英語聽力小短文走遍全世界27:會多種語言的人更聰明嗎？

英語聽力原文：

In the early nineteen fifties, researchers found that people scored lower on intelligence tests if they spoke more than one language. Research in the sixties found the opposite. Bilingual people scored higher than monolinguals-people who speak only one language. So which is it?

20世紀(jì)50年代早期，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)掌握超過一門語言的人在智力測試上得分更低。而60年代研究的發(fā)現(xiàn)則恰恰相反，“雙語者”比只懂一種語言的“單語者”得分更高。那么，哪個發(fā)現(xiàn)是正確的呢?

Researchers presented their newest studies last month at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The latest evidence shows that being bilingual does not necessarily make people smarter. But researcher Ellen Bialystock says it probably does make you better at certain skills.

研究人員上個月在美國科學(xué)促進會的一次會議上介紹了他們的最新研究成果。最新證據(jù)表明，通曉雙語并不能使人更聰明。但研究人員艾倫·比亞斯表示，它會使你在某些技能上表現(xiàn)更好。

Ellen Bialystock:"Imagine driving down the highway. There are many things that could capture your attention and you really need to be able to monitor all of them. Why would bilingualism make you any better at that?"

比雅利斯托克：“想像一下在高速公路上開車，可能會有很多吸引你注意力的東西，你必須能夠同時關(guān)注所有這一些。為什么雙語環(huán)境可能會讓你在這方面表現(xiàn)更好呢?”

And the answer, she says, is that bilingual people are often better at controlling their attention - a function called the executive control system.

她表示，答案就是“雙語者”更善于控制自己的注意力，這種能力也被稱為行為控制系統(tǒng)。

Ellen Biaystock:'It's quite possibly the most important cognitive system we have because it's where all of your decisions about what to attend to, what to ignore, what to process are made."

艾倫·比亞斯托：“這可能是人類具備的最重要的認(rèn)知系統(tǒng)。因為你做出專注、忽略、執(zhí)行的決定時都離不開它。”

Ms. Biaystock is a psychology professor at York University in Toronto, Canada. She says the best method to measure the executive control system is called the Stroop Test. A person is shown words in different colors. The person has to ignore the word but say the color. The problem is that the words are all names of colors.

比亞斯托是加拿大約克大學(xué)的心理學(xué)教授。她表示，衡量行為控制系統(tǒng)能力最好的辦法是斯特魯測驗(Stroop Test)。該測試向被測試者展示各種不同顏色的單詞。被測試者需要忽略單詞本身，說出字體的顏色。難點在于，這些單詞都是一些顏色的名稱。

Ellen Bialystock:"So you would have the word blue written in red, but you have to say red. But blue is so salient, it's just lighting up all these circuits in your brain, and you really want to say blue. So you need a mechanism to override that so that you can say red. That's the executive control system."

艾倫·比亞斯托：“因此，‘藍(lán)色’這個單詞可能是用紅色書寫的，而你必須說‘紅色’。但‘藍(lán)色’這兩個字非常突出，它一直閃現(xiàn)在你的大腦中，你很想說‘藍(lán)色’。這時你就需要一種抑制該想法的系統(tǒng)，你才能說出‘紅色’。這就是行為控制系統(tǒng)。”

Her work shows that bilingual people continually practice this function. They have to, because both languages are active in their brain at the same time. They need to suppress one to be able to speak in the other.

她的研究表明，“雙語者”在不斷鍛煉這種能力，因為兩種語言同時都在他們大腦中活躍，他們必須抑制一種語言，才能用另一種語言表達(dá)。

英語單詞整理：

1. score vt. 獲得;評價

eg: We need other players to score as well.

我們也需要其他的球員來得分。

短語：

on the score of 由于;因為

on that score 在那點上

in scoread 用總譜

score for 為(某隊)進球/得分;為…得分;把…改寫成器樂曲

2. bilingual adj. 雙語的

eg: Today I would like to try writing a bilingual blog.

今天，我想試著寫一篇雙語的博客。

短語：

bilingual program 雙語節(jié)目

bilingual dictionary 雙語詞典

bilingual edition 雙語版

3. monolingual adj. 單語的;僅用一種語言的

eg: As many people in America are discovering, being monolingual is no laughing matter.

很多美國人都逐漸發(fā)現(xiàn)，只會一種語言，不再是一件好事了。

短語：

monolingual glossary 單語詞匯

monolingual subtitling 單語字幕翻譯

monolingual dictionary 單語詞典

4. cognitive adj. 認(rèn)識的，認(rèn)知的

eg: As children grow older, their cognitive processes become sharper.

隨著孩子們長大，他們的認(rèn)知過程也變得越來越敏銳了。

短語：

cognitive psychology 認(rèn)知心理學(xué)

cognitive linguistics 認(rèn)知語言學(xué)

cognitive function 認(rèn)知功能

cognitive process 認(rèn)識過程

cognitive ability 認(rèn)知能力

5. psychology n. 心理學(xué);心理狀態(tài)

eg: She held a BA in psychology.

她有心理學(xué)學(xué)士學(xué)位。

短語：

social psychology 社會心理學(xué)

applied psychology 應(yīng)用心理學(xué)

6. salient adj. 顯著的;突出的;跳躍的

eg: Honesty is his most salient characteristic.

誠實是他最顯著的特點。

短語：

salient angle 凸角

salient features 特征，特色

7. circuit n. 巡回;一圈

eg: For many years he was top banana on the circuit.

幾年來,他是巡回劇團里的主角。

短語：

go a circuit 繞道，迂回

make a circuit 兜一個圈子，繞一個大彎

make the circuit of 繞…兜一圈，巡視一遍

ride circuit 周游全國;巡回審判

8. override vt. 推翻;不顧;踐踏

eg:The president vetoed the bill, and the Senate failed by a single vote to override his veto.

總統(tǒng)否決了議案，而參議院因一票之差未能推翻他的否決。

短語：

override protection 過載保護

running override 整體替代

manual override 手動超越控制

9. suppress vt. 抑制;鎮(zhèn)壓

eg: He continued to suppress the people and serve the imperialists.

他繼續(xù)鎮(zhèn)壓人民,為帝國主義效勞。

短語：

suppress inflation 遏止通貨膨脹

suppress wonder 抑制漂移

suppress gambling 禁賭

佳句采摘：

The latest evidence shows that being bilingual does not necessarily make people smarter. But researcher Ellen Bialystock says it probably does make you better at certain skills.

最新證據(jù)表明，通曉雙語并不能使人更聰明。但研究人員艾倫·比亞斯托表示，它會使你在某些技能上表現(xiàn)更好。