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Which of the following statements is true?

a) toddlers are attracted to shapes that resemble the human body

b) toddlers are more active than at any other time in their lives, or,

c) toddlers can grow up to three centimetres during sleep time

Listen to the programme to hear the answer.

toddler

young child, aged between two and four years old, who is learning to walk

tantrum

noisy, uncontrolled outburst of anger

out loud

in a way that other people can hear

self-talk

the messages that you tell yourself, and the way in which you tell them; your inner voice

(be) down on yourself

feel disappointed and self-critical about yourself

negative cycle

a pattern of repeating the same negative thoughts over and over again

Neil

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.

你好。这是来自 BBC Learning English 的 6 分钟英语。我是 Neil。

Beth

And I’m Beth.  我是 Beth。

Neil 

You may have one, or know someone who does… and at one time you’ve been one yourself. I’m talking about toddlers.

你可能有，或者认识有的人……而你自己也曾经是。我说的是蹒跚学步的孩子。

Beth 

A toddler is a young child usually between two and four years old who is learning to walk, or ‘toddling’. It’s an important stage in a child’s development as they learn to move and understand the world around them.

幼儿是指通常在 2 到 4 岁之间正在学习走路或“蹒跚学步”的幼儿。这是孩子成长的一个重要阶段，因为他们要学习移动和理解周围的世界。

Neil 

It’s also known as the ‘terrible twos’. When toddlers can’t do the things they want to they experience frustration which often leads to tantrums, a sudden and noisy outburst of anger. We’ve probably all seen the tears and screams when a young child can’t have what they want!

它也被称为“可怕的两岁”。当蹒跚学步的孩子不能做他们想做的事情时，他们会感到沮丧，这通常会导致发脾气，突然而吵闹的愤怒爆发。我们可能都见过当年幼的孩子得不到他们想要的东西时的眼泪和尖叫！

Beth 

Yes, the famous temper tantrums! But being a toddler is also an exciting time as a child’s personality starts to develop. So what can we adults learn from toddlers? That’s what we’ll be finding out in this programme, along with some useful new vocabulary.

是的，就是著名的发脾气！但是，随着孩子的个性开始发展，蹒跚学步也是一个激动人心的时刻。那么，我们成年人可以从蹒跚学步的孩子身上学到什么呢？这就是我们将在本课程中发现的内容，以及一些有用的新词汇。

Neil 

But first I have a question for you, Beth. Being a toddler is certainly an important stage in a child’s growth, but which of the following statements is true?

但首先我有一个问题要问你，贝丝。蹒跚学步当然是孩子成长的一个重要阶段，但以下哪项说法是正确的？

a) toddlers are attracted to shapes that resemble the human body

a） 幼儿会被类似于人体的形状所吸引

b) toddlers are more active than at any other time in their lives, or,

b） 幼儿比他们生命中的任何时候都更加活跃，或者，

c) toddlers can grow up to three centimetres during sleep time

c） 幼儿在睡眠时间可以长到 3 厘米

Beth 

Hmm, I think toddlers can grow up to three centimetres while they sleep.

嗯，我认为蹒跚学步的孩子在睡觉时可以长到 3 厘米。

Neil 

OK, Beth, we’ll find out if that’s the correct answer later in the programme. At two or three years old, there’s not much toddlers can do for themselves. They depend on mum or dad to feed, clothe and care for them, so it’s strange to think there’s anything adults could learn.

好的，贝丝，我们将在节目的后面找出这是否是正确的答案。在两三岁的时候，蹒跚学步的孩子自己能做的不多。他们依靠妈妈或爸爸来喂养、穿衣和照顾他们，所以想到成年人可以学到任何东西是很奇怪的。

Beth 

But not according to Dr Hasan Merali, author of a new book ‘Sleep Well, Take Risks, Squish the Peas’ and father to his own toddler, who spoke with BBC Radio 4 programme, Woman’s Hour:

但根据新书《睡个好觉，冒险，压扁豌豆》的作者、他自己蹒跚学步的孩子的父亲哈桑·梅拉利博士的说法，他接受了 BBC Radio 4 节目《女人的时光》的采访：

Dr Hasan Merali

When I see the toddlers by themselves they’re doing a lot of things out loud. Little Julie’s putting on her mitts and saying, “Julie can do it”. And Coltan’s over in the side, and he’s looking down at his boots, and they’re on the wrong way, and so he says “Oh, Coltan did this wrong!” And this idea of self-talk is really a way to decrease stress in anxiety provoking situations.

当我看到蹒跚学步的孩子自己时，他们大声地做了很多事情。小朱莉戴上手套说：“朱莉能做到”。钶钽铁号在旁边，他低头看着他的靴子，它们走错了路，所以他说：“哦，钶钽铁号做错了！”这种自我对话的想法确实是一种在引发焦虑的情况下减轻压力的方法。

Neil 

Dr Merali observed toddlers talking to themselves out loud. When you talk out loud you speak so that other people can hear you.

Merali 医生观察到蹒跚学步的孩子大声自言自语。当你大声说话时，你说话是为了让其他人能听到你。

Beth 

But it’s what the toddlers were saying that’s really interesting. When a little girl called Julie learned how to put on her gloves, she told herself, ‘Julie can do it!’ This is a special kind of talking out loud known as self-talk. Self-talk means the messages that you tell yourself, and the way in which you tell them. It’s your inner voice, and in toddlers it’s usually positive and encouraging.

但真正有趣的是蹒跚学步的孩子所说的。当一个名叫 Julie 的小女孩学会如何戴手套时，她告诉自己，“Julie 可以做到！”这是一种特殊的大声说话方式，称为自我对话。自我对话是指你告诉自己的信息，以及你告诉它们的方式。这是你内心的声音，在蹒跚学步的孩子中，它通常是积极和鼓舞人心的。

Neil 

Unfortunately, as we grow up our self-talk often becomes less encouraging and more critical. Instead of a positive, loving inner voice, as adults we tend to tell ourselves: ‘You can’t do it!’ or ‘you’re no good!’ Here’s Dr Merali again, explaining more to BBC Radio 4 programme, Woman’s Hour:

不幸的是，随着我们长大，我们的自我对话往往变得不那么鼓舞人心，而变得更加批判。作为成年人，我们倾向于告诉自己：“你做不到！”或“你不好！这是 Merali 博士再次向 BBC Radio 4 节目 Woman’s Hour 解释更多：

Dr Hasan Merali

We often get into the cycle of negative self-talk, and I think one of the best strategies that we can do is give ourselves more positive self-talk, so an easy way to do it is when you’re down on yourself, and angry with yourself, think about talking to yourself as a good friend instead of actually you, and you’ll notice that difference in how you talk to yourself.

我们经常会陷入消极自我对话的循环，我认为我们能做的最好的策略之一就是让自己更积极地自我对话，所以一个简单的方法是，当你对自己感到沮丧，对自己生气时，想想作为一个好朋友来和自己说话，而不是真的你自己，你会注意到你与自己交谈的方式有所不同。

Beth 

As an adult, you might be down on yourself. If you’re down on yourself, you feel disappointed and self-critical about yourself. When this happens your self-talk gets very negative, for example telling yourself you’re no good, and this can lead to a negative cycle, a pattern of repeating the same negative thoughts over and over again.

作为一个成年人，你可能会对自己感到失望。如果你对自己感到失望，你会对自己感到失望和自我批评。当这种情况发生时，你的自我对话会变得非常消极，例如告诉自己你不好，这可能会导致一个消极的循环，一种一遍又一遍地重复相同的消极想法的模式。

Neil 

This can be a problem, but not for toddlers who are naturally good at talking kindly to themselves and celebrating the little things, like learning to get dressed. The solution for over-critical grown-ups? According to Dr Merali, pretend you’re talking to a good friend instead of to yourself, just like toddlers do!

这可能是个问题，但对于天生善于与自己友好交谈和庆祝小事（例如学习穿衣）的幼儿来说，这不是一个问题。过度挑剔的成年人的解决方案？根据 Merali 博士的说法，假装你正在和一个好朋友而不是自己说话，就像蹒跚学步的孩子一样！

Beth 

It seems us adults can learn something from young children, after all – being kind to ourselves. When they’re not having tantrums, toddlers really are wonderful little creatures, which reminds me of your question, Neil.

毕竟，我们成年人似乎可以从年幼的孩子那里学到一些东西——善待自己。当他们不发脾气时，蹒跚学步的孩子真的是很棒的小动物，这让我想起了你的问题，尼尔。

Neil 

Right, I asked you which statement about toddlers was true.

对，我问你关于幼儿的哪个说法是真的。

Beth 

And I said it was that toddlers can grow up to three centimetres while they sleep. Was I right?

我说，蹒跚学步的孩子在睡觉时可以长到 3 厘米。我说得对吗？

Neil  尼尔

I think you know that you’re not right, Beth! That was the wrong answer, I’m afraid. It’s true that toddlers do grow when sleeping, but not as much as three centimetres. In fact, the correct answer was that being a toddler is the most active period of your whole life – which isn’t hard to believe if you live with one! OK, let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve learned in this programme about toddlers, young children who are ‘toddling’ or learning to walk.

我想你知道你不对，贝丝！恐怕那是错误的答案。确实，蹒跚学步的孩子在睡觉时确实会长大，但不会长到三厘米。事实上，正确的答案是，蹒跚学步的孩子是你一生中最活跃的时期——如果你和蹒跚学步的孩子住在一起，这并不难相信！好的，让我们回顾一下我们在这个节目中学到的关于幼儿、“蹒跚学步”或学习走路的幼儿的词汇。

Beth 

A tantrum is a noisy, uncontrolled outburst of anger, usually from a young child.

tantrum（发脾气）是一种吵闹的、不受控制的愤怒爆发，通常来自年幼的孩子。

Neil 

If you say something out loud, you say it in a way that other people can hear.

如果你say something out loud（大声说出某件事），你就以其他人可以听到的方式说出来。

Beth 

Self-talk refers to the messages that you tell yourself, and the way in which you tell them. It’s your inner voice.

Self-talk（自我对话）是指你告诉自己的信息，以及你告诉它们的方式。这是你内心的声音。

Neil 

The phrase to be down on yourself means to feel disappointed and self-critical about yourself.

to be down on yourself 这句话的意思是对自己感到失望和自我批评。

Beth 

And finally, a negative cycle is a pattern of repeating the same negative thoughts over and over again, something a toddler would never do! Once again our six minutes are up, but remember to join us again next time for more trending topics and useful vocabulary, here at 6 Minute English. Goodbye for now!

最后，a negative cycle（消极循环）是一种一遍又一遍地重复相同的消极想法的模式，这是蹒跚学步的孩子永远不会做的事情！我们的六分钟又一次结束了，但请记住下次再次加入我们，了解更多热门话题和有用的词汇，在 6 分钟英语。现在再见！

Neil 

Bye!  再见！