叹气Sighing

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English – the programme where we bring you an interesting topic and six items of vocabulary.I’m Dan. And today we’re talking about...
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语。该节目会奉上有趣的话题，以及六个实用的单词。我是丹。今天我们要讨论的是……
Sighing. I’m Catherine.
叹气。我是凯瑟琳。
Now – was that a real sigh – or just one to demonstrate the meaning?
刚刚你是真叹气，还是为了展示它的意思？
That one was just for educational purposes, of course, Dan.
当然只是为了教学目的。
We’ll be looking at why we sigh, and learn how sighing keeps us alive!
我们将讨论叹气的原因，了解叹气是如何让我们活着。
Yes, very interesting. And it’s not just humans that sigh, is it, Dan?
很有意思。不只是人类会叹气，不是吗？
Indeed, most mammals sigh.And that brings me to today’s question.How many times does a mouse sigh in an hour, on average? Is it a) Twice b) 10 times c) 40 times?
没错。大多数的哺乳动物都会叹气。这也就引出了今天的问题。一只老鼠平均一小时会叹气多少次？a) 2次， b) 10次， c) 40次？
I’m going to say the poor little thing will sigh about 40 times an hour.
我觉得这个可怜的小东西一小时会叹气40次。
OK. Let’s find out if you’re right later on in the programme. Now, what is a sigh, exactly?
好的，之后我们再看你回答得是否正确。叹气到底是什么呢？
Let’s hear from Dr Lynne Barker, a cognitive neuroscientist from Sheffield Hallam University in the UK.
我们听听英国谢菲尔德哈莱姆大学认知神经学家，林恩·贝克的解释。
It’s a typically cardio-respiratory kind of resetting mechanism, and most mammals will engage in sighing of some kind. Because people who don’t sigh would eventually die.It is a survival mechanism.
这是一种典型的心肺重置机制，大多数哺乳动物都会这样叹气。因为不叹气的人会死掉。这是一种生存机制。
So sighing keeps us alive.
所以叹气让我们活着。
Dr Barker called it a survival mechanism. To survive means to continue living, especially in difficult circumstances.A mechanism, here, means a system of behaviour.
贝克博士将其成为生存机制。生存就是继续活着，尤其是在艰难的环境中。机制是指一种行为系统。
So, a survival mechanism is something the body does automatically in order to survive.But, Dan, why is sighing a survival mechanism?
生存机制是指身体为了生存自动做出的行为。但是，丹，为什么叹气是一种生存机制呢？
It’s because sighing can reset the lungs. To reset is to return something to its original settings.We often use this verb when talking about technology. You can reset a computer or a phone.
因为叹气会重置肺部活动。重置是指让某物恢复到原始的设置状态。当讨论科技方面时，我们通常会用到这个动词。你可以重置电脑或手机。
OK, that’s fine. But how does a sigh reset the lungs?
很好。那叹气是如何重置肺部活动呢？
Well, scientists from UCLA, that’s the University of California, Los Angeles, found that a sigh is a special kind of very deep breaththat keeps the tiny sacs of air in our lungs, called alveoli, working properly.
加州大学洛杉矶分校（UCLA）的科学家们发现，叹气是一种特殊的深呼吸，让我们肺部中微小的空气囊，也就是肺泡合理运转。
And without sighing, these alveoli would collapse and we would die. We need the alveoli to transfer oxygen from our lungs to our blood.
没有叹气，这些肺泡就会破裂，我们就会死亡。我们需要肺泡将肺中的氧气送至血液。
Thankfully, we don’t have to think about this need to reset our lungs.Sighing is in fact a reflex.
幸运的是，我们不需要特别考虑重置我们的肺部活动。叹气实际上是一种反射反映。
Boo!
砰！
Argh!
哎呀！
There – you jumped! And that was a fabulous reflex, Dan! It’s something our bodies do without thinking, something you do unconsciously or automatically.
你都跳起来了！这个反射反映太不可思议了。反射是指我们的身体不需要思考就做出的反应，无意识或自动的反应。
I meant… argh… like a man. Thank you for that, Catherine.
我的这种反应很正常。谢谢你啊，凯瑟琳。
You’re welcome.
不客气。
Do you sigh a lot?
你经常叹气吗？
Well, I sigh when I’m tired, and I sigh when I’m relieved.I breathe a sigh of relief.
我累的时候会叹气，解脱的时候也会叹气。我如释重负。
To breathe a sigh of relief – that’s a great expression.It means what you think it means – to sigh when you feel good that something bad has not happened– but it’s often used metaphorically.It relates more to the feeling of relief than the act of sighing.
如释重负，也是一个不错的表达。这是指当坏事没有发生，你感觉良好时会叹一声气。通常是隐喻用法。更多的是体现一种放松的感觉，而不是叹气的动作。
That’s right. Now, I breathed a sigh of relief when I found my mobile phone the other day.I thought I’d lost it.It was new.I was so pleased when I found it!What about you, Dan?
没错。当我第二天找到我的手机时，我如释重负。我以为我把它弄丢了。它还是新的呢。当我找到它的时候，我超级开心。你呢，丹？
I tend to sigh to show frustration. And sometimes resignation.
我叹气一般是因为沮丧。有时是表示放弃。
Now, frustration is what we feel when things aren’t going well, when things are annoying us and they don’t work. When things are frustrating.
沮丧是指我们感觉事情发展不顺利，一些事情让我们很恼火，以及事情不正常运作。这些事情令人非常沮丧。
And resignation is what we feel when we finally accept that something bad has happened, that we can’t change. We feel resigned to something.
放弃是指我们最终接受了我们不能改变坏事发生的事实。我们放弃了某事。
So, relief, resignation, frustration, resetting our lungs.It sounds like we humans never stop sighing!
解脱，放弃，沮丧，重置肺部活动。听起来我们人类不停的叹气。
Well, actually, we humans sigh on average 12 times an hour.But what about… mice?
事实上，人类平均一小时叹气12次。那么老鼠呢？
Well, I said, I reckon they sigh about 40 times an hour.
我认为他们一小时叹气40次。
Well, in fact, it is 40 times an hour. The hearts of mice beat faster – so they need to regulate their lungs more than humans.
事实上就是每小时40次。老鼠的心跳更快，所以它们需要比人类更多地重置肺部活动。
Let’s review today’s vocabulary.
让我们看看今天的单词。
We had the phrase survival mechanism.Something we do without thinking that keeps us alive.
首先我们提到了一个短语，生存机制。是指我们为了生存不用思考就去做的行为。
We often use this phrase, and the related phrase defence mechanism, when talking about what people do to cope with difficulties in life.
当谈及人们面对生活中的困难时，我们会用到这个词，以及相关的短语，防御机制。
Next, we had reset.You can reset a computer, or a machine – to make it work again. This usually means switching it off and on again.
下一个，我们提到了重置。你可以重置电脑或机器，让它再次运作。这就意味着关机然后再开机。
And you can reset a password – this is a little bit different.It means to set – or choose - a new password.
你可以重置密码，这有点不同。这是指设置或选择一个新密码。
We also had the word reflex. This is a physical action or reaction that you can’t control. For example… Catherine?
我们还提到反射这个词。它指你不能控制的身体行为或反应。举个例子，凯瑟琳？
Yes?
恩？
There, you closed your eyes. Another reflex.
你闭眼睛了。这也是反射。
And we had to breathe a sigh to relief. Which means to feel better after something bad doesn’t happen.I breathed a sigh of relief when my friend recovered from her illness.
我们提到了如释重负。是指坏事不会发生，让我们感到心情不错。当我的朋友康复后，我如释重负。
But we sigh for other reasons too.Two useful sighing words were: frustration and resignation.
我们叹气也有其他原因。两个和叹气有关的词是：沮丧和放弃。
Frustration is the state of being frustrated. We can say something is frustrating.It’s frustrating when the boss doesn’t listen to me.
沮丧是指垂头丧气的状态。我们可以说某事令人很沮丧。当老板不听我的意见时，令我很沮丧。
But let’s say you move beyond feeling frustrated and start feeling resigned.
我们从沮丧的感觉，转换成听天由命的感觉。
Yeah, and that would be when I finally accept the boss will never listen to me.And that’s when I’ll resign!
是的，这是指我最终接受了老板从来不听我建议的事实。这也是我该辞职的时候。
To resign also means to voluntarily leave a job! Please, Catherine, tell me that’s just another vocabulary example?!
辞职是指自愿放弃工作。凯瑟琳，告诉我这只是你为了举例子才说的？！
Of course it is, Dan. I love my job!I only ever sigh, what, 12 times an hour?!
当然了，丹！我爱我的工作！我每小时只叹气12词。
Which is perfectly average. And that’s it for today’s 6 Minute English.Please join us again soon.
达到平均值。今天的六分钟英语就到这里。我们下期再会。
And we are on social media too. Make sure to find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
我们也有社交媒体，记得访问我们的Twitter, Facebook, Instagram 和 YouTube。
Bye!
再见！