Name: 【聽Podcast學英文】雙胞胎生活原來是這樣？學會相關英文用語！ (What's it like to be a twin? ⏲️ 6 Minute English)
Uploaded: 2025-08-31T21:01:20.000Z
Duration: 6 min 15 s

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

嗨。這裡是 BBC Learning English 的 6 分鐘英語。我是尼爾。

In this episode, we're talking about twins. Non-identical, or fraternal twins, come from two separate eggs and share half their genes.

本集我們將討論雙胞胎。非同卵雙胞胎或異卵雙胞胎來自兩個不同的卵子，共享一半的基因。

More uncommon are identical twins, who come from a single fertilised egg and share 100% of their genes.

同卵雙胞胎更為罕見，他們來自一個受精卵，共享100%的基因。

As humans, we're fascinated by twins. When people discover that someone's a twin, they start asking all kinds of questions. What question would you ask a twin, Neil?

作為人類，我們對雙胞胎非常著迷。當人們發現某人是雙胞胎時，他們會問各種各樣的問題。你會問雙胞胎什麼問題呢，尼爾？

Oh, probably quite an annoying one. Maybe, do you share each other's thoughts?

哦，可能是個很煩人的人。也許是，你們會分享彼此的想法嗎？

Ooh, I might ask, if one of you is hurt, does the other one feel the pain?

哦，我可能會問，如果你們中的一個受傷了，另一個會感覺到痛嗎？

Well, some common questions for twins include, Do you have psychic powers? Have you ever swapped boyfriends? And do you have the same dreams?

雙胞胎常見的問題包括：你有超能力嗎？你們交換過男朋友嗎？你們做同樣的夢嗎？

But according to Anand Jagatia, who presented a recent episode of BBC World Service's CrowdScience All About Twins…

但是，根據 Anand Jagatia 的說法，他最近在 BBC 世界服務頻道的 CrowdScience《雙胞胎全攻略》節目中...

If you meet a twin and you ask them one of these questions, don't be surprised if they roll their eyes at you.

如果你遇到一個雙胞胎，你問他們這些問題，如果他們對你翻白眼，不要驚訝。

Ask a twin about psychic powers and they might roll their eyes – a way of showing boredom or irritation.

如果問雙胞胎關於通靈能力的問題，他們可能會翻白眼--這是一種表示無聊或惱怒的方式。

But nevertheless, twins continue to capture our imagination and in this episode, we'll be finding out why, using some useful new words and phrases.

但儘管如此，雙胞胎仍然吸引著我們的想象力，在本集中，我們將使用一些有用的新詞和短語來找出原因。

And remember, you'll find all the vocabulary for this episode, along with a quiz and a worksheet on our website bbclearningenglish.com.

請記住，你可以在我們的網站 bbclearningenglish.com 上找到本集的所有詞彙、小測驗和工作表。

First, I have a question for you, Beth. These days, twins are more common than you might think. In fact, one in every 42 babies is born a twin. But do you know which famous Hollywood star is a twin?

接下來我要問你一個問題，貝絲。如今，雙胞胎比你想象的更常見。事實上，每 42 個嬰兒中就有一個是雙胞胎。但你知道哪些著名的好萊塢明星是雙胞胎嗎？

Is it A) Jennifer Lawrence, B) Angelina Jolie, C)Scarlett Johansson?

是 A) 詹妮弗-勞倫斯 B) 安潔莉納-裘莉 C) 史嘉蕾-喬韓森？

Ooh, I don't know. I'm going to guess Scarlett Johansson.

哦，我不知道。我猜是史嘉蕾-喬韓森。

Well, we'll find out the answer at the end of the programme.

Professor Karen Dillon is the author of a book on twins in American literature and a twin herself. Here she discusses the good and bad sides of twinship with Anand Jagatia for BBC World Service Programme, CrowdScience.

凱倫-狄龍教授是一本關於美國文學中的雙胞胎的書的作者，她本人也是一對雙胞胎。在此，她與阿南德-賈加提亞為英國廣播公司世界服務節目《CrowdScience》討論了雙胞胎的好與壞。

Yeah, it is nice. There's never that fear because you're going through school together, you're sometimes in the same class together, you're making friends together. So all of those milestones of childhood in some ways are made easier for twins.

是的，這很好。因為你們一起上學，一起上課，一起交朋友，所以永遠不會有恐懼感。所以，童年的所有這些里程碑在某種程度上對雙胞胎來說都變得更容易了。

But then the older you get, the more you realise how much people really think of you as a twin rather than as an individual.

但隨著年齡的增長，你會發現人們會把你當成雙胞胎，而不是一個獨立的個體。

Twins go through many childhood milestones together. A milestone is an important stage of development, so a childhood milestone could be something like your first day at school.

雙胞胎會一起經歷許多童年裡程碑。里程碑是成長過程中的一個重要階段，是以童年裡程碑可以是第一天上學這樣的事情。

But being a twin isn't always plain sailing – an idiom meaning easy and problem-free.

但是，雙胞胎並不總是一帆風順的。

Many twins find it hard to establish their own identity as a separate and unique individual.

許多雙胞胎發現自己很難確立作為一個獨立和獨特個體的身份。

Our fascination with twins also comes from the age-old nature versus nurture debate – how much of our lives is determined by nature, the genetics we're born with, and how much by nurture, the environment we grow up in. Because twins are so genetically similar, the differences between them tell scientists a lot.

我們對雙胞胎的痴迷還源於一場由來已久的 "天性 "與 "教養 "之爭--我們的生活有多少是由 "天性"（我們與生俱來的基因）決定的，又有多少是由 "教養"（我們成長的環境）決定的。由於雙胞胎的基因非常相似，他們之間的差異可以告訴科學家很多東西。

Here's presenter of BBC World Service programme CrowdScience, Anand Jagatia, discussing this with Helena de Bress, a philosopher at Wellesley College, Massachusetts. And that's right, another twin.

下面是 BBC 世界服務節目《CrowdScience》的主持人 Anand Jagatia 與馬薩諸塞州韋爾斯利學院的哲學家海倫娜-德-佈雷斯討論這個問題。沒錯，又是一對雙胞胎。

Yeah, you hear about twins that were separated at birth, grew up in different parts of the world and they kind of have these eerily similar life courses and you think, gosh, like how much choice have I had over the way that my life's turned out?

是啊，你聽說過一些雙胞胎，他們一出生就分開了，在世界不同的地方長大，他們的人生軌跡卻異常相似，你會想，天哪，我的人生軌跡到底有多少選擇的餘地？

Absolutely, yeah. There's that really famous case of the Jim twins who were reunited at age 39 after being separated at birth and they just had so many similarities, it was crazy.

當然可以有一個非常有名的吉姆雙胞胎的案例，他們在出生時被分開，39 歲時重逢，他們有太多的相似之處，這太瘋狂了。

They both married someone called Linda and then divorced each other for someone called Betty.

他們都娶給了一個叫琳達的人，然後又為了一個叫貝蒂的女人離婚。

They both named their dog Toy. It was like ridiculous.

他們都給自己的狗取名為 Toy。這簡直太荒唐了。

The twins Jim Lewis and Jim Springer were separated at birth. The phrase separated at birth can be used to describe two people with strong similarities, although in this case the twins were literally separated and adopted by different parents at birth.

吉姆-劉易斯和吉姆-斯普林格這對雙胞胎一出生就被分開了。出生時分離這個短語可以用來形容兩個非常相似的人，不過在這個案例中，這對雙胞胎確實是在出生時被不同的父母分離和收養的。

When the Jims were reunited in the 1970s, everyone was amazed at how similar their lives were. Anand used the adjective eerie, meaning strange in a frightening, mysterious way.

1970 年代，當吉姆一家重聚時，每個人都驚訝於他們的生活是如此相似。阿南德用了 "陰森恐怖 "這個形容詞，意思是怪異得令人恐懼、神祕。

And Helena says it was crazy, using crazy to mean strange and fantastic.

海倫娜說這很瘋狂，用 "瘋狂 "來形容奇怪和夢幻。

Yes, I think strange, mysterious and fantastic describe being a twin quite well. OK, Neil, it's time to reveal the answer to your question.

是的，我覺得奇怪、神祕和奇妙這三個詞可以很好地形容雙胞胎。好了，尼爾，是時候揭曉你問題的答案了。

I asked which Hollywood star is a twin and you said C) Scarlett Johansson.

我問哪個好萊塢明星是雙胞胎，你說 C) 史嘉蕾喬韓森。

Let's recap the vocabulary we've learned, starting with roll your eyes, to move your eyes upwards to show you are bored or annoyed.

讓我們回顧一下我們學過的詞彙，首先是 "翻白眼"（roll your eyes）。"翻白眼 "是指眼睛向上看，表示無聊或惱怒。

A milestone is a significant stage in the development of something.

里程碑是事物發展過程中的一個重要階段。

The idiom it's not plain sailing describes difficult and problematic situations.

一帆風順這個成語形容困難重重，問題多多。

The phrase separated at birth can describe two people who are unusually similar. It also refers to siblings who were adopted by different parents at birth.

出生時分離這個短語可以形容兩個人異常相似。它也指出生時被不同父母收養的兄弟姐妹。

And the adjective eerie means strange in a frightening and mysterious way.

而形容詞 "陰森恐怖"（eerie）的意思是怪異，令人恐懼和神祕。

And finally, if someone says it was crazy, they mean it was strange and fantastic.

最後，如果有人說 "瘋狂"，他們的意思是 "奇怪 "和 "奇妙"。

Once again, our six minutes are up. But remember, you can find worksheets, quizzes and loads more resources to improve your English on our website bbclearningenglish.com. See you there soon, but for now, goodbye.

我們的六分鐘時間又到了。但請記住，你可以在我們的網站 bbclearningenglish.com 上找到測驗卷、小測驗和更多提高英語水平的資源。我們很快就會在那裡見面，但現在，再見了。