欧美人文风情第370篇: 左撇子们嗨起來

 What do these people have in common? If you answered with, "They're all awesome," you'd probably be right. 这些人有什么共通点呢？如果你回答：“他们都很了不起。”你可能是对的。

But there's one more thing. Me and my close friends here are all left-handed. Yay! Yay. 但还有一个共通点。我和这些好朋友都是左撇子。耶！耶。

Around one in every 10 people are left-handed, and they're often pretty easy to spot. 大约每十人就有一人是左撇子，而且左撇子通常很好认。

But no one really knows why left-handed people are actually left-handed. 可是没有人真正知道左撇子为什么惯用左手。

Some theories are that there's a left-handed gene¹, that the brains of lefties are just wired differently, 有些理论主张是因为他们有左撇子基因，或因为左撇子的大脑构造不同，

or that left-handers might be copying the behavior of their left-handed parents. 或因为左撇子可能会模仿他们左撇子父母的动作。

Hi, Dad. Hello, Son. He really is left-handed. 嗨，爸爸。哈啰，儿子。他真的是左撇子。

Anyway, however we came to be, us lefties aren't alone in the world. 反正，不管我们怎么变成左撇子的，我们左撇子在这世上并不孤独。

Scientists have found almost all kangaroos are left-handed, too. Well, left-pawed, really. 科学家发现几乎所有的袋鼠都惯用左手。好吧，左掌，其实。

And while that hasn't stopped our kangaroo friends from hopping² about, enjoying life—throughout history it's been a different story for humans. 虽然我们的袋鼠朋友并没有因为惯用左掌而无法蹦蹦跳跳、享受生活－－人类在历史上却有截然不同的遭遇。

Lefties have been called witches, unclean, possessed³ by the devil⁴, or just clumsy⁵ in the past. 左撇子在过去被说成是女巫、不洁的、被恶魔控制的，或就是很笨拙的。

And back when everyone wrote with ink, kids were actually forced to use their right hand—even if they were left-handed. 而且早在人们使用墨水写字的年代，小孩子就会被强迫用右手写字—即使他们是左撇子。

It sounds pretty unfair, but having said that, this is really messy. 听起来很不公平，但话虽如此，用左手写字就会弄得这么脏。

Today, no one's going to call you a witch for being left-handed, but there are still some pretty big disadvantages to living in a right-handed world. 今日，没有人会因为你是左撇子而叫你女巫，但左撇子在右撇子世界中还是会面临一些很不利的条件。

If we want to try and use instruments, it's pretty hard to learn how to play the instruments because the instruments are mostly made for right-handed people. 如果你想尝试弹奏乐器，学习时很困难，因为大部分的乐器都是为右撇子设计的。

Sometimes it's hard to, like, write. 有时候会很辛苦，像是，写字的时候。

I do magic, and I have to learn certain moves with my hand, and I have to force them to do those sort of positions. And it could be really annoying. 我会变魔术，而我必须学习用我的手做出特定动作，也必须强迫让手做出某些姿势。这可能非常恼人。

Being a lefty has encouraged Alex to work really hard at perfecting his magic act. But that's not the only unexpected⁶ benefit. Alex 因为是左撇子的关系而受到激励，进而下苦工把魔术动作练到最好。但这不是左撇子唯一一个意想不到的好处。

Some studies have shown that being left-handed means you're more likely to be good at subjects like music and maths. 有些研究显示，身为一名左撇子意味着你比较有可能擅长音乐及数学等科目。

There's also a really high proportion⁷ of geniuses that have been left-handed, although that could just be a coincidence. 另外，有很高比例的天才是左撇子，尽管这可能只是巧合。

And it can be a big advantage when you're playing sport against right-handed people too. 此外，左撇子在运动场上对到右撇子可能会有很大的优势。

People say that when you're left-handed, your writing is more neater, and you draw better. So, I'd rather stay left-handed. 有人说如果你是左撇子，你写的字会比较漂亮，画的图也会比较好看。所以，我比较想继续当左撇子。

I kind of find it nice being left-handed. Don't think that you're different in a bad way; think that you're unique in a special way. 我发现当左撇子还蛮好的。不要认为你跟别人不同是不好的；要认为你与众不同是特别的。

Anyway, that's what Left-Handers Day is all about—celebrating left-handedness and why we're proud of it. 总之，左撇子日的精神就是这样－－庆祝我们身为左撇子以及我们为什么以左撇子为荣。

Plus, it's a really good excuse to make right-handed people do all your right-handed work. 此外，左撇子也是个很好的理由来要求右撇子帮你完成右手的活。

Can you cut this out for me? No! But I'm left-handed. Ugh! Okay. Fine! 你可以帮我剪这个吗？不要！可是我是左撇子。哎！好啦。给我吧!

 

1 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

2 hopping   

n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The clubs in town are really hopping. 城里的俱乐部真够热闹的。
• I'm hopping over to Paris for the weekend. 我要去巴黎度周末。

3 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

4 devil   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• It is easier to raise the devil than to lay him.召鬼容易驱鬼难。
• Susie,you're a determined little devil.苏茜，你真是个坚决的小家伙。

5 clumsy   

adj.笨手笨脚；不圆滑的，缺乏技巧的

参考例句：

• He is clumsy with his hands.他的一双手很笨。
• Its body looks heavy and clumsy when it has eaten its fill.它步态蹒跚，吃饱了的身体更显得笨拙可笑。

6 unexpected   

adj.想不到的，意外的

参考例句：

• I always keep some good wine in for unexpected guests.我总保存些好酒，用来招待不速之客。
• His promotion was unexpected.他的升迁出人意料。

7 proportion   

n.比率，比例；大小

参考例句：

• His head is out of proportion to the size of his body.他的头部与身体大小不成比例。
• The proportion of imports to exports is worrying the government.进口与出口的比例令政府担忧。