寫在前面

Hi，我是新海，一個正在備戰(zhàn)的考研人。
最近需要進行大量的考研專項閱讀，于是萌生了一個翻譯計劃，準備翻譯1986——2018年所有閱讀，通過大量的閱讀訓練來熟悉考研單詞，短語以及語法，更深刻理解考研閱讀。

下面是我的第19篇，所有中文釋義，均是由本人整理翻譯，當然也有不夠完善的地方，歡迎大家評論補充。

People have wondered for a long time how their personalities and behaviors are formed. It is not easy to explain why one person is intelligent and another is not, or why one is cooperative and another is competitive.
長久以來，人們一直在思考他們的個性和行為是如何形成的。很難解釋為什么一個人是聰明的，另一個人是不聰明的，或者為什么一個人是合作的，另一個人是競爭的。
Social scientists are, of course, extremely interested in these types of questions. They want to explain why we possess certain characteristics and exhibit certain behaviors. There are no clear answers yet, but two distinct schools of thought on the matter have developed. As one might expect, the two approaches are very different from each other. The controversy is often conveniently referred to as “nature vs. nurture.”
當然，社會科學家對這些類型的問題非常感興趣。他們想解釋為什么我們具有某些特征并表現(xiàn)出某些行為。目前還沒有明確的答案，但是關(guān)于這一問題的兩個不同的學派已經(jīng)發(fā)展起來。正如人們所期望的，這兩種方法彼此非常不同。爭論常常被方便地稱為“自然與教養(yǎng)”。
Those who support the “nature” side of the conflict believe that our personalities and behavior patterns are largely determined by biological factors. (63) That our environment has little, if anything, to do with our abilities, characteristics and behavior is central to this theory.
那些支持沖突的“自然”方面的人認為，我們的性格和行為模式很大程度上是由生物因素決定的。（63）我們的環(huán)境與我們的能力、特征和行為幾乎沒有關(guān)系，如果這些有什么關(guān)系的話，這就是這個理論的核心。
Taken to an extreme, this theory maintains that our behavior is pre-determined to such a great degree that we are almost completely governed by our instincts.
極端地說，這個理論認為我們的行為在很大程度上是預先決定的，以至于我們幾乎完全被本能所支配。
Those who support the “nurture” theory, that is, they advocate education, are often called behaviorists. They claim that our environment is more important than our biologically based instincts in determining how we will act. A behaviorist, B. F. Skinner, sees humans as beings whose behavior is almost completely shaped by their surroundings. (64) The behaviorists maintain that, like machines, humans respond to environmental stimuli as the basis of their behavior.
那些支持“教養(yǎng)”理論的人，也就是他們提倡教育的人，通常被稱為行為主義者。他們聲稱我們的環(huán)境比我們的生物本能更重要，決定我們將如何行動。行為學家B. F. Skinner認為人類的行為幾乎完全被周圍的環(huán)境所塑造。（64）行為主義者認為，像機器一樣，人類對環(huán)境刺激的反應(yīng)是其行為的基礎(chǔ)。
Let us examine the different explanations about one human characteristic, intelligence, offered by the two theories. Supporters of the “nature” theory insist that we are born with a certain capacity for learning that is biologically determined. Needless to say: They don’t believe that factors in the environment have much influence on what is basically a predetermined characteristic. On the other hand, behaviorists argue that our intelligence levels are the product of our experiences. Behaviorists suggest that the child who is raised in an environment where there are many stimuli which develop his or her capacity for appropriate responses will experience greater intellectual development.
讓我們來考察一下這兩種理論對人類特性、智力的不同解釋。“自然”理論的支持者堅持認為，我們生來就有某種與生物學相關(guān)的學習能力。毋庸置疑：他們不相信環(huán)境中的因素會對基本預定的特性產(chǎn)生很大影響。另一方面，行為主義者認為我們的智力水平是我們經(jīng)驗的產(chǎn)物。行為主義者認為，在有許多刺激的環(huán)境中長大的孩子將經(jīng)歷更大的智力發(fā)展。
The social and political implications of these two theories are profound. n the United States, blacks often score below whites on standardized intelligence tests. This leads some “nature” proponents to conclude that blacks are biologically inferior to whites. Behaviorists, in contrast, say that differences in scores are due to the fact that blacks are often deprived of many of the educational and other environmental advantages that whites enjoy.
這兩個理論的社會和政治含義是深遠的。在美國，黑人在標準化智力測驗中的成績往往低于白人。這導致一些“自然”支持者認為黑人在生物學上不如白人。相比之下，行為主義者認為分數(shù)的差異是由于黑人常常被剝奪了白人享有的許多教育和其他環(huán)境優(yōu)勢。
Most people think neither of these theories can yet fully explain human behavior.
大多數(shù)人認為這些理論都不能完全解釋人類行為。

• for a long time長久；且；久；日長歲久
• easy to便于
• of course當然，自然; 敢情; 自是; 理當
• interested in對…感興趣
• types of各種類型的; 型態(tài)
• There are有
• As one might expect正如人們所預料的
• very different差得多
• each other互相，彼此
• referred to as被稱為…

寫在最后

如果大家覺得對你有些幫助，歡迎給與打賞或點贊關(guān)注，以及訂閱我的每日閱讀 專欄，后面我將持續(xù)閱讀，持續(xù)輸出。

作者：新海
11月18日晚