BBC英語六分鐘-每天堅(jiān)持口語Asking the right questions

AskingtherightquestionsBBC英語六分鐘練起來（2023.03.13）TranscriptNote:Thisisnotaword-for-wordtranscriptNeil

Helloandwelcometo6MinuteEnglish.I'mNeil…Alice

…andI'mAlice.NowNeil,I'mabigfanofchatshows,asyouknow.Butwhatdoyouthinkmakesagoodinterview?Neil

Ilikeitwhentheinterviewerasksaquestionthat

catches

theguest

offguard.Youknow–tosurprisethemsothey'reembarrassedanddon'tknowwhattosay.Alice

That'snotverynice!Neil

Iknow.Butit'sgreatTV.That'swhatchatshowsareallabout,isn'tit?Alice

Well,Idon'tagree,Neil!A

chatshow,bytheway,isaTVorradioprogrammewherea

host

–thepersonwhopresentstheshow–talkstoguestcelebritiesaboutvarioustopics.Andwhatmakesagoodinterviewisthesubjectoftoday'sshow.Neil

Sowhat'sagoodinterviewtechnique,Alice?Alice

Well,asking

openquestions

–questionsthecelebritiescan'teasilyrespondtowithashortanswer.Openquestionsgivethemthechancetotalkandpossiblyrevealsomejuicydetailsaboutthemselves!Neil

Juicydetails

meansinformationyoufindinterestingbecauseit'sexcitingorshocking.Alice

Yes.Solet'stestyourinterviewingskills,Neil.Askmesomething–seeifyoucangetsomejuicydetails.Neil

OK…Hmm…Howmuchdoyouweigh?Alice

HowmuchdoIweigh?Neil

Yeah.Alice

Howmuchdo

you

weigh?Look,that'sa

closedquestion

–you'regoingtogetashortanswerandnojuicydetails!Andmoreimportantly,Neil,it'sarudequestion!Neil

OK–badchoice.Sorry.Butyourreactionwasjuicy–yougotpretty

hotunderthecollar–andthatmeansembarrassedorangry!I'lltrytothinkofabetterquestiontoaskyoubeforetheendoftheshow.Alice

Alrightthen.Now,sinceyouaren'tgoodat

asking

questions,perhapsyoucan

answer

oneinstead.Whodevelopedamethodofquestioningaroundtwoandahalfthousandyearsagothataimstodiscoverhiddentruths?Wasit…

a)Hippocrates?

b)Socrates?

Orc)Aristotle?Neil

Well,Idon'tknowmuchaboutancienthistorysoI'mgoingtoguessc)Aristotle.Alice

Well,we'llfindoutifyoupickedtherightanswerlateron–butnowlet'slistentoLarryKingtalkingaboutthesecretofhissuccessfulcareerasaTVchatshowhost.Canyouspotawordthatmeanstogetorproduce?INSERT

LarryKing,TVchatshowhost,US

Ifyouaskgoodquestionsandyouelicitthoughtfulanswersthenyoulearnmoreabouttheperson.Iftheinterview'shard–ifIbeginbysaying,'Whydidyoudothat?'I'dmakeyoudefensive.Thatmaybethrillingtelevision,butyoudon'tlearnalot.IlearnedthatthemoreIdrewback,askedgoodquestions,listenedtotheanswers,caredabouttheguest…youmakethecameradisappear.Neil

ThewordLarryKingusedis…

elicit.Alice

Right.And

you

elicitedadefensivereactionfrommewhenyouaskedanotverythoughtfulquestionaboutmyweight.

Defensive

meansprotectingyourselffromcriticismorattack.Neil

OK,Iwouldn'tmakeagoodchatshowhostthen.Alice

You'rerightthere.Sogoodinterviewers

drawback

–ormoveaway–frombeingthecentreofattention.They'regoodlistenersandcareabouttheirguests.Soundfamiliar?Neil

Areyousuggestingthatyou'reagoodinterviewer?Alice

Yup.Neil

OK,well,sowhyaren'tyouatopchatshowhost,hmm?WhatdoesLarrymeanwhenhesaysyouhaveto

makethecameradisappear?Alice

Itmeanstomaketheconversationreal–asifyouwerechattingwithafriend–ratherthanperformingtoaTVaudience.Butlet'shearmorefromLarryKingonthesecretofhissuccess.INSERT

LarryKing,TVchatshowhost,US

Idon'twanta'no'.Idon'twanta'yes'.Iwanta'why'.Soinotherwords,Iwanttobealittlekindofdumb.MyfriendHerbiesaidthesecretofmysuccessisbeingdumb.'Whatdoyoumeanbythat?'Neil

Soyouhavetoask

dumb

–orstupid–questionstomakeagreatchatshowhost!Iknewit!Alice

Maybethere'shopeforyouyet,Neil.Neil

Charming.Alice

Lovely.OK,here'stheanswertotoday'squizquestion.Iasked:Whodevelopedamethodofquestioningaroundtwoandahalfthousandyearsagothataimstodiscoverhiddentruths?Wasit…a)Hippocrates?b)Socrates?Orc)Aristotle?Neil

AndIsaidc)Aristotle.Alice

No,itwasb)Socrates.AllthreewerefamousGreekphilosophersbutSocrateswastheonewhoangeredlotsofimportantpeoplebyhis

probing

–orinvestigative–questions–andthistechniqueiscalledSocraticDialogue.Socrateslivedfrom469to399BCandheinfluencedphilosophysomuchthatallpreviousthinkershavecometobeknownasPre-Socratic.Despitethishedeclared"AllIknowisthatIknownothing".Neil

Verynoble.OK,afinalquestionforyou,Alice.Whatmakesyouhappy?Alice

Workingwithsuchafantasticco-presenter,Neil.Neil

That'snice!I'membarrassednow.Alice

Canyoutellusthewordsweheardtoday?Neil

Ofcourse!

catchsomebodyoffguard

chatshow

host

openquestions

juicydetails

closedquestion

hotunderthecollar

elicit

defensive

drawback

makethecameradisappear

dumb

probingAlice

Well,that'stheendoftoday's6MinuteEnglish.Pleasejoinusagainsoon.Neil

Yes,doindeed!Both

Bye.

Vocabularycatchsomebodyoffguard

tosurprisesomeoneinawaythatoftenmakesthemconfusedorembarrassedchatshow

aTVorradioprogrammewherecelebritiestalktotheirhostaboutvarioustopicshost

apersonwhopresentsaTVorradioshowandtalkstoguestcelebritiesopenquestions

questionsthatcan'tbeansweredwithashortanswerforexampleacoupleorwordsoryesorno;theyoftenbeginwith'wh'(why,what,whoetc)juicydetails

informationyoufindinterestingbecauseit'sexcitingorshocking

closedquestion

aquestionwherethechoiceofanswersislimitedforexampletoyesorno,oraspecificpieceofinformationhotunderthecollar

angryorembarrassedelicit

getorproducesomething,forexample,areactiondefensive

protectingyourselffromcriticismorattackdrawback

moveawaymakethecameradisappear

makesomethingrealorauthenticdumb

stupidprobing

investigativeTranscript（雙語版）Neil:Helloandwelcometo6MinuteEnglish.I’mNeil…

大家好，歡迎收聽英語六分鐘。我是尼爾……

Alice:…andI’mAlice.NowNeil,I’mabigfanofchatshows,asyouknow.Butwhatdoyouthinkmakesagoodinterview?

……我是艾麗斯。尼爾，你知道我是訪談類節(jié)目的忠實(shí)粉絲。但是你覺得什么樣的采訪才算成功呢？

Neil:Ilikeitwhentheinterviewerasksaquestionthatcatchestheguestoffguard.Youknow–tosurprisethemsothey’reembarrassedanddon’tknowwhattosay.

我喜歡看到主持人對嘉賓提的問題出其不備。你懂的，就是讓他們窘迫不知說什么。

Alice:That’snotverynice!

這可不是很友好！

Neil:Iknow.Butit’sgreatTV.That’swhatchatshowsareallabout,isn’tit?

我知道。但這樣才是好的電視節(jié)目。訪談節(jié)目不就是應(yīng)該這樣嗎？

Alice:Well,Idon’tagree,Neil!Achatshow,bytheway,isaTVorradioprogrammewhereahost–thepersonwhopresentstheshow–talkstoguestcelebritiesaboutvarioustopics.Andwhatmakesagoodinterviewisthesubjectoftoday’sshow.

啊，我不同意，尼爾！順便說一下，訪談節(jié)目是一種電視或廣播節(jié)目，節(jié)目中主持人，也就是主持這個(gè)節(jié)目的人，與名人嘉賓談?wù)摬煌脑掝}。我們今天節(jié)目的主題是如何做好一次采訪。

Neil:Sowhat’sagoodinterviewtechnique,Alice?

那么好的采訪技巧是什么，艾麗斯？

Alice:Well,askingopenquestions–questionsthecelebritiescan’teasilyrespondtowithashortanswer.Openquestionsgivethemthechancetotalkandpossiblyrevealsomejuicydetailsaboutthemselves!

提問開放性的問題，也就是讓名人無法用三言兩語回答的問題。開放性的問題給了他們暢所欲言的機(jī)會，還有可能使他們透露一些有料的細(xì)節(jié)。Neil:Juicydetailsmeansinformationyoufindinterestingbecauseit’sexcitingorshocking.

有料的細(xì)節(jié)是指一些令人興奮或震驚的有趣信息。

Alice:Yes.Solet’stestyourinterviewingskills,Neil.Askmesomething–seeifyoucangetsomejuicydetails.

是的。那么，尼爾，讓我來測試一下你的采訪技巧。對我提問，看你能不能得到一些有料的細(xì)節(jié)。

Neil:OK…Hmm…Howmuchdoyouweigh?

好吧……嗯……你體重多少？

Alice:HowmuchdoIweigh?

我的體重？

Neil:Yeah.

對。

Alice:Howmuchdoyouweigh?Look,that’saclosedquestion–you’regoingtogetashortanswerandnojuicydetails!Andmoreimportantly,Neil,it’sarudequestion!

你的體重是多少？你看，這就是個(gè)封閉式問題，你得到的會是個(gè)很簡短的回答，也不會有什么有料的信息！更重要的是，尼爾，這是一個(gè)無禮的問題！

Neil:OK–badchoice.Sorry.Butyourreactionwasjuicy–yougotprettyhotunderthecollar–andthatmeansembarrassedorangry!I’lltrytothinkofabetterquestiontoaskyoubeforetheendoftheshow.

好吧，我問錯(cuò)問題了，對不起。但是你的反應(yīng)很有料，你變得很激動，也就是說你很尷尬或很生氣！節(jié)目結(jié)束前我會想出一個(gè)更好的問題問你。

Alice:Alrightthen.Now,sinceyouaren’tgoodataskingquestions,perhapsyoucanansweroneinstead.Whodevelopedamethodofquestioningaroundtwoandahalfthousandyearsagothataimstodiscoverhiddentruths?Wasita)Hippocrates?b)Socrates?Orc)Aristotle?

好吧，既然你不善長提問，那你就回答一個(gè)問題吧。大約兩千五百年前誰發(fā)明了一種通過提問來尋找真理的方法？a)希波克拉底?b)蘇格拉底?還是c)亞里士多德?

Neil:Well,Idon’tknowmuchaboutancienthistorysoI’mgoingtoguessc)Aristotle.

我對古代史了解不多，所以我只能猜c)亞里士多德。

Alice:Well,we’llfindoutifyoupickedtherightanswerlateron–butnowlet’slistentoLarryKingtalkingaboutthesecretofhissuccessfulcareerasaTVchatshowhost.Canyouspotawordthatmeanstogetorproduce?

我們稍后再看你是否選對了。現(xiàn)在我們來聽聽拉里·金講述他成為成功的電視訪談節(jié)目主持人的秘訣。你能聽出一個(gè)表示“得到”的詞嗎？

Ifyouaskgoodquestionsandyouelicitthoughtfulanswersthenyoulearnmoreabouttheperson.Iftheinterview’shard–ifIbeginbysaying,‘Whydidyoudothat?’I’dmakeyoudefensive.Thatmaybethrillingtelevision,butyoudon’tlearnalot.IlearnedthatthemoreIdrewback,askedgoodquestions,listenedtotheanswers,caredabouttheguest…youmakethecameradisappear.

如果你問的問題很好，你就能得到充滿思考的回答，你就可以多了解這個(gè)人一些。如果采訪進(jìn)行地很困難，如果我上來就問“你為什么這么做？”，你會產(chǎn)生一種防備心理。這樣或許會收到不錯(cuò)的電視效果，但是你了解不到很多東西。我學(xué)到，如果我有所保留，問好的問題，聆聽答案，關(guān)心嘉賓，嘉賓就會更容易忘掉自己坐在鏡頭前面。

Neil:ThewordLarryKingusedis…elicit.

拉里·金用的那個(gè)單詞是“elicit”。

Alice:Right.Andyouelicitedadefensivereactionfrommewhenyouaskedanotverythoughtfulquestionaboutmyweight.Defensivemeansprotectingyourselffromcriticismorattack.

是的。當(dāng)你問了一個(gè)關(guān)于我體重的欠考慮的問題時(shí)，你得到的是我的一種防御反應(yīng)。防御是指保護(hù)自己免收批評或攻擊。

Alice:OK,Iwouldn’tmakeagoodchatshowhostthen.

好吧，那我成不了一位好的訪談節(jié)目主持人。

Alice:You’rerightthere.Sogoodinterviewersdrawback–ormoveaway–frombeingthecentreofattention.They’regoodlistenersandcareabouttheirguests.Soundfamiliar?

你說的沒錯(cuò)。所以優(yōu)秀的采訪者會有所保留，或者說他們故意避免成為關(guān)注的重點(diǎn)。他們都是好的聆聽者，關(guān)心他們的嘉賓。是不是覺得很熟悉？

Neil:Areyousuggestingthatyou’reagoodinterviewer?

你是在暗示你是一個(gè)好的采訪者嗎？

Alice:Yup.

是的。

Neil:OK,well,sowhyaren’tyouatopchatshowhost?WhatdoesLarrymeanwhenhesaysyouhavetomakethecameradisappear?

那你為什么不是著名的訪談節(jié)目主持人呢？拉里說你必須要讓攝像機(jī)消失，是什么意思？

Alice:Itmeanstomaketheconversationreal–asifyouwerechattingwithafriend–ratherthanperformingtoaTVaudience.Butlet’shearmorefromLarryKingonthesecretofhissuccess.

他的意思是使談話更真實(shí)，就像是和朋友聊天一樣，而不是在給電視觀眾表演。讓我們進(jìn)一步了解一下拉里·金成功的秘訣。

Idon’twanta‘no’.Idon’twanta‘yes’.Iwanta‘why’.Soinotherwords,Iwanttobealittlekindofdumb.MyfriendHerbiesaidthesecretofmysuccessisbeingdumb.‘Whatdoyoumeanbythat?’

我想聽到的回答不是“不”，也不是“是”，而是“為什么”。換句話說，我想傻一點(diǎn)。我的朋友赫比說我成功的秘訣就是裝傻。“這是什么意思？”

Neil:Soyouhavetoaskdumb–orstupid–questionstomakeagreatchatshowhost!Iknewit!

所以你必須問一些傻問題，這樣才能主持好訪談節(jié)目！我就知道是這樣！

Alice:Maybethere’shopeforyouyet,Neil.

也許你還有希望，尼爾。

Neil:Charming.

有意思。

Alice:Lovely.OK,here’stheanswertotoday’squizquestion.Iasked:Whodevelopedamethodofquestioningaroundtwoandahalfthousandyearsagothataimstodiscoverhiddentruths?Wasita)Hippocrates?b)Socrates?Orc)Aristotle?

很有趣。好了，我們來揭曉今天問題的答案。我問你的問題是：大約兩千五百年前誰發(fā)明了一種通過提問來尋找真理的方法？是a)希波克拉底?b)蘇格拉底?還是c)亞里士多德?

Neil:AndIsaidc)Aristotle.

我選的是c)亞里士多德。

Alice:No