Book 5 Unit 3 Reading

Lesson 3　Language Charm: The Body

Speaks Louder than Words

Reading

　　Did you know that spoken words only make up about 7% of human communication, while your body does 55% of the talking? The latter¹ is called body language and we all “speak” it. Reading people’s body language is a vital² skill on which we all rely to interact³ with one another. This is because people’s bodies usually reflect⁴ how they really feel and what they’re thinking.

　　你知道在人類的溝通中，只有約百分之七是用口語表達，而百分之五十五卻是用肢體表達的嗎？後者被稱為肢體語言，而我們所有的人都用它來「說話」。看懂肢體語言是一項我們都賴以與他人互動的重要技能。這是因為人們的肢體經常反映出他們真正的感覺與想法。

　　Good examples of this can easily be observed⁵ when we tell lies or when we really like someone. When a person is being untruthful, his or her body language is usually stiff⁶. Often, the liar⁷ can’t help touching or scratching his or her face or neck and sometimes even rubbing his or her eyes unconsciously⁸. Other revealing⁹ physical expressions are related to romance. When you want to signal¹⁰ your feelings to someone to whom you are attracted, the eyes do most of the work. Initially¹¹, you might make eye contact with the person from a distance¹². Then you might look away. Finally, you might fix your eyes on that person again for a longer period.

　　這種情況的好例子，在我們說謊或喜歡某人時，就很容易觀察出來。一個人若是不老實，他／她的肢體語言往往是僵硬的。說謊者常常會忍不住觸摸或抓抓他／她的臉或脖子，有時候甚至會不自覺地揉眼睛。其他一些透露出來的肢體語言與愛情有關。當你想向你所心儀的人發出情感的訊息時，大部分都會透過眼睛傳達。一開始，你可能會從遠處與那個人的眼神接觸。然後移開視線。最後，再度將眼神落在那個人的身上久一點。

There are times when you don’t even know that your body is communicating something, such as when you are guilty¹³ of something. The truth is that even the best liars exhibit¹⁴ unusual body language when they lie. A key to detecting lies is to pay careful attention to the speaker’s eye movements. By observing these, you can usually tell if a person is remembering something that truly happened, or if they’re just making something up. When right-handed^ž people remember actual¹⁵ details, their eyes move to the left. However, when they are making something up, their eyes tend to move to the right. The opposite is true for left-handed people.

　　有時候，比如你因某事而內疚時，你甚至不知道你的身體正在傳達某一種訊息。事實上，即使是撒謊老手在說謊時也會顯露不尋常的肢體語言。察覺謊言的關鍵就是密切注意說話者的眼神。藉由這些觀察，你通常可以辨別出此人是在回想真實發生過的事情或只是在編造故事。右撇子回想真實細節時，眼睛會轉向左邊，但是在捏造事實時，眼睛往往會轉向右邊。對左撇子來說，則剛好相反。

　　Besides helping us detect dishonesty¹⁶, body language can also tell us when someone is in love with us! For example, someone who is attracted to you may copy your movements without even realizing it. If you sit back, he or she will sit back. If you take a sip¹⁷ of water, he or she will do the same. Apart from matching your behavior, love-struck^ž people often can’t help pointing their feet and shoulders toward you or standing closer to you than to others. Finally, their smiles will look more sincere¹⁸ and last longer.

　　除了幫助我們察覺他人的不誠實外，肢體語言還可以讓我們知道某人愛著我們。比如說，愛慕你的人會不自覺地跟隨你的動作。如果你往後坐，他／她也往後坐。如果你喝一口水，他／她也會這樣做。被愛沖昏頭的人除了會配合你的行為外，也常常會忍不住把腳尖和肩膀對著你，或是站在比別人更靠近你的位置。最後，他們的微笑會看起來更真誠，並且持續更久。

　　All of the above tells us that one of the best ways to understand people’s inner¹⁹ thoughts and emotions is to understand their body language. By paying a little more attention to body language, we can become much better at understanding our fellow²⁰ humans. And all this is done without saying a word!

　　以上所說的就是告訴我們，了解一個人的內心想法與情緒最好的方法之一，就是了解他們的肢體語言。藉由多加留意肢體語言，我們就變得更擅長了解他人。這一切是不需要說任何話就可以做到的。