2008 The idea that some groups of people may be more intelligent than others is one of those hypotheses that dare not speak its name.

2023年6月9日10:26:21考研英语真题评论367字数 3730阅读12分26秒阅读模式

The idea that some groups of people may be more intelligent than others is one of those hypotheses that dare not speak its name. But Gregory Cochran is prepared to say it anyway. He is that rare bird, a scientist who works independently of any institution. He helped popularize the idea that some diseases not previously thought to have a bacterial cause were actually infections, which aroused much controversy when it was first suggested.

人类的某些族群可能比其他族群智商更高，这一观点是那些不敢明说的假设之一。但是格雷戈里·科克伦准备无论如何也要将它公开。科克伦是那种特立独行的人，是一位不属于任何机构、独立工作的科学家。他曾帮助普及这样一种观点：某些以前被认为并非由细菌引起的疾病，实际上是传染病。这个观点首次被提出时就引起了很大的争议。

hypotheses； hypothesis的复数形式； hypo-, 在下， -thes, 放置 → 即放在下面的 → 引申词义假说，假设，前提。

rare；稀有的，难得的；稀薄的，稀疏的。

rare bird；这个短语的含义不是指“稀有的鸟”，其正确的含义是：奇人；不寻常的人；罕见的人或事。

independent； in- 否定 + de- 下降 + -pend- 悬挂 , 下垂 + -ent 形容词词尾 → 依靠某样东西才能悬挂 → in-, 不，非， dependence, 依靠 → 即不依靠的，独立的。

previously； pre- 前 , 先 + -vi- 路 + -ous 形容词词尾 + -ly 副词词尾 → 事先；以前。

bacterial；来自希腊语 bakterion ，是 baktron 的指小形式，意思是“小棍子” → 之所以叫这个名字是最初科学家所观察到的细菌都是杆状的 → 细菌。

infection； in- 入 , 向内 + -fect- 做 , 作 + -ion 名词词尾 → infect, 传染，感染 → 传染(病)，感染；影响。

arouse；古法语 reuser （鹰抖动羽毛） → a （ on ）向上，向外 + rouse （觉醒、奋起） → 鹰抖动羽毛，准备起飞的情景 → 唤醒 → 唤醒，唤起；激起，引起。

controversy； contro- 反对 , 相反 + -vers- 转 + -y 名词词尾 → 观点对立 , 你来我往 → 争论，辩论，争议。

Even he, however, might tremble at the thought of what he is about to do. Together with another two scientists, he is publishing a paper which not only suggests that one group of humanity is more intelligent than the others, but explains the process that has brought this about. The group
in question are a particular people originated from central Europe. The process is natural selection.
然而，即使是科克伦自己，当想到即将要做的事情时，也可能会不寒而栗。他将要和另外两名科学家一起发表一篇论文，这篇论文不仅表明人类的某一族群比其他族群更聪明，还解释了导致这一结果的过程。论文中谈到的这一族群是起源于欧洲中部的一个特定民族。这一过程就是自然选择。

tremble； trem- 发抖 + ble → 发抖，哆嗦，震颤。

This group generally do well in IQ test, scoring 12-15 points above the mean value of 100,and have contributed disproportionately to the intellectual and cultural life of the West, as the careers of their elites, including several world-renowned scientists, affirm. They also suffer more often than most people from a number of nasty genetic diseases, such as breast cancer. These facts,
however, have previously been thought unrelated. The former has been put down to social effects, such as a strong tradition of valuing education. The latter was seen as a consequence of genetic isolation. Dr. Cochran suggests that the intelligence and diseases are intimately linked. His argument is that the unusual history of these people has subjected them to unique evolutionary pressures that have resulted in this paradoxical state of affairs.
这一族群在智商测试中普遍表现优秀，得分比100分这一平均值高出12至15分，而且他们对西方知识和文化生活做出了极大贡献，正如他们之中的杰出人士（包括几位世界著名的科学家）所成就的事业证实的那样。他们也比大多数人更容易罹患许多严重的遗传性疾病，如乳腺癌。然而，以前人们一直认为这些事实之间没有联系。前者被归因于社会影响，例如重视教育的深厚传统。后者则被认为是遗传隔离的结果。科克伦博士认为，智商和遗传疾病密切相关。他的论据是：这些人不同寻常的历史使他们经受了独特的进化压力，这些压力导致了这种看似矛盾的状况。