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Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil. And I’m Rob.
你好。这里是BBC英语六分钟。我是尼尔。我是罗布。
Many people these days choose not to eat meat, and for vegetarians, eating animals is wrong.
现在很多人选择不吃肉，对于素食主义者来说，食用动物是不对的。
But what about digging up a carrot, or picking apples from a tree?
但是挖一根胡萝卜，或者从树上摘苹果呢?
Is that wrong too?
这也不对吗?
I don’t think so, Neil.
我不这么认为，尼尔。
Plants aren’t alive in the same way as animals, are they?
植物的生存方式和动物不一样，对吧?
They can’t think or feel pain.
他们不能思考，也感觉不到疼痛。
And even vegetarians need to eat something.
即使是素食者也需要吃点东西。
Fruit, vegetables, rice, beans – they all come from plants.
水果、蔬菜、大米、豆类——它们都来自植物。
It’s true that plants don’t have brains or nerves, but according to some scientists, they’re much more than passive things rooted in the ground.
植物确实没有大脑或神经，但根据一些科学家的说法，它们不仅仅是被动地扎根于地下的东西。
Plants can learn and remember, they solve problems, and can even recognise other plants in their ‘family’.
植物可以学习和记忆，它们可以解决问题，甚至可以识别它们“家族”中的其他植物。
So, given the amazing things plants do, is it right to eat them?
那么，考虑到植物的神奇功能，吃它们对吗?
That’s what we’ll be discussing in this programme, and as usual we'll be learning some new useful vocabulary as well.
这就是我们今天节目要讨论的内容，和往常一样，我们也会学习一些有用的新词汇。
But first I have a question for you, Neil.
但首先我有个问题要问你，尼尔。
Anyone who's seen cows grazing knows it’s usually animals that eat plants, but some plants have turned the evolutionary tables to eat animals instead.
任何见过牛吃草的人都知道，通常都是动物吃植物，但有些植物却改变了进化的方向，转而食用动物。
So, which tropical plant is famous for trapping insects to eat?
那么，哪种热带植物以捕虫而闻名呢?
Is it: a) the corpse flower? b) the American skunk cabbage? or c) the Venus fly trap?
是a)尸花? b)美国臭鼬卷心菜? 还是c)捕蝇草?
I think it’s c) the Venus fly trap.
我认为是c)捕蝇草。
OK, Neil.
好吧，尼尔。
We’ll find out if that’s the right answer later in the programme.
稍后我们再看你的答案是否正确。
Plants have been on the planet for hundreds of millions of years longer than humans, and have used that time to evolve special skills.
植物比人类在地球上多生存了数亿年，并利用这段时间进化出了特殊的技能。
Here’s Professor Rick Karban, a biologist at the University of California, explaining more to James Wong, botanist and presenter of BBC Radio 4 programme, Is Eating Plants Wrong?
以下是加州大学生物学家里克·卡尔班教授向植物学家、BBC广播4频道节目《吃植物错了吗?》主持人詹姆斯·王解释的更多内容。
Without eyes plants can perceive a lot of information about light, without noses plants can perceive chemical information, without ears plants can perceive sounds, and so we've come to realise that plants are very perceptive about what's going on in their environments.
植物没有眼睛，却可以感知很多关于光的信息，植物没有鼻子，却可以感知化学信息，植物没有耳朵，却可以感知声音，所以我们已经意识到植物对环境中发生的事情非常敏感。
You could argue for example that plants can perceive most of the senses that humans can.
比方说，你可以主张植物拥有人类用来感知外界的大部分感官。
I would agree with that and then some…
我同意这一点，而且还远不止此……
What d’you mean, ‘and then some’?
'而且还远不止此' 是什么意思?
Anyone who's had a dog knows that dogs have a much keener sense of smell than humans do, and we're now learning that plants are very responsive to chemicals in their environment.
养过狗的人都知道狗的嗅觉比人类灵敏得多，我们现在也知道植物对环境中的化学物质非常敏感。
Even without ears, eyes, or a nose, plants are very perceptive – they notice things around them.
即使没有耳朵、眼睛或鼻子，植物也非常敏锐——它们能注意到周围的事物。
In fact, Professor Karban says that plants perceive as much as humans and then some - an idiom meaning ‘and even more’ which is used to emphasise that what you mentioned before was an understatement.
事实上，卡尔班教授说，植物的感知能力和人类一样多，而且还远不止此——这个习语的意思是“甚至更多”，用来强调之前提到的内容是轻描淡写的。
For example: Bill Gates is rich and then some!
例如:比尔盖茨很富有，而且还远不止此！
Like dogs, plants have a keen sense of smell, which they used to detect chemicals in the air.
和狗一样，植物也有敏锐的嗅觉，它们用嗅觉来探测空气中的化学物质。
Here, keen means powerful and intense.
在这里，keen的意思是强大和强烈的。
OK, so plants can ‘see’ light and ‘smell’ the air, but does that mean they’re intelligent?
好吧，所以植物可以“看到”光和“闻到”气体，但这是否意味着它们是有智力的呢?
Maybe so.
也许是这样。
Studies modelled on the famous Pavlov’s dog experiment, have trained pea seedlings to find the quickest route to light through a maze, and remember it – evidence of memory.
以著名的巴甫洛夫狗实验为蓝本，研究人员训练豌豆苗在迷宫中找到最快的通往光源的路线，并记住它——这是记忆的证据。
In another experiment, potted plants were lined up with roots joining them like a chain of people holding hands.
在另一项实验中，盆栽植物排成一排，根部就像一群人手拉手一样连接在一起。
The plants talked to each other, passing along information about water and air temperature through their roots, like children playing a game where a message is passed on, in a whisper, through a chain of people, becoming distorted in the process.
这些植物彼此交流，通过它们的根部传递有关水和空气温度的信息，就像孩子们在玩一种传递信息的游戏，在这个游戏中，信息在一群人之间以耳语的方式传递，并在这个过程中受到曲解。
Distorted means changed from its original form.
曲解的意思是从原来的形式发生了改变。
All this takes brain power, and there’s clearly evidence that plants might have some kind of intelligence.
所有这些都需要脑力，有明确的证据表明植物可能具有某种智力。
So, given all of this, is it wrong to eat them?
那么，考虑到这一切，吃它们是错的吗?
That’s what James Wong asked, Michael Marder, professor of philosophy at the University of the Basque Country for his BBC Radio 4 programme, Is Eating Plants Wrong?
这是巴斯克地区大学哲学教授詹姆斯·王在他的BBC广播4频道节目《吃植物不对吗?》中提出的问题。
Is it wrong to eat plants?
吃植物有错吗?
It is not in and of itself wrong to eat plants, but we have to do so while keeping in mind the context in which we're doing this.
吃植物本身并没有错，但我们这么做的时候必须牢记我们这么做的目的。
We have to first of all think about what kinds of plants we are eating, what are the parts of those plants?
我们首先要考虑吃的是哪种植物，这些植物的组成部分是什么?
Are we in fact destroying the entire living being, or just taking certain of its parts such as fruits and leaves that are not essential to it that can actually fall off without doing harm to the whole organism?
我们实际上是在摧毁整个植物，还是只取走它的某些部分? 比如对它来说不重要的水果和叶子，这些部分会脱落，而不会对整个有机体造成伤害。
Professor Marder says that eating plants is not wrong in and of itself – when considered alone, without taking anything else into account.
马德尔教授说，食用植物本身并没有错——当单独考虑，而不考虑其他任何因素时。
But he thinks it’s important to remember the context – the situation or circumstances in which something happens.
但他认为重要的是要记住背景——事情发生的情况或环境。
Picking an apple, for example, is okay because it doesn’t kill the tree itself which can go on to produce more fruit.
例如，摘一个苹果是可以的，因为它不会杀死树本身，而树可以继续结出更多的果实。
It seems plants really are clever – but do they know the answer to your question, Rob?
看起来植物真的很聪明，但是它们知道你问题的答案吗，罗伯?
Ah yes, I asked you to name the famous insect-eating topical plant.
啊对了，我让你说出著名的食虫植物的名字。
And I said it was the Venus fly trap.
我回答的是捕蝇草。
Which was the correct answer! Well done, Neil.
这就是正确答案！ 干得好，尼尔。
OK, let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve learned, starting with the adjective perceptive – quick to notice and understand things.
好了，让我们回顾一下我们学过的词汇，从形容词感觉敏锐的开始——很快注意到并理解事物。
The idiom, and then some means ‘and even more’ and is used to show that something has been understated.
习语而且还远不止此的意思是“甚至更多”，用来表示某事被低估了。
A keen sense of smell, sight or hearing, is powerful and intense.
敏锐的嗅觉、视觉或听觉，意味着既强大又强烈。
Distorted means changed from its original form.
扭曲的意思是从原来的形式发生了改变。
The phrase in and of itself means when considered alone, without taking anything else into account.
这个短语就其本身而言的意思是单独考虑，不考虑其他任何事情时。
And finally, the context is the general situation in which something happens.
最后，背景是事情发生的概况。
Once again, our six minutes are up. Goodbye! Goodbye!
六分钟又到了。再见！ 再见！
