青少年的大脑 The teenage brain

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Neil…
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语。我是尼尔。
… and I’m Rob. Hello.
大家好，我是罗伯。
Hello, Rob.I like your new hoody.
你好，罗伯。我喜欢你的新卫衣。
Oh, right! Thanks a lot. A hoody is a sweatshirt with a hood, by the way.You don’t think I’m too old for hoodies, do you?
噢，谢谢。顺便说一下，卫衣是指带帽子的运动衫。你不觉得我年纪太大不适合穿卫衣了吗？
Never. No, no. You too old? Never, Rob!It’s all about how young you feel inside, isn’t it?
不，不。你太老了？你才不老，罗伯。最重要的是你的内心有多年轻，不是吗？
Is that right? Well, I don’t feel a day over sixteen, Neil.
是吗？好吧，我从来没觉得自己超过16岁。
Excellent! Now, that might help you because in this programme we’re talking about the teenage brain!So, are you ready for today’s quiz question, Rob?
很好。今天的节目我们要讨论青少年的大脑，有可能会帮到你。准备好回答今天的问题了吗？
Yes, I am Neil. Fire away.
准备好了，尼尔，开始问吧。
OK. What part of the brain is connected with basic emotions?Is it the…a) prefrontal cortex?b) cerebral cortex?or c) limbic sytem?
好的。大脑的哪部分影响着最基本的情绪？a) 前额皮质？b) 大脑皮层？还是 c)大脑边缘系统 ?
OK. I was terrible at biology – I never listened in class.So I’m going to have to take a guess and say the answer is a) prefrontal cortex.
我生物非常差，从来没听过课。我猜一下吧，我选a) 前额皮质。
OK, well. We’ll find out if that’s the right answer at the end of the programme. Now Rob, were you a well-behaved student?
好的，节目的最后我们再看你回答得是否正确。罗伯，你之前是行为端正的乖学生吗？
Well, I wasn’t badly behaved.But we had a horrible school uniform and sometimes I got detention just for having my shirt hanging out.
是的，从来没有举止恶劣。但是我们的校服非常丑，有时我会因为在校园不穿校服而被留校。
Well, that’s pretty harsh!Detention means having to stay at school after the day to do extra work.
那太严格了。留校是指放学后不得不留在学校做额外的事。
Yes it was a punishment for doing something wrong. Now some people think that typical teenage behaviour such as embarrassment, anxiety, mood swings and risk taking is caused by changing hormones.
是的，这是做错事的一种惩罚。如今一些人们认为，典型的青少年行为，如尴尬、烦躁、情绪波动、爱冒险是因为荷尔蒙的变化。
Mood swings are sudden changes of mood and hormones are chemicals in the body that stimulate cells and organs into action.
情绪波动是指情绪突然改变，荷尔蒙是身体中的化学物质，刺激细胞和器官的运动。
Yes. I bet you were a moody teenager, Neil!
没错。我打赌你曾经肯定是个情绪化的少年。
I might have been (in a teenage voice)… no, let’s not go there, Rob. Now, apparently, it’s not only our hormones that change when we reach adolescence – that’s the age when we start changing into an adult.
也许是吧。好了，罗伯，不要说这些了。显然，我们步入青春期，或者说我们开始步入成年，不仅是荷尔蒙改变了。
That’s right. According to scientific research, some teenage behaviour is probably caused by changes in the brain.Let’s listen to Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore talking about this.What’s the phrase she uses to mean ’to enjoy’?
没错。根据科学研究，一些青少年的行为举止可能是因为大脑的变化。听听萨拉杰恩布莱克摩尔教授对此事的看法。她用了什么词来表示“喜欢某事”。
There’s a pretty established theory of risk taking – the biological basis of risk taking– which is that two different systems in the brain developed at different rates. The parts of the brain called the limbic system,which includes the regions of the brain that give you a rewarding feeling out of taking a risk, a kind of kick out of taking a risk, and an emotion out of taking a risk,are developing more quickly than the part of the brain called the pre-frontal cortex, which inhibits risk taking.
目前已有关于青少年热爱冒险的理论，即其生物学基础，大脑中两个不同的系统以不同的速度发展。大脑中的那部分系统叫做大脑边缘系统，会给你冒险后的回馈反应，喜欢冒险的感觉及冒险的情绪。大脑边缘系统的发展远远快于抑制冒险情绪的前额皮质的发展。
So what risks do teenagers typically take?
青少年经常会冒什么险呢？
Well. The things most parents worry about, such as drinking, smoking, possibly taking drugs, and driving too fast.
一些父母们经常担心的事，如喝酒、抽烟、还有可能吸毒、飙车。
And the reason that they take these risks might be because the area of the brain that rewards risk-taking behaviour develops more quickly than the area of the brain that inhibits – or slows down – risk-taking behaviour.
他们冒险的原因也许是因为大脑中鼓励冒险行为的系统发展的比抑制冒险行为的系统快。
And what was the phrase she used to mean ’enjoy something’?
那她使用了哪个短语表示“喜欢某事”？
It was to get a kick out of something. Teenagers ’get a kick out of’ and are rewarded for taking risks by one part of the brain – the limbic system – while the other part – the pre-frontal cortex – does little to slow things down.
因某事而感到愉悦。青少年会因为冒险而感到愉悦和满足，因为大脑中的边缘系统，而另一部分系统，前额皮质会抑制冒险情绪的发展。
Well, that sounds more fun than being an adult.But actually, we often give teenagers a hard time. Let’s hear more about this from Sarah-Jayne.
这比成年人有趣多了。但是外界也总为难青少年。我们来听听萨拉教授所说的。
Something that I’ve noticed since working with teenagers is that they are the butt of many jokes. And they’re parodied left, right and centre. They’re demonized in newspapers.And whenever I tweet anything about the teenage brain – which I do quite frequently– invariably, inevitably, I’ll get a reply from someone saying, ’Oh, what, teenagers actually have brains?’
自从接触了与青少年有关的工作后，我意识到他们总是嘲笑的对象。他们被到处模仿。一些报纸杂志甚而将他们妖魔化。无论何时我在推特上推送一些关于青少年大脑的文章，我也经常这么做，不约而同地，无可避免地总有一些人会回复“哈，青少年有脑子吗？”
Now of course some teenagers are very brainy – brainy is another way of saying clever.I know young people who are brilliant at maths, art and science.
当然一些青少年是很有头脑的，也就是说很聪明。我知道一些年轻人在数学、艺术和科学方面很有造诣。
But we heard Sarah-Jayne describe teenagers as being the butt of a joke – that means to be its target.And if you parody someone you copy their style in an exaggerated way to make people laugh.
我们听到萨拉教授刚刚提到的，青少年经常成为嘲笑的对象，也就是受攻击的对象。以夸张的方式模仿一个人的风格以哗众取宠。
And to demonize a person or a group means to talk about them as if they were evil or threatening.Poor teenagers, Rob!
妖魔化一个人或一个组织是说将他们视为邪恶的力量或威胁。可怜的青少年。
Oh, don’t worry, Neil – they’ll grow up and be like us one day!And now it’s time to hear the answer to today’s quiz question.
不用担心，他们也会长大，成为如我们一般的成年人。现在来看看节目开头时提到的问题的答案吧。
Yes it is. I asked you, what part of the brain is connected with basic emotions? Is it the… a) prefrontal cortex? b) cerebral cortex? or c) limbic system?
好的。我的问题是：大脑的哪部分影响着最基本的情绪？a) 前额皮质？b) 大脑皮层？还是 c)大脑边缘系统 ?
And I chose a) prefrontal cortex. Was I right?
我选的是a) 前额皮质。对不对呢？
Well. I’m afraid to say, Rob, that you were absolutely wrong.
很抱歉，你回答错了。
Using the wrong part of my brain, obviously.
显然，我用错了大脑的那部分系统。
Yes. The answer is c) the limbic system.But don’t get too emotional about getting that wrongand instead, please remind us of the words we learned today?
正确答案是c)大脑边缘系统。但是不要因为答错了而太过情绪化，再来回忆一下今天学习的单词吧？
Good idea. We heard:
好的。今天听到的单词有：
Hoody
卫衣
Detention
留校
Hormones
荷尔蒙
Adolescence
青春期
Inhibits
抑制
get a kick out of something
因某事而感到愉悦
limbic system
大脑边缘系统
prefrontal cortex
前额皮质
Brainy
有头脑的
butt of a joke
嘲笑的对象
Parody
拙劣的模仿
to demonize
妖魔化
Well, that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English.I hope you got some kicks from today’s show! You can hear more programmes at bbclearningenglish.com.Please join us again soon.
好了，今天的六分钟英语就到这里。希望你喜欢今天的节目。登陆bbclearningenglish.com可以查看更多节目。下次节目再会。
Bye.
再见。