TED演讲：依照圣经指导原则生活的一年(7)

 　　But this one is -- the Bible says that you cannot touch women during certain times of the month, 但这一个是，圣经告诉我们在每个月的某些时间不能碰女人，

　　and more than that, you cannot sit on a seat where a menstruating woman has sat. 更甚者--你不能坐在经期妇女曾做过的椅子。

　　And my wife thought this was very offensive, so she sat in every seat in our apartment, 我太太觉得这很侮辱女人，所以她把我们家里的每一个椅子都坐了一遍，

　　and I had to spend much of the year standing¹ until I bought my own seat and carried it around. 所以我必须在这一年大部分时间都站着，直到我买了一张自己的椅子并且随身携带。

　　So, you know, I met with creationists. I went to the creationists' museum. 所以，你知道的，我遇到一些特创论者。我去了关于特创论者的博物馆。

　　And these are the ultimate literalists. And it was fascinating, because they were not stupid people at all. 他们是最会咬文嚼字的人。然而这很有趣，因为他们并不是笨蛋。

　　I would wager² that their IQ is exactly the same as the average evolutionist. 我敢打赌，他们的智商完全跟相信进化论的人一样。

　　It's just that their faith is so strong in this literal interpretation³ of the Bible that they distort all the data to fit their model. 只是他们有着很强的信仰，执着于圣经上的字面解释，所以扭曲事实数据来符合他们的理论。

　　And they go through these amazing mental gymnastics to accomplish this. 然后他们经由神奇的心理训练来达成。

　　And I will say, though, the museum is gorgeous. They really did a fantastic job. 然而我要说的是，这博物馆相当华丽。他们真的完成了一个很棒的工作。

　　If you're ever in Kentucky, there's, you can see a movie of the flood, 如果你曾经去过美国肯塔基州，就是这--你会看到一个关于大洪水的电影，

　　and they have sprinklers in the ceiling that will sprinkle on you during the flood scenes. 他们在天花板上装洒水器，当播放到洪水画面时，你就会被喷到水。

　　So, whatever you think of creationism -- and I think it's crazy -- they did a great job. 所以，不管你对创世纪论者看法怎样(我是觉得这蛮疯狂)，他们做了一个很出色的工作。

　　Another lesson is that thou shalt give thanks. 另一个教训是：诸位应当心存感恩。

　　And this one was a big lesson because I was praying, giving these prayers of thanksgiving, which was odd for an agnostic. 这是一个很重要的教诲，因为我祷告，献上感谢，这对于不可知论者来说很怪。

　　But I was saying thanks all the time, every day, and I started to change my perspective. 但是我嘴上常挂着感谢，无论何时，然而我开始改变我的看法。

　　And I started to realize the hundreds of little things that go right every day, 而且开始了解数以百计的小事情，那些顺遂的事，

　　that I didn't even notice, that I took for granted, as opposed to focusing on the three or four that went wrong. 那些我不曾注意到的小事，那些被当作里所当然的--而不是去注意那些出错的三四件事情。

　　So, this is actually a key to happiness for me, is to just remember when I came over here, 所以，这是幸福的秘诀，对我来说，只要提醒自己：当我来这里的时候，

　　the car didn't flip⁴ over, and I didn't trip coming up the stairs. It's a remarkable⁵ thing. 车子没有翻覆，我没被阶梯绊倒。这是件很棒的事。

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 wager   

n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌

参考例句：

• They laid a wager on the result of the race.他们以竞赛的结果打赌。
• I made a wager that our team would win.我打赌我们的队会赢。

3 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

4 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

5 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。