TED演讲：别对我撒谎(5)

 　　Lying's complex. It's woven into the fabric¹ of our daily and our business lives.  说谎这事挺复杂的。这跟我们的日常生活与工作交织在一起。

　　We're deeply ambivalent² about the truth.  我们对真相总是拿捏不准。

　　We parse³ it out on an as-needed basis, sometimes for very good reasons, other times just because we don't understand the gaps in our lives.  我们在需要的时候才来分析它，有时候是情理之中的，而有时候则是因为我们不理解生活中现实与理想的差距。

　　That's truth number two about lying.  这是关于说谎的第二条真相。

　　We're against lying, but we're covertly⁴ for it in ways that our society has sanctioned for centuries and centuries and centuries.  我们反对说谎，但背地里赞同说谎，我们的社会对种种这些做法包容了好几百年。

　　It's as old as breathing. It's part of our culture, it's part of our history. Think Dante, Shakespeare, the Bible, News of the World. 其历史源远流长。是我们文化和历史的一部分，想想看但丁、莎士比亚、圣经、世界新闻报。

　　Lying has evolutionary⁵ value to us as a species.  说谎在人类进化上有着重要价值。

　　Researchers have long known that the more intelligent the species, the larger the neocortex, the more likely it is to be deceptive⁶.  研究者早就知道物种的智慧越高，大脑皮层越大，这个物种就更可能欺骗。

　　Now you might remember Koko. Does anybody remember Koko the gorilla⁷ who was taught sign language?  你们可能还记得可可，有人还记得那只学会手语的大猩猩可可吗？

　　Koko was taught to communicate via sign language.  可可学会如何用手语进行交流。

　　Here's Koko with her kitten. It's her cute little, fluffy⁸ pet kitten.  这是可可和她的小猫。这就是她毛茸茸的可爱小猫咪。

　　Koko once blamed her pet kitten for ripping a sink out of the wall. 可可有一次责备她的小猫，怪它把洗手池从墙上剥下来。

1 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

2 ambivalent   

adj.含糊不定的；(态度等)矛盾的

参考例句：

• She remained ambivalent about her marriage.她对于自己的婚事仍然拿不定主意。
• Although she professed fear of the Russians,she seemed to have ambivalent feelings toward Philby himself.虽然她承认害怕俄国人，然而她似乎对菲尔比本人有一种矛盾的感情。

3 parse   

v.从语法上分析；n.从语法上分析

参考例句：

• I simply couldn't parse what you just said.我完全无法对你刚说的话作语法分析。
• It causes the parser to parse an NP.它调用分析程序分析一个名词短语。

4 covertly   

adv.偷偷摸摸地

参考例句：

• Naval organizations were covertly incorporated into civil ministries. 各种海军组织秘密地混合在各民政机关之中。 来自辞典例句
• Modern terrorism is noteworthy today in that it is being done covertly. 现代的恐怖活动在今天是值得注意的，由于它是秘密进行的。 来自互联网

5 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

6 deceptive   

adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
• The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单，其实不然。

7 gorilla   

n.大猩猩，暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
• A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。

8 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。