我们有多诚实?
How honest are we?
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English, where we bring you an interesting topic and six items of vocabulary. I'm Neil, and joining me is Rob.
大家好,欢迎来到六分钟英语,我们将为大家带来一个有趣的话题,以及六个实用单词。我是尼尔,这是我的伙伴罗布。
Hello there! And today we've got six minutes to talk about honesty and how honest people are – particularly when it comes to spending money.
大家好!今天我们谈论的话题是诚实,以及人们有多诚实,尤其是涉及到金钱消费的时候。
So Neil – what's an honesty box'?
尼尔,什么是诚实箱?
Well, it's where you pay for something by putting money in a box – but it's up to you to put in the right amount.
这个嘛,就是你买东西的时候用来收款的箱子——但是钱的数量放得对不对就看消费者自己了。
A small business might use this method to take money for things like parking your car or buying a newspaper because it means you don't need a sales assistant.
一些小本生意会用这种方式收款,比如停车费、买报纸,因为这些都不需要专门的导购员。
But that means people could take a newspaper or park their car without paying anything!
但这也意味着人们可以买报纸或停车都不付钱!
An honesty box relies on people being honest. The adjective honest means truthful and not trying to cheat people.
诚实箱完全依赖于消费者的诚实度。形容词honest的意思是真诚的、不欺骗别人。
And the noun is honesty – the quality of being truthful. Have you ever cheated an honesty box, Rob?
honesty是它的名词。意思是真诚的品质。罗布,你有没有欺骗过诚实箱?
Absolutely not! I've never have!
绝对没有,我从不这么做!
Honestly?
真的?
Honestly! And to cheat, by the way, means to trick or deceive someone to get something you want. Honesty is the best policy, as they say…
真的不能再真!顺便说一下,cheat意思是哄骗或欺骗别人得到你想要的东西。俗话说的好,诚实是做人之本。
Which of course leads us on to our quiz.
这就来到我们的小问答环节了。
The 6 minute English quiz! Who said ‘honesty is the best policy’? Was it…a) Donald Trump b) Benjamin Franklin or c) Richard Nixon?
6分钟小测验!“诚实是做人之本”这句话是谁说的?A 唐纳德·特朗普 B 本杰明·富兰克林 C 理查德·尼克松
Honestly, Neil! Everyone will know the answer to that.
老实说,尼尔,每个人都知道答案是什么。
But do you know the answer to that, Rob?
那你知道吗,罗布?
Well, I'll have an honest guess. I think it's b) Benjamin Franklin.
呃,我会诚实地猜一猜。我觉得是B 本杰明·富兰克林。
Well, you might be right, but you might not – we'll find out at the end. I did like your use of 'honestly' there, Rob.
嗯,你的答案有可能正确,但也有可能错误。我们会在节目最后揭晓。罗布,我很喜欢你刚才的honestly的用法。
We can use the adverb 'honestly' at the beginning of a sentence to show that we're feeling irritated
我们可以在句子开头用这个词表达一种被惹恼的情绪,
– for example when your co-presenter picks a quiz question that's too easy!
比如当你的搭档选了一个太简单的测验题。
OK, OK, let's move on now and hear from Philip Graves, a psychologist, and author of the book Consumerology,
OK, OK.我们接着往下看,听听心理学家菲利普·格雷弗斯的看法。他曾写过一本书叫做《消费者学问》,
who can tell us about why honesty isn't always the best policy.
他在书中告诉我们,为什么诚实不是做人之本。
The question is not 'Are most consumers honest, the question is 'Are most people honest?'
“大部分消费者都是诚实的吗?”这个问题应该改为“大部分人都是诚实的吗?”
And the answer to that is 'no'. We have evolved with the capacity to be dishonest.
答案是“不是”。我们说谎的能力已经进化许多。
It's part of our evolutionary psychological make up – because if we can gain an advantage over the people around us, we have a greater chance of surviving.
这是我们心理素质进化发展的一部分。因为如果获得一种优于其他人的优势,就有更大的几率生存下来。
Now what's important in that is that we also benefited from being in a social group and that was important in our evolutionary past so there is a balance to strike
如今重要的是,在社会组织里,我们依旧能从“不诚实”中受益。社会组织在人类进化过程中很重要,
between the extent to which we can feather our own next, so to speak, and the risk of being ostracised by the group.
这么说吧,我们需要在,将自己美化到何种程度,和被集体孤立之间,把握住平衡。
A consumer is a person who buys things or services – for example, food or clothes.
consumer是购买东西或服务的人,比如买食物或衣服的人。
Or the use of a parking space – or a taxi.
或者使用停车位、出租车的人。
Now, if I park my car and don't pay for the parking space, I'm being dishonest, but I'm also saving money.
现在,如果我停了车,又不付停车费,我就是不诚实的人,但同时我也省了钱。
And Philip Graves says being dishonest is part of our 'psychological make up'. What does that mean?
菲利普·格雷弗斯表示,“不诚实”是心理素质的一部分。这是什么意思?
Our psychological make up is the way the human mind works – the way we think.
心理素质就是人内心的活动方式,思考问题的方式。
And it makes sense to be dishonest if you gain an advantage through this behaviour.
如果你通过不诚实的行为获得一种优势,那么你的不诚实就有意义。
So when you take something without paying for it, you save money you can spend on something else.
所以,如果你没有付钱而拿走了某个东西,你省下了这笔钱,就可以花在其他东西上。
So why do we place such importance on being honest then? – If we benefit from being dishonest?
那为何还要把诚实看的这么重要呢?——既然我们能从不诚实的行为中获益。
Because it's selfish behaviour – which other members of our social group won't like.
因为不诚实是一种自私的行为。其他的社会成员不会喜欢。
If everybody acted selfishly and dishonestly all the time, the world would be a very unpleasant place!
如果所有人总是都自私不诚实,世界就会变得非常糟糕!
Selfish – meaning only caring about yourself and not about other people. That's a good point, Rob.
Selfish,意思是只在乎自己,不关心他人。说得很好,罗布。
Yes, societies work better if people behave co-operatively – which means working together towards shared goals.
是的。如果人们配合得好,科学家的工作就变得轻松一些,co-operatively意思是为了共同的目标而一起工作。
So honesty really is the best policy then – at least most of the time!
所以诚实真的是做人之本,至少大部分时间是!
And now it's time for the answer to the quiz. Who said ‘honesty is the best policy’?
又到了揭晓测验答案的时候了。是谁说“诚实是做人之本”的呢?
What do you think, Rob?
罗布,你觉得的呢?
OK. Was it Benjamin Franklin?
是本杰明·富兰克林么?
And that was… the right answer! Maybe the question was too easy!
答案……正确!也许这个问题有点太简单了!
Benjamin Franklin wrote it in a book of proverbs called Poor Richard's Almanac between 1732 and 1758.
本杰明·富兰克林曾将这句话写进一本箴言集中,名字叫做《穷人理查德年鉴》,写于1732年到1758年间。
Other famous quotes include ‘There are no gains without pains‘ and ‘Have you something to do tomorrow? Do it today.‘
里面还有其他著名的格言,比如“一分耕耘一分收获”,“明天要做的事,最好今天就做了”。
OK let's follow Franklin's wise words and move right ahead with the vocabulary items we learned today.
好啦,让我们伴着富兰克林的名言,一起进入下一个环节,看看今天要学的新单词。
First up was the adjective honest – meaning truthful and not trying to cheat people – For example, 'Neil has a very honest face'.
首先是形容词honest,意思是真诚的,不试图欺骗别人。比如,“尼尔有一张诚实的脸。”
OK, then there's … um …. honesty and honestly… the noun and adverb forms. For example, erm…
然后是名词honesty和副词honestly。举个例子,嗯……
Honestly, Rob, hurry up and do the second item!
好了,老实说罗布,速度点讲下一个词!
OK, OK, I'm getting there! To cheat – means to behave dishonestly to get what you want.
好的好的,下一个!To cheat(欺骗)——意思就是常常喜欢作弊。为达到目的做出不诚实的举动。
My granny always used to cheat in card games. It was so annoying!
我奶奶以前打牌就喜欢作弊,真让人伤脑筋!
And I always used to cheat in spelling tests at school!
我以前上学时常常在拼写考试中作弊!
How dishonest, Rob! OK, number three. Consumer – a person who buys goods or services for their own personal use.
罗布你太不诚实了!好了,看第三个词——consumer消费者,是购买个人所用商品或服务的人。
For example, 'I am a big consumer of chocolate bars'.
举例,“我是一个巧克力消费大户。”
That's terrible English, Rob! How about – 'We asked UK consumers how much money they spent on food every month'?
罗布!这个句子可不太好!这个怎么样——“我们询问英国消费者他们每月在食物上花费多少钱。”
OK, I agree that's a better example. Anyway, I never consume chocolate. Right, Number four!
好吧,你的例子的确比我好。不管怎么样,我从来不吃巧克力。第四个!
Psychological make up – the way our minds work. The way we think.
Psychological make up心理素质——我们思维运作的方式,我们思考问题的方式。
For example, 'He had the psychological make up of a serial killer…'
比如说,“他拥有连环杀人犯一般的心理素质……”
That's nasty! Moving on – selfish – caring only about yourself and not other people.
咦,真不好!继续——selfish自私的——只在乎自己不关心别人。
You only made yourself a cup of tea – that was a selfish thing to do!
你只给自己到了一杯茶,真自私!
What???
啥???
It was just an example. You're not selfish, Neil. You're actually the most co-operative person I know – you're happy to work with others towards a common goal.
只是举个例子而已。你一点儿也不自私,尼尔。你是我认识的最配合的搭档。你总是很开心和别人为共同的目标而努力工作。
Not selfish then?
那我不是个自私的人了?
Never selfish. Always co-operative… And honest too.
从来都不是。总是很配合,而且还很诚实。
Great. Now, I honestly recommend that listeners visit our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube pages.
太好了。现在我要诚实地向听众们推荐我们的Facebook,Twitter,Instagram,以及Youtube主页。
You can co-operate with other learners in your common goal of improving your English! Bye-bye!
你们也可以和其他英语学习者为提高英语水平一起努力!再见!
Goodbye!
再见!