早點 | 讀者文摘:幽默能讓我們更聰明

↑↑點擊上方藍字關注 --- 點擊右上角···分享↑↑

The shortest distance between two people is a smile.

– Victor Borge, Comedian

人與人之間最短的距離是微笑。

– 維託·埔柱(幽默家)

維託·埔柱(1909-2000) 是出生丹麥的幽默家及鋼琴家，他合併鋼琴與喜劇的演出，讓他在美國及歐洲贏得廣大的知名度，有「偉大的丹麥人」和「丹麥小丑太子」的稱號。

幽默能讓我們更聰明

英語：

By day, Ori Amir is a mild-mannered 30-something college professor.

He teaches undergraduate psychology and neuro-science classes, conducts research into how the brain functions,

and holds regular office hours on the leafy campus of Pomona College in South-ern California. But his students aren't fooled.

They've seen the YouTube videos, the ones that document his not-so-secret other life.

In one of them, Amir is gripping a micro-phone and standing center stage at the 1,400-seat Alex Theater in Glendale, California,

wearing a striped rugby shirt, faded blue jeans, battered construction boots—and a ridiculously shaggy white fur coat.

It's the second night of the Glendale Laughs Comedy Festival,

and Amir is grinning broadly at the audience through his ample beard, looking like a crazed six-foot-two red-headed Fozzie Bear.

"As you can tell by my accent, I'm a neuroscientist," says Amir, who grew up in Israel.

"They tell the professors at the university where I work to dress 『business casual.' This is pretty much the best I can do.

My wardrobe ranges from very casual to inappropriate." Tonight, he's wearing the full spectrum.

Amir likes to tell his audiences—and occasionally his students—that his dream is to become a "professional comedian and an amateur neurosurgeon."

("That way I could cut up brains for fun!") In fact, he has already managed to combine these seemingly unrelated passions.

Amir is one of the leading researchers studying the way the brain creates and understands humor.

Unless you happen to be a neuroscientist who moonlights as a stand-up, that specialty might seem trivial compared with other fields of cognition.

But the question of why we find things funny has fascinated philosophers for centuries.

This is a particularly exciting time for Amir and his fellow humor researchers.

It has been only in the past few years that scanning technologies, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI),

have let us see how the brain works when it is processing information:

which parts do what and what benefits might accrue from exercising different areas.

It turns out that joking, long dismissed by some as a frivolous diversion from the serious business of reality, may make us smarter and healthier.

There is even some evidence that a sense of humor helps the human species survive.

To understand why humor is a kind of superfood for the brain, it helps to know what our brains crave in the first place.

You might think they'd prefer when we sit alone in a room and stare at a blank wall—we don't burn up much energy doing that.

But the brain is like a muscle, and it needs exercise.

雙語：

By day, Ori Amir is a mild-mannered 30-something college professor.

白天的時候，30多歲的奧裡·阿米爾是個舉止溫和的大學教授。

He teaches undergraduate psychology and neuro-science classes, conducts research into how the brain functions,

他教授心理學和神經科學的本科教程，做關於大腦是如何運行的研究，

and holds regular office hours on the leafy campus of Pomona College in South-ern California. But his students aren't fooled.

並在加州南部的波莫納學院綠樹成蔭的校園裡有固定的辦公時間。但他的學生不傻。

They've seen the YouTube videos, the ones that document his not-so-secret other life.

他們看過那些油管視頻，那些記錄他並不隱秘的其他的生活的視頻。

In one of them, Amir is gripping a micro-phone and standing center stage at the 1,400-seat Alex Theater in Glendale, California,

在其中一個視頻中，阿米爾身穿條紋橄欖球衫，褪色的藍色牛仔褲，破舊的施工靴，還有一件蓬鬆得可笑的白色毛皮大衣，

wearing a striped rugby shirt, faded blue jeans, battered construction boots—and a ridiculously shaggy white fur coat.

他拿著一個微型電話，站在加州格蘭岱爾市有1400個座位的亞歷克斯劇院的中央舞臺上。

It's the second night of the Glendale Laughs Comedy Festival,

這是格倫代爾喜劇節的第二晚，

and Amir is grinning broadly at the audience through his ample beard, looking like a crazed six-foot-two red-headed Fozzie Bear.

阿米爾正透過他的大鬍子對觀眾咧著嘴笑，看起來像一隻瘋狂的六英尺二英寸紅頭髮的熊。

"As you can tell by my accent, I'm a neuroscientist," says Amir, who grew up in Israel.

在以色列長大的阿米爾說道，「你可以從我的口音上辨別出來，我是個神經學家。」

"They tell the professors at the university where I work to dress 『business casual.' This is pretty much the best I can do.

「他們告訴我就職的大學的教授們要穿商務休閒裝。這是我能做到的最好的了。

My wardrobe ranges from very casual to inappropriate." Tonight, he's wearing the full spectrum.

我衣櫃裡都是從非常隨意到不恰當的衣服。」今晚，他將全面亮相。

Amir likes to tell his audiences—and occasionally his students—that his dream is to become a "professional comedian and an amateur neurosurgeon."

阿米爾喜歡告訴他的聽眾-有時告訴他的學生-他的夢想是成為一名「專業的喜劇演員和業餘的神經外科醫生。」

("That way I could cut up brains for fun!") In fact, he has already managed to combine these seemingly unrelated passions.

（「這樣的話我就能開開心心地切開腦子了！」）實際上，他已經將這兩個似乎不同的興趣結合在了一起。

Amir is one of the leading researchers studying the way the brain creates and understands humor.

阿米爾是研究大腦創造和理解幽默的方式的主要研究人員之一。

Unless you happen to be a neuroscientist who moonlights as a stand-up, that specialty might seem trivial compared with other fields of cognition.

除非你是一名兼職單口相聲演員的神經科學家，否則與其他認知領域相比，這個專業可能顯得微不足道。

But the question of why we find things funny has fascinated philosophers for centuries.

但是幾個世紀以來，我們為什麼會覺得事物好笑這個問題一直讓哲學家們著迷。

This is a particularly exciting time for Amir and his fellow humor researchers.

這對阿米爾和他的同事們來說是一個特別激動人心的時刻。

It has been only in the past few years that scanning technologies, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI),

直到最近的幾年，掃描技術，像功能性磁共振成像技術，

have let us see how the brain works when it is processing information:

才讓我們看到大腦在處理信息時是如何工作的：

which parts do what and what benefits might accrue from exercising different areas.

各個部分的功能和鍛鍊不同的區域會有什麼好處。

It turns out that joking, long dismissed by some as a frivolous diversion from the serious business of reality, may make us smarter and healthier.

原來，開玩笑可能會讓我們更聰明、更健康，儘管它長期被一些人視為對嚴肅現實的無聊消遣。

There is even some evidence that a sense of humor helps the human species survive.

甚至還有一些證據證明幽默感能幫助人類生存。

To understand why humor is a kind of superfood for the brain, it helps to know what our brains crave in the first place.

為了理解為什麼幽默是一種大腦的超級食物，首先要知道我們的大腦渴望什麼。

You might think they'd prefer when we sit alone in a room and stare at a blank wall—we don't burn up much energy doing that.

你可能會認為他們更喜歡我們獨自坐在房間裡，盯著空白的牆壁——這樣做不會消耗太多能量。

But the brain is like a muscle, and it needs exercise.

但是大腦就像是肌肉，它需要鍛鍊。

如何判斷一個人在說謊

更多視頻，恭請蒞臨↓↓↓

說英語時卡住？這些金句教你，沉著應對stuck moments!

講著講著英語，突然就卡住了，話到嘴邊可就是不知道該怎麼說？

別緊張~因為就算是native speaker也會出現這種get stuck的情況。

背會下面這些conversational fillers的金句/詞組，關鍵時刻不僅能救急，還能給人不慌不忙、沉著的感覺哦~

If you don't understand

如果你聽不懂

當你聽不懂對方的意思，可以明白告訴對方。

常用的句子如下：

"Sorry, I don't understand."

抱歉，我聽不懂。

"Sorry, could you repeat that?"

抱歉，你能再說一遍麼？

"Sorry? I didn't get that."

什麼？我沒聽懂。

 

If you don't know the word

如果你不知道怎麼表達

What's the word I'm looking for?

什麼詞、說法最能準確的表達我的意思？

What's the word I'm looking for? Don't remind me.

我想說什麼來著？別提醒我...

這些話表明你認真地在思考，通常表示你不是真的在提問，而是在給自己爭取時間過渡一下。

 

If you can't find the word immediately

如果你不能瞬間想起合適的表達

首先，這些詞你可以利用：

"Well…"

"OK…"

"So…"

"Hmmm…"

"Uh-huh"

"Umm…"

對，實在不行…你就嗯嗯呃呃吧…發出一些聲音，代表你還在聽。

 

其次，這些句子也可以救你：

It's on the tip of my tongue.我想說的就在我嘴邊了。

（tip of my tongue舌頭邊）

這句話特別的生動形象，好像這詞就真的在你舌尖上，馬上就要蹦出來了~

I just had it ...我剛才還記得...

最好不要用I just forgot it ..這個說法顯得你心不在焉，給人感覺你不是很想聊天。

It's just not coming to me.這個詞就是怎麼也想不起來啊！

如果你想了老半天還是想不起來的話就要說這句啦。寶寶好委屈~比I just forgot it高級多了~

 

Changing the subject

轉換話題

卡殼時不要糾結某個詞，保持冷靜迅速跳轉其他話題。

常用語有：

Anyway,…

總之，...

Well, as I was saying…

嗯，正如我剛才所說...

So, back to …

所以，回到剛才...

So, we were saying …

所以，我們剛才在說...

 

Rephrase

複述一下

What I meant to say was…

我想說的是...

Let me put this another way…

換句話說就是...

Perhaps I'm not making myself clear…

可能我剛沒把話說清楚...

 

最後說一句，這些conversational fillers記得換著用啊！！~

（想像一下，學中文的老外卡殼時，一直說「這個…那個…」也是蠻尷尬啦~）

國際：BBC，VOA，CNN，科學美國人，讀者文摘，時代周刊，紐約時報、商業周刊等網絡視聽讀資源。國內：chinadaily.com.cn，hjenglish.com，kekenet.com，enfamily.cn，okread.info，dailyenglishquote.com，qq.com，163.com，...僅供學習交流參考，未用作商業用途。如對本公眾號發布的文章存有異議，歡迎留言告知，編輯將在24小時內回復處理。