你的名字是以错误字母开头的吗？
Does your name start with the wrong letter?
Hello. This is 6 Minute English. I'm Neil.
大家好，这里是六分钟英语，我是尼尔。
And I'm Sam.
我是萨姆。
Now Sam, I assume that you know your alphabet.
萨姆，我想你知道字母表吧。
Of course, Neil – you mean my ABCs?
当然，尼尔，你是说我学的A，B，C那些吗？
We learn that at a very young age, you know.
你知道的，我们在很小的时候就学了。
Sorry to sound patronising. But you do you know why the letters in the alphabet are in that particular order?
抱歉，这听起来有点自命不凡。但是你知道为什么字母表里的字母是按这种特殊的顺序排列的吗？
No, I don’t. That’s really interesting. Why?
不，我不知道。那真的挺有趣的。为什么？
I don’t know either, I was hoping you might!
我也不知道，我还希望你能知道呢！
But seriously, no one really knows how the order became established.
但说真的，没有人真的知道字母表的顺序是如何确定的。
However, some research has shown that if your surname, your family name, begins with a letter later in the alphabet, you could be at a disadvantage at school and in life.
然而，一些研究表明，如果你的姓氏，你的姓，以字母表靠后位置的字母开头，那你在学校和生活中可能处于劣势。
Before we get in to that though, a question.
但在我们开始之前，有一个问题。
Where does the alphabet come from in its earliest form?
最早形式的字母表来自哪里？
Was it… a) Ancient Egypt, b) Ancient Greece, or c) Ancient Rome?
是a)古埃及，b)古希腊，还是c)古罗马？
What do you think, Sam?
你觉得呢，萨姆？
Well, we refer to the English alphabet as having Roman characters, so I’m going with Ancient Rome.
好吧，我们称英语字母表有罗马字符，所以我选择古罗马。
OK. I’ll have the answer later in the programme.
好的。稍后在节目中我将揭晓答案。
In the BBC radio programme Fry’s English Delight there was a feature about the alphabet and how it can have a negative impact on your school life.
在BBC广播Fry 's English Delight节目中，有一个关于字母表以及它如何对你的学校生活产生负面影响的专题。
Can you remember all those years ago when you were at school?
你还记得你上学的那些年吗？
What’s the first thing that the teacher would do at the beginning of the day?
老师在一天开始时要做的第一件事是什么？
She would take the register – that’s what we call it in the UK.
她会登记——这是我们在英国的叫法。
You can also call it the roll call.
你也可以叫它点名。
Yes, this is when the teacher calls out the names of the students to check that they are all there.
是的，这是说当老师喊出学生的名字来检查他们是否都在的时候。
This is where the problem starts, according to, ironically, Professor Jeffrey Zax, from the University of Colorado.
具有讽刺意味的是，据科罗拉多大学的杰弗里·扎克斯教授称，这就是问题的所在。
The further down that list your name is, the less noticed you are by the teacher.
你的名字越靠后，老师就越少注意到你。
Why is that?
为什么呢？
Here’s Professor Zax.
这是扎克斯教授谈到的。
When it begins people are paying attention.
点名开始时，人们会集中注意力。
As it proceeds, first the people who are already called, they no longer have any need to take things seriously.
随着时间的推移，首先是那些已经被叫到的人，他们不再需要认真对待点名了。
And the people who are waiting to be called, their attention is wandering as well.
而那些等待被叫的人，他们的注意力也在分散。
And so as you make your way through the roll call somehow the intensity of the engagement diminishes.
所以当你被点名时，你的参与程度就会减弱。
So, what is the problem?
所以问题是什么？
Well, it’s a lot to do with paying attention.
这和集中注意力有很大关系。
This means concentrating on something.
这指的是专注于某事。
At the beginning of the roll call everyone is paying attention - they are quiet and listening.
在点名开始的时候，每个人都在集中注意力——他们安静地听着。
But after the first names are called, those students don’t need to pay attention any more.
但是在叫到名字之后，这些学生就不再需要集中注意力了。
So they lose a bit of interest in what comes next, and the students later in the list are also now distracted and the teacher, him or herself, is not so focussed.
所以他们对接下来所发生的就失去了一点兴趣，而排在人名单靠后位置的学生也会分心，而老师自己也没那么专注了。
And by the end of the list the relationship between the teacher and the students whose names are being called later is not as strong as those at the beginning of the list.
而且老师和点名靠后的学生之间的关系不像和名单靠前的学生之间那么紧密。
Professor Zax describes this by saying that the intensity of the engagement diminishes.
扎克斯教授通过说参与程度降低来描述这一点。
Diminishes means ‘gets weaker’, and the intensity of the engagement is the strength of the communication, the level of enthusiasm for being involved.
“减少”的意思是“变弱”，而参与程度就是交流的强度，参与的热情程度。
So this is the start of the disadvantage which can subtly affect students throughout their school years and after.
因此，这就是劣势的开始，它会潜移默化地影响学生的整个学生生涯及以后。
This was discovered after some research in the US in the 1950s.
这是在20世纪50年代美国的一些研究之后发现的。
So what were these disadvantages? Here’s Professor Zax again.
那么这些劣势是什么呢？这是扎克斯教授再次谈到的。
They were less likely to have enjoyed their high school courses, graduate from college if they applied.
他们不太可能享受他们的高中课程，如果申请的话，他们可以从大学毕业。
They were more likely to drop out.
但他们更有可能辍学。
They had first jobs in occupations that paid less.
他们的第一份工作是报酬较低的职业。
They were more likely to go to the military and they were more likely to have jobs whose prestige was lower.
他们更有可能参军，而且更有可能从事社会地位较低的工作。
So what disadvantages did they have?
所以他们有什么劣势？
Well, Professor Zax says that the research showed they enjoyed school less, were less successful academically and more likely to drop out of college or university.
嗯，扎克斯教授说，研究表明，他们不太喜欢上学，在学业上也不太成功，更有可能从学院或大学退学。
This means that they left the course before it was finished.
这意味着他们在课程结束前就不上学了。
And he also said that they were more likely to find jobs that had a lower prestige.
他还说，他们更有可能找到声望较低的工作。
This means the jobs weren’t seen as high status or desirable.
这意味着这些工作不被视为高社会地位或理想的工作。
Let’s listen again.
让我们再听一遍。
They were less likely to have enjoyed their high school courses, graduate from college if they applied.
他们不太可能享受他们的高中课程，如果申请的话，他们可以从大学毕业。
They were more likely to drop out.
但他们更有可能辍学。
They had first jobs in occupations that paid less.
他们的第一份工作是报酬较低的职业。
They were more likely to go to the military and they were more likely to have jobs whose prestige was lower.
他们更有可能参军，而且更有可能从事社会地位较低的工作。
Well, Professor Zax seems to have done OK. Even with that surname!
嗯，扎克斯教授似乎做得不错。即使他的姓氏是那个！
Indeed, I guess this doesn’t apply to everyone.
事实上，我猜这并不适用于所有人。
Right, well before we remind ourselves of our vocabulary, let’s get the answer to the question.
好的，在我们复习词汇之前，让我们先揭晓问题的答案。
Where does the alphabet come from in its earliest form?
最早形式的字母表来自哪里？
Was it… a) Ancient Egypt, b) Ancient Greece or c) Ancient Rome?
是a)古埃及，b)古希腊，还是c)古罗马？
Sam, what did you say?
你说是什么，萨姆？
Pretty sure it’s Ancient Rome.
相当确定，是古罗马。
What does your surname begin with?
你的姓氏以什么开头？
A 'B', actually.
事实上以字母”B“开头。
Well, you are wrong, I’m afraid.
好吧，恐怕你错了。
It’s actually Ancient Egypt – so well done to everyone who got that.
它实际上是古埃及——所以答对的人都做得很好啊。
OK, now it's time for our vocabulary.
好了，现在是时候回顾我们的词汇了。
Yes – to pay attention to something means to concentrate on something, to not be distracted.
是的，“集中注意力做某事”指的是专心做某事，不分心。
Then there was the phrase the intensity of the engagement, which is another way of saying the strength of the relationship, interaction and communication.
然后是“参与程度”这个短语，这是关系、互动和沟通强度的另一种表达。
And if your surname comes at the end of the alphabet you may find that the intensity of engagement with the teacher diminishes.
如果你的姓氏以字母表末尾字母开始，你可能会发现自己和老师的交流程度会降低。
Diminishes means gets weaker.
“减少”指的是变弱。
If you drop out from a course, it means that you leave it before it’s finished.
如果你退出一门课程，那指的是你在课程结束前就离开了。
And the prestige of a job is the respect it has.
而一份工作的声望就是它所拥有的尊重。
If it is seen as important or desirable then it has higher prestige.
如果它被认为是重要的或合心意的，那么它就有更高的声望。
OK, thank you, Sam. That’s all from 6 Minute English. We hope you can join us again soon.
好的，谢谢你，萨姆。以上就是本期六分钟英语的全部内容。我们希望你能很快再次加入我们。
Bye for now!
再见了！
Bye bye everyone!
再见，各位！