身为双胞胎是什么感觉？

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来自bbclearningenglish.com。

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大家好，这里是BBC英语教学的《六分钟英语》，我是尼尔。

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

我是贝丝。

And I'm Beth.

本期节目我们将探讨双胞胎。异卵双胞胎来自两个不同的受精卵，共享50%的基因。更为罕见的是同卵双胞胎，他们源自同一个受精卵，基因100%相同。

In this episode, we're talking about twins. Non identical or fraternal twins come from two separate eggs and share half their genes. More uncommon are identical twins who come from a single fertilised egg and share 100% of their genes.

作为人类，我们对双胞胎充满好奇。当人们发现某人是双胞胎时，总会提出各种问题。尼尔，你会问双胞胎什么问题呢？

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?

哦，可能会问个很烦人的问题吧。比如：你们能感知彼此的想法吗？

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

噢，我可能会问：如果其中一个受伤，另一个会感到疼痛吗？

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

有意思。

Interesting.

关于双胞胎的一些常见问题包括：你们有心灵感应吗？你们交换过男朋友吗？会做相同的梦吗？但据BBC全球服务频道《大众科学》近期一期关于双胞胎专题的主持人阿南德·贾加蒂亚所说

Well, some common questions for twins include, do you have psychic powers? Have you ever swapped boyfriends? And do you have the same dreams? But according to Anand Jagatia, who presented a recent episode of BBC World Service's CrowdScience all about twins

如果你遇到双胞胎问这些问题，看到他们对你翻白眼可别惊讶。

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

向双胞胎询问心灵感应时，他们可能会翻白眼表示无聊或恼怒。尽管如此，双胞胎依然激发着我们的想象力。本期节目我们将通过一些实用新词汇来探究其中缘由。

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

请记住，您可以在我们的官网bbclearningenglish.com找到本期所有词汇表、随堂测验及学习单。

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

首先我要考考你，贝丝。如今双胞胎比想象中更常见——实际上每42个新生儿中就有一对双胞胎。但你知道哪位好莱坞巨星是双胞胎吗？选项：a)詹妮弗·劳伦斯 b)安吉丽娜·朱莉 c)斯嘉丽·约翰逊？

First, I have a question for you, Beth. These days, twins are more common than you might think. In fact, one in every forty two babies is born a twin. But do you know which famous Hollywood star is a twin? Is it a) Jennifer Lawrence b) Angelina Jolie or c) Scarlett Johansson?

噢我不知道，我猜是斯嘉丽·约翰逊吧。

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

我们将在节目尾声揭晓答案。凯伦·狄龙教授是美国文学中双胞胎题材的专著作者，本人也是双胞胎。她在BBC《大众科学》节目中与阿南德·贾加蒂亚探讨了双胞胎身份的利弊。

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.

身为双胞胎并非总是顺风顺水。

Being a twin isn't always plain sailing.

确实很美好。因为你们一起上学，有时同班，共同结交朋友，所以永远不会感到恐惧。某种程度上，童年所有重要阶段对双胞胎来说都更轻松。但随着年龄增长，你会越发意识到人们更多把你们视为双胞胎而非独立个体。

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

双胞胎共同经历许多童年里程碑。里程碑是发展的重要阶段，因此童年里程碑可能是像你第一天上学这样的事情。

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.

但身为双胞胎并非总是一帆风顺，这个习语意为轻松无碍。许多双胞胎发现很难确立自己作为独立独特个体的身份。

But being a twin isn't always plain sailing, an idiom meaning easy and problem free. Many twins find it hard to establish their own identity as a separate and unique individual.

我们对双胞胎的迷恋还源于古老的天性与教养之争。我们生活中有多少是由天性——我们与生俱来的基因决定的？又有多少是由教养——我们成长的环境决定的？因为双胞胎在基因上如此相似，他们之间的差异为科学家提供了大量信息。

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, differences between them tell scientists a lot.

以下是BBC国际服务节目《大众科学》主持人阿南德·贾加蒂亚与马萨诸塞州韦尔斯利学院哲学家海伦娜·德·布雷斯讨论此问题的内容。没错，又是一位双胞胎。

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.

是的。你听说过那些出生时就被分开、在世界不同地方长大的双胞胎，他们的人生轨迹出奇地相似。你会想，天啊，我对自己的人生走向有多少选择权呢？

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?

完全正确。有个著名的吉姆双胞胎案例，他们在出生时被分开，39岁重聚时展现出惊人的相似性。他们都娶了名叫琳达的人，后来又都离婚娶了名叫贝蒂的人。

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

他们都给自己的狗取名'玩具'。简直荒谬至极。

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

这对双胞胎吉姆·刘易斯和吉姆·斯普林格出生时就被分开。'出生时分离'这个短语可用于描述两个极其相似的人，不过这里确实是指双胞胎出生后被不同父母收养的真实分离。

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.

当这对吉姆双胞胎在1970年代重聚时，所有人都对他们生活的相似程度感到震惊。阿南德用了形容词'eerie'，意为令人恐惧又神秘般的诡异。海伦娜则用'crazy'来形容这种奇异而不可思议的相似。

When the gyms 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. And Helena says it was crazy using crazy to mean strange and fantastic.

是的。我认为奇异、神秘和不可思议这些词相当贴切地描述了身为双胞胎的感受。好了尼尔，现在该揭晓你问题的答案了。

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

我问哪位好莱坞明星是双胞胎？你回答c) 斯嘉丽·约翰逊？

I asked which Hollywood star is a twin? And you said c) Scarlett Johansson?

是的。

I did.

这是正确答案！太好了！让我们回顾一下学到的词汇，首先是‘翻白眼’——向上转动眼睛表示无聊或恼怒。

Which was the right answer? Yay! 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.

‘里程碑’指的是某事物发展过程中的重要阶段。

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

习语‘并非一帆风顺’描述的是困难重重、问题频出的情况。

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

短语‘出生时分离’可以形容两个异常相似的人，也指出生时被不同父母收养的兄弟姐妹。

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.

形容词‘诡异的’意指令人恐惧且神秘莫测的奇怪感觉。

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

最后，如果有人说‘太疯狂了’，意思是既离奇又精彩。我们的六分钟又到了。但请记住，您可以在bbclearningenglish.com上找到练习题、小测验和更多提升英语的资源。期待很快在那里见到您。现在先道别了。

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

再见。《六分钟英语》。

Goodbye. Six Minute English.

来自bbc learning english点com。

From b b c learning english dot com.