有声英文阅读-“混”出名堂

Eurasians in the Sportlight
“混”出名堂

Can an ethnic¹ mix be trendy? At the moment, Eurasians are enjoying an unprecedented² high profile in the news, in advertising³, and in the entertainment industry. People of numerous cultures have embraced Eurasians like actresses Karen Mok and Maggie Q, not to mention superstar golf player Tiger Woods. Modeling agencies are scrambling⁴ for women with mixed blood, while Eurasians are becoming the darlings of music stations MTV and Channel V.

Eurasians have not always basked⁵ in the warm glow of public attention. Historically, there has been a lot of deep-seated prejudice against ethnically⁶ mixed people. In countries such as the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, such offspring were seen as negative reminders⁷ of Western male colonizers and Eastern female war victims and opportunists. For decades, Eurasian children have had to challenge negative stereotypes⁸ and fight for their rights.

Does this current prominence⁹ of Eurasians represent a new acceptance, or is it merely a marketing¹⁰ twist on old racial biases¹¹? Many of the VJs on Channel V and MTV look racially mixed only because they have had plastic surgery to change their features. They say they feel pressured to look mixed because Western beauty is still the ideal to many people. Hopefully, in the future, this admiration¹² and acceptance of those with multicultural¹³ heritages will deepen, and people will appreciate others, and themselves, regardless of their ethnic background.

Race has always had a huge impact on history, society, and culture. But according to many scientists, the concept of race has no biological basis; it is merely a social construct.

The American Anthropological¹⁴ Association has stated that race simply cannot be tested or proven scientifically. Because humans have been around for a relatively¹⁵ short time by evolutionary¹⁶ standards, scientists say that there is not enough genetic¹⁷ diversity in humans to allow us to be divided into neat, racial cubbyholes or subspecies. . It is generally believed that humans originated in Africa about two hundred thousand years ago and migrated to other continents one hundred thousand years later. Although environmental variations have produced the physical differences in hair and skin we see today, underneath¹⁸ the surface there has been little change.

Systems of racial categorization, first developed in the eighteenth century, have divided people into three, nine, twenty-six, and as many as three hundred races. Scientists reject such thinking as myth. They say that geographic¹⁹ patterns of sets of genes²⁰ show that people have been migrating and merging²¹ from the start; race may be heavily tied to culture and how people see one another, but it is something we have created.

Scientists know this may be difficult for some people to accept. As summed up by Jonathan Marks, a University of California at Berkeley anthropologist²², "Teaching that racial categories lack biological validity can be as much of a challenge as teaching in the seventeenth century that the earth goes around the sun."

“混”出名堂

种族混血也可成为时尚吗？此时此刻，新闻、广告和娱乐圈对欧亚混血儿都有空前广泛的介绍。许多源自不同文化的人都相当欣赏混血儿，诸如莫文蔚、玛吉Q等等，更不要说超级高尔夫明星泰格·伍兹了。模特儿经纪公司竞相争夺混血美女，欧亚混血儿俨然成为音乐频道MTV及Channel V的宠儿。

欧亚混血儿并非生来就沐浴于公众关心的温煦的光辉之中。历史上，对种族混杂的人有许多根深蒂固的种族偏见。在菲律宾、泰国、越南等国家，混血后裔勾起人痛苦的回忆，使人们想起当年的西方男性殖民者和东方女性战争受害者，以及投机分子。数十年来，欧亚混血的孩子们不得不与人们对他们抱有的负面偏见抗争，为自己的权利而斗争。

现今欧亚混血的声望，是否代表一种新的包容，或仅是在旧的种族偏见基础上的市场手段？Channel V和MTV的很多主持人看上去好像是混血儿，这是因为他们通过外科美容手术改变了面容。他们说由于他们看起来像混血儿而感到有压力，因为西方美人还是许多人心中的理想。但愿对多元文化的赞赏与接纳，在未来可望与日俱增，人们会欣赏别人，也会欣赏自己，无论源于哪一个种族，哪一种背景。

种族问题一直对历史、社会和文化有巨大影响。但是根据许多科学家的观点，种族概念没有生物学上的立论根据，纯粹仅是社会建构出来的产物。

美国人类学协会指出，种族基本上无法用科学方法加以测试及验证。因为就进化的标准来说，人类的存在相对较短，因此科学家认为，人类的基因不够的多样化，还不足以划为纯粹的种族分支或亚种。一般认为，人类在二十万年前源于非洲，十万年后陆续迁徙到其它大陆。虽然各地的环境差异使人们在外观如肤色、发色上大相迳庭，但是骨子里不同之处极少。

首先在18世纪发展起来的种族分类体系，将人分为3支、9支、26支，甚至多达300个支系种族。科学家斥之为神话。他们认为，各地域基因组合的规律显示，人类从一开始 就在迁栖、在结合；种族可能与文化及人们怎样相互看待有紧密的联系，但这些不过是我们自行建构出来的产物而已。

科学家也知道这种理论很难为一些人所接受。正如加州大学伯克利分校的人类学家乔纳森·马克斯所概括的，“宣扬种族分类缺乏生物学依据所具有的挑战性，绝不逊于在17 世纪宣扬地球是绕着太阳运行的”。

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

3 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

4 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 basked   

v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的过去式和过去分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽

参考例句：

• She basked in the reflected glory of her daughter's success. 她尽情地享受她女儿的成功带给她的荣耀。
• She basked in the reflected glory of her daughter's success. 她享受着女儿的成功所带给她的荣耀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

7 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。

8 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

10 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

11 biases   

偏见( bias的名词复数 )； 偏爱； 特殊能力； 斜纹

参考例句：

• Stereotypes represent designer or researcher biases and assumptions, rather than factual data. 它代表设计师或者研究者的偏见和假设，而不是实际的数据。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• The net effect of biases on international comparisons is easily summarized. 偏差对国际比较的基本影响容易概括。

12 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

13 multicultural   

adj.融合多种文化的，多种文化的

参考例句：

• Children growing up in a multicultural society.在多元文化社会中长大的孩子们。
• The school has been attempting to bring a multicultural perspective to its curriculum.这所学校已经在尝试将一种多元文化视角引入其课程。

14 anthropological   

adj.人类学的

参考例句：

• These facts of responsibility are an anthropological datums- varied and multiform. 这些道德事实是一种人类学资料——性质不同，形式各异。 来自哲学部分
• It is the most difficult of all anthropological data on which to "draw" the old Negro. 在所有的人类学资料中，最困难的事莫过于“刻划”古代的黑人。 来自辞典例句

15 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

16 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

17 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

18 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

19 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

20 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

21 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。

22 anthropologist   

n.人类学家，人类学者

参考例句：

• The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
• The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。