[翻译角]Learn From George, Not Pinocchio(ESLPOD)

以下转自www.eslpod.com,翻译为本人添加。其余版权均归原网站所有。

ESLPOD是一个英语学习网站，我最初知道这个网站，是因为“奶爸”《把你的英语用起来》一书的推荐。

ESLPOD的六本书国内尚未出版。

下面这篇文章是从官网转载的。http://www.eslpod.com/eslpod_blog/

Learn From George, Not Pinocchio

Did you break this lamp? No.

是你打破这盏台灯的吗？不是的。

Who ate these cookies? Not me.

谁吃了这些小甜饼？不是我。

Where is your homework? My dog ate it.

你的作业在哪儿？我的小狗把它吃了。

We all want our children to be truthful (honest; not telling lies). Let George Washington, not Pinocchio, be your teaching tool.

我们都希望孩子诚实。那么就让乔治华盛顿而不是匹诺曹成为你的教育帮手。

You have probably heard the story of George Washington and the cherry tree (see English Cafe 275). When George was a boy, he used his hatchet(sharp tool with a handle) to cut down his father’s favorite cherry tree. When his father asked him if he had done it, he said, “I cannot tell a lie. I did it with my little hatchet.” Most historians don’t believe this actually happened, but it is a story many American children are told to show the virtues (benefits of having a high moral standard) of honesty (telling the truth).

你一定听说过乔治华盛顿和樱桃树的故事（可以参考“英语咖啡第275期”）当乔治还是一个孩子时，他用他的小斧头砍倒了他父亲最心爱的樱桃树。当他父亲询问是否是他干的时，乔治说，“我不能撒谎，是我用我的小斧头砍的”。很多历史学家都不认为这个故事曾经发生过，但是很多美国孩子都听过这个告知他们“诚实是美德”的故事。

The story of Pinocchio is probably even more well known. Pinocchio is a character from an Italian children’s novel (book), and the story is known in many countries. Pinocchio is a puppet (toy moved by strings) made by a man named Geppetto. Each time Pinocchio tells a lie, his nose gets longer. This story is often told to children to show the negative consequences (results) of telling lies.

匹诺曹的故事可能更加为人们熟知，匹诺曹是一个意大利儿童小说的人物，故事在很多国家流传。匹诺曹是一个叫做 Geppetto的木匠做的木偶，每次匹诺曹说谎，他的鼻子就会变长。这个故事用来告诉孩子们说谎的负面结果。

In a recent study, researchers who have spent years studying children and honesty set up a situation where it would be easy for children to lie: namely (specifically), a chance for children to peek (look when they are not supposed to) to get the right answer to a question when the researcher leaves the room. Before asking the children, ages 3 to 7, if they had peeked, the researchers told them a story. The children heard one of three stories: the story about George Washington, the one about Pinocchio, or an unrelated story. After hearing the story, the children were asked if they had peeked.

在一项近期的研究中，调查者设立了一个孩子们很容易说谎的场景，这些调查者都开展过多年有关孩子诚实问题的调查。具体点说呢，这个场景就是调查者提供一个环境，在这里孩子们可以在调查者离开时通过偷看来获得一个问题的正确答案。在问这些年龄从3岁到7岁的孩子他们是否偷看之前，调查者会给孩子们讲一个故事。孩子们会听到以下三个故事中的一个：乔治华盛顿的故事，匹诺曹的故事，或者其他一个与诚实与否不相关的故事。在听完这个故事后，孩子们会被问及他们刚才是否偷看过。

Nearly all of the children peeked, and about 65% of the them lied about it. But those who had heard the George Washington story lied significantly less. The researchers interpreted this to mean (believed it meant) that children responded better to being told the benefits of telling the truth than the negative consequences of lying.

几乎所有的孩子都偷看了，其中大约65%的孩子会说谎，说他们没有偷看。但是那些听了乔治华盛顿故事的孩子很少说谎。调查者将这解释为相比说谎的负面效应，孩子们在听到讲真话的好处后，更乐于做出积极的改变。

Maybe there’s a lesson here for handling our politicians? Maybe Washington, D.C. (our national government) should have enforced (required) story time (when an adult reads aloud to groups of children).

也许这对于我们对付政治家说谎也是一个有益的教训？也许华盛顿州应该多一些讲故事的时间。

Lucy

露西