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This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. com.
这里是bbclearningenglish. com英语六分钟节目。
Alice: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English: the programme in which we talk about a story in the news and learn some vocabulary while we’re doing it. I’m Alice and joining me today is Rob. Hi there, Rob.
大家好，欢迎收听本期BBC英语六分钟。在本期节目中，我们会看一个新闻故事，同时学习一些新的词汇和短语。我是爱丽丝，今天和我一起主持节目的是Rob。你好，Rob。
Rob: Hi Alice.
你好Alice。
Alice: Now, Rob I have a question for you. Any idea what an ear worm is?
Rob，我有一个问题要问你。你知道是什么吗？
Rob: Eugh – an ear worm. It sounds like a nasty bug that burrows into your ear.
额，耳蠕虫。听起来像是令人讨厌的虫子，能钻入你的耳朵。
Alice: I think you’re thinking of an earwig. That’s a little black insect. I don’t think it necessarily burrows into people’s ears though thank goodness!
你是不是在想地蜈蚣——小小的黑色昆虫。谢天谢地它不一定会要钻入人的耳朵！
Rob: Well that’s a relief! So what’s an ear worm then?
那我就放心了！那什么是耳蠕虫呢？
Alice: It might help if I give you an example. Here’s one you may know. Excuse my singing. When I hear this little phrase of music it sticks in my head all day.
举个例子可能会对你有帮助。你可能知道这个例子。抱歉我可能唱的不太好。我听到这段音乐后，它就一直环绕在我的心头。
Rob: I see. An ear worm is a tune, a piece of music you can’t get out of your head. That’s always happening to me. I hear a song on the radio and then I keep singing it all day!
明白了。耳蠕虫是一种曲调，一段你无法摆脱的音乐。我经常遇到这种情况。我听到了电台播的一首歌，然后我一整天都在哼唱这首歌！
Alice: I know the feeling. And the tune I was singing – do you recognise it? It’s long been associated with the BBC World Service. But do you know what it’s called Rob? Is it: a) Lilliput b) Lillypad c) Lillibolero
我懂这种感觉。你知道我刚才哼的那段小调是什么吗？它一直和BBC全球服务联系在一起。但是你知道歌名吗？a) Lilliput b) Lillypad c) Lillibolero
Rob: I think I know what it’s called – but I don’t know why! And I’ll leave it to you, listeners, to make your own guesses.
我觉得我应该知道歌名，但是不知道为什么叫这个！我把这个问题留给收听者，你们猜猜吧。
Alice: And as usual we’ll find out what the answer is at the end of the programme. Now let’s find out more about ear worms. Psychologists have been doing some research into what makes a particular bit of music so catchy.
和往常一样，我们会在节目的最后再揭晓答案。现在我们继续谈谈耳蠕虫。心理学家曾做过一些研究，目的是找出某段特定的音乐如此朗朗上口的原因。
Rob: Catchy – that’s a nice word. It means something that you can catch easily. Like the flu?
Catchy——多么美好的一个词。是指你能轻易获得的东西，比如流感？
Alice: Ha ha. Yes you can catch a cold or the flu, but a catchy piece of music means it is very easy to learn, and it sticks in your head for a long time. Here’s musician Terry Dobson with some good examples of catchy tunes:
哈哈！是的，你很容易就能得感冒或流感，但是一段朗朗上口的音乐是指这段音乐学起来很容易，而且会在你的脑海里停留很长一段时间。下面是音乐家特里·多布森列举的一些朗朗上口的音乐片段。
Even in the film industry - just a few notes, five notes – Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Jaws and 007 – only a few notes but those notes, you’ve only to hear them played by any instrument and you know instantly what the tune is.
即便在电影行业，无论任何乐器只要演奏出《第三类接触》、《大白鲨》和《007》主旋律中的几个音符，例如5个音符，你都能立刻识别出这是哪部电影的旋律。
Rob: Some great examples there of tunes which can become ear worms. You only need to sing about 5 notes of the James Bond theme and people will recognise the tune. And he also talked about the theme tune – that’s the main tune - for the films Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
这些美妙的小曲调都是耳蠕虫。你只要哼唱出詹姆斯·邦德主题曲的5个音符，人们就能听出这首歌。这位音乐家还提到了主题曲——是指电影的主旋律，比如电影《第三类接触》和《大白鲨》的主题曲。
Alice: See if you can remember them, listeners. Musician Terry Dobson said you can hear those notes played by any musical instrument and you know exactly where the music comes from. In fact I noticed in the new James Bond film they only needed to play two notes before you recognise the music immediately!
听众朋友们，你们还记得这些歌曲吗？音乐家特里·多布森说，任何乐器演奏这些旋律，你都能立刻知道旋律的出处。其实，我发现他们仅仅需要弹奏《詹姆斯邦德》新电影的2个音符，人们就能立即想起这段音乐。
Rob: Am I guessing – du duh.
让我猜猜。
Alice: Exactly! Now let’s look at some of the science behind ear worms. There are two features which seem to be common in catchy bits of music.
的确！现在我们来看看耳蠕虫背后的科学道理。朗朗上口的音乐旋律普遍具有两个共同特点。
Rob: Let me guess – repetitive sounds. And easy to remember tunes?
让我猜猜——重复性的声音。还有很容易记起的旋律？
Alice: Kind of. Long notes and spaces – what’s known as intervals in music – spaces which are very close together. Dr Lauren Stewart of Goldsmiths University in London has been analysing the features of very common ear worms:
类似。长音符和间隔——音乐间隔——紧密相连的节奏停顿。伦敦金史密斯大学的劳伦·斯图尔特博士一直在分析耳蠕虫的特征：
A tune or a part of the tune that comes unbidden into the mind, and then goes on to repeat and it’s outside of your conscious control of it. Two features seem to be rather predictive of whether a song will get stuck – and that’s rather long notes and intervals that are very close together. So this is quite interesting because it obviously makes a song easy to sing.
一首曲子或者一部分曲调直接进入到人脑，持续重复，不受你的意识控制。两个特点似乎对一首歌是否流畅具有一定的预测性——即是否有紧密相连的音符和间隔。这就是一首歌容易哼唱的关键，很有趣。
Alice: Dr Lauren Stewart talked about those two features which make pieces of music very catchy. Long notes and intervals which are close together. It makes them easy to sing.
劳伦·斯图尔特博士谈论了能让音乐朗朗上口的两个特点。长音符和间隔紧密相连，能使歌曲易于吟唱。
Rob: And she used the words conscious and unbidden.
她用到了“意识”和“未受邀请的”这两个词。
Alice: Yes – conscious - you’re not aware, or conscious about trying to remember or sing a piece of music. It just sticks in your head without you wanting it to. It’s unbidden – not invited.
是的，意识，你在无意识地试图记住一段旋律。虽然你不想记住它，但它已进入到你的脑海。这就是不请自来。
Rob: Maybe that’s what makes some ear worms so irritating.
所以这就是为什么耳蠕虫如此令人反感。
Alice: Rather like an earwig climbing into your ear!
就像是一只地蜈蚣爬进了你的耳朵！
Rob: But why are psychologists investigating ear worms? It seems a strange thing for them to research.
但是为什么心理学家会调查耳蠕虫呢？他们做这样的调查好像很奇怪。
Alice: Dr Lauren Stewart says that ear worms have different effects on different people.
劳伦·斯图尔特博士称，一些耳蠕虫对不同的人产生的效果不同。
Rob: So what does it say about you if you can’t get the James Bond theme tune out of your head?
如果你不能忘记《詹姆斯邦德》的主旋律，那说明什么呢？
Alice: I don’t know. Maybe that you unconsciously want to have a more exciting life! Now before we go – have you had a think about that ear worm that’s stuck in my head today? (Alice sings the tune) Is it called: a) Lilliput b) Lillypad or c) Lillibolero
我不知道。或许你想要更精彩的生活，只是你自己没有意识到罢了。石头掉进河水里——噗通（不懂）。在节目结束之前，你知道我脑海里的这只耳蠕虫是什么吗？它叫做：a) Lilliput b) Lillypad 还是c) Lillibolero呢？
Rob: I think it’s c) Lillibolero.
我认为是Lillibolero
Alice: Well done! Lillibolero, has long been used as the theme for the BBC World Service radio station. It’s actually a march – a tune used for soldiers to march to, believed to have been written by Henry Purcell in the seventeenth century inspired by an Irish jig.
正确！Lillibolero一直都是BBC全球服务广播电台的主旋律。其实是一段进行曲——士兵前进时所用的曲调，应该是17世纪初由亨利·浦塞尔创作的，创作灵感来自爱尔兰吉格舞。
Rob: Well, don’t let it be said that you don’t learn anything on 6 Minute English!
不要告诉我你从英语六分钟节目里什么也没有学到！
Alice: Now, time for a recap of some of the words we heard in today’s programme.
现在来回顾一下我们今天听到的词汇。
Rob: They are: ear worm, stick in my head, can’t get out of your head, catchy, theme tune, note, conscious, unbidden
它们是：耳蠕虫、留在脑海里、无法从脑海中赶出、引人注意的、主旋律、音符、意识、未被邀请的。
Alice: Join us again soon for more 6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish. com.
欢迎继续收听我们下一期的BBC六分钟。
Rob: And don’t forget to find us on Facebook and Twitter.
不要忘记从脸书和推特上收听我们的节目。
Alice: Bye for now.
再见。
Rob: Bye.
再见。
That was 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. com.
以上是bbclearningenglish. com英语六分钟节目。
