Yes, we had a few pets. My favourite was a little fluffy hamster.
是的，我们养了几只宠物。我最喜欢的是一只毛茸茸的小仓鼠。
Neil(尼尔)
And what happened to your hamster?
你的仓鼠怎么了？
Rob(罗伯)
Well one day I got home from school and he wasn’t in his cage. I was worried for a bit in case he’d escaped or got hurt, but it was alright. My mum told me that he had gone to live on a farm so that he could run around with other animals.
A hamster. Went to live on a farm. To be with other animals. Really?
一只仓鼠。去农场住。与其他动物在一起。真？
Rob(罗伯)
Oh, well, when you put it like that.
哦，好吧，当你这样说的时候。
Neil(尼尔)
I think that was probably one of those lies that parents tell their children so as not to make them sad.
我想这可能是父母告诉孩子以免让他们难过的谎言之一。
Rob(罗伯)
Well I’m sad now.
好吧，我现在很难过。
Neil(尼尔)
Well maybe having a go at this quiz will cheer you up. According to a study by a US psychologist, what percentage of people will lie in a typical ten minute conversation? Is it: a) 40%; b) 50%, or c) 60%?
I think most people don’t lie that much, so I’ll say 40%.
我认为大多数人不会撒那么多谎，所以我会说 40%。
Neil(尼尔)
We’ll reveal the answer a little later in the programme.
我们将在节目稍后部分揭示答案。
Rob(罗伯)
So today we are talking about lies and particularly the lies that parents tell children.
所以今天我们谈论的是谎言，尤其是父母告诉孩子的谎言。
Neil(尼尔)
The topic was discussed on the BBC Radio 4 programme, Woman’s Hour.
BBC Radio 4 节目 Woman's Hour 讨论了这个话题。
Rob(罗伯)
A guest on that programme was Doctor Chris Boyle, a psychologist at Exeter University. He talks about a particular kind of lie. We tell these lies not because we want to hurt people. What colour are these lies called?
A white lie is just a distortion of the truth without malicious intent – as long as there's not malicious intent I think it's something that we do. It's almost a societal norm that it's become where it is acceptable that we do tell certain lies at certain times.
Dr Chris Boyle there. What colour is the kind of lie he was talking about?
Chris Boyle 博士在那里。他所说的那种谎言是什么颜色的？
Rob(罗伯)
A white lie. He says a white lie is just a distortion of the truth. Distortion here means a changing or bending of the truth. These kind of lies are OK as long as we don’t tell them because we want to hurt someone.
He used the phrase malicious intent to talk about a bad reason for doing something, didn’t he?
他用恶意这个词来谈论做某事的坏理由，不是吗？
Rob(罗伯)
Yes, intent is the reason or purpose for doing something and malicious is an adjective which means cruel or nasty. So without malicious intent means without wanting to hurt or be cruel to someone.
He said that this kind of white lie was almost a societal norm. Can you explain what he means by that?
他说，这种善意的谎言几乎是一种社会规范。您能解释一下他的意思吗？
Rob(罗伯)
Yes, something that is the norm is something that is expected, it’s regular and usual. The adjective societal comes from the noun society. So a societal norm is something that is regular and common in your culture or society.
So do you think your mum’s story about the hamster and the farm was a little white lie?
那么，你认为妈关于仓鼠和农场的故事是一个善意的小谎言吗？
Rob(罗伯)
Yes, I’m sure it was. She didn’t do it with malicious intent - she didn’t want to hurt me. In fact, just the opposite, she wanted to protect me.
是的，我确定是的。她这样做不是出于恶意 —— 她不想伤害我。事实上，恰恰相反，她想保护我。
Neil(尼尔)
Yes, that’s one kind of white lie that parents tell, to protect children. There are also a couple of other reasons. One being the parent’s convenience.
是的，这是父母为了保护孩子而说的一种善意的谎言。还有其他几个原因。一是父母的方便。
Rob(罗伯)
Yes, I remember my mum telling me on certain days, the park wasn’t open. I know now that it never closed, I guess at the time she was just too busy to take me.
And then there are the cultural lies that parents tell children.
然后是父母告诉孩子的文化谎言。
Rob(罗伯)
What do you mean by that?
这是什么意思？
Neil(尼尔)
Well first, if you have any children listening to this right now, you might want to cover their ears for a few seconds. Rob I’m talking about, for example, Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy.
Yes, there’s no malicious intent in telling children those stories. It is a cultural and societal norm.
是的，告诉孩子这些故事没有恶意。这是一种文化和社会规范。
Neil(尼尔)
Let’s listen to Dr Chris Boyle again talking about white lies.
让我们听听 Chris Boyle 博士再次谈论善意的谎言。
Dr Chris Boyle(Chris Boyle 博士)
A white lie is just a distortion of the truth without malicious intent – as long as there's not malicious intent I think it's something that we do. It's almost a societal norm that it's become where it is acceptable that we do tell certain lies at certain times.
So now back to our question at the top of the programme. I asked what percentage of people will lie in a typical ten minute conversation. Was it: a) 40%; b) 50%, or c) 60% What did you say Rob?
Really? Goodness 60%! That's more than I expected.
真？天哪 60%！这比我预期的要多。
Neil(尼尔)
Right, well before we go, let’s recap the vocabulary we talked about today. The first expression was 'white lie'. A lie we tell without meaning to hurt someone, for example when I say to you – you look nice today!
But that is actually a distortion of the truth. A changing or bending of the truth.
但这实际上是对事实的歪曲。改变或扭曲真相。
Rob(罗伯)
Mmmm. This makes me think of the next expression, 'malicious intent'. Intent is the reason or purpose for doing something, and doing something with a malicious intent is doing it deliberately to be cruel or to hurt someone. I think you have a malicious intent, telling me that when you say I look nice, it’s just a lie!
That’s the norm for you, isn’t it, just kidding. A 'norm' is the standard or ‘normal’ way that something is. In the clip we heard 'societal norm' which is the accepted or ‘normal’ way something is done in society.
For example, telling children about Father Christmas.
例如，告诉孩子圣诞老人。
Rob(罗伯)
Sssh! But yes you're right.
嘘！但是，是的，你是对的。
Neil(尼尔)
Well, sadly this isn’t a lie but that's all for this programme. For more, find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and our YouTube pages, and of course our website bbclearningenglish.com where you can find all kinds of other audio programmes, videos, and quizzes, to help you improve your English. Thanks for joining us and goodbye!
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