进化和焦虑
Evolution and anxiety
Hello. This is 6 Minute English I'm Rob.
大家好。欢迎来到六分钟英语，我是罗伯。
And I'm Neil.
我是尼尔。
Do you ever experience anxiety, Neil?
尼尔，你焦虑过吗？
Anxiety?
焦虑？
Yes, you know, a feeling of being really worried or nervous without any real reason.
是的，你知道的，没有任何真正的理由，非常担心或紧张的一种感觉。
Well, not really, but I know for some people it can be quite a serious problem.
好吧，真的没有，但我知道对一些人来说它会是一个相当严重的问题。
Well, anxiety may be a result of natural selection.
好吧，焦虑可能是自然选择的结果。
Natural selection? You mean, the principle behind evolution?
自然选择？你是说进化背后的观点？
Yes. The idea that life on this planet has developed as a result of random changes in biology over many many years.
是的。 那个观点是：由于多年来在生物学上的随机变化，这个星球上的生命已经进化。
So why have anxiety, that seems like a negative rather than a positive thing to develop?
那么为什么会产生焦虑情绪？那似乎是产生的一种消极事物而非积极事物。
Well, we’ll find out more in this programme, but before we do, a quiz.
好吧，我们将会在节目中找到更多，但在我们做那之前是测验问题。
Charles Darwin is famous for describing evolution by natural selection.
查尔斯·达尔文因通过自然选择描述进化而闻名。
What was the name of the ship he travelled on when he made his discoveries?
当他进行研究发现时，他所乘船只的名字是什么？
Was it: a) HMS Beagle b) HMS Badger, or c) HMS Bear?
它是：a）“小猎犬号”（贝格尔号） b）“獾号”，还是c）“熊号”？
What do you think, Neil?
你觉得呢，尼尔？
Well, I’m pretty sure I know this one, so I’m not going to give away the answer just yet.
我相当确定自己知道这个的答案，所以我现在还不打算透露答案。
Well, you can let me know at the end of the programme, before I give the answer.
好吧，你可以在节目结束时告诉我，在我给出答案之前。
Right, Dr Randolph Nesse is a doctor and psychologist.
好的，兰多夫· 内瑟博士是一名医生及心理学家。
He has written a lot about how evolution has an impact on our mental condition, particularly anxiety.
他写了很多关于进化如何影响我们精神状态的内容，特别是焦虑。
Recently he spoke on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Start the Week’ programme about this topic.
最近，他在BBC广播4频道的Start the Week节目中谈到了这个话题。
Listen out for the answer to this question.
听听这个问题的回答。
How long did he treat patients at the University of Michigan for?
他在密歇根大学治疗病人多长时间？
Natural selection has shaped all organisms to have special states to cope with certain kinds of circumstances.
自然选择使所有生物体具有特殊状态以应对特定环境。
I treated patients with anxiety disorders for 40 years at the University of Michigan.
我在密歇根大学治疗焦虑症患者达40年。
It was only half way through that I started realising that anxiety is there for a good reason.
治疗到一半时间的时候我才开始意识到焦虑的存在是有正当理由的。
So Neil, how long did he treat patients for at the University of Michigan?
尼尔，他在密歇根大学治疗病人多长时间？
He says that he did that for 40 years, but it was only after about 20 years or so that he realised that we suffer from anxiety for a good reason.
他说他治疗病人40年，但在大约20年左右之后他才意识到我们患上焦虑症是有正当理由的。
We’ll find out that reason shortly but first he said that natural selection has shaped all organisms.
我们很快就会找到原因，但一开始他说自然选择影响了所有生物体。
This means that we are the result of natural selection.
这意味着我们是自然选择的结果。
It has made us what we are.
它造就了今天的我们。
And it has made us able to cope with different situations.
它使我们能够应对不同的情况。
To cope with means being able to deal with, being able to manage a difficult situation.
“To cope with”指的是能够处理，能够应对困难的情况。
And anxiety, if it’s not too great, is a way of dealing with particular situations.
如果焦虑不是很严重，那么它会是处理特殊情况的一种方式。
Let's hear from Dr Nesse again.
让我们再听听内瑟博士的看法。
Natural selection has shaped all organisms to have special states to cope with certain kinds of circumstances.
自然选择使所有生物体具有特殊状态以应对特定环境。
I treated patients with anxiety disorders for 40 years at the University of Michigan.
我在密歇根大学治疗焦虑症患者达40年。
It was only half way through that I started realising that anxiety is there for a good reason.
治疗到一半时间的时候我才开始意识到焦虑的存在是有正当理由的。
So why is anxiety a necessary thing, why is it something that, within reason, is not a bad emotion.
为什么焦虑是一件必要的事情，为什么在理性范围内，焦虑不是一种不好的情绪。
Here’s Dr Nesse talking about his patients who suffer from too much anxiety.
这是内瑟博士谈论其病人时谈到的，那些病人饱受太多焦虑折磨。
What you’re having is a normal kind of emergency response which is great in life-threatening situations but for you it’s a false alarm like a smoke detector going off when you burn the toast.
你所面临的是一种正常的应急反应，这在危及生命的情况下是很好的，但对你来说，这是一种错误的警报，就像你烤面包时烟雾探测器发出的警报一样。
And after that many of my patients said – ‘Oh, that makes perfect sense, I think I won’t need your help after all, doctor'.
在那之后，我的一些病人说：“哦，那很有道理，我想我根本不需要你的帮助，医生。”
So what is anxiety?
所以焦虑是什么？
Well, it’s your body reacting to danger, like an emergency response, a warning.
好吧，它是你身体对危险的反应，比如应急反应，警告。
In really dangerous situations, which could harm you or even kill you, which Dr Nesse describes as life-threatening situations, it’s a useful response to warn you to take action or to prepare for action.
在非常危险的情况下，可能会伤害你甚至杀死你的情况下，内瑟博士将其描述为危及生命的情况下，它是一个有益的反应来提醒你采取行动或准备行动。
But some people experience anxiety when there is no real danger.
但一些人在没有真正危险的时候会感到焦虑。
It’s a false alarm, like when you burn the toast and the smoke detector alarm starts or as he says, goes off!
这是一个错误的警报，就像当你烤面包时烟雾探测器报警，或者像他说的，发出警报！
And he says that some patients can feel less worried after that, when they realise anxiety is a natural thing.
他说当一些病人意识到焦虑是一件很自然的事情时，他们会感到不那么担心。
Let’s hear from Dr Nesse again.
让我们再听听内瑟博士所说的。
What you’re having is a normal kind of emergency response which is great in life-threatening situations but for you it’s a false alarm like a smoke detector going off when you burn the toast.
你所面临的是一种正常的应急反应，这在危及生命的情况下是很好的，但对你来说，这是一种错误的警报，就像你烤面包时烟雾探测器发出的警报一样。
And after that many of my patients said – ‘Oh, that makes perfect sense, I think I won’t need your help after all, doctor'.
在那之后，我的一些病人说：“哦，那很有道理，我想我根本不需要你的帮助，医生。”
Time now to review today’s vocabulary, but first, let’s have the answer to the quiz question.
是时候回顾今天的词汇了，但是首先让我们揭晓测试问题的答案。
What was the name of the ship Charles Darwin travelled on when he made his discoveries about evolution?
当查尔斯·达尔文进行研究发现时，他所乘船只的名字是什么？
Was it: a) HMS Beagle b) HMS Badger, or c) HMS Bear?
它是：a）“小猎犬号”（贝格尔号） b）“獾号”，还是c）“熊号”？
What do you think, Neil?
你觉得呢，尼尔？
Well, I’m pretty sure it’s HMS Beagle.
好的，我相当确定是“小猎犬号”（贝格尔号）。
Well, you are right.
好吧，你是对的。
Charles Darwin travelled on HMS Beagle.
查尔斯·达尔文乘坐“小猎犬号”（贝格尔号）出行。
Congratulations if you also knew that.
如果你也知道答案，那么恭喜你。
Now, on with today’s vocabulary.
现在继续今天的词汇。
We were talking about anxiety, a feeling of being worried or scared, a feeling that something isn’t quite right.
我们谈论的是焦虑，一种担心或害怕的感觉，一种觉得有些事情不太对的感觉。
Dr Nesse suggests that anxiety is a result of natural selection.
内瑟博士认为焦虑是自然选择的结果。
This is the principle of evolution whereby random changes in the biology of a living thing can make it more likely to survive in a particular environment.
这是进化论的观点，由此生物体在生物学上的随机变化可以使其更有可能在特定环境中生存。
These changes shape the living thing.
这些变化影响了生物体。
They make it what it is.
这些变化造就了生物。
They help it to cope with different situations, which means that they help it manage or deal with those situations.
它们帮助它处理不同的情况，这指的是它们帮助它应对或处理这些情况。
A life-threatening situation is a very dangerous situation which could cause serious injury or even death.
危及生命的情况是一种非常危险的情况，可能会造成严重伤害甚至死亡。
And finally there was the phrasal verb to go off.
最后还有动词词组“发出警报”。
For example, if an alarm goes off, it means that is starts making a loud noise as a warning.
例如，如果警报器发出警报，那意味着它开始发出响亮的噪音作为警告。
Right, before any alarms start to go off here, we need to wrap up.
是的，在发出任何警报之前我们需要完成今天的节目。
That’s all from us today, do join us again next time.
以上是今天节目的所有内容，下次再加入我们啊。
Look out for bbclearningenglish.
查找bbclearningenglish。
Bye for now.
再见了。
Goodbye!
再见！