下巴
Chins
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Rob...
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语，我是罗伯。
And I'm Neil. Hello.
大家好，我是尼尔。
Hi there, Neil. Hardly a day goes by without hearing someone talking about some aspect of our bodies.
嗨，尼尔。没有一天人们不谈及自己身体的。
Do you know what I mean, Neil?
你明白我说的是什么吧？
Oh, yes, Rob. Almost every part of our anatomy seems to be the subject of endless debate.
没错。我们身体的每一部分都能引发无休止的争论。
It could be our stomachs and what we eat.
无论是我们的胃，还是我们吃了什么；
It could be our posture and how we stand.
我们的姿势和如何站立；
It could be our skin and how we should look after it.
我们的皮肤以及如果保养，都会引发热议。
Yes, I know, it gets very tedious – that means boring – so I don't really take any notice, as you can see!
恩，这些争论乏味单调，也就是说无聊，所以我真的不关注这些。
But there’s one part of our body you don’t hear much about – and that is the chin.
但是我们身体中有一个部分人们谈论的并不多，那就是下巴。
The chin? You mean the small bit of bone under the mouth?
下巴？你是指嘴下面那块小骨头吗？
It’s not the most interesting part, is it Rob?
它没什么意思，不是吗？
I mean, it doesn’t do anything, does it?
我的意思是，它没有什么作用，不是吗？
I must admit I’ve never even thought about it.
我必须承认从来没有考虑过这个。
What’s it for, anyway?
它到底有什么用呢？
Well, some people think it’s very useful for folding up large sheets and towels.
一些人认为下巴可以用来叠被单和毛巾。
You know, you hold one end under your chin like that with it…
把一端抵在下巴下……
Come on, Rob, you're not being serious!
得了，罗伯，你不能严肃点吗？
Of course not. But seriously, the more you think about it, the more interesting the chin becomes.
好吧，严肃地说，你了解得越多，会越觉得下巴很有意思。
You’ve still got to convince me, Rob.
那你得说服我。
A chin is just a chin.
下巴只是下巴。
That’s all there is to it.
仅此而已。
Not so fast, Neil.
别这么快下结论。
The chin may turn out to be a more important part of the body than you think.
下巴的作用比你想象得重要。
But before we get into that, let’s turn to the quiz.
说到这个之前，我们先来看看今天的问题。
Chin up, Neil.
振奋起来吧，尼尔。
A good phrase - it means stay positive and optimistic.
这个短语不错，它是指保持积极和乐观。
OK well how optimistic are you about getting this question right?
没错，对于答对这道题，你有多大把握呢？
How long ago do you think humans developed chins?
你认为多少年前人类才进化出下巴？
Was it...a) 150,000 years ago?
a) 十五万年前?
b) 2 million years ago?
b) 两百万年前?
c) 5 million years ago?
c) 五百万年前?
Hmm. I have no idea.
我不知道。
They all sound far-fetched to me.
这些选项跟我八竿子打不着。
Far-fetched means something is difficult to believe.
意思是很难想象。
But I think I’ll go for 2 million years ago.
但是我选两百万年前。
'B'. Okay. Well, we'll find out if you're right or wrong later on.
选B，好吧，之后我们再看你回答的是否正确。
But the first thing to say is that humans are the only animals to have developed a chin.
首先要讲的是人类是唯一有下巴的动物。
Let’s listen to Dr James Pampush from the University of Florida.
让我们听听佛罗里达大学James Pampush教授的观点。
What word does he use to mean it sticks out?
他用了什么词来表示突出？
Humans are the only animal that have a chin
人类是唯一有下巴的动物，
and by that I mean, you have this bony projection underneath your teeth that sticks out past your teeth on the lower portion of your jaw
我指的是牙齿下面这种突出的骨质结构，在颌下部比牙齿位置突出的那块骨头，
and it’s such an unusual feature, that in a way it sort of helps define what it means to be human.
这是一种特殊的特征，这也可以看出它对人类有什么意义。
So he used the word projection which means something that sticks out from the main surface.
他用了“突出”来表示某物超出表面。
And the word jaw is used to describe the lower part of the face, which the chin is part of.
颌是指面部的最下端，下巴是其中一部分。
So, we now know exactly what the chin is.
现在我们知道下巴是指哪了。
But why did it develop?
但是为什么会长下巴呢？
Now from what I understand, Rob, it has a lot to do with when humans started to cook their food, so the food they ate became much softer.
就我的理解来看，这与人类开始烹饪食物有关，人类食用的食物越来越柔软。
Therefore, our ancestors – that’s the people related to us from a long time ago – they didn’t need powerful jaws or sharp teeth anymore.
因此，我们的祖先，就是很久之前与我们相关的人类，他们不再需要强有力的颌以及尖锐的牙齿。
And, strangely, that made the jaw drop and produced that odd piece of bone we know as the chin.
之后，神奇的便是颌降低，长出了奇怪的骨头，也就是我们所知道的下巴。
But some time later the chin became associated with sexual attraction in men.
一段时间之后，下巴与男人的吸引力扯上了关系。
Males with prominent – that means easy to see - jaws were supposed to be attractive to women.
有突出下巴的男人对女人来说更具吸引力。
And men with small chins were thought to be unattractive or weak people.
下巴比较小的男人魅力缺失，甚至被认为虚弱。
They were even called chinless wonders sometimes.
有时甚至有人称他们为蠢货。
Chinless wonder, an interesting phrase!
蠢货，有趣的短语。
So, let’s have a look at yours, Rob.
让我看看你的下巴。
Are you a chinless wonder?
看你是不是蠢货？
Mmm. Looks pretty normal to me.
恩，挺正常的。
How about mine?
我的下巴怎么样？
Well, Neil, your chin is rather pointed if you don’t mind me saying.
如果你不介意的，我想说你的下巴非常尖。
But I’m not sure what that means, to be honest.
但是老实说我不确定这代表什么。
So, let’s move swiftly on.
我们继续说吧。
Let's hear what Dr Pampush has to say about this.
听一听Pampush的看法。
He uses a word that means this theory is likely to be true.
他用了一个词表示这个理论有可能是真的。
It seems plausible to me that chins emerged as some kind of feature and then later were selected to be sex ornaments.
下巴是某种象征，甚至后来成为吸引力的标志，这种说法在我看来似乎是可信的。
But not the presence of the chin but, rather, the shape of the chin being some kind of marker for sexual identity.
但并不是下巴的存在，而是下巴的形状是一种性认同的标志。
The word he used was plausible meaning something that is acceptable or believable.
他用了“似乎是可信的”这种表达，表示某件事情可以接受或可以相信。
The word chin has also given us some interesting expressions.
下巴有很多有意思的表达。
A double chin, for example, describes loose skin hanging beneath the chin which makes people look like they’ve got two chins!
例如，双下巴，下巴处松弛的皮肤使得人们看起来像有两个下巴。
It’s something that people don’t like and often try to get rid of.
这是人们不愿意或者极力想要避免的事情。
And then there’s the verb to chinwag.
还有个相关的动词，叫做聊天。
That means to talk a lot or to chat in a relaxed way with friends.
这是指聊很久或者与朋友轻松长谈。
A chinwag tends to be a conversation about things that aren't very important
这个词大多表示谈话内容不是很重要，
– but our conversation about chins is very important!
但是今天我们关于下巴的谈话是很重要的！
I guess so Neil, OK – so how about the answer to that question I asked you earlier?
我也这么认为。好了，回到节目开始我问你的问题吧？
I asked you how long ago did humans develop chins?
多少年前人类才进化出下巴？
Was it a) 150,000 years ago? b) 2 million years ago or c) 5 million years ago?
a) 十五万年前?b) 两百万年前? 还是c) 五百万年前?
And I said 2 million years ago.
我选的是两百万年前。
You know your chins, you were right.
你很了解你的下巴，回答正确！
Well done!
不错！
Chins really have been around for a long time.
下巴确实已经存在了很久了。
Now, before we go, it’s time to remind ourselves of some of the vocabulary that we’ve heard today. Neil.
节目结束前，我们也该回忆一下今天听到的单词了。
tedious
单调乏味的
chin up
振奋起来
far-fetched
八竿子打不着的
projection
突出
jaw
颌
ancestors
祖先
prominent
突出的
chinless wonder
蠢货
plausible
似乎可信的
double chin
双下巴
chinwag
聊天
Thanks Neil. Well, that brings us to the end of today's 6 Minute English.
谢谢。今天的六分钟英语就到这里。
We hope you’ve enjoyed the programme.
希望你喜欢这个节目。
You can hear plenty more on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.
登陆我们的网站bbclearningenglish.com可以收听更多节目。
Please join us again soon.
下次节目再会！
Goodbye.
再见！