你是否相信阴谋论？ Conspiracy theories

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Alice…
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语。我是爱丽丝。
… And I’m Rob. Alice, I read in the paper recently that the substance called ’fluoride’ might be bad for our health.But it’s in nearly every brand of toothpaste, isn’t it?
我是罗伯。爱丽丝，我最近在报纸上看到一种叫“氟化物”的物质可能对我们的健康有害。但是几乎每一款牙膏都有这种物质，不是吗？
You shouldn’t believe everything you hear, Rob. Fluoride protects our teeth against decay.
你不应该听信所有听到的事情。氟化物保护我们的牙齿不受腐蚀。
But there’s a theory that drug companies are using fluoride to affect our brains… and make us all dumb…
但是有一种说法称制药公司利用氟化物影响我们的大脑，让我们变得痴傻。
That’s ridiculous Rob!
这太荒谬了罗伯！
Well… I’m not sure if I believe it or not. But it is worrying me.
我不确定到底信不信。但确实让我很担心。
Do you also worry that the moon landings never really happened?
你也为登月事件到底有没有发生过而担心吗？
It’s funny you should mention that because… yes! I wonder about this too… Apparently, in the 1960s television footage of the moon landing, the American flag is fluttering– and there’s no air on the moon so the US government must’ve faked it!
你提到这个真的很有趣，因为，真的，我为这个担心过。很明显，20世纪60年代电视上播放的登月视频中，美国国旗在飘动。但月球上没有空气，所以美国政府一定是造假了！
To fake something means to make something that isn’t true appear to be real.I didn’t realize you were so gullible Rob – and that means easily persuaded to believe something.
造假是指没有真正发生的事看上去像真的一样。我没想到你这么容易上当，就是说容易被说服去相信某事。
I just like to question things.
我只是喜欢质疑。
Oh, I see…
哦，好吧……
I have a healthy distrust of authority, Alice. And today we’re talking about conspiracy theories– a conspiracy theory is a belief that some organization or group of people is responsible for a situation or event through secret planning.
我对权威的不信任是健康的。今天我们要谈论阴谋论，阴谋论是指相信一些组织或群体在秘密策划操控某种局面。
We’ll talk more about how healthy this type of distrust might be later on in the show.But now please focus your intellectual powers on today’s quiz question, Rob.Around what proportion of the US population believes that the assassination of President John F Kennedy was not the result of a lone gunman?Is it…a) 6%?b) 16%?Or c) 60%?
之后我们再谈论这种不信任到底多么健康。现在把你的智慧投入到今天的问题上吧。有多少美国人相信肯尼迪的刺杀事件不单是一个枪手所为？a) 6%?b) 16%?还是 c) 60%?
I’ll go for b) 16%.
我选b) 16%。
Well, we’ll find out if you chose the right answer later on in the programme.But for now let’s move on.Let’s talk about what types of people are thought to be susceptible to – or likely to be influenced by – conspiracy theories.
好的，之后我们再看你回答得是否正确。但是现在我们继续谈论今天的话题。我们来说说哪种人更容易受阴谋论的影响。
The stereotype is of a loner, maybe male, middle aged, sitting in front of the computer.But in actual fact this isn’t true.People of all ages and from all social classes are susceptible to conspiracy theories.Lots of us worry that important things are being covered up – and a cover-up means an attempt to prevent the public from discovering information about something important.
一般人们所认为的形象是一个孤独的，也许是男性，中年，整天坐在电脑前。但事实并非如此。各个年龄段各个阶层的人都易受阴谋论的影响。我们中很多人都担心重要的事情被掩盖，掩盖也就是阻止公众发现一些重要事情的信息。
Let’s listen now to Professor Chris French from Goldsmiths,a college within the University of London, talking more about people who believe in conspiracy theories.
我们听听金斯密斯学院的Chris French教授的观点。金斯密斯学院是伦敦大学的一个学院，教授将进一步介绍相信阴谋论的人。
There are quite a few personality dimensions that seem to be related to belief in conspiracy theories and not surprisingly paranoia is one of them;also openness to new ideas – people who are willing to entertain ideas that are kind of off the beaten track. People who believe in conspiracy theories tend to believe in the paranormal.
人的很多性格特点和他会不会相信阴谋论有关，毫无意外偏执是其中之一。还有乐于接受新观点的人，他们总喜欢独辟蹊径的想法。相信阴谋论的人都倾向于相信超自然现象。
That was Professor Chris French.So he says that paranoia is a personality trait – or quality – that leads some people to believe in conspiracy theories.
上述是Chris French教授的观点。所以他说偏执是一种性格特点，会导致一些人相信阴谋论。
Paranoia is a strong and unreasonable feeling that other people don’t like you or want to harm you.
偏执是一种强烈的过度的情感，总是认为其他人不喜欢你，或者想要伤害你。
And ideas that are off the beaten track are those which are unusual and aren’t shared by many other people.
独辟蹊径的想法是指不寻常的，不被大多数人接受的想法。
Believing in the paranormal means believing in strange things that can’t be explained by science, for example, ghosts.
相信超自然现象是指相信一些不能被科学解释的奇怪事情，如鬼怪。
Ghosts, yes. Do you believe in them, Alice?
鬼怪。你相信有鬼吗，爱丽丝？
No, Rob, I don’t. How about you?
不，我不相信。你呢？
Well, maybe.
也许信吧。
Moving on.Most of the time believing in conspiracy theories is quite harmless and might even be good – because we shouldn’t just accept everything that we’re told. But there can also be serious consequences.Let’s hear more from Professor French on this.
我们继续说。大多数时候相信阴谋论也没什么坏处，也许还有好处，因为我们不应该听信所有被告知的事情。但是相信阴谋论可能会导致一些严重后果。我们继续听Chris French教授的采访。
Studies have shown that people are less likely to engage with the political process.People who accept medically based conspiracies are likely to avoid getting their kids vaccinated.And even terrorist actsit’s been shown that terrorist groups will actually use conspiracy theories as both a meansto get new recruits and also to motivate people to carry out extreme terrorist acts.
研究显示，人们很少在政治事件中这样。相信医学阴谋论的人可能会不给孩子注射疫苗。相信阴谋论还有可能导致恐怖行为，研究显示恐怖组织经常利用阴谋论雇佣新人，或鼓动人们实施极端恐怖行为。
So the toothpaste thing I mentioned at the beginning of the show is a medically based conspiracy theory?
所以我之前提到的牙膏事件是一种医学阴谋论？
Yes.
是的。
But more serious examples are parents choosing not to vaccinate their children against diseases because of unsubstantiated ideas that they are harmful– ’unsubstantiated’ means ’not supported by evidence’.
更严重的例子是父母不给孩子打疫苗抵御疾病，仅仅因为听信了毫无事实根据的疫苗有害的观点。毫无事实很据是指未经证实。
That’s right. OK, now remember the question I asked earlier, Rob? Around what proportion of the US population believes that the assassination of President John F Kennedy wasn’t the result of a lone gunman? Is it… a) 6%, b) 16% or c) 60%?
没错。还记得之前的问题吗？有多少美国人相信肯尼迪的刺杀事件不单是一个枪手所为？a) 6%?b) 16%?还是 c) 60%?
Well, I said b) 16%.
我选b) 16%。
And you were wrong today, Rob, I’m afraid.The answer is actually c) 60%. And this statistic comes from a Gallup poll from 2013 that suggests a clear majority of Americans still believe others, besides the gunman Lee Harvey Oswald, were involved.
今天你回答错了，罗伯。正确答案是c) 60%。这一数据来自2013年盖洛普民意调查，显示大多数美国人仍然相信，除了枪手Lee Harvey Oswald，还有其他人参与刺杀事件。
That’s more than I expected.But they might have a point.
比我想象的多。但也许他们的想法也很有道理。
There you go again… Come on, Rob.Now let me remind everybody what words we’ve heard today.
你又来了。好了，罗伯。我们再回忆一下今天的单词吧。
They are:
今天听到的单词有：
to fake something
造假
gullible
易上当的
conspiracy theory
阴谋论
susceptible
易受影响的
cover-up
掩盖
trait
特征
paranoia
偏执，妄想狂
off the beaten track
独辟蹊径
unsubstantiated
未有事实依据的
That’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English. Please join us again soon!
今天的六分钟英语就到这里。我们下期再会。
Bye.
再见。