纽约英语口语网新版
特别广播英语
第 59 课:Why Don't Girls Think Like Boys?
为什么女孩不能像男孩那样考虑问题-4

What produces aggression in little boys? It has long been assumed that aggression is caused by male hormones. 是什么使小男孩产生了好侵犯人的性格?长期以来人们一直认为这种好侵犯人的性格是由于男性荷尔蒙引起的。

Scientists today believe that male hormones are only part of the explanation, however. They say aggressiveness in boys is also caused by mothers. 可是,今天科学家们认为男性荷尔蒙只能说明一部分问题。科学家们说,男孩的侵略性也都是由母亲培养出来的。

A team of psychologists discovered this by placing mothers and their one-year-old babies in a room filled with toys. 一组心理学家。把母亲们和她们的一岁大的婴儿都放在一个到处都摆着玩具的房间里,结果就发现了这一事实。

The room had a wall through which the scientists could observe what happened without being seen. 这个房间保留有一面墙,通过这面墙科学家们在墙外能观察到房间城所发生的一切情况,却不能被房间里的人发现。

They took notes on everything the mothers and babies did. 他们对母亲们和婴儿们所做的一切都做了笔记。

Here is a sample of those notes, taken during the observation of a baby boy and his mother: 下面就是在观察一个男婴和他母亲的过程中,记下的笔记中的一个片断:

"Baby leans against mother. Looks up at her. She speaks to him. She turns him around. He walks away, picks up toy cat. Goes to mother, drops cat, and leans against her. Looks up at her. She turns him around." "婴儿偎依着妈。(因为是速记,将虚词尽量删掉了--译者注)。他抬头看她。她跟他说话。她让他转过身去。他走开了,拣起一个玩具猫。回到妈那,他把猫扔了。偎依着她。他抬头看她。她又让他转过身去"。

From such observations and from conversations with mothers, the scientists learned something about the treatment of baby boys and baby girls. 从几次这类的观察中,从历次同母亲们的谈话中,科学家们知道了对待男婴和女婴的不同方法。

While the mother keeps her daughter close to her, she trains her son to move away from her, to develop independence. 母亲尽量让她的女儿躲在自己怀里,可是她却训练她的儿子离开自己,去发展独立自主的精神。