(点击右边三个点，可调整速度，电脑上可下载)

Neil(尼尔)

I’m Neil.

我是尼尔。

Georgina(乔治娜)

And I’m Georgina.

我是乔治娜。

Neil(尼尔)

Can I ask you something, Georgina…?

我能问你一些事情吗，乔治娜......？

Georgina(乔治娜)

Mm-mm-hmm.

嗯-嗯-嗯。

Neil(尼尔)

Georgina? I said, I want to ask you something… are you listening to me?!

乔治娜？我说，我想问你一件事......你在听我说话吗？！

Georgina(乔治娜)

Mm-hmm, just a second, Neil, I’m texting a friend…

嗯，等一下，尼尔，我在给朋友发短信......

Neil(尼尔)

Ah, has this ever happened you? Someone too busy texting to talk. With the huge rise of mobile phones in recent decades, communicating by text has become more and more popular and scenes like this have become increasingly common.

啊，你有没有遇到过这样的事情？有人忙于发短信而无暇交谈。随着近几十年来手机的大幅崛起，文字交流越来越流行，这样的场景也越来越普遍。

Georgina(乔治娜)

…and send! There, all done! Now, what were you saying, Neil?

…并发送！在那里，一切都完成了！现在，你在说什么，尼尔？

Neil(尼尔)

In this programme, we’ll be investigating why people often choose to text, instead of talk to the people in their lives. We’ll be asking whether this popular form of communication is changing how we interact with each other.

在这个节目中，我们将调查为什么人们经常选择发短信，而不是与生活中的人交谈。我们将要问的是，这种流行的交流形式是否正在改变我们彼此之间的互动方式。

Georgina(乔治娜)

And, of course, we’ll be learning some related vocabulary as well. Now, Neil, what did you want to ask me?

当然，我们也会学习一些相关的词汇。现在，尼尔，你想问我什么？

Neil(尼尔)

My quiz question, Georgina, which is this. Young people are often the biggest users of mobile phones, but in a 2016 study, what percentage of British teenagers said they would prefer to send a text rather than speak to someone, even if they were in the same room? Is it: a) 9 percent?; b) 49 percent? or, c) 99 percent?

我的测验问题，乔治娜，就是这个。年轻人通常是手机的最大用户，但在2016年的一项研究中，有多少比例的英国青少年表示，即使他们在同一个房间里，他们也宁愿发送短信也不愿与某人交谈？是：a）9%？b） 49%？或者，c）99%？

Georgina(乔治娜)

That sounds pretty shocking! I can’t believe 99 percent of teenagers said that, so I’ll guess b) 49 percent.

这听起来很令人震惊！我不敢相信 99% 的青少年这么说，所以我猜 b） 49%。

Neil(尼尔)

OK, Georgina. We’ll find out later if that’s right. In one way, the popularity of texting, sometimes called ‘talking with thumbs’, is understandable - people like to be in control of what they say.

好的，乔治娜。我们稍后会发现这是否正确。在某种程度上，发短信的流行是可以理解的 —— 人们喜欢控制自己所说的话。

Georgina(乔治娜)

But this low-risk way of hiding behind a screen may come at a cost, as neuroscientist, Professor Sophie Scott, explained to Sandra Kanthal, for BBC World Service programme, The Why Factor:

但是，这种低风险的躲在屏幕后面的方式可能会付出代价，正如神经科学家索菲·斯科特教授向英国广播公司世界服务节目“为什么因素”的桑德拉·坎塔尔解释的那样：

Sandra Kanthal(桑德拉·坎塔尔)

When we ‘talk with our thumbs’ by text or email or instant message, we’re often prioritising speed over clarity and depth. But when we can’t hear the way someone is speaking it’s all too easy to misunderstand their intention.

当我们通过短信、电子邮件或即时消息“用拇指交谈”时，我们通常优先考虑速度而不是清晰度和深度。但是，当我们听不到某人说话的方式时，很容易误解他们的意图。

Sophie Scott(苏菲·斯科特)

So if I say a phrase like, ‘Oh shut up!’ - has a different meaning than, ‘Oh shut up!’ There’s an emotional thing there but also a strong kind of intonation: one’s sort of funny, one’s just aggressive. Written down it’s just aggressive – ‘Shut up!’ - and you can’t soften that. […] We always speak with melody and intonation to our voice and we’ll change our meaning depending on that. You take that channel of information out of communication you lose another way that sense is being conveyed.

因此，如果我说“哦，闭嘴！”这样的短语与“哦，闭嘴！”的含义不同。那里有一种情绪化的东西，但也有一种强烈的语调：一个人有点滑稽，一个人只是咄咄逼人。写下来，它只是咄咄逼人 —— “闭嘴！” —— 你无法软化它。[…]我们总是用旋律和语调来说话，我们会根据这一点改变我们的含义。你把信息渠道从沟通中拿走了，你就失去了另一种传达感觉的方式。

Neil(尼尔)

When reading a text instead of listening to someone speak, we miss out on the speaker’s intonation – that’s the way the voice rises and falls when speaking.

当阅读文本而不是听别人说话时，我们错过了说话者的语调 —— 这就是说话时声音起伏的方式。

Georgina(乔治娜)

Intonation, how a word is said, often changes the meaning of words and phrases - small groups of words people use to say something particular.

语调，即一个词的发音方式，通常会改变单词和短语的含义 - 人们用来表达特定事物的一小群单词。

Neil(尼尔)

Reading a phrase like, ‘Oh shut up!’ in a text, instead of hearing it spoken aloud, makes it easy to misunderstand the speaker‘s intention – their aim, or plan of what they want to do.

在文本中读到像“哦，闭嘴！”这样的短语，而不是听到大声说出来，很容易误解说话者的意图 —— 他们的目标或他们想做什么的计划。

Georgina(乔治娜)

And it’s not just the speaker’s intention that we miss. A whole range of extra information is conveyed through speech, from the speaker’s age and gender to the region they’re from.

我们错过的不仅仅是演讲者的意图。从说话者的年龄和性别到他们来自的地区，一系列的额外信息都是通过语音传达的。

Neil(尼尔)

Poet, Gary Turk, believes that we lose something uniquely human when we stop talking. And there are practical problems involved with texting too, as he explains to BBC World Service’s, The Why Factor:

诗人加里·特克认为，当我们停止说话时，我们会失去一些独特的人类东西。发短信也涉及到实际问题，正如他向 BBC World Service 的 The Why Factor 解释的那样：

Gary Turk(加里·特克)

If you speak to someone in person and they don’t respond right away, that would be rude. But you might be speaking to someone in person and someone texts you... and it would be ruder for you then to stop that conversation and speak to the person over text… yet the person on the other side of the text is getting annoyed – you haven’t responded right way – it’s like we’re constantly now creating these situations using our phones that allow us to like tread on mines – no matter what you do, we’re going to disappoint people because we’re trying to communicate in so many different ways. Do you prioritise the person on the phone? Would you prioritise the person you’re speaking to? Who do you disappoint first? You’re going to disappoint somebody.

如果您亲自与某人交谈，而他们没有立即回应，那将是不礼貌的。但是您可能正在亲自与某人交谈，而有人给您发短信......那么，对你来说，停止对话并通过文字与这个人交谈会更粗鲁......然而，文本另一边的人正在生气 —— 你没有以正确的方式回应 —— 就像我们现在不断使用我们的手机制造这些情况一样，让我们喜欢踩地雷 —— 无论你做什么，我们都会让人们失望，因为我们试图以多种不同的方式进行交流。你是否优先考虑打电话的人？你会优先考虑与你交谈的人吗？你先让谁失望？你会让别人失望的。

Georgina(乔治娜)

So what should you do if a friend texts you when you’re already speaking to someone else in person – physically present, face to face?

那么，如果一个朋友在你已经亲自与其他人交谈时给你发短信 —— 面对面地、面对面地 —— 你应该怎么做？

Neil(尼尔)

You can’t communicate with both people at the same time, so whatever you do someone will get annoyed – become angry and upset.

你不能同时与两个人交流，所以无论你做什么，都会有人感到恼火 —— 变得生气和沮丧。

Georgina(乔治娜)

Gary thinks that despite its convenience, texting creates situations where we have to tread on mines, another way of saying that something is a minefield, meaning a situation full of hidden problems and dangers, where people need to take care.

加里认为，尽管发短信很方便，但还是会造成我们不得不踩地雷的情况，这是另一种说法，即某事是雷区，这意味着充满隐藏的问题和危险，人们需要小心。

Neil(尼尔)

Yes, it’s easy to get annoyed when someone ignores you to text their friend…

是的，当有人无视你给他们的朋友发短信时，很容易生气......

Georgina(乔治娜)

Oh, you’re not still upset about that are you, Neil?

噢，你不是还不高兴吧，尼尔？

Neil(尼尔)

Ha, it’s like those teenagers in my quiz question! Remember I asked you how many teenagers said they’d prefer to text someone, even if they were in the same room.

哈，就像我测验题里的那些少年一样！记得我问过你，有多少青少年说他们更喜欢给某人发短信，即使他们在同一个房间里。

Georgina(乔治娜)

I guessed it was b) 49 percent.

我猜是 b） 49%。

Neil(尼尔)

Which was… the correct answer! I’m glad you were listening, Georgina, and not texting!

这是......正确答案！我很高兴你在听，乔治娜，而不是发短信！

Georgina(乔治娜)

Ha ha! In this programme we’ve been discussing ways in which texting differs from talking with someone in person – or face to face.

哈哈！在这个节目中，我们一直在讨论发短信与面对面交谈或面对面交谈的不同之处。

Neil(尼尔)

Sending texts instead of having a conversation means we don’t hear the speaker’s intonation – the musical way their voice rises and falls. A phrase - or small group of words - like ‘Oh shut up!’, means different things when said in different ways.

发送文本而不是进行对话意味着我们听不到说话者的语调 —— 他们的声音起伏的音乐方式。一个短语或一小群词，如“哦，闭嘴！”，当以不同的方式说出来时，意味着不同的事情。

Georgina(乔治娜)

Without intonation we can easily misunderstand a text writer’s intention – their idea or plan of what they are going to do.

如果没有语调，我们很容易误解文本作者的意图 —— 他们对他们将要做的事情的想法或计划。

Neil(尼尔)

Which in turns means they can get annoyed – or become irritated, if you don’t understand what they mean, or don’t respond right away.

这反过来意味着他们可能会感到恼火 —— 或者变得烦躁，如果你不明白他们的意思，或者没有立即回应。

Georgina(乔治娜)

All of which can create an absolute minefield – a situation with many hidden problems, where you need to speak and act carefully.

所有这些都会造成一个绝对的雷区 —— 一种存在许多隐藏问题的情况，你需要谨慎说话和行动。

Neil(尼尔)

And that’s all we have time for in this programme, but remember you can find more useful vocabulary, trending topics and help with your language learning here at BBC Learning English. We also have an app that you can download for free from the app stores and of course we are all over social media. Bye for now!

这就是我们在这个节目中的全部时间，但请记住，您可以在 BBC Learning English 中找到更多有用的词汇、热门话题并帮助您进行语言学习。我们还有一个应用节目，您可以从应用商店免费下载，当然，我们遍布社交媒体。再见！

Georgina(乔治娜)

Bye!

再见！