地作出反应，
without thinking about the consequences.
而不考虑后果。
Let's try that again with the other knee.
让我们再在另一个膝盖上试试吧。
Here we go…ready and…
来啦…准备…
Argh – you kicked me in the face!
啊，你踢到我脸上了！
Sorry Neil –
对不起尼尔，
it was just a knee-jerk reaction.
这只是本能反应啦。
Ow…
哎呦…
Bye!
再见！