【四级】催眠术

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Rob.

大家好。这里是 BBC 学习英语栏目的六分钟英语。我是罗伯。

And I'm Sam.

我是萨姆。

Now, Sam, look into my eyes!

萨姆，看着我的眼睛！

You are feeling sleepy!

你感觉很困！

Relax!

放松！

What are you doing, Rob?

你在干嘛，罗伯？

Trying to hypnotise me?

想要给我催眠吗？

Well, since hypnotism is the topic of this programme, I thought I'd give it a try!

嗯，因为催眠术是本期节目的话题，所以我想我应该试一下！

So how do you feel, Sam?

所以你感觉如何呢，萨姆？

Are you under my spell?

你被我控制了吗？

Hmmm, I don't think so, Rob.

嗯，我认为没有，罗伯。

It's not so easy to put me into a hypnotic trance - that's the word to describe the state of mind of someone who's been hypnotised and isn't completely in control.

要让我进入催眠状态 —— 这个词用来描述某个人的精神状态，他已经被催眠了，但是没有完全受控制 —— 可不太容易。

You mean like those stage magicians who trick people into clucking like a chicken or playing an imaginary violin?

你说是像那些舞台上表演的魔术师吗，他们诱骗人们像小鸡一样咯咯哒，或者演奏假想的小提琴吗？

Yes, some hypnotists make people do silly things for entertainment but hypnotism has real benefits as well - curing phobias, for example.

是的，一些催眠师会让人们做一些愚蠢的事情来找乐子，但是催眠术也真的有一些好处 —— 例如治疗恐惧症。

Maybe so, but for other people the very idea of a hypnotic trance is nonsense.

也许吧，但是对于其他人来说，催眠状态就是胡说八道。

And even if hypnotism is real, why would you let a complete stranger inside your head?

而且即使催眠术是真的，你为什么要让一个完全陌生的人进入你的大脑呢？

Don't worry, Rob.

别担心，罗伯。

I won't make you cluck like a chicken!

我不会让你像小鸡一样咯咯哒的！

Please don't!

请不要！

At least, not before my quiz question, which is about a well-known 20th century hypnotist.

至少在我说出问题前不会，今天的问题跟一位 20 世纪有名的催眠家有关。

One of the first Europeans to hypnotise people, this man became so famous that his name is forever associated with hypnotic trances - but who was he?

最早的催眠他人的欧洲人之一，这个人变得如此出名以至于他的名字被永久性地跟催眠状态联系在了一起 —— 但是他是谁呢？

Was it a) Sigmund Freud, b) Franz Mesmer, or c) Harry Houdini?

是 A. 西格蒙德·弗洛伊德，B. 弗兰兹·麦斯默，还是 C. 哈利·胡迪尼？

Well, people who want to quit smoking sometimes use a kind of therapy involving hypnotism, so maybe it's a) Sigmund Freud!

嗯，想要戒烟的人有时候会使用一种包含催眠术的治疗法，所以也许是 A. 西格蒙德·弗洛伊德！

OK, we'll find out if that's right at the end of the programme.

好的，我们会在节目结束的时候揭晓答案。

One question that's often asked is whether anyone can be hypnotised, or are there people, maybe like you, Sam, who are less hypnotisable than others?

经常被问到的一个问题就是是否有人会被催眠，或者是否有人，也许像你一样，萨姆，相比于他人不容易被催眠？

Professor Amir Raz is a psychiatrist at The Brain Institute in Orange County, California.

阿米尔·拉兹教授是加州橘子郡脑部研究所的精神病学家。

According to him, there are two things which explain what makes one person more or less hypnotisable than another, as he told BBC World Service programme, The Why Factor.

根据他的说法，有两件事情可以解释是什么让某个人比其他人更容易或更不容易被催眠，他对 BBC 世界服务节目《The Why Factor》如是说。

And listen out for the first thing he mentions.

请听他提到的第一件事。

Initially people thought that if you're very intelligent, you're likely to be less suggestible; if you are male, you're likely to be less suggestible than if you're female; and so on.

最开始人们认为如果你很聪明，那么你就更不容易受他人影响；如果是男性，相比于女性你就更不容易受他人影响，诸如此类。

These have been largely dismissed.

这些想法很大程度上都被摒弃了。

In fact, it's about two things.

事实上，这关乎两件事。

First, absorption.

第一个是专注。

Your ability to get engrossed in a particular activity - we all know people who are capable of reading a book and losing track of time, we know the same thing about people who are watching a film and beginning to cry, having all these emotional reactions, again getting very much sucked into the scene and being riveted.

你投入到某个特定活动中的能力 —— 我们都知道有人会读书读到忘记时间，我们也知道有人会在看电影的时候哭出来，有各种各样的情绪反馈，会卷入那个场景然后陷在里面。

People often think you can be easily hypnotised if you are suggestible, or easily influenced by others.

人们经常认为如果你耳根软，或者说容易受影响的话就容易被催眠。

In fact, hypnotism is about two things.

事实上，催眠关乎两件事情。

Did you hear the first thing, Sam?

你听到第一件事了吗？

Yes, it's getting absorbed; so absorbed that you lose track of time, become so occupied with something that you are unaware of the passing time.

是的，那就是专注；非常专注以至于你忘记了时间，非常沉迷于某事以至于你没有意识到时间的流逝。

And getting absorbed can also mean you get sucked into something - become involved in a situation when you do not want to be involved.

而专注也意味着你被某事卷了进去 —— 身不由己地陷入某事。

Stage hypnotists often speak in a soothing, gentle ways to help this process of getting someone absorbed or sucked in!

舞台催眠师常常会以一种抚慰人心的温柔的方式说话，来让人们陷进去！

But according to Professor Raz, there's a second important part to being hypnotised: attention.

但是根据拉兹教授的说法，还有被催眠另一个重要的因素：注意力。

Listen to the definition of attention Professor Raz gives to BBC World Service programme, The Why Factor.

请听拉兹教授向 BBC 世界服务《The Why Factor》解释注意力的定义。

The ability to get focused, to concentrate and hone in on particular, select pieces of information to the exclusion of others.

能够专注于某个特定的精选的信息的能力，将他人排除在外。

Besides the relaxed, dream-like feeling of being absorbed, what's also needed is the concentration to hone in on something, in other words, to give it your full attention.

除了这种放松的，想做梦一样的专注的感觉以外，还需要专注于某事，换句话说，就是把你所有的注意力都投入进去。

What you hone in on could be the way the hypnotist speaks, like how Rob said, "Look into my eyes!" at the beginning of the programme.

你注意到的可能是催眠师说话的方式，例如罗伯刚才在节目一开始说的“看着我的眼睛！”。

Or it could be some other object, like a moving finger, a pendulum or a swinging watch that some hypnotists use.

也可能是其它物品，例如一根正在移动的手指，一个钟摆，或者有些催眠师使用的摇摆的手表。

Well, I don't feel hypnotised, Rob, but I'm certainly focused on one thing - my lunch!

嗯，我觉得我没有被催眠，罗伯，但是我肯定专注于一样东西 —— 我的午餐！

So come on, tell me, what's the correct answer to the quiz question?

所以快点告诉我问题的答案是什么吧。

OK, Sam.

好的，萨姆。

I asked you which hypnotist was so famous that his name became used as a verb.

我之前问你哪个催眠师十分出名，以至于他的名字被用作一个动词。

And what did you say?

你说的是什么？

I guessed it was a) Sigmund Freud.

我猜的是 A. 西格蒙德·弗洛伊德。

It was a good guess, but the correct answer was b) a German doctor called, Franz Mesmer.

猜的不错，但是正确答案是 B. 一个叫做弗兰兹·麦斯默的德国医生。

Of course!

当然！

And the word named after him was...mesmerised - to have your attention completely fixed so that you can't think of anything else.

来源于他名字的动词是 mesmerised，意思是完全抓住你的注意力以至于你无法思考其它的任何事情。

Well, that might be a problem if you want to remember this vocabulary, so let's recap the words we've learned, starting with trance - a state of consciousness in which you are not completely aware or in control.

好的，如果你想要记住这个单词，这可能是个问题，所以我们来回顾今天学习的单词吧，从催眠状态开始 —— 一种你不是完全清醒或受控制的意识状态。

Someone who is suggestible is easily influenced by other people.

耳根软的人容易受到他人的影响。

When you lose track of time, you become so absorbed with something that you are unaware of time passing.

如果你忘记了时间，那么你十分专注于某事以至于你没有意识到时间的流逝。

And you might get sucked in - become involved in a situation that you don't want to.

而你可能陷进去 —— 身不由己地被卷入某种场景。

Hypnotism also depends on concentration and the ability to hone in on something - to give something your full attention... -...until you're mesmerised - you have your attention completely fixed so that you cannot think of anything else.

催眠术还基于专注以及能够专注于某事的能力 —— 全神贯注于某事......-......直到你着迷 —— 你的注意力完全被吸引了，以至于你无法思考任何其他的东西。

That's all for this hypnotic journey.

今天的催眠之旅就到此结束了。

Bye for now!

再见！

Bye bye!

再见！

—END—

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