【英语语言学习】每个人心中的利他主义

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

When someone does something utterly¹ selfless, you might think, oh, they're just a generous kind of soul. But new research suggests altruism² may be hardwired in the brain. Reporter Michelle Trudeau has more.

MICHELLE TRUDEAU, BYLINE³: Altruism is when you help somebody else at a cost to yourself. So you're sacrificing for another; you're taking a risk or suffering pain.

ANGELA SIMPSON: My name is Angela Simpson. I reside in Albany, New York, and I am 46 years old.

TRUDEAU: Angela is a graphic⁴ artist. She is also an extraordinary altruist⁵. Back in 2010, Angela donated one of her kidneys to an unknown recipient⁶.

SIMPSON: The only thing I knew about my recipient is that she was a female and she was residing in Bakersfield, California.

TRUDEAU: The surgery to remove Angela's kidney occurred at a transplant hospital in New York City.

SIMPSON: And my kidney was shipped to California immediately after it was extracted.

TRUDEAU: Angela's altruistic⁷ act begs the question why would someone donate a perfectly⁸ healthy part of their body to a total stranger, go through the risk of major surgery and do it willingly - even happily - for no pay, no remuneration and anonymously⁹? Here's how Angela explains her decision.

SIMPSON: At that time in my life, I was 42 years old. I was very single. I had no children; you know, very, very fortunate - loved my life. But I really felt like I would question often what is my purpose?

TRUDEAU: So when she heard about the critical need for kidney donations - over 100,000 people in the U.S. today are waiting for a kidney transplant...

SIMPSON: To really be able to help somebody unconditionally¹⁰ was, like, an awe¹¹ moment.

TRUDEAU: So she did it, she says, simply because she could. Professor Abigail Marsh¹² has her own story of altruism, too.

ABIGAIL MARSH: I think I was 20 years old, and I was driving home to my parent's house in Tacoma, Washington.

TRUDEAU: Long story short - a freak highway accident. Her car spins around and stalls in the fast lane. A stranger stops, dodges¹³ through traffic, helps her to safety saving her life and then disappears. A true altruist - risking his own life to help someone he didn't know and would never see again. This propelled Abigail Marsh toward her professional career, one of today's leading researchers of altruism. Now at Georgetown University, Marsh studies what she calls extraordinary altruists - most recently, a study of 19, including Angela, from around the country who donated a kidney to a stranger.

MARSH: And we brought them to Georgetown for testing.

TRUDEAU: Psych testing, brain imaging studies, extensive background profiles, etc. But, says Marsh...

MARSH: Most of the test that we did didn't show any differences between the altruistic donors¹⁴ and people who had not been donors.

TRUDEAU: All pretty normal - except for a telltale difference in a part of our brain called the amygdala. It's an almond-shaped cluster of nerves; it's our emotional radar¹⁵. And it was significantly larger in altruists compared to those who'd never donated an organ. Additionally, Marsh reports that the amygdala in altruists is supersensitive to fear or distress¹⁶ in another's face.

MARSH: They showed this very specific increase in amygdala activation¹⁷ in response to others' fear.

TRUDEAU: Now in previous research, Marsh reports some polar opposite findings in a group of psychopaths. Using the same tests as with the altruists, Marsh found that psychopaths have smaller, less active amygdalas. The brains' emotional radar in psychopaths was blunted and relatively¹⁸ unresponsive to someone else's distress or fear. For NPR News, I'm Michelle Trudeau.

1 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

2 altruism   

n.利他主义，不自私

参考例句：

• An important feature of moral behaviour is altruism.道德行为一个重要特点就是利他主义。
• Altruism is crucial for social cohesion.利他主义对社会的凝聚是至关重要的。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

5 altruist   

n.利他主义者，爱他主义者

参考例句：

6 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

7 altruistic   

adj.无私的，为他人着想的

参考例句：

• It is superficial to be altruistic without feeling compassion.无慈悲之心却说利他，是为表面。
• Altruistic spirit should be cultivated by us vigorously.利他的精神是我们应该努力培养的。

8 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

9 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。

10 unconditionally   

adv.无条件地

参考例句：

• All foreign troops must be withdrawn immediately and unconditionally. 所有外国军队必须立即无条件地撤出。
• It makes things very awkward to have your girls going back unconditionally just now! 你们现在是无条件上工，真糟糕！ 来自子夜部分

11 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

12 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

13 dodges   

n.闪躲( dodge的名词复数 )；躲避；伎俩；妙计v.闪躲( dodge的第三人称单数 )；回避

参考例句：

• He tried all sorts of dodges to avoid being called up. 他挖空心思，耍弄各种花招以逃避被征召入伍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Those were the dodges he used to escape taxation. 那些是他用以逃税的诡计。 来自辞典例句

14 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

16 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

17 activation   

n. 激活，催化作用

参考例句：

• A computer controls the activation of an air bag.电脑控制着气囊的启动。

18 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。