TED演讲：用前所未有的好方法诠释数字统计(2)

 　　Because the chimpanzee would score half right if I gave them two bananas with Sri Lanka and Turkey. 因为黑猩猩能得一半的分数，如果我给它们两个分别标着斯里兰卡和土耳其的香蕉，

　　They would be right half of the cases. But the students are not there. 它们会选对一半，但这些优等生们却做不到。

　　The problem for me was not ignorance¹; it was preconceived ideas. 这不是由于知识缺乏，而是他们先入为主的错误理念。

　　I did also an unethical study of the professors of the Karolinska Institute,  我还把这个测试拿去给卡罗林斯卡学院的教授们做，

　　that hands out the Nobel Prize in Medicine, and they are on par² with the chimpanzee there. 他们每年负责颁发诺贝尔医学奖，结果教授们和黑猩猩半斤八两。

　　So this is where I realized that there was really a need to communicate,  我意识到很有必要交流一下这个问题，

　　because the data of what's happening in the world and the child health of every country is very well aware. 因为多数人并不知道世界各国的儿童健康的改善。

　　So we did this software which displays it like this: every bubble here is a country.  我们作了一个软件，每一个小球代表一个国家。

　　This country over here is China. This is India.  这个是中国。这个是印度。

　　The size of the bubble is the population, and on this axis³ here, I put fertility rate. 小球的尺寸代表该国的人口，X轴是生育率，

　　Because my students, what they said when they looked upon the world,  我曾问过学生们，如果让你们来审视这个世界，

　　and I asked them, "What do you really think about the world?"  你们的真实想法是什？

　　Well, I first discovered that the textbook was Tintin, mainly. 其实这些教科书上都是丁丁历险记的人物。

　　And they said, "The world is still 'we' and 'them.' And 'we' is Western world and 'them' is Third World." 学生们回答，世界是由“我们和他们”组成的。“我们”指西方世界，“他们”指第三世界。

　　"And what do you mean with Western world?" I said.  我又问，“什么是西方世界？”

　　"Well, that's long life and small family, and Third World is short life and large family." “西方世界寿命长且家庭小；第三世界寿命短而家庭大。”

1 ignorance   

n.无知，愚昧，不了解，（of，about）不知道

参考例句：

• The relation of disease to poverty and ignorance is easy to see.疾病与贫穷、无知之间的关系是显而易见的。
• Maybe it is all due to my own ignorance.也许是我少见多怪。

2 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

3 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。