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This
is a download from BBC Learning English. To find out more, visit our
website 6 Minute English from the BBC Learning English. com.
本文来自BBC Learning English。如需获得更多内容请访问我们的网站BBC Learning English. com。
Alice: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Alice…
大家好，欢迎收听英语六分钟，我是爱丽丝。
Neil: And I'm Neil.
我是尼尔。
Alice: Neil, what are you doing?
你在做什么，尼尔？
Neil: I saw Squirtle … And … I'm trying to catch it!
我看到杰尼龟了，我要抓住它！
Alice: What are you talking about?
你在说什么？
Neil: Pokemon Go, Alice. I'm trying to catch a Pokemon.
爱丽丝，我在玩《口袋妖怪Go》。我想抓一只口袋妖怪。
Alice: What?
什么？
Neil:
Alice! Keep up! Pokemon Go is a game where these little virtual
monsters pop up onto your phone and you have to catch them. There it is
again… Ha! Gotcha! I got Squirtle.
爱丽丝！你真的需要跟上时代了！《口袋妖怪Go》是一款游戏，虚拟的小精灵会突然出现在手机上，你得抓住他们。又出现了！哈！抓住了！我抓住杰尼龟了。
Alice: Well done, Neil. Now the subject of today's show is crazes…
做得好，尼尔。今天节目的主题是狂热……
Neil:
And Pokemon Go is a good example. When it was first released, so many
people were downloading the app that servers were crashing all over the
place.
《口袋妖怪Go》就是一个不错的例子。这款游戏刚推出时，许多人都下载了，服务器都崩溃了。
Alice:
Perhaps I should explain at this point that a craze or a fad is a
sudden and widespread enthusiasm for something, which only lasts a short
time. So why do you think this craze for Pokemon Go took off, Neil?
这里我可以这样解释：热潮是指人们突然之间对某物产生了广泛的热情，而且这种热情只持续一小段时间。你觉得人们为什么会突然对《口袋妖怪Go》产生了兴趣？
Neil:
It uses augmented reality – and that's exciting new technology! It's
fun to play outside– and the game was released over the summer when
people want to be outside. And … people are already familiar with the
monsters since they were created back in 1995.
这款游戏用了增强现实技术——这是一项很令人兴奋的新技术。在外面玩这款游戏很有意思——这款游戏是在夏天发布的，而夏天正是人们外出的好季节。而且1995年，这些小精灵就已经被创造出来了，所以人们都已经很对他们很熟悉了。
Alice:
Augmented reality by the way, is where digital information is layered
on top of what you see through a smartphone or other device, augmenting
or adding to it.
增强现实是指，在你通过手机或其他设备所看到的事物上架设一层数字信息，从而增强画面效果。
Neil:
I love this game. But then again, I loved other games in the past. I
still have some toys and gadgets from my childhood at home. If there was
a fad I would join in, I'm afraid.
我喜欢这款游戏。但过去我也喜欢其他游戏。我家里还有一些儿时的玩具和小玩意儿。我经常跟风。
Alice:
Well, let me test your knowledge about toys that turned into fads. Tell
me: what is the best-selling toy of all time? Is it: a) the space
hopper? b) the Rubik's cube also known as magic cube? Or c) the cabbage
patch doll?
我们来看看你对时尚的玩具有多少了解。你能告诉我，一直以来最畅销的玩具是什么吗？a) 弹跳球？b) 魔方？还是 c) 大头娃娃？
Neil: I'll say b) the Rubik's cube. I have one and, so do my cousin, my neighbour. . . my brother… my dog…
我选b) 魔方。我就有一个魔方，而且我的侄子、邻居、弟弟、我的狗都有魔方。
Alice:
Well, we'll find out if you got the answer right or not later on in the
show. But why do we like to participate in crazes? Dr Ben Michaelis, a
clinical psychologist from Columbia University in the US, explains.
好了，稍后我们再看你的回答是否正确。为什么我们喜欢跟风呢？美国哥伦比亚大学临床心理学家本·米歇利斯教授会解释这一点。
When
a person or a group perceives an idea or a process or a product as
being beneficial to one person or to a group of people, they immediately
want to experience that benefit for themselves, which hooks into an
ancient evolutionary fear of being left behind or abandoned by our
tribes, and so more people join in.
当个人或群体认为一种观点、一个过程或者某种产品对自身有利时，他们就想立即亲自体验那种好处，这是一种害怕落后或被群体抛弃的古老的进化恐惧感，所以越来越多的人会加入其中。
Neil:
So Ben Michaelis believes that people join crazes because they are
afraid of being abandoned by others in their group. But I don't think
that's true for me – I just enjoy playing games!
所以本·米歇利斯认为人们跟风是因为他们担心被群体遗弃。但我觉得这个说法并不适用于我，我就是喜欢玩游戏。
Alice:
Yes, but why have you switched from Angry Birds, to Minecraft, to
Pokemon Go in the space of a year? And before that there was Candy Crush
and…
好的，但为什么在这一年的时间里，你从玩《愤怒的小鸟》，转至《我的世界》，又换成《口袋妖怪Go》？在这之前你还玩过《糖果粉碎传奇》。
Neil: Well, I get bored after a while.
玩一段时间我就厌倦了。
Alice: So it isn't because other people stop playing it? And they stop talking about it? And it stops being a group thing?
难道不是因为人们都不玩了？他们也不再讨论这个游戏了？这个游戏不再是一群人一起玩了？
Neil:
Hmm. Maybe there is an element of that. Anyway, I like the idea that we
join a craze because it's beneficial – or good – for us.
好吧，也许是有这方面的因素。总之，我喜欢这个观点：我们加入一种热潮，是因为它对我们有好处。
Alice:
I'm not convinced that playing Pokemon Go is beneficial. Did you know,
Neil, that in terms of personality type, people who are more emotionally
insecure are far more likely to follow a craze? You know, sort of, herd
mentality?
我并不觉得玩《口袋妖怪Go》有什么好处。你知道吗，尼尔，就人格类型来说，那些没有安全感的人，更容易跟风。你知道的，他们有从众心理。
Neil:
Herd mentality describes how people are influenced by their peers to
adopt certain behaviours. But it's fun to be connected with others
through a craze. Aren't you troubled by FOMO?
从众心理是指人们受到周围人的影响，而采取与他人相同的做法。但通过某种热潮去结识他人是很有意思的。你会受社交控的困扰吗？
Alice:
FOMO – or fear of missing out? Oh no, I have a strong sense of self.
But… well, I must admit I like loom bands. Do you remember those little
rubber bands you could make jewellery and other stuff out of?
社交控——害怕错过？不，没有，我有很强的自我感知。但我必须承认，我喜欢皮筋手链。你还记得那些能做成首饰或其他小饰品的小橡皮筋吗？
Neil: Yes, I remember. David Beckham wore a loom band bracelet…
我记得，贝克汉姆就戴过皮筋手链。
Alice:
So did the Duchess of Cambridge. They were very popular a couple of
years ago and came from a simple idea. Cheong Choon Ng, an immigrant
from Malaysia living in the United States, invented the Rainbow Loom
after watching his daughters play. Let's hear his story.
剑桥公爵夫人也戴过。十几年前，皮筋手链非常流行，它起源于一个很简单的故事。Cheong Choon Ng是一位来自马来西亚的移民，居住在美国，他看到女儿的玩具后，发明了彩虹织机。我们来听听他的故事。
The
idea of loom band came from my daughters. So one day they came home
from school. Two of them were teaching each other how to make rubber
band bracelets from those small tiny ponytail size rubber bands. I tried
to impress them by making a thicker bracelet that was made from a
prototype loom that I fabricated. And it was a success. And they were
telling me that those bracelets are so cool, can you make more?
彩虹织机的想法来自于我的女儿。一天，他们放学校回到家。其中两个女儿正在互教对方如何用小马尾大小的橡皮筋做皮筋手链。我想给她们一个惊喜，于是我用自己制作的织机原型做了一条厚一点的手链。很成功。他们告诉我：这些手链很酷，可以再做一些吗？
Alice:
Cheong Choon Ng made a prototype – a first model of a machine from
which all others would develop. He posted a video of his daughters
making the bracelets and these went viral on the internet.
Cheong Choon Ng制作了一台原型机——也就是这个机器的第一个版本，之后的版本以此为基础生产。他将女儿制作手链的视频发到网上，于是皮筋手链迅速在网络上走红。
Neil: Interesting. Now, I think it's time for the answer to today's quiz question.
很有意思。我觉得是时候公布今天问题的答案了。
Alice:
Yes. I asked: what is the best-selling toy of all time? Is it: a) the
space hopper, b) the Rubik's cube also known as magic cube, or c) the
cabbage patch doll?
我的问题是：一直以来最热销的玩具是什么？ a) 弹跳球， b)魔方，还是 c)大头娃娃？
Neil: It has to be the Rubik's cube!
一定是魔方。
Alice:
And indeed it is. In the 35 years since the puzzle was available to buy
outside of Hungary, where its inventor came from, approximately 350m
Rubik's cubes have been sold, making it the world's best-selling toy.
And they are clever little toys, I must say – there's some maths in
them. Now, let's hear the words we learned today.
没错，确实如此。魔方的发明家来自匈牙利，自从35年前，人们可以在匈牙利之外的国家买到魔方以后，魔方的销量就达到了3亿5千万，这魔方成为了世界上最热销的玩具。魔方是考验智力的小玩具——它蕴含一些数学知识。我们来听听今天的单词。
Neil: They were:
分别有：
craze
狂热
fad
一时的狂热
augmented reality
增强现实
beneficial
有好处的
herd mentality
从众心理
FOMO
社交控
prototype
原型
And that's the end of today's 6 Minute English. Don't forget to join us again soon!
今天的英语六分钟就到这里。我们下期再见。
Both: Bye!
再见！
6 Minute English from the BBC.
BBC英语六分钟。
