Home

怪咖心理學

Psychology isn't always about making a dog drool or dreaming on a couch. Some psychologists are more concerned with daily trifles such as the funniest joke on earth or the best dating strategy.

Read some of these quirky studies and maybe, just maybe, you will finally know how to charm your date!

 

"Don't hide, I am a psychologist, and I just want to tell you a joke."                 * image by Doriano Solinas


 最新消息

◎ E-Freeway系統修復完成

暑假剛開始,視聽館的伺服器居然也跟著自行休假去了,不過,大家千呼萬喚的Freeway回來了!!故障期間收到不少讀者的來信,可見大家暑假還是很認真念英文的,現在可以繼續努力了~衝吧~飆上英語學習的嗨way吧!

◎ 電子報編輯啟事~025期英語宅急便勘誤

雖然讀者們都很宅心仁厚,沒有寫信來咒罵編輯們幼稚的錯誤,不過上期電子報中的宅急便有個小小的但是很常見的錯誤,請看小編的誠心道歉啟事~

 

 

↑top


 E-Freeway主題介紹

English Grammar Secrets

為什麼英語的文法那麼複雜啊? 什麼過去式、現在式、未來式的一堆時態,而且動詞的形態,還得跟這些亂七八糟的時態變來變去。又不是在看孫悟空七十二變,怎麼那麼複雜啊! 應該有一些小撇步可以來搞定這些問題吧? 有! 當然有啊! 來看看吧。

 

English Freeway

ESL notes…The English Learner Movie Guide

看英語發音的電影的時候, 如果聽到讓你感動落淚, 或是讓你捧腹大笑的台詞時, 會不會想知道這些台詞的英文原文是什麼呢? 對英語學習而言, 看英語發音的影片真的是一個寓教於樂的好活動, 在影片裡頭常可以學到許多, 現在在英語系國家必較通俗的口語表達方式. 這次介紹的網站, 它裡頭所提供的內容, 絕對比坊間口語練習教科書來的新鮮喔...... 熱騰騰的上菜啦!

↑top


 館藏介紹

Putting It Together: A Conversation Management Text

聽說求知若渴的讀者常常寫信給前任老編,希望多學習一些口語用法。話說,口語一直是大家很需要加強的地方。小編特地到視聽館翻箱倒櫃,找到一本很優秀的對話課本,大家想知道的口語用法、對話技巧、以及各式話題的討論,都在這裡啦!小編拍胸脯保證,看完之後一定會對英語對話有更多的了解唷。
......宅急便還是很有用的教材!

↑top


 英語宅急便

Quirkology

果-爾-咖-肋-鋸?啥?聽起來還真夠怪咖的。最近社會心理學家Richard Wiseman出了一本新書,介紹各種奇奇怪怪的心理學實驗,什麼百人跑台快速約會,交友廣告成功密技。既然暑假還那麼漫長,大家看完宅急便兩位仁兄落落長的討論後,也找下面連結的有趣文章來看看吧~

Schnell: Hello, Rover! Do you remember the study you told me last time, about the 10% increase in people’s walking speed?

Rover: Sure, what’s up?

Schnell: I found it very interesting and went on searching for related news reports. Actually, it’s from a book called Quirkology.

Rover: Quirkology? That sounds quirky

Schnell: Exactly. Quirkology is the discipline that uses scientific methods to study quirky human behavior, or quirky methods to probe weighty issues of human nature.

Rover: Any examples for the quirky studies?

Schnell: What about “searching for the funniest joke in the world”?

Rover:  How are you supposed to “scientifically” search for the funninest jokes?

Schnell: Well, the scientists conducting the experiment were pretty methodic. They set up websites, designed questionnaires, and analyzed people’s responses to different jokes.

Rover: And what may that funniest joke be?

Schnell: Something like “There were two cows in a field. One said: ‘Moo.’ The other one said: ‘I was going to say that.’”

Rover: (Burst out laughing.) Oh my god, that was a good one. Are all the quirky studies this funny?

Schnell: Mostly, like this one of “gauging public opinion without conducting a formal
poll.” In this experiment, researchers would “accidentally” drop some stamped and addressed envelopes all around the town. All envelopes bear identical addresses apart from the recipients. . . .

Rover: I don’t get it. Do you mean that curious passerbys would open those letters and fill out some questionnaires inside? That’s not even quirky, that’s just a stupid way to hand out questionnaires.

Schnell: You totally missed the point. Can you at least hear me out? The trick is that the recipients would have obvious ideological standings. For example, if the researchers are interested in the public opinions concerning gay marriage, the envelopes may be directed to fictitious organizations with names like “Gay Marriage Advocators” or “NoGayMarriage Work Force. . . .”

Rover:  . . . . and the researchers would secretly observe people’s face when they see those different recepients! Ha, that must be hilarious.

Schnell: You have evidently watched too many hidden-camera practical jokes on TV. Please stop interrupting me with your unscientific surmises. The scientists predict that those who pick up the envelopes would help mailing it if they sympathize with the recipients’ cause. So the researchers can ascertain the public attitude simply by counting the numbers of mails for different recipients that have been mailed back to the researchers.

Rover:Right. (Drily) Ha. Ha. That’s not funny at all.

Schnell: That’s because I haven’t told you that the latest researcher using this envelope-dropping method was threatened with arrest for “littering.”

Rover: Ha, much better now. But these studies are just useless and meaningless. Maybe there are some other quirky findings that are more applicable to our daily lives?

Schnell: Then you’ll definitely like this one: “What’s the best way to impress a member of the opposite sex?”

Rover: Wow, I love this one. Tell me more about it.

Schnell: I know you need it. You’ve been without a girl friend for 30 years, which means all your life, right?

Rover: Objection! I had a girl friend when I was in preschool.

Schnell: That’s not even a “girl,” OK?

Rover: OK… This digression has gone too far. Now, just tell me the results of the study. I am going on a blind date tonight and I’d like to try if it works.

Schnell: The secret of a successful conversation is to encourage your partner to talk about herself in a quirky, fun way. You may ask her questions like “If you were a pizza topping, what would you be?” or “If you were the girl friend of a super hero, who would you want your boy friend to be, Superman, Batman, Spiderman, or the Silver Surfer?”

Rover: I got it. And any suggestions for what I shouldn’t say?

Schnell: The least successful line to open a conversation was “I have a PhD in computing.”

Rover: But I do have a PhD in computing. Can’t I introduce myself as who I am?

Schnell: …… Yes, you can. Good luck with your next thirty lonely years!

 

Wordbank:

Quirkology (n) 怪奇心理學
advocator (n) 擁護者;提倡者
quirky (adj) 怪異, 古怪
hilarious (adj)  暴笑
discipline (n) 學科
practical joke (n) 整人玩笑
probe (v) 探測;查究
surmise (n) 猜測
questionnaire (n) 問卷
ascertain (v) 查明;確定
gauge (v) 估計;判斷
litter (v) 亂丟垃圾
poll (v) 民意測驗
applicable (adj) 應用的
passerby (n) 路人
digression (n) 岔題
standing (n) 立場
pizza topping (n) 比薩料
fictitious (adj) 虛構的

 

相關連結:

Quirkology :The Official Website of Quirkology

New Scientists :A Quirky Look At Our Quirky Species
                  (With downloadable audio file of Dr. Wiseman talking about Quirkology)

Guardian :The Truth About Lying and Laughing

The Times :Formula for a Perfect Match

↑top


編輯啟事:

沒錯,真是太尷尬了,上一期英語宅急便有個小錯誤,不知道讀者們看到的時候反應如何,是竊笑咒罵還是根本沒有發現呢?!同學~~暑假有好好念電子報嗎??

錯誤出現在對話的中段,Schnell說:You did. You started by saying that people are walking 10% faster then they did ten years a ago.

既然用紅字標出來了,那大家自然知道錯誤在哪裡啦。也就是個不謹慎的typo(打字錯誤),小編手滑把than打成了then。真是一個等級很低的錯誤啊。

計中電子報供網頁瀏覽的存檔已經修正了,不過當大家複習自己信箱中的電子報時,不要把錯誤的句子學起來囉。

 

↑top


 
English Freeway
台大寫作中心

編輯:黃山耘;黃郁婷

若您有任何的建議、鼓勵或意見反映,歡迎來信至英語學習報編輯室寫信給電子報小編
本電子報由臺大視聽館建置維護 ©All Rights Reserved
訂閱或看舊的電子報 台灣大學首頁 台大視聽館首頁 寫作教學中心 English Freeway 台大進階英語