Name: 為什麼會覺得尷尬？BBC 解釋給你聽 (Why do we feel awkward? - 6 Minute English)
Uploaded: 2020-02-27T21:01:20.000Z
Duration: 6 min 33 s

Hello, and welcome to "6 Minute English". I'm Neil.

你好，歡迎來到六分鐘學英語。我是 Neil。

Dan， 你有沒有覺得尷尬的時候？

Yes, feeling uncomfortable, embarrassed or self-conscious in a social situation where something isn't quite right.

沒錯，在不對勁的社交情況中，覺得不自在、困窘或侷促不安。

Mmm... sometimes. I remember always feeling very awkward watching TV with my parents if there was an explicit love scene, you know, people canoodling.

偶爾。我記得跟父母一起看有露骨場面的電視節目時，總是感到非常尷尬，因為在節目中，人們彼此親吻愛撫。

Oh, yes, me too! And that feeling of awkwardness is what we're looking at in today's 6 Minute English, and how it's all connected to social rules.

沒錯，我也會因此覺得尷尬！我們今天正是要在節目中探討那種尷尬的感覺，以及它是如何與社會規則有關。

"Social rules" are the unspoken rules which we follow in everyday life, the way we interact with other people and particularly with strangers.

「社會規則」是指人們在每天生活中遵守的無形規則，是一種我們與其他人，尤其是陌生人互動的方式。

Yes, for example, if you're waiting at a bus stop, it's okay to talk about the weather to a stranger.

沒錯，舉例來說，如果你在站牌前等公車，你可以與陌生人談論天氣。

But it would be very awkward if you broke that social rule by asking them about, oh, I don't know, how much money they earned.

但如果你打破社會規則，像是問他們賺多少錢之類的，情況將會非常尷尬。

Oh, yes, that would be wrong, wouldn't it?

And we'll find out about another awkward situation on the underground railway later in the programme.

我們會在等一下的節目中，得知另一個在地鐵中發生的尷尬情況。

Before that though, a quiz: Which city has the oldest underground railway? Is it a) London b) New York or c) Tokyo?

在正式開始前，先做一個小測驗。最古老的地鐵位在哪一座城市？答案是 A. 倫敦 B. 紐約 C. 東京 中哪一個呢？

Aha! Well, I'm pretty confident about this! I think it's London.

我有自信可以答對這一題！我認為是倫敦。

Well, I'll have the answer later in the programme.

我晚一點會在節目中公布答案。

Dr. Raj Persuad is a psychologist. He was a guest on the BBC radio programme "Seriously". He was talking about social rules.

Dr Raj Persuad 是一名心理學家。他在 BBC 廣播節目中擔任嘉賓，談論有關社會規則的主題。

他是如何談論社會規則影響我們生活的呢？

How do we understand what the implicit social rules are that govern our behaviour?

我們要如何得知控制我們行為的是隱含的社會規則？

They're so almost invisible yet we all obey them.

社會規則是看不見的，但大家都會遵守。

I.e., they're massively powerful that the only way to get at them, because you couldn't use an MRI brain scanner or a  microscope...

換句話說，社會規則影響力太大，而且無法以 MRI 腦部掃瞄器或顯微鏡說明...

What's the tool you would use to illuminate the social rules actually govern our lives?

你會用什麼工具闡明社會規則確實控制我們的生活？

社會規則是如何影響我們的生活？

He says that they govern our behaviour, they govern our lives. This means that they 'control' our lives, they 'rule' our lives.

他說社會規則操縱我們的行為和生活。這代表社會規則「控制」、「掌管」我們的生活。

What's interesting is that he says these social rules are 'implicit'.

有趣的是他說這些社會規則是「不明顯的」。

They're not written down anywhere. They're unspoken but understood.

沒有人寫下這些規則。這些規則是無形的，但被人們所理解。

If they are unspoken and not written down, how can scientists and sociologists study them?

如果它們是無形的且沒有被紀錄下來，那科學家和心理學家要如何研究這些規則呢？

They need a way to illuminate the rules. This means a way of shining a metaphorical light on them to see what they are.

他們需要一種能闡明這些規則的方式。illuminate 意指為了看清楚事物，而用燈照他們。

要如何得知控制我們行為的隱含社會規則是什麼？

I.e., they're massively powerful that the only way to get at them, because you couldn't use an MRI brain scanner or a microscope...

One way to find out about a rule is to break it.

打破規定是其中一種找出社會規則的方式。

Another word for 'break' when we're talking about rules is 'breach' and breaching experiments were used to learn about social rules.

打破規則除了用 break，也可以用單字 breach，而破壞性實驗是用來得知社會規則。

Here's Dr. Persaud describing one of those experiments.

下面是 Persaud 博士說明其中一項實驗。

So a classic one: People would go into the Metro, the underground railway—Tube—and there'd be only one person sitting in a carriage.

典型的例子是，當你走進捷運站，而只看到一個人坐在車廂裡。

You would go and sit next to that person.

你走向那個人，並坐在他身邊。

And if that led to awkwardness or discomfort, where the person got off the tube stop immediately, you had discovered a social rule.

如果這個行為使那個人尷尬或不舒服並因此立刻下車，那麼你就會得知這是一項社會規則。

所以 Persaud 博士所說的實驗是什麼？

Well, quite simply, find a nearly empty train carriage and then go and sit right next to someone rather than a distance away.

很簡單，找一節幾乎空無一人的車廂，比起坐在與其他人相距很遠的位子，選擇緊坐在其中一人的身邊。

If that person then feels uncomfortable or awkward, and that's something you can tell by watching their behaviour.

你可以從行為分辨出那個人是否因此感到不自在或尷尬。

For example, do they change seat, move carriage or get off the train completely?

舉例來說，他們是否有更換座位、移動至其他車廂或立刻下車？

If they do, then you know you've discovered a rule.

如果他們做了這些行動，那麼你就可以發現一項社會規則。

So you find a rule by breaking it or breaching it.

從打破或違反規則中找到社會規則。

Okay, time to review our vocabulary, but first, let's have the answer to the quiz question.

在複習今天的單字之前，先來揭曉測驗的答案吧！

I asked which city has the oldest underground railway.

我問說最古老的地鐵位在哪一座城市。

Is it a) London b) New York and c) Tokyo?

答案是 A. 倫敦 B. 紐約 C. 東京 中哪一個呢？

Dan，你剛剛很確信所選的答案。

I was! I said London, but... now I'm having second thoughts.

沒錯，我說是倫敦，但我現在改變想法了。

Oh… That's a little bit awkward, isn't it?

噢...  這樣是不是有一點尷尬啊？

Well, it is London, so I don't know if you're right or wrong!

答案是倫敦，所以我不確定到底該算你答對還是答錯！

The facts are that London opened in 1863.

紐約的鐵路建造於 1904 年，而東京的鐵路建造於 1927 年。

Well done, and extra bonus points if you knew any of those dates.

知道這些日期的人會得到額外的加分。

I hope it doesn't make you feel awkward, but can you start, Dan?

Dan，希望這不會讓你感到尷尬，可以開始複習單字了嗎？

And the adjective 'awkward', and its noun 'awkwardness', are on our list for today.

今天的單字有形容詞 awkward，和其名詞 awkwardness。

They mean 'an uncomfortable feeling in a social situation'.

它們的意思為在社交情況中不自在的感覺。

This is all connected with the idea of social rules—unspoken, but well-known rules which we follow in daily life to avoid awkward situations.

這情況與社會規則息息相關，社會規則是無形卻廣為人知的，人們在日常生活中遵守這些規則以避免尷尬情況的發生。

The rules, as Neil said, are not spoken and they're not written down but we know them and understand them.

如同 Neil 所說的，這些規則並沒有被明確地說出或寫下，卻被我們知道並理解。

And these implicit rules govern our lives.

這些隱含的規則控制我們的生活。

The verb 'govern' means to 'control and rule'.

單字 govern 為動詞，意指「控制和掌管」。

To see something clearly, either in reality or metaphorically, you need to put some light on it.

不管是在現實中或是隱喻性的用法，為了看清楚事物時，會需要用燈照它。

And that was the next of our words, the verb 'illuminate'.

這是我們的下一個單字，作為動詞的 illuminate。

And finally, we had a word which means, when we're talking about rules, the same as break, to 'breach'.

最後一個單字為 breach，當我們在說打破規則時，除了用 break，也可以用 breach。

In experiments, they breached the rules to learn more about them.

他們在實驗中打破規定以得知社會規則。

Well, we don't want to breach any rules so it's time for us to leave you for today, but don't worry, we will be back.

我們不想違反任何規定，所以今天節目就在這裡告一段落，但別擔心，我們會再見面的。

In the meantime, you can find us in all the usual places online and on social media, just look for BBC Learning English.

此外，只要搜尋 BBC 學英語，就可以在網站上或社交媒體上找到我們。