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Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. And I'm Beth.
大家好，这里是BBC六分钟英语。我是尼尔。我是贝丝。
Can you keep a secret, Neil? Or are you someone who spills the beans? That's an idiom meaning to tell people a secret.
尼尔，你能保守秘密吗？你是一个会泄秘的人吗？spills the beans是一个成语，意思是告诉别人秘密。
I'm pretty good at keeping secrets, Beth, unless it's giving away the ending of a movie – I'm always doing that!
我很擅长保守秘密，贝丝，除了透露电影的结局——我总是这样做！
Whether you find it hard to keep secrets, or take them with you to the grave, keeping secrets is often considered something bad. But what if some secrets could actually make your life better?
无论你发现很难保守秘密，还是将秘密带进坟墓，保守秘密通常被认为是一件坏事。但如果一些秘密真的能让你的生活变得更好呢？
Now, psychological studies are uncovering a more positive side to secrets, suggesting that keeping good news to yourself can actually make you feel more alive, especially if you plan to share your secret with someone later.
现在，心理学研究揭示了秘密更积极的一面，表明保守好消息实际上可以让你感觉更有活力，特别是如果你打算稍后与某人分享你的秘密。
In this programme, we'll be discussing the advantages of keeping secrets, and, as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.
在本节目中，我们将讨论保守秘密的优点，并且像往常一样，我们还将学习一些有用的新词汇。
But first, I have a question for you, Neil. One very famous secret is the recipe for the world's favourite soft drink, Coca-Cola.
但首先，我有一个问题要问你，尼尔。一个非常著名的秘密：世界上最受欢迎的软饮料可口可乐的配方。
While travelling in Indonesia, BBC TV presenter, Joanna Lumley, believes she discovered the unknown secret ingredient. So, is Coca-Cola's secret spice: a) cinnamon? b) nutmeg? or, c) ginger?
在印度尼西亚旅行时，BBC电视节目主持人乔安娜·拉姆利认为她发现了这种未知的秘密成分。那么，可口可乐的秘密香料是什么：肉桂？肉豆蔻？生姜？
Well, I don't know so I'm going to guess it's nutmeg. OK, I'll reveal the secret at the end of the programme.
好吧，我不知道，我猜是肉豆蔻。好的，我会在节目最后揭晓这个秘密。
This year, a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology introduced a new term to the discussion: positive secrets.
今年，发表在《人格与社会心理学杂志》上的一项研究在讨论中引入了一个新术语：积极的秘密。
Here, the study's author, Dr Michael Slepian of Columbia University, discusses positive secrets with BBC World Service programme, Newsday:
该研究的作者、哥伦比亚大学的迈克尔·斯莱皮恩（Michael Slepian）博士与BBC世界服务节目Newsday讨论了积极的秘密：
Yeah, so, what's interesting about the idea of positive secrets is, you know, there's a set of them where the plan is to never reveal them… you know, we might say a guilty pleasure is something we enjoy but don't want to tell other people about.
积极秘密的有趣之处在于，有一组永远不会透露的秘密……我们可能会说一种内疚的快乐是我们喜欢但不想透露的东西。
And then there's other secrets that the whole point of keeping them secret is to reveal them, you know, the surprising marriage proposal, the pregnancy announcement, unwrapping a gift that you've that you've wrapped…
还有其他秘密，保守秘密的全部目的就是要揭露它们，比如惊喜的求婚、怀孕的公告、打开你已经包装好的礼物……
Dr Slepian distinguishes between positive and negative secrets. Negative secrets hurt people and damage relationships.
斯莱皮恩博士区分了积极的秘密和消极的秘密。负面的秘密会伤害人们并破坏人际关系。
They're like a guilty pleasure, an activity you really enjoy doing, but which also gives you a feeling of guilt or shame for doing it.
它们就像一种内疚的快乐，一种你真正喜欢做的活动，但也会让你因为这样做而感到内疚或羞耻。
Positive secrets, on the other hand, include things like marriage proposals, the act of asking someone to marry you.
另一方面，积极的秘密包括求婚等行为。
Revealing positive secrets lets us share and celebrate those things with others. In fact, the whole point of positive secrets is to reveal them.
揭露积极的秘密可以让我们与他人分享和庆祝这些事情。事实上，积极秘密的全部意义在于揭露它们。
Here, the phrase the whole point is used to mean the most important reason or purpose for something.
在这里，the whole point用来表示某件事最重要的原因或目的。
Because positive secrets give us the feeling we are in control of our emotions, they energise us.
因为积极的秘密让我们感觉我们可以控制自己的情绪，所以它们会给我们带来能量。
However, Dr Slepian's research comes from the United States. Would the results be the same in other cultures and countries?
然而，斯莱皮恩博士的研究来自美国。在其他文化和国家中结果是否相同？
Here's Dr Slepian again, talking with BBC World Service programme, Newsday:
斯莱皮恩博士再次接受BBC世界服务节目Newsday的采访：
In some cultures, it is said that if it's good news, especially around pregnancy, don't share it till the time, you know, it's safe, because they feel that it may lead to some negative vibes… evil eye as many people call it.
在某些文化中，据说如果是好消息，尤其是怀孕期间的好消息，那么直到那时才分享是安全的，因为他们觉得这可能会导致一些负面情绪……许多人称之为恶目。
Is that also a part of what you found why people keep secrets? Are there any kind of cultural influences when they keep the good secrets and the positive secrets?
这也是你发现人们保守秘密的部分原因吗？他们保守好秘密和积极秘密时是否受到某种文化影响？
Yeah, it's interesting you bring this example 'cause we're studying it right now.
是的，你举这个例子很有趣，因为我们现在正在研究它。
We have this intuition that pregnancy and secrets around pregnancy in earlier periods, that it looks more like a burdensome secret, and when it's later and, you know, people feel comfortable discussing it more like positive secrets.
我们有这样的直觉，怀孕在早期看起来更像是一个沉重的秘密，而在怀孕后期时，人们会觉得讨论它更像是积极的秘密。
In some cultures, secrets about pregnancy are related to the evil eye, a superstition in which someone causes injury or bad luck through a look.
在某些文化中，有关怀孕的秘密与邪眼有关，这是一种迷信，认为某人通过眼神会造成伤害或厄运。
It could be bad luck to reveal a pregnancy too early, and Dr Slepian calls these secrets burdensome, meaning worrying, troublesome or distressing.
过早透露怀孕可能会带来霉运，斯莱皮恩博士称这些秘密是负担，意味着令人担忧、麻烦或痛苦。
It seems secrets do vary from culture to culture… but what everyone wants to know is the missing ingredient in Coca-Cola, so come on, Beth, tell us the secret answer to your question!
看来秘密确实因文化而异……但每个人都想知道的是可口可乐中缺少的成分，所以，贝丝，告诉我们你问题的秘密答案！
OK. I asked about TV presenter, Joanna Lumley, who thinks she's found out Coca-Cola's secret spicy ingredient. Well, I guessed that it was nutmeg…
好的。我采访了电视节目主持人乔安娜·拉姆利，她认为自己已经发现了可口可乐的秘密辛辣成分。我猜是肉豆蔻……
Which was… the correct answer! Good guess, Neil! Travelling in Indonesia, Joanna noticed lots of nutmeg being grown and asked who was buying it, only to be told, Coca-Cola!
这是……正确答案！猜得好，尼尔！在印度尼西亚旅行时，乔安娜注意到种植了很多肉豆蔻，并询问谁在购买它，却被告知是可口可乐！
OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned from this programme starting with the idiom spill the beans meaning to reveal a secret.
好的，让我们回顾一下从这个节目中学到的词汇，从成语“spill the beans”开始，意思是“泄露秘密”。
A guilty pleasure is something you really enjoy doing but which also gives you a feeling of guilt or shame. A marriage proposal is the act of asking someone to marry you.
guilty pleasure是指你真正喜欢做的事情，但同时也会给你带来内疚或羞耻感。marriage proposal是向某人求婚的行为。
The phrase the whole point of something describes the most important reason or purpose for it.
短语“the whole point of something”描述了该事物最重要的原因或目的。
The evil eye is a superstition in which someone causes injury or bad luck through a look.
evil eye是一种迷信，认为某人通过眼神会造成伤害或厄运。
And finally, the adjective burdensome means worrying, troublesome or distressing.
最后，形容词burdensome的意思是令人担忧、麻烦或痛苦。
Once again, our six minutes are up but I'll tell you a secret – you can join us again next time for more topical vocabulary, here at 6 Minute English. Goodbye for now! Bye!
六分钟时间又到了，但我要告诉你一个秘密——你下次可以在六分钟英语中再次加入我们，了解更多主题词汇。暂时再见了！再见！
