为什么城市让我们变得无礼？Why do cities make us rude?

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Catherine…
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语，我是凯瑟琳。
And I’m Neil. Do you know, Catherine, someone actually talked to me on the underground this morning!
我是尼尔。你知道吗凯瑟琳，今早有人在地铁上跟我聊天了！
No, really?
不会吧，真的吗？
Yeah.
真的。
Wow! I should perhaps point out that talking to someone you don’t know on the Tube is quite unusual behaviour in London!So, Neil, what did they say?
天啊！我也许应该指出，在伦敦地铁上跟别人交谈是一件相当不寻常的举动！所以，他们跟你说了什么？
Well, they said what a lovely day it was, great to see the sun shining in London – something along those lines.But it was actually nice to chat instead of sitting there with a frown on my face, fiddling with my phone.
他们说今天天气不错，看到伦敦阳光明媚心情不错，就类似这些话。相比坐在那，愁容满面，不停摆弄手机，这种聊天其实很不错。
Which is what you probably always do to pass the time on public transport, Neil.
这就是你在公共交通上度过时间的方式吧，尼尔。
Yes, it is - me and thousands of others.But it got me thinking… if it makes me feel better to talk to people on the way to work, why don’t I – and other commuters in the city – do it more often?
是的，我是，还有成千上万人也是这样。但这让我不禁思考，在上班路上跟他人交谈是不是让我感觉更好，为什么我，或者这个城市的其他通勤者不经常这么做呢？
Well, that’s a good question, Neil, and maybe we’ll find some answers in the show,because today we’re talking about why cities make us so rude.And I have a question for you: when we have a positive interaction with somebody, our body releases a chemical. But what’s the name of this chemical? Is it…a) melatonin?b) oxytocin?Or c) thyroxin?
这是个好问题，也许今天的节目我们可以找到一些答案，因为今天我们谈论的是，为什么城市让我们变得无礼。我有一个问题要问你：当我们跟某人进行积极互动时，我们的身体会释放一种化学物质。这种化学物质叫什么？a) 褪黑素？b) 催产素？还是c) 甲状腺素？
I don’t know, but I’m going to say a) melatonin.
我不知道，但我想选a) 褪黑素。
Well, we’ll see if you were right or not later on in the show.But did you know, Neil, that an organisation called Talk to me London has created these Tubechat badges that you can wear to show that you’re happy to talk to a stranger.Maybe you should get one!
好的，之后我们看你回答得是否正确。但你知道吗，一个名叫伦敦跟我聊天的组织发明了一些地铁聊天徽章，佩戴上徽章就表示你乐意跟陌生人聊天。也许你可以拿一个。
Yeah, maybe I should.But the thing is, people in big cities are often scared to start a conversation with a stranger because, well, you don’t know what might happen.
也许我应该拿一个。但问题是，大城市的人们经常害怕和陌生人开始一段对话，因为你不知道会发生什么。
That’s true.Now, let’s listen to Dr Elle Boag, a social psychologist at Birmingham City University here in the UK. She agrees that people can view cities as threatening places.
没错。我们听听伯明翰城市大学的社会心理学家Elle Boag的看法。她同意人们将城市视为有威胁性的地方。
When we step off the metro or onto a crowded city streetour brain becomes hyper vigilant to the perception of threats around us – we’re just one small person in a very large set of other people, in a large body of people.This then leads to behaviours that are insular and defensive.We’re persistently looking for potential threats around us,and this then makes us not give eye contact, this will reduce the likelihood that anybody will say hello. It’s a protective mechanism by which we can survive our journey to whence we’re going, which makes us all sound really really rude to one other.
当我们走下地铁，或走入拥挤的城市街道，我们的大脑变得异常警惕，感知我们身边的威胁，我们只是小小的一个人，置身于一大群人之中。这导致我们的行为变得孤立，富有防御性。我们不断在寻找周围潜在的威胁，这使得我们很少给予外界眼神交流，也就减少了跟他们打招呼的可能性。这是一种保护机制，通过这种机制无论我们去往何处，我们都能在路上存活下来，这也使得我们听起来似乎对他们非常无礼。
Dr Elle Boag there.And hyper vigilance means being extremely watchful of what’s going on around you.People can behave uNPRedictably, and like Dr Boag says, you’re just one person in a crowd of others and you just don’t know who might be dangerous.
上述是Elle Boag博士的看法。异常警惕是指我们对周围发生的事极度留意。人们的行为不可预见，就像 Elle Boag博士说的，你只是人群中的一员，你不知道谁是危险的。
Yeah, I see what you mean. And the fact we are constantly on the lookout for potential threats, well, it affects our behaviour.
恩，我明白你的意思。事实上我们经常密切关注着周围的潜在威胁，这也影响了我们的行为。
That’s right. And as a protective mechanism we avoid speaking to or making eye contact with other people. So we become insular – which means inward looking.
没错。作为一种保护机制，我们避免和他们聊天，避免和他人进行眼神交流。所以我们变得孤立，看起来不容易亲近。
It sounds awful! But actually, I know people who moved to London in order to be anonymous – to blend in with the crowd– and not have to talk to people!
这听上去很糟糕！但我知道一些来到伦敦的人，想要无声无名地生活，融入人群中，无须跟他人交谈。
Well, if you grow up in a small town, it can feel claustrophobic – which means not having enough space to feel comfortable. You know, you can’t do anything without the whole community knowing about it.You may have nosey neighbours.
如果你是在小城镇长大，会感觉有点幽闭恐惧症，也就是没有足够舒适的空间。你知道的，你做的事整个社区没有不知道的。你的邻居也许多管闲事。
And a nosey person shows too much interest in other people’s business.
多管闲事的人是指对别人的事太过感兴趣。
Now, it’s good to point out that people living in cities have stuff to do. And it’s not necessarily rudeness that stops people from chatting– it’s about efficiency – getting to work on time, getting things done.Let’s hear from Thomas Farley, writer and broadcaster, and expert on manners, for more on this.
所以居住在城市的人有事情可做，这一点很好。而且打断别人聊天未必就是粗鲁的事。这事关效率，要按时工作，将事情做完。我们听听作家、广播员加礼仪专家Thomas Farley的观点。
The cost of living in cities is higher, the success quotient is higher,it’s a place where you hustle to survive, and if you are not hustling, and I mean that literally and figuratively, you are not able to survive and thrive.So we often don’t have much time for chitchat. I think we just all need to be mindful that it’s not a deliberate disregard or somebody trying to be rude on purpose – it’s simply that people have a destination to be.
生活在城市的成本更高，成功系数也更高在城市你要拼命生活，如果你不拼，字面或者比喻意上，你都无法生存，活得更好。所以我们经常没有时间闲聊。我们都需要记住，这不是故意地漠视他人，或者有意无礼。只是简单地人们有自己的目标要达成。
So what does Thomas Farley mean by success quotient, Catherine?
Thomas Farley说的成功系数是什么意思？
Success quotient means your ability to be successful in work, relative to the average person, and Thomas Farley is saying that in cities people have higher success quotients.
成功系数是指你在工作上取得成功的能力，就一般人来说，Thomas Farley说在城市，人们有更高的成功系数。
Cities are also competitive places so people have to hustle to survive.Do we hustle, Catherine?
城市也是充满竞争的地方，人们必须拼命生活。我们拼吗，凯瑟琳？
I don’t think we hustle, Neil. Hustle means to work aggressively to make money.
我觉得我们不拼。Hustle是指为了赚钱有闯劲的工作。
We do have plenty of time for chitchat, though.And chitchat, by the way, means unimportant conversation. That’s what we do!
但我们有很多时间闲聊。闲聊是指不重要的对话。我们就是这么做的！
What we do isn’t chitchat, Neil!It’s highly informative and instructional!Now, I think it must be time to hear the answer to today’s quiz.Do you remember, I asked: when we have a positive interaction with someone, our body releases a chemical.What’s the name of this chemical?Is it…a) melatonin? b) oxytocin? Or c) thyroxin?
我们做的不是闲聊，尼尔！我们的谈话具有高度的教育性和指导性！现在是时候听今天问题的答案了。你还记得吗，我的问题时，当我们跟他人积极互动时，我们的身体会释放一种化学物质。这种化学物质叫什么？a) 褪黑素？ b) 催产素？ 还是 c) 甲状腺素？
And it’s a) melatonin – I’m absolutely sure.
我很确定是a) 褪黑素。
Sorry! The correct answer is b) oxytocin – a hormone commonly known as the love drug.It reduces fear, increases trust between people, and evokes feelings of contentment.
不好意思！正确答案是 b) 催产素，一种荷尔蒙，通常被称为爱情灵药。它会减少恐惧，增加人们之间的信任，激发人们满意的感觉。
Now, here are the words we learned today:
我们来看看今天学到的单词。
hyper vigilance
异常警惕
insular
孤立的
claustrophobic
幽闭恐惧症的
nosey
多管闲事的
quotient
系数
hustle
奔忙
chitchat
闲聊
That’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English. Don’t forget to 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。