耳蠕虫 Ear worms

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English: the programme in which we talk about a story in the news and learn some vocabulary while we’re doing it. I’m Alice and joining me today is Rob. Hi there, Rob.
大家好，欢迎大家来到BBC英语学习栏目六分钟英语，通过新闻中的故事我们来学习一些词汇，我是Alice，今天和我一起讨论的是Rob。你好，Rob。
Hi Alice.
你好 Alice。
Now, Rob I have a question for you. Any idea what an ear worm is?
Rob，我有一个问题要问你。你知道耳蠕虫是什么吗？
Eugh – an ear worm. It sounds like a nasty bug that burrows into your ear.
额，耳蠕虫。听起来像是令人讨厌的蠕虫通过挖洞钻入你的耳朵。
I think you’re thinking of an earwig. That’s a little black insect. I don’t think it necessarily burrows into people’s ears though thank goodness!
我认为你想到的是一种小虫，这是种小小的黑色昆虫。谢天谢地我不认为它一定会通过洞穴钻入人的耳朵！
Well that’s a relief! So what’s an ear worm then?
好呀，真令人宽慰！那么什么是耳蠕虫呢？
It might help if I give you an example. Here’s one you may know. Excuse my singing. (Alice sings a tune)When I hear this little phrase of music it sticks in my head all day.
我给你举个例子可能会有帮助。这是一个你可能知道的例子。抱歉我的歌声。（Alice唱了一曲） 当我听到这段音乐它就一直在我心头环绕。
I see. An ear worm is a tune, a piece of music you can’t get out of your head.That’s always happening to me. I hear a song on the radio and then I keep singing it all day!
明白了。耳蠕虫是一种曲调，一段你不能从脑海中赶走的音乐。对我来说，这种情况经常发生。我在电台听到一首歌，然后我就能一直哼一天！
I know the feeling. And the tune I was singing – do you recognise it? It’s long been associated with the BBC World Service. But do you know what it’s called Rob? Is it:a) Lilliputb) Lillypadc) Lillibolero
我懂这种感觉。我刚才哼的那段小调，你知道它吗？它一直和BBC世界服务联系在一起。但是你知道它叫做什么吗？LilliputLillypadLillibolero
I think I know what it’s called – but I don’t know why! And I’ll leave it to you, listeners, to make your own guesses.
我想我知道叫什么，但是我不知道为什么！我把这个问题留给你，让你自己猜。
And as usual we’ll find out what the answer is at the end of the programme. Now let’s find out more about ear worms.Psychologists have been doing some research into what makes a particular bit of music so catchy.
像往常一样，在节目的最后我们公布答案。现在我们了解更多关于耳蠕虫的信息。心理学家曾做过一些关于是什么使一段特别的音乐如此朗朗上口的研究。
Catchy – that’s a nice word. It means something that you can catch easily. Like the flu?
Catchy——多么美好的一个词。意思是一些你能够轻松接近的东西，比如流感？
Ha ha. Yes you can catch a cold or the flu, but a catchy piece of music means it is very easy to learn, and it sticks in your head for a long time. Here’s musician Terry Dobson with some good examples of catchy tunes:
哈哈！是的，你可以接近一场感冒或流感，但是一段容易让人接近的音乐意味着它很容易学会，很容易黏在你的脑海中很长一段时间。这里是音乐家Terry Dobson 列举的关于一些朗朗上口的音乐片段。
Even in the film industry - just a few notes, five notes – Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Jaws and 007 – only a few notes but those notes, you’ve only to hear them played by any instrument and you know instantly what the tune is.
即使在电影业——仅仅是几个音符，五个音符——《第三类接触》、《大白鲨》和《007》，这些电影中仅仅是几个音符，但是只要听到了无论是任何乐器演奏的这几段小旋律，你都立刻知道这段小曲。
Some great examples there of tunes which can become ear worms. You only need to sing about 5 notes of the James Bond theme and people will recognise the tune.And he also talked about the theme tune – that’s the main tune - for the films Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
这些小曲调中有一些能够曾为耳蠕虫。你只需要哼唱关于James Bond 主题的5段音乐，人们就能听出这段旋律。这位音乐家还讲到了主题曲调——是指主要曲调，比如电影《第三类接触》和《大白鲨》。
See if you can remember them, listeners. Musician Terry Dobson said you can hear those notes played by any musical instrument and you know exactly where the music comes from.In fact I noticed in the new James Bond film they only needed to play two notes before you recognise the music immediately!
看你是否认识这些旋律。音乐家Terry Dobson说，你可以认出任何乐器演奏的这些旋律，你就清楚知道这些音乐来自哪。事实上我注意到新的James Bond 电影中，他们仅仅需要弹奏两段旋律，人们就能立即想起这段音乐。
Am I guessing – du duh.
让我猜猜。
Exactly! Now let’s look at some of the science behind ear worms. There are two features which seem to be common in catchy bits of music.
的确！现在我们来看看隐藏在耳蠕虫背后的科学道理。朗朗上口的音乐旋律普遍具有两个共同特点。
Let me guess – repetitive sounds. And easy to remember tunes?
让我猜猜——重复性的声音。很容易记起的旋律吗？
Kind of. Long notes and spaces – what’s known as intervals in music – spaces which are very close together.Dr Lauren Stewart of Goldsmiths University in London has been analysing the features of very common ear worms:
类似。长音符和间隔——作为音乐中的间隔——那些紧密相连的节奏停顿。伦敦金史密斯大学的Lauren Stewart博士一直在分析耳蠕虫的特征：
A tune or a part of the tune that comes unbidden into the mind, and then goes on to repeat and it’s outside of your conscious control of it.Two features seem to be rather predictive of whether a song will get stuck – and that’s rather long notes and intervals that are very close together.So this is quite interesting because it obviously makes a song easy to sing.
一首曲子或者一部分曲调毫无阻碍的进入人脑，持续重复，是在你的控制意识之外的。两种特点看起来对于一首歌是否流畅具有一定的预测性——即是否有紧密相连的音符和间隔。因为它使一首歌更容易唱，所以这很有趣。
Dr Lauren Stewart talked about those two features which make pieces of music very catchy.Long notes and intervals which are close together. It makes them easy to sing.
Lauren Stewart博士谈论关于使音乐朗朗上口的两个特点。长音符和间隔紧密相连，使歌曲易于吟唱。
And she used the words conscious and unbidden.
她使用了词汇意识和未被要求的。
Yes – conscious - you’re not aware, or conscious about trying to remember or sing a piece of music.It just sticks in your head without you wanting it to. It’s unbidden – not invited.
是的，意识，你不知道或者意识不到在试图记住一段旋律。它仅仅是粘在你的头脑中，并且不需要你的需求，这就是未被要求的，未被邀请的。
Maybe that’s what makes some ear worms so irritating.
可能这就产生了一些耳蠕虫，让人非常反感。
Rather like an earwig climbing into your ear!
就想一种小虫爬入你的耳朵！
But why are psychologists investigating ear worms? It seems a strange thing for them to research.
但是为什么心理学家会调查耳蠕虫呢？对于他们来说，这似乎是一个奇怪的东西。
Dr Lauren Stewart says that ear worms have different effects on different people.
Lauren Stewart 博士称，一些耳蠕虫对不同的人产生的效果不同。
So what does it say about you if you can’t get the James Bond theme tune out of your head?
所以，如果你不能把关于詹姆斯邦德主题曲调赶出脑袋，耳蠕虫会告诉你什么呢？
I don’t know. Maybe that you unconsciously want to have a more exciting life!Now before we go – have you had a think about that ear worm that’s stuck in my head today? (Alice sings the tune) Is it called:a) Lilliputb) Lillypadc) Lillibolero
石头掉进河水里——噗通（不懂）。也许你无意识的想要更精彩的生活！现在在我们结束之前，来想想关于粘在我脑中的耳蠕虫是什么，它叫做：LilliputLillypadLillibolero
I think it’s c) Lillibolero.
我认为是Lillibolero
Well done! Lillibolero, has long been used as the theme for the BBC World Service radio station.It’s actually a march – a tune used for soldiers to march to, believed to have been written by Henry Purcell in the seventeenth century inspired by an Irish jig.
干得好！Lillibolero很长时间都被用于BBC世界服务广播电台的主旋律。其实是一段进行曲——用于士兵前进的曲调，应该是17世纪初由Henry Purcell 创作。
Well, don’t let it be said that you don’t learn anything on 6 Minute English!
不要告诉我你从六分钟英语中啥也没有学到！
Now, time for a recap of some of the words we heard in today’s programme.
现在来回顾一下我们今天听到的词汇。
They are: ear worm, stick in my head, can’t get out of your head, catchy, theme tune, note, conscious, unbidden
它们是：耳蠕虫、粘在脑子中、赶不出脑袋、引人注意的、主题曲、音符、意识、未被邀请的。
Join us again soon for more 6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com.
期待再一次加入我们的BBC六分钟英语。
And don’t forget to find us on Facebook and Twitter.
不要忘记从脸书和推特上找到我们。
Bye for now.
拜拜。
Bye.
再见。