Horizon： Why Do We Talk《地平线系列：我们为何讲话（2009）》完整中英文对照剧本.docxVIP

It is probably the most amazing thing you do这也许是你所做的最神奇之事and it defines you as being human.它将你界定为人类And you do it with ease,这件事你做起来很轻松so much so you barely notice youre doing it.以至于你都意识不到它的存在Apple! Yeah, apple!苹果 对 苹果Your ability to talk.你说话的能力Or more precisely, the way you use language.更准确地说 你使用语言的方式Language.语言Hi, baby!你好 宝宝From the moment were born,从出生的那一刻起 we have language in our lives.语言就存在于我们的生活中Hi, baby!你好 宝宝A unique ability that defines us as human.这种独特的能力将我们界定为人类I can walk up to someone I dont know我可以走到一位陌生人面前and I can make a sequence of noises that Ive never让气流通过口腔 从而发出一系列made before by pushing air through my mouth.我从未发出过的声音I will take a thought in my head and make it go into their head,我可以让别人感知到我的思想and thats an incredible trick.这真是种不可思议的把戏Other animals may use sounds to communicate其它动物也可以通过声音来交流but were the only ones on the planet who can talk.但我们是这个星球上唯一可以讲话的生物Speech and language distinguishes us from all other species.说话和语言将我们与其它物种区分开来We are not only using words to be able to express ourselves我们说话不仅仅是为了表达自己but we are really expressing而是为了表达our thought processes that are unique to ourselves.我们每个人独一无二的思想过程For most of us it just happens.对于大多数人 说话是自然而然的事Its such a sophisticated skill这是一项精妙复杂的技能and yet children learn it so easily with minimal effort at all.而孩子们却能够轻而易举地掌握Thats Mummy.那是妈妈And when you start thinking about it,当我们仔细回味时就觉得it is quite miraculous how the brain does it.大脑做到这一切的方式多么不可思议But despite decades of research,尽管经过了数十年的研究 how we learn to talk remains a mystery.我们如何学会讲话依旧是个未解之谜How did this ability evolve?这种能力是如何进化的Why is it uniquely human?为什么这是人类所特有的And is it something we are born with它是我们与生俱来的or something that we learn?还是后天习得的It strikes me its surprising and odd that这让我觉得很惊奇we know an enormous amount about, for example,我们知道很多东西 比如说the first fractions of a second in the history of the universe,宇宙历史开始时那零点几秒的故事but we really know very little at all但对于什么东西使我们成之为人