Introduction

Can anxiety be a good thing? The psychiatrist Randolph Nesse suggests that anxiety is a result of natural selection. This is the principle of evolution whereby random changes in the biology of a living thing can make it more likely to survive in a particular environment.?Rob and Neil discuss mental health and teach you related vocabulary.

This week's question

Charles Darwin is famous for describing evolution by natural selection. What was the name of the ship he travelled on when he made his discoveries? Was it:

a) HMS Beagle

b) HMS Badger?

c) HMS Bear?

Listen to the programme to find out the answer.

Transcript

Note: This is not a word for word transcript

Rob

Hello. This is 6 Minute English I'm Rob.?

Neil

And I'm Neil.?

Rob

Do you ever experience?anxiety, Neil??

Neil

Anxiety??

Rob

Yes, you know, a feeling of being really worried or nervous without any real reason.?

Neil

Well not really, but I know for some people it can be quite a serious problem.?

Rob

Well anxiety may be a result of?natural selection.?

Neil

Natural selection? You mean, the principle behind evolution??

Rob

Yes. The idea that life on this planet has developed as a result of random changes in biology over many many years.?

Neil

So why have?anxiety, that seems like a negative rather than a positive thing to develop??

Rob

Well, we’ll find out more in this programme, but before we do, a quiz. Charles Darwin is famous for describing evolution by?natural selection. What was the name of the ship he travelled on when he made his discoveries? Was it:

a) HMS Beagle

b) HMS Badger, or

c) HMS Bear??

What do you think, Neil??

Neil

Well I’m pretty sure I know this one, so I’m not going to give away the answer just yet.?

Rob

Well, you can let me know at the end of the programme, before I give the answer. Right, Dr Randolph Nesse is a doctor and psychologist. He has written a lot about how evolution has an impact on our mental condition, particularly?anxiety. Recently he spoke on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Start the Week’ programme about this topic. Listen out for the answer to this question. How long did he treat patients at the University of Michigan for??

Dr Randolph Nesse

Natural selection?has?shaped?all organisms to have special states?to cope with?certain kinds of circumstances.?I treated patients with?anxiety?disorders for 40 years at the University of Michigan. It was only half way through that I started realising that?anxiety?is there for a good reason.??

RobSo Neil, how long did he treat patients for at the University of Michigan??

Neil

He says that he did that for 40 years, but it was only after about 20 years or so that he realised that we suffer from?anxiety?for a good reason.?

Rob

We’ll find out that reason shortly but first he said that?natural selection?has?shaped?all organisms. This means that we are the result of?natural selection. It has made us what we are.?

Neil

And it has made us able?to cope with?different situations.?To cope with?means being able to deal with, being able to manage a difficult situation.?

Rob

And?anxiety, if it’s not too great, is a way of dealing with particular situations. Let's hear from Dr Nesse again.?

Dr Randolph Nesse

Natural selection has shaped all organisms to have special states to cope with certain kinds of circumstances. I treated patients with anxiety disorders for 40 years at the University of Michigan. It was only half way through that I started realising that anxiety is there for a good reason.??

Rob

So why is?anxiety?a necessary thing, why is it something that, within reason, is not a bad emotion. Here’s Dr Nesse talking about his patients who suffer from too much?anxiety.?

Dr Randolph Nesse

What you’re having is a normal kind of emergency response which is great in?life-threatening?situations but for you it’s a false alarm like a smoke detector?going off?when you burn the toast. And after that many of my patients said – ‘Oh, that makes perfect sense, I think I won’t need your help after all, doctor'.?

Rob

So what is?anxiety??

Neil

Well, it’s your body reacting to danger, like an emergency response, a warning. In really dangerous situations, which could harm you or even kill you, which Dr Nesse describes as?life-threatening?situations, it’s a useful response to warn you to take action or to prepare for action.?

Rob

But some people experience?anxiety?when there is no real danger. It’s a false alarm, like when you burn the toast and the smoke detector alarm starts or as he says,?goes off!?And he says that some patients can feel less worried after that, when they realise?anxiety?is a natural thing Let’s hear from Dr Nesse again.?

Dr Randolph Nesse

What you’re having is a normal kind of emergency response which is great in?life-threatening?situations but for you it’s a false alarm like a smoke detector?going off?when you burn the toast. And after that many of my patients said – ‘Oh, that makes perfect sense, I think I won’t need your help after all, doctor'.?

RobTime now to review today’s vocabulary, but first, let’s have the answer to the quiz question. What was the name of the ship Charles Darwin travelled on when he made his discoveries about evolution? Was it:

a) HMS Beagle

b) HMS Badger, or

c) HMS Bear?

What do you think, Neil??

Neil

Well, I’m pretty sure it’s HMS Beagle.?

Rob

Well, you are right. Charles Darwin travelled on HMS Beagle. Congratulations if you also knew that. Now, on with today’s vocabulary. We were talking about?anxiety, a feeling of being worried or scared, a feeling that something isn’t quite right.?

Neil

Dr Nesse suggests that?anxiety?is a result of?natural selection. This is the principle of evolution whereby random changes in the biology of a living thing can make it more likely to survive in a particular environment.?

Rob

These changes?shape?the living thing. They make it what it is. They help it?to cope withdifferent situations. Which means that they help it manage or deal with those situations.?

Neil

A?life-threatening?situation is a very dangerous situation which could cause serious injury or even death.?

Rob

And finally there was the phrasal verb?to go off. For example, if an alarm?goes off, it means that is starts making a loud noise as a warning. Right, before any alarms start?to go off?here, we need to wrap up. That’s all from us today, do join us again next time. Until then, you can find us online, on social media and on our app. Look out for bbclearningenglish. Bye for now.?

Neil

Goodbye!

Vocabulary

anxiety

a feeling of worry and fear??

natural selection

a principle of evolution when random changes in an organism’s biology may lead it to being more successful in its environment

to shape

to have an important impact on the way something develops?

to cope with

to manage a difficult situation?

life-threatening

possibly causing death?

to go off?(talking about an alarm)

starts making its warning noise

雙語(yǔ)版Transcript

Hello. This is 6 Minute English I'm Rob.

大家好。歡迎來(lái)到六分鐘英語(yǔ)，我是羅伯。

And I'm Neil.

我是尼爾。

Do you ever experience anxiety, Neil?

尼爾，你焦慮過(guò)嗎？

Anxiety?

焦慮？

Yes, you know, a feeling of being really worried or nervous without any real reason.

是的，你知道的，沒(méi)有任何真正的理由，非常擔(dān)心或緊張的一種感覺(jué)。

Well, not really, but I know for some people it can be quite a serious problem.

好吧，真的沒(méi)有，但我知道對(duì)一些人來(lái)說(shuō)它會(huì)是一個(gè)相當(dāng)嚴(yán)重的問(wèn)題。

Well, anxiety may be a result of natural selection.

好吧，焦慮可能是自然選擇的結(jié)果。

Natural selection? You mean, the principle behind evolution?

自然選擇？你是說(shuō)進(jìn)化背后的觀點(diǎn)？

Yes. The idea that life on this planet has developed as a result of random changes in biology over many many years.

是的。那個(gè)觀點(diǎn)是：由于多年來(lái)在生物學(xué)上的隨機(jī)變化，這個(gè)星球上的生命已經(jīng)進(jìn)化。

So why have anxiety, that seems like a negative rather than a positive thing to develop?

那么為什么會(huì)產(chǎn)生焦慮情緒？那似乎是產(chǎn)生的一種消極事物而非積極事物。

Well, we'll find out more in this programme, but before we do, a quiz.

好吧，我們將會(huì)在節(jié)目中找到更多，但在我們做那之前是測(cè)驗(yàn)問(wèn)題。

Charles Darwin is famous for describing evolution by natural selection.

查爾斯·達(dá)爾文因通過(guò)自然選擇描述進(jìn)化而聞名。

What was the name of the ship he travelled on when he made his discoveries?

當(dāng)他進(jìn)行研究發(fā)現(xiàn)時(shí)，他所乘船只的名字是什么？

Was it: a) HMS Beagle b) HMS Badger, or c) HMS Bear?

它是：a）"小獵犬號(hào)"（貝格爾號(hào)）?b）"獾號(hào)"，還是c）"熊號(hào)"？

What do you think, Neil?

你覺(jué)得呢，尼爾？

Well, I'm pretty sure I know this one, so I'm not going to give away the answer just yet.

我相當(dāng)確定自己知道這個(gè)的答案，所以我現(xiàn)在還不打算透露答案。

Well, you can let me know at the end of the programme, before I give the answer.

好吧，你可以在節(jié)目結(jié)束時(shí)告訴我，在我給出答案之前。

Right, Dr Randolph Nesse is a doctor and psychologist.

好的，蘭多夫·?內(nèi)瑟博士是一名醫(yī)生及心理學(xué)家。

He has written a lot about how evolution has an impact on our mental condition, particularly anxiety.

他寫(xiě)了很多關(guān)于進(jìn)化如何影響我們精神狀態(tài)的內(nèi)容，特別是焦慮。

Recently he spoke on BBC Radio 4's 'Start the Week' programme about this topic.

最近，他在BBC廣播4頻道的Start the Week節(jié)目中談到了這個(gè)話題。

Listen out for the answer to this question.

聽(tīng)聽(tīng)這個(gè)問(wèn)題的回答。

How long did he treat patients at the University of Michigan for?

他在密歇根大學(xué)治療病人多長(zhǎng)時(shí)間？

Natural selection has shaped all organisms to have special states to cope with certain kinds of circumstances.

自然選擇使所有生物體具有特殊狀態(tài)以應(yīng)對(duì)特定環(huán)境。

I treated patients with anxiety disorders for 40 years at the University of Michigan.

我在密歇根大學(xué)治療焦慮癥患者達(dá)40年。

It was only half way through that I started realising that anxiety is there for a good reason.

治療到一半時(shí)間的時(shí)候我才開(kāi)始意識(shí)到焦慮的存在是有正當(dāng)理由的。

So Neil, how long did he treat patients for at the University of Michigan?

尼爾，他在密歇根大學(xué)治療病人多長(zhǎng)時(shí)間？

He says that he did that for 40 years, but it was only after about 20 years or so that he realised that we suffer from anxiety for a good reason.

他說(shuō)他治療病人40年，但在大約20年左右之后他才意識(shí)到我們患上焦慮癥是有正當(dāng)理由的。

We'll find out that reason shortly but first he said that natural selection has shaped all organisms.

我們很快就會(huì)找到原因，但一開(kāi)始他說(shuō)自然選擇影響了所有生物體。

This means that we are the result of natural selection.

這意味著我們是自然選擇的結(jié)果。

It has made us what we are.

它造就了今天的我們。

And it has made us able to cope with different situations.

它使我們能夠應(yīng)對(duì)不同的情況。

To cope with means being able to deal with, being able to manage a difficult situation.

"To cope with"指的是能夠處理，能夠應(yīng)對(duì)困難的情況。

And anxiety, if it's not too great, is a way of dealing with particular situations.

如果焦慮不是很?chē)?yán)重，那么它會(huì)是處理特殊情況的一種方式。

Let's hear from Dr Nesse again.

讓我們?cè)俾?tīng)聽(tīng)內(nèi)瑟博士的看法。

Natural selection has shaped all organisms to have special states to cope with certain kinds of circumstances.

自然選擇使所有生物體具有特殊狀態(tài)以應(yīng)對(duì)特定環(huán)境。

I treated patients with anxiety disorders for 40 years at the University of Michigan.

我在密歇根大學(xué)治療焦慮癥患者達(dá)40年。

It was only half way through that I started realising that anxiety is there for a good reason.

治療到一半時(shí)間的時(shí)候我才開(kāi)始意識(shí)到焦慮的存在是有正當(dāng)理由的。

So why is anxiety a necessary thing, why is it something that, within reason, is not a bad emotion.

為什么焦慮是一件必要的事情，為什么在理性范圍內(nèi)，焦慮不是一種不好的情緒。

Here's Dr Nesse talking about his patients who suffer from too much anxiety.

這是內(nèi)瑟博士談?wù)撈洳∪藭r(shí)談到的，那些病人飽受太多焦慮折磨。

What you're having is a normal kind of emergency response which is great in life-threatening situations but for you it's a false alarm like a smoke detector going off when you burn the toast.

你所面臨的是一種正常的應(yīng)急反應(yīng)，這在危及生命的情況下是很好的，但對(duì)你來(lái)說(shuō)，這是一種錯(cuò)誤的警報(bào)，就像你烤面包時(shí)煙霧探測(cè)器發(fā)出的警報(bào)一樣。

And after that many of my patients said – 'Oh, that makes perfect sense, I think I won't need your help after all, doctor'.

在那之后，我的一些病人說(shuō)："哦，那很有道理，我想我根本不需要你的幫助，醫(yī)生。"

So what is anxiety?

所以焦慮是什么？

Well, it's your body reacting to danger, like an emergency response, a warning.

好吧，它是你身體對(duì)危險(xiǎn)的反應(yīng)，比如應(yīng)急反應(yīng)，警告。

In really dangerous situations, which could harm you or even kill you, which Dr Nesse describes as life-threatening situations, it's a useful response to warn you to take action or to prepare for action.

在非常危險(xiǎn)的情況下，可能會(huì)傷害你甚至殺死你的情況下，內(nèi)瑟博士將其描述為危及生命的情況下，它是一個(gè)有益的反應(yīng)來(lái)提醒你采取行動(dòng)或準(zhǔn)備行動(dòng)。

But some people experience anxiety when there is no real danger.

但一些人在沒(méi)有真正危險(xiǎn)的時(shí)候會(huì)感到焦慮。

It's a false alarm, like when you burn the toast and the smoke detector alarm starts or as he says, goes off!

這是一個(gè)錯(cuò)誤的警報(bào)，就像當(dāng)你烤面包時(shí)煙霧探測(cè)器報(bào)警，或者像他說(shuō)的，發(fā)出警報(bào)！

And he says that some patients can feel less worried after that, when they realise anxiety is a natural thing.

他說(shuō)當(dāng)一些病人意識(shí)到焦慮是一件很自然的事情時(shí)，他們會(huì)感到不那么擔(dān)心。

Let's hear from Dr Nesse again.

讓我們?cè)俾?tīng)聽(tīng)內(nèi)瑟博士所說(shuō)的。

What you're having is a normal kind of emergency response which is great in life-threatening situations but for you it's a false alarm like a smoke detector going off when you burn the toast.

你所面臨的是一種正常的應(yīng)急反應(yīng)，這在危及生命的情況下是很好的，但對(duì)你來(lái)說(shuō)，這是一種錯(cuò)誤的警報(bào)，就像你烤面包時(shí)煙霧探測(cè)器發(fā)出的警報(bào)一樣。

And after that many of my patients said – 'Oh, that makes perfect sense, I think I won't need your help after all, doctor'.

在那之后，我的一些病人說(shuō)："哦，那很有道理，我想我根本不需要你的幫助，醫(yī)生。"

Time now to review today's vocabulary, but first, let's have the answer to the quiz question.

是時(shí)候回顧今天的詞匯了，但是首先讓我們揭曉測(cè)試問(wèn)題的答案。

What was the name of the ship Charles Darwin travelled on when he made his discoveries about evolution?

當(dāng)查爾斯·達(dá)爾文進(jìn)行研究發(fā)現(xiàn)時(shí)，他所乘船只的名字是什么？

Was it: a) HMS Beagle b) HMS Badger, or c) HMS Bear?

它是：a）"小獵犬號(hào)"（貝格爾號(hào)）?b）"獾號(hào)"，還是c）"熊號(hào)"？

What do you think, Neil?

你覺(jué)得呢，尼爾？

Well, I'm pretty sure it's HMS Beagle.

好的，我相當(dāng)確定是"小獵犬號(hào)"（貝格爾號(hào)）。

Well, you are right.

好吧，你是對(duì)的。

Charles Darwin travelled on HMS Beagle.

查爾斯·達(dá)爾文乘坐"小獵犬號(hào)"（貝格爾號(hào)）出行。

Congratulations if you also knew that.

如果你也知道答案，那么恭喜你。

Now, on with today's vocabulary.

現(xiàn)在繼續(xù)今天的詞匯。

We were talking about anxiety, a feeling of being worried or scared, a feeling that something isn't quite right.

我們談?wù)摰氖墙箲]，一種擔(dān)心或害怕的感覺(jué)，一種覺(jué)得有些事情不太對(duì)的感覺(jué)。

Dr Nesse suggests that anxiety is a result of natural selection.

內(nèi)瑟博士認(rèn)為焦慮是自然選擇的結(jié)果。

This is the principle of evolution whereby random changes in the biology of a living thing can make it more likely to survive in a particular environment.

這是進(jìn)化論的觀點(diǎn)，由此生物體在生物學(xué)上的隨機(jī)變化可以使其更有可能在特定環(huán)境中生存。

These changes shape the living thing.

這些變化影響了生物體。

They make it what it is.

這些變化造就了生物。

They help it to cope with different situations, which means that they help it manage or deal with those situations.

它們幫助它處理不同的情況，這指的是它們幫助它應(yīng)對(duì)或處理這些情況。

A life-threatening situation is a very dangerous situation which could cause serious injury or even death.

危及生命的情況是一種非常危險(xiǎn)的情況，可能會(huì)造成嚴(yán)重傷害甚至死亡。

And finally there was the phrasal verb to go off.

最后還有動(dòng)詞詞組"發(fā)出警報(bào)"。

For example, if an alarm goes off, it means that is starts making a loud noise as a warning.

例如，如果警報(bào)器發(fā)出警報(bào)，那意味著它開(kāi)始發(fā)出響亮的噪音作為警告。

Right, before any alarms start to go off here, we need to wrap up.

是的，在發(fā)出任何警報(bào)之前我們需要完成今天的節(jié)目。

That's all from us today, do join us again next time.

以上是今天節(jié)目的所有內(nèi)容，下次再加入我們啊。

Look out for bbclearningenglish.

查找bbclearningenglish。

Bye for now.

再見(jiàn)了。

Goodbye