VOA慢速英语2019--Do You Believe in ‘Clairvoyance?'

 

Now, Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English.

On this program, we talk about the stories of … words.

Did you know I was going to say the word “words”? If you did, you may be clairvoyant¹. Or you may have heard the show before. Or you simply read the name.

Anyway -- today we will talk about the word clairvoyance²!

By definition, clairvoyance is the ability to predict future events. If you are clairvoyant, you know about things that you did not actually see happen or hear about.

Some clairvoyants³ even claim to be able to speak to the dead.

Psychics⁵, palm readers and fortune tellers⁶ all say they have this power. Some turn to a crystal ball for their information. Others read tea leaves or depend on tarot cards.

The Etymology⁷ Online website reports that the word “clairvoyant” comes from French and dates back to the 13th century.

In the 1670s, “clairvoyant” was used in English to mean “having insight.” In the late 1700s, it was used to mean a “clear-sighted person.” By the 1800s, English speakers used “clairvoyant” to mean "having psychic⁴ gifts, characterized by powers of clairvoyance."

Today we have others words that mean about the same thing.

One is sixth sense. Most people are born with five senses: hearing, sight, touch, smell and taste. We use our five senses to learn about and understand the world around us.

So, people with a “sixth sense” are believed to have an extra sense to perceive the world. This is called an extrasensory perception, or ESP, for short. ESP is a term we use to mean 'clairvoyance.'

We sometimes call this special ability second sight. People use their eyes to see the world around them. But those with “second sight” claim to see things that are not there or are yet to happen.

Now, some people may not believe that clairvoyants are real. They might say such people are just really observant. Others may believe that this is all nonsense. It makes no sense at all. They say clairvoyance or psychic abilities are not based in science and, therefore, do not exist.

Okay, now, listen to an exchange between two friends. One believes in clairvoyance; the other … not so much.

A: Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for over an hour!

B: I am sensing that you are angry.

A: Yes, I’m angry!

B: I knew you would be.

A: You kept me waiting! And I am yelling! It doesn’t take a psychic to know that I’m angry!

B: Funny you should say that. I’m late because my clairvoyance class ran late.

A: Your what?

B: I knew you were going to ask that. I’m taking a clairvoyance class to improve my sixth sense.

A: Are you joking? Sometimes I don’t know when you’re fooling around.

B: Naturally, you don’t know. You’re not clairvoyant. But I am and I knew you that would doubt my psychic ability.

A: I doubt your psychic ability because it doesn’t exist. There's no such thing as second sight or psychics or clairvoyants.

B: Not everyone has the gift. So many people, like you, fear our special powers. My teacher Clair warned me about that.

A: Your clairvoyance teacher is named … Clair?

B: Strange, isn’t it. Or is it? She knew when she was a little girl that she had extrasensory perception. So she became a clairvoyant! Her business is called “Clair Voyant’s School of Second Sight and Paranormal Perception.

A: More like abnormal, if you ask me.

B: Go ahead and make fun. But since taking this class, my second sight has really improved. Now, I know what’s going to happen before it actually does.

A: Right.

B: It’s true. Take today, for example. I would have been much later. But I knew traffic would be terrible. So, I took a back road to get here.

A: It’s a work day at rush hour! Of course, there will be a lot of traffic!! I have to get out of here. You are driving me crazy!

B: I knew you were going to say that!

And that’s all the time we have for Words and Their Stories! Until next time … I’m Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

psychic – n. a person who has strange mental powers and abilities (such as the ability to predict the future, to know what other people are thinking, or to receive messages from dead people

crystal ball – n. a sphere especially of quartz⁸ crystal traditionally used by fortune-tellers : a means or method of predicting future events

insight – n. the ability to understand a person or a situation very clearly : the understanding of the truth of a situation

sixth sense – n. a special ability to know something that cannot be learned by using the five senses (such as sight or hearing)

extrasensory perception (ESP) – n. the ability to know things (such as what another person is thinking or what will happen in the future) that cannot be known by normal use of the senses

second sight – n. the capacity to see remote or future objects or events

paranormal – adj. not scientifically explainable

yell – v. to say (something) very loudly especially because you are angry, surprised, or are trying to get someone's attention

abnormal – adj. differing from the normal usually in a noticeable and usually problematic way

rush hour – n. a period of the day when the demands especially of traffic or business are at a peak

1 clairvoyant   

adj.有预见的；n.有预见的人

参考例句：

• Love is blind,but friendship is clairvoyant.爱是盲目的，友谊则能洞察一切。
• Those whom are clairvoyant have often come to understand past lives.那些能透视的人们已能经常理解死去的生命。

2 clairvoyance   

n.超人的洞察力

参考例句：

• Precognition is a form of clairvoyance.预知是超人的洞察力的一种形式。
• You did not have to be a clairvoyant to see that the war would go on.就算没有未卜先知的能力也能料到战争会持续下去。

3 clairvoyants   

n.透视者，千里眼的人( clairvoyant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

4 psychic   

n.对超自然力敏感的人；adj.有超自然力的

参考例句：

• Some people are said to have psychic powers.据说有些人有通灵的能力。
• She claims to be psychic and to be able to foretell the future.她自称有特异功能，能预知未来。

5 psychics   

心理学，心灵学； （自称）通灵的或有特异功能的人，巫师( psychic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One week later, I got cops and psychics on my front door. 一礼拜后，警察跟通灵人站到了我家大门口。
• Even now Directorate Psychics and powerful drugs are keeping the creature pacified. 即使是现在，联邦部队的精神力和威力强大的药剂还在让这个生物活在沉睡之中。

6 tellers   

n.（银行）出纳员( teller的名词复数 )；（投票时的）计票员；讲故事等的人；讲述者

参考例句：

• The tellers were calculating the votes. 计票员正在统计票数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The use of automatic tellers is particularly used in large cities. 在大城市里，还特别投入了自动出纳机。 来自辞典例句

7 etymology   

n.语源；字源学

参考例句：

• The hippies' etymology is contentious.关于嬉皮士的语源是有争议的。
• The origin of OK became the Holy Grail of etymology.OK的出典成了词源学梦寐以求的圣杯。

8 quartz   

n.石英

参考例句：

• There is a great deal quartz in those mountains.那些山里蕴藏着大量石英。
• The quartz watch keeps good time.石英表走时准。