9、 My Face Gets So Red 我的脸红了

M: Hi, Sarah, what’s up?
W: Oh, hi. I just got out of a history class. I had to give a presentation.
M: How did it go?
W: Terribly. I’m sure I made a fool of myself.
M: Why? Weren’t you prepared?
W: No, it’s not that. I just get so embarrassed and nervous whenever I’ve to speak in front of a group of people. I stand up and my face gets red and then I get even more nervous because I know everyone can see me blushing.
M: It is not so bad to blush.
W: But it happens all the time. If the professor asks a question and I know the answer, I’ll blush like crazy if he calls on me. Doesn’t that ever happen to you?
M: No, not really. Maybe you should try to forget about the people. Look at something else in the room, like the exit sign.
W: I guess I could try that. But I doubt it will help.
M: You know we talked about this in psychology class. Blushing, even though it’s involuntary, is more or less a learned behavior.
W: What do you mean?
M: Oh, children hardly ever blush at all. And, among adults, supposedly women blush more than men.
W: I wonder why.
M: I don’t know. But I had a friend in high school, Brian Smith. It was really easy to make him blush. He turned red whenever a waitress would ask him for his order.
W: I’m not that bad. Well, I’ve got to get going for my next class. I’ll talk to you later.
---------1999年10月托福听力试题

【托福特色词汇】
presentation 在课上发言

参考译文

M：嗨，莎拉，你好吗？
W：哦，你好。我刚上完历史课，做了一个口头发言。
M：怎么样啊？
W：糟透了。我出尽了丑。
M：为什么？你没有准备吗？
W：不，不是因为那个。我每次在人前讲话都会很紧张。我站在那里，脸变得通红，而且当我知道所有的人都看到我的脸红了的时候，我会更加紧张。
M：脸红并不是件坏事。
W：但我总是这样。如果教授提问，我明明知道答案，当他一叫到我的时候，我的脸拼命地红。这种事也发生在你身上吗？
M：我倒不这样。也许你应该试着忘掉那些观众。眼睛盯着别的地方看，比如看着出口标志什么的。
W：我想我可以试一下，但不知道会不会奏效。
M：你知道吗，我们在心理学课上讨论过这个问题。尽管脸红是不受意志控制的，但它或多或少是后天习得的。
W：什么意思？
M：儿童几乎很少脸红。在成人当中，女性比男性脸红的现象较多。
W：我想知道是为什么。
M：我也不太清楚。我高中时候的一个同学，名叫布莱恩•史密斯，他特别爱脸红，就连餐厅里的女服务员问他要不要点菜的时候，他也脸红。
W：我倒不像他那么严重。好吧，我还要去上课。回头见。