英文短文欣賞篇一：優(yōu)美的英語短文

優(yōu)美的英語短文

優(yōu)美的英語短文

如何寫出一篇優(yōu)美的英語短文？ 必克英語給你推薦一篇關于描寫風景優(yōu)美的英語短文，文章里面有好多語句都是我們英語寫作中可以借鑒引用的。

優(yōu)美的英語短文（英文原版）

Autumn in the gloomy depression of the eyes is a symbol of autumn is in the eyes of the farmer's harvest, but in the eyes of love the autumn is a beautiful picture. - Title in mind

Spondee have the advent of several autumn, autumn's picture has been lightly started, the fall of the angels came gently, and she get rid of the hot summer, cool autumn wind brought about a refreshing, but also brought about by different colors The gift of new clothes to do all things.

Of view, the messenger of autumn came saw her simply pass play, the wind blowing through the breeze. Xiaocaohu were immediately put on new clothes golden, as if the carpet is a great shop to the distance. Welcomed the arrival of autumn messenger.

The messenger of autumn light footsteps strode to the field. Well, the corn is full Jingying his white teeth smile envoy welcomed the arrival of Autumn. Look, see the fall of the messenger of sorghum also sorry it! Face up to red. Look fast, look at the rice beautiful new clothes themselves laughed.

The messenger came to the orchard in autumn, the persimmon Ilex look put new clothes, red face . Like a red lantern. Look at the pear , like a doll in the tree, so cute.

The messenger came to the garden in autumn, finger, chrysanthemum are competing to open up new clothes to wear, colorful, red, yellow, pink, and how beautiful and go through the dance-hyun, the United States and the world dress up more.

Autumn, how beautiful the words. You, you find that it comes in around it?

優(yōu)美的英語短文（中文版）

秋在悲觀的人眼里是蕭條的象征，秋在農夫的眼里是豐收，但在愛秋的人眼里卻是一幅優(yōu)美的畫卷�！}記

紛紛揚揚幾場秋雨的降臨，秋的畫卷也被輕輕展開，秋的使者也輕輕地來了，她趕走了熾熱的夏日，喚來涼爽的秋風,帶來了清爽，還帶來各色的新衣給萬物做禮物。

看，秋的使者跋山涉水走來，只見她揮一揮衣袖，微風拂過。小草們立刻換上了金黃的新衣，仿佛是一塊巨大的地毯鋪向遠方。歡迎秋天使者的到來。

秋的使者邁著輕盈的步履來到田野。看，那晶瑩飽滿的玉米正露出潔白的牙齒微笑著歡迎秋之使者的到來�？炜�，高粱見到秋的使者還不好意思呢！把臉蛋漲得通紅�？烨�，那黃燦燦的稻谷看者自己漂亮的新衣都笑彎了腰。

秋的使者來到果園，看那滿樹的柿子換上新衣，羞得臉蛋通紅。像一個個紅燈籠�？茨屈S澄澄的鴨梨，像一個娃娃在樹上，那么可愛。

秋的使者來到庭院，彈彈手指，菊花們穿著新衣競先開放，姹紫嫣紅，紅的、黃的、粉的，多么美麗，跳著炫舞，把世界打扮得更美。

秋，多么美麗的字眼。你，發(fā)現(xiàn)它降臨在你身邊了嗎？

英語口語培訓 /

英文短文欣賞篇二：英語美文賞析

龍源期刊網 .cn

英語美文賞析

作者：王曉寧

來源：《英語學習·教師版》2014年第05期

英語美文，即使用地道、優(yōu)美的英語語言寫的文章；英語美文賞析，則是在接觸地道英語語言的基礎之上，了解和理解英語語言文化背景，欣賞語言確切應用所表達的真實情景，甚至對其傳達的情緒情感感同身受，以致對更深層的思想傳達了解并分享。

我的美文賞析始于2003年，源于幾百篇美國中學生優(yōu)秀作文的翻譯。3個月的翻譯工作，對于已經有20年專業(yè)英語學習和近十年英語教學的我都受益良多。地道的英語語言，真實的生活場景，生動自然的生活、情感和思緒，一些我們熟識卻總能讓你眼前一亮的小詞、小句給了我最初開設美文賞析課的想法。浸潤在地道的英語語言文化中，欣賞貌似簡單卻畫面感極強（simple but powerful）的小詞小句，感受簡單平易的意思之下表達的或栩栩如生的畫面，或真實動人的情感，或本該諱莫如深卻清晰可觸的思想；而在這不斷的學習中慢慢積累起來的東西，正是包括我和我的學生們這些英語學習者最終使用所迫切需要的。

浸潤

語言的學習，首先要保證一定的語言輸入（take in），由每天的接觸和積累慢慢養(yǎng)成語言的感覺和習慣；而美文的閱讀和欣賞，又給予學生高質量的語言。一樣的語言輸入，不一樣品質的語言輸入自然效果會有不同。比如“Home Sweet Home”，描述了要搬離居住12年的家，字里行間流露出的依戀和不舍；“The Beauty of the Beast”，小作者在回家路上偶遇一只不愿離棄被車撞身亡的同伴的小松鼠，真切體會到這只小動物身上的獸性之美，從而引發(fā)的對于人性的思考，而導致學生們對自己身上人性的剖析，并給了學生們“有心觀世界，點滴皆故事”的啟迪；“I Call Myself”， 通過一個媽媽在給孩子描述白種人，黃種人和黑人時表現(xiàn)出的細微的態(tài)度差別，包括使用的不同詞匯，描述了在美國真實存在的種族歧視。這在美國黑人總統(tǒng)Obama當政的今天，給了學生們不小的震撼，也加強了他們對于美國種族差異的了解和認識。典型生動的細節(jié)，簡單溫暖的文字，真實動人的情感，總讓學生們在讀完以后感動沉思。我想，這就是語言的力量，這就是語言值得我們用心欣賞的原因——了解生活，感受美麗，觸動心靈。每天浸潤其中，怎會沒有收益？

欣賞

出于語言學習的目的，在美文閱讀中我指導學生欣賞的，首先是用于表達的字、詞、句。對于詞，我有一句名言“simple but powerful”，所有的詞匯，都要在合適的情境中才能表現(xiàn)出觸動人心的力量 （situational words）。學生漸漸領悟——詞匯的使用，并不是越難越大越好，而是要針對情景；無論多小多簡單的詞匯，只要使用恰當，就都會具有打動人心的力量——比如，在讀到The young squirrel once more stands erect and with piercing emptiness in his coal black eyes， faces me時，正是 “此時無聲勝有聲”的感受——痛到深處無言表。

英文短文欣賞篇三：英語美文欣賞(帶翻譯)

Friends or 'Enemies?'

When I was younger, my Dad used to tell me: "Boys don't want to be your friend." He then left the rest to my imagination. At the time, I didn't agree. I thought: I can crack a good joke, I know how to shoot a hoop, and I'm a cheerful person (but not in an annoying way). What kind of boy wouldn't want to be around that kind of girl?

Turns out, my Dad was right. Not to be all "Samantha Brick" about it, but in my experience, single, heterosexual men aren't actively looking for an exclusively platonic relationship with a woman they find sexually attractive. This of course is not a revolutionary concept. In fact, it seems pretty natural to me.

Now, I will be the first to say that it is really and truly the most wonderful thing in the world if the attraction is mutual. But the Powers That Be seem to like to play these complicated little mating games with humans where the guy we want to re-enact scenes from 9? Weeks with sees our attractiveness level as akin to that of a discarded dishcloth, and the most physical we could see ourselves being with the guy who actually likes us is a game of ping pong over an especially long table. All of which means that someone usually ends up getting rejected.

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I have struggled with the scenario where I am not interested in a man romantically, but I want to keep him as a friend because he is funny and I enjoy his company, or he has shown himself to be that rare specimen known as "a nice, genuine person, " or he simply doesn't mention his therapist in every other sentence.

Rather than string him along and give him hope, I feel compelled to somehow communicate to him sooner rather than later that we'll just be staying friends, nothing more. Otherwise, I think I am being unfair to him. Why should he waste his romantic stamina on me when there are loads of other single women out there who might fall instantly in love with him? The thing is, it can sometimes be tricky to reject a man and keep him as a friend. If the operation is not executed carefully, you may end up creating a "menemy."

It requires a certain amount of skill to be able to turn down a man's sexual advances or romantic gestures and then get him to agree to meet you for blueberry pancakes the following weekend and chat about the latest Woody Allen film. Some men aren't satisfied with just that. I'm not clear why. What's so bad about friendship? Everyone needs buddies. But I've seen men react poorly or simply fall off the face of the earth. I get it -- their feelings are hurt. None of us likes getting rejected. But in my experience, some men find it especially soul-crushing.

I am only bringing all of this up because I recently had to go through this scenario again. I had spent some time cultivating a friendship with a man who, in my defense, I thought was gay. So I didn't see the harm in him buying me the occasional falafel, or accepting an invitation to see a film with him. Isn't that what friends are for? But a mutual friend shed light on his sexual orientation (straight) and suggested that his intentions -- and attentions -- weren't platonic. He had never "made the moves" but now it was all crystal clear -- that explains the way he had looked at me that time the tahini sauce dribbled down my chin! Since he had clearly been too timid to express his feelings, I thought I would be clever this time and subtly mention the dates I had been going on, focusing on the one guy I was kind of keen on, so that he would know that I was "unavailable" for heavy petting and those sorts of activities, but that I was available for things like roller skating, falafel-eating and shooting the breeze. Doesn't that sound nice? That way, he would known not to try to lean in for a kiss, and I wouldn't have to pull the Stevie Wonder dance and dodge him went he went for it. It was like pre-rejection, yet I was sparing his feelings because he didn't even have to put himself out there! I really thought I was being brilliant.

It backfired, of course. Said man ended up sending me an email rant accusing me of being insensitive by talking about other men when he had "feelings for me." As if I am psychic, by the way, just because I am a woman! How was I supposed to know that? I think in his mind we were dating. In my mind, he was my new gay BFF. In the end, I got mad at him for getting mad at me, and now the friendship has ended.

And I have created yet another "menemy."

Look, I have also tried the direct thing: "I really like you, but only as a friend, " but you can only do that when the guy has made his intentions clear, and in my experience, they either cope okay (though rarely do I feel much enthusiasm for friendship after that), or they really don't cope well. I also tried the thing where you make them think they are rejecting you, but it gets quite confusing and only works if the guy isn't very sharp, and why would I -- or you -- be hanging out with someone not that sharp in the first place?

As we all remember, Billy Crystal's character says men and women can't be friends in When Harry Met Sally because the sex stuff gets in the way. I do have single, male, heterosexual friends with whom I have an easy, non-romantic rapport, but I honestly don't know if they would walk away if I was sprawled naked on a bed calling out to them. I may not be everybody's cup of tea, but sometimes, I wonder if they wonder. And they may wonder if I wonder. If so, I hope they'll keep it to

themselves.

被拒后：朋友亦或敵人？

那時我并不以為然，認為憑自己的幽默詼諧，灌籃嫻熟，開朗活潑的性格，又有那一個男孩不喜歡在這樣的女孩身邊呢？

但結果證明父親是對的。對此不需要太自戀（Samantha Brick，自由專欄女作家曾寫過為什么女人恨我等文章，有英版芙蓉姐姐之稱），但以我的經驗來說，單身異性戀男士在他們認為極具吸引力的女性身上并不想只是尋求一份簡單的柏拉圖式的關系。當然這一概念并沒有什么開創(chuàng)性，事實上在我看來再自然不過了。

首先我要說的是兩情相悅的確是世界上最為美妙事。但上帝卻好似很喜歡玩這種復雜的配對游戲，要么是通過九個半周的交往后，我們想與之確定關系的男孩認為我們的吸引力指數(shù)同丟棄的抹布不相上下，要么就是我們對中意我們的男孩不起化學反應，兩人總是像隔著一長長的桌臺打乒乓球一般。結果都是以另一方被拒而告終。

有些異性我雖然不想和他交往，但很想和他做朋友，因為他幽默詼諧，有他陪在身邊我會很開心,或者他友好善良并且為人真誠（這一類人可是稀缺性品種），或者是他不是每隔一句便提起他的理療師。我敢說這種情形你也經歷過吧。

我認為有必要對他說明白我們之間只會是朋友這種關系這么簡單，僅此而已。說這些話宜早不宜晚，而不是將他帶在身邊給他希望。不然對他來說是不公平的。外面那么多單身女性，她們或許會對他一見鐘情，為什么要讓他白白浪費精力放在我身上呢？

但有時在拒絕一位男士后要想和他保持朋友關系，這種情況頗為棘手。如果處理不當，結果是你可能會結下梁子。要想拒絕異性的追求或是一些曖昧舉動，同時還要讓他同意下一周他依然可以和你會面，邊品嘗藍莓煎餅邊談論伍迪艾倫執(zhí)導的電影，這的確需要一定的技巧。有些男士對此不以為意。我不清楚他們的原因，做朋友難道不好嗎？每個人都有自己的朋友呀。但是我確實見到有些男性在被拒絕后反應很糟糕，有的甚至好似在地球蒸發(fā)了一樣再也沒見到他的面。我明白--他們受傷了。沒有人喜歡被別人拒絕。根據(jù)我的經驗甚至有些男士認為被拒讓人精神崩潰。提起這些是因為最近我就遇到了這種情況。前段時間我和位異性發(fā)展著朋友關系，我起初一直以為他是同性戀。所以他時不時給我買三明治，或是邀請我去看電影，我都沒覺得有什么問題。朋友不就是做這些嗎？但朋友間是需要彼此都明白各人的性取向的（他是異性戀）還要暗示對方他的想法意圖并不是柏拉圖之類。他從未做出曖昧舉動，但事實上，他看我臉上有芝麻醬的眼神就已經說的很明白了。

他有些膽怯還沒有袒露對我的感情，所以我想這次我可以聰明些向他委婉的提下我最近一直和某個男生在交往，并對這個我頗為動心的男生十分用心。不用說他就明白戀人間得耳鬢廝磨不屬于我和他，而類似滑冰，吃吃三明治呀，或閑聊呀我都沒問題。我這樣做是不是還不錯呀？這樣他就明白不要試著前傾身子去吻我，我也不會用以要學史蒂威·旺達舞蹈為借口來躲避他的不軌舉動。在他未向我表白前我就已然拒絕他了，我認為這招妙哉。

當然結果是事與愿違。此男再給我發(fā)送的郵件中激昂痛罵我多么沒有感情：明知道他對我的情意卻當著他的面談論其他男生。僅僅因為我是女的，好像我就是神經病一樣。我哪知道這些呀？我認為在他心里我們就一直在約會，而在我心里卻把他當做可以做一輩子的同性戀朋友。最后，因為他對我生氣，我也對他動了氣，友情也就戛然而止了。我又結下了一段梁子。

你瞧，我也試過用較為直接的方式回絕男生，“我真的很喜歡你，但只是出于朋友間的喜歡而已。”這招僅適用于當此男表明了他的感情時候。在我經驗中，有些男生反應還可以（盡管隨后我覺得他同我做朋友的熱情度大打折扣），有些男生對此應對得不是太好。還有一招我也用過，就是讓他們感覺是他們在拒絕你，這招頗具有迷惑性且對象僅適用于頭腦不是很敏捷的男生。但話又說回來，我怎么會和一個頭腦不靈光的男生交往呢？

我們都會記得在當哈利遇上莎莉這部電影中比利克里斯托扮演的角色曾說：男人和女人從來不會是朋友，因為“男女有別”。我的確有一些單身異性戀的男性朋友，我和他們之間也處的輕松隨意，無關乎風月，但我真的不知道要是我懶洋洋赤身裸體于床上，大聲喚著他們，他們是否會決然走開呢？我或許不是每個人的菜，但有時我想他們是否會考慮我是不是他們喜歡的類型，或許他們也會想我會不會有同樣的念頭。如果是這樣的話，希望他們緘口不提保密于心吧。

Living With My Teenage Genius

AS HER son Cameron sits at his laptop completing an assignment for his maths degree course Alison Thompson is busy helping her daughter Emma get dressed.

Nothing unusual there, except that at just 14 Cameron is a highly gifted maths prodigy, while Emma is 12 and severely autistic.

Having two children with such contrasting abilities has at times been a challenge, admits full-time mum Alison, 34, who also has 10-year-old daughter Bethany.

While help has always been readily available for Emma, Alison and her husband Rod, 37, a computer programmer, have had to fight to get Cameron the support he needs. “People could see that Emma has special needs but because Cameron was doing so well at school his teachers never thought there was a problem. They refused to acknowledge that he was gifted, ” says Alison.

Admittedly it took Alison and Rod a while to realise their son was different. “Cameron was our first child and we didn’t really have anything to compare him with. He always had a very impressive vocabulary and we knew he was bright but he didn’t reach his milestones exceptionally early and there were no other real signs.”

It was only when he began primary school that his abilities became clear. “He used to cry when it was time to come home, ” recalls Alison. “He just always wanted to learn more.”

On one occasion he even corrected the teacher when she told the class that zero was the lowest number. Cameron told her she was wrong because there were negative numbers. He was four at the time.

By the time he was seven, Cameron, who lives with his family in Wrexham, North Wales, was leaps and bounds ahead of his classmates. It was also clear that he was suffering from Asperger’s syndrome, which is a form of autism. Children with Asperger’s typically find social interaction incredibly difficult and can become obsessive and inflexible.

“Not only was he getting bored at school but he didn’t know when to keep quiet and had no idea how to pick up on social cues, ” says Alison, who along with Rod started to put pressure on the school for extra support for their son.

Now 14 Cameron is at secondary school, studying for a distance learning maths degree with the Open University, having sailed through his GCSE at 11 and his A-level at 12, achieving top grades.

Today it is clear that this slightly built, engaging and awkward teenager is gifted but it has been a battle to get the authorities to acknowledge his needs.

“I don’t think the teachers had a clue what to do with a gifted child, ” says Alison. “We were worried about being labelled as pushy parents but there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting the best for your child. I think the teachers thought we were trying to drive Cameron with his maths but the drive came from him.”

Frustrated, the Thompsons considered home education – Cameron was also being targeted by bullies – but they thought it would hamper their son socially.

By his final year of primary school, Cameron had become bored and disruptive but fortunately when he moved to senior school teachers there took his talents seriously and he was encouraged to do more advanced maths work.

“He steamed through the GCSE syllabus in just three months, ” says Alison. “For the first time in ages he seemed really happy.”

Then his parents had to decide what to do next. Some gifted children are sent to university early but Alison and Rod felt this wasn’t right for Cameron. “What would he have in common with the other students?” she asks. “I just don’t understand these parents who are so ambitious that they lose all sight of their child.

“I was once contacted by a mother who told me her five-year-old was interested in taking a GCSE. I mean, really? What five-year-old has actually heard of a GCSE? When Cameron was five all he wanted was to be a train driver.”

Alison admits she is baffled by much of her son’s degree course. Even Rod, who has a maths degree himself, struggles to keep up. Yet they are careful never to compare Cameron with his sisters.

Bethany is bright too but not gifted. Sociable and artistic she is the one who will remind absent minded Cameron to put on his coat. She also helps him out in social situations. “Bethany could make friends in an empty room, ” says Alison proudly. “Having siblings with such different needs has made her very accepting.”

Emma attends a specialist school and the family is quick to celebrate her successes too. “The other day she did up the buttons on her coat which was real progress, ” Alison says.

The Thompsons try to live a normal life. Late last year they took part in a fly-on-the-wall television documentary to prove that not all gifted children are the result of overly ambitious parents. Cameron, who is also a brown belt in karate, was happy to take part as he had always wanted to be on TV.

“There is so much help out there for children like Emma

but hardly anything at all for those at the other end of the spectrum, ” says Alison. “Gifted children need support too but their lives don’t have to be that different to anyone else’s. Cameron is proof of that.”

家有神童

艾莉森?湯普森家有三個孩子，三個孩子個個不同。一個是天賦異稟的小神童，一個是自閉癥兒童，還有一個卻在社交方面表現(xiàn)出眾。艾莉森是怎樣撫養(yǎng)他們的？她遇到了哪些困難？

當艾莉森?湯普森的兒子卡梅倫坐在電腦前完成他的數(shù)學學士學位課作業(yè)時，她忙著幫她的女兒�，敶┖靡路�。很平常的場景，除了14歲的卡梅隆是一個非常有天賦的數(shù)學神童，而12歲的艾瑪則是嚴重的自閉癥患者。艾莉森承認撫養(yǎng)兩個反差很大的孩子有時是一個挑戰(zhàn)。34歲的艾莉森是一個全職母親，他同時還有一個10歲的女兒伯達尼。

艾瑪總是及時獲得幫助的那一個，而艾莉森和她的程序員丈夫羅德不得不為卡梅隆爭取他所需要的支持�！按蠹叶贾腊斢刑厥庑枰�，但因為卡梅倫在學校表現(xiàn)優(yōu)秀，他的老師從來沒有想過他的問題。他們拒絕承認他是天才，”艾莉森說。

誠然，艾莉森和羅德也不是一開始就發(fā)現(xiàn)他們的兒子有什么不同。 “卡梅隆是我們的第一個孩子，我們真的沒有什么可以比較。他的詞匯量一直佷令人驚訝，我們知道他聰明，但在他的階段性發(fā)展中，他沒有提前很多，也有沒有其他明顯的跡象�！�

直到他上小學，他的能力才變得明顯�！斑^去一到回家的時候，他就哭，”艾莉森。 “他只是想學更多的知識�！庇幸淮�，他甚至還糾正了老師。當老師告訴同學零是最小的數(shù)字時，卡梅倫告訴她，她錯了，因為有負數(shù)。那時候他四歲。

七歲的卡梅倫與他的家人住在北威爾士最大的城市雷克瑟姆（Wrexham），那時候他已經遠遠超過他的同學。但很明顯，他很患有阿斯伯格綜合癥，這是自閉癥的一種形式�；加邪⑺共窬C合癥的兒童通常在社會交往上存在困難，還可能變得執(zhí)著而頑固。

“他在學校不僅感到厭煩，還不知道什么時候應當保持安靜，無法理解人際交流中的隱藏含義，”艾莉森說。她和羅德開始向學校施壓，以求他們的兒子獲得額外的幫助。

14歲的卡梅隆目前還在中學階段，已經開始攻讀開放大學函授數(shù)學學位。11歲他通過了GCSE課程，12歲通過A-level課程，并且都取得了優(yōu)異的成績。

毋庸置疑，這個清瘦、有魅力卻有點古怪的青少年是有天賦的，但讓當局承認他的需求卻是一場艱苦的戰(zhàn)斗�！拔也徽J為教師們知道該怎么教育一個有天賦的孩子，”艾莉森說。 “我們害怕被當作為愛出風頭的父母，但希望孩子獲得最好的教育這一點絕對沒有錯。老師認為是我們要求卡梅隆學數(shù)學，但實際上那是他主動要學的�！彼麄兊膰L試受到打擊，卡梅倫也成為了眾矢之的，隨后他們想到了家庭教育，但又覺得這不利于孩子社會化的培養(yǎng)。

到卡梅倫小學最后一年時，他已經開始無聊到搗亂了，所幸升學后那里的老師很看重他的天賦，并鼓勵他學習高年級的數(shù)學。

“他在短短三個月內學完了GCSE課程教學大綱，”艾莉森說， “他似乎很久沒那么高興了�！�

然后，他的父母不得不決定下一步做什么。一些天才兒童提前進入大學，但艾莉森和羅德覺得這樣對卡梅倫不好。 “他與其他學生有什么共同點？”她問， “我只是不明白有些家長是如此雄心勃勃，卻全然忘記了他們的孩子。"“曾經又一位母親告訴我，她5歲的女兒想要參加GCSE考試。我在想，這會是真的嗎？ 一個5歲的孩子真的了解GCSE是什么嗎？當卡梅倫5歲時，他就想當一名火車司機。“

艾莉森承認，她對兒子的學位課程感到困惑。即使擁有數(shù)學學位的羅德也不見得能跟上。然而，他們很小心，從來不拿卡梅隆與他的妹妹們做比較。

伯達尼也很聰明，但算不上天賦異稟。善于交際、喜歡藝術的她會提醒心不在焉的卡梅隆把他的外套穿上，她還回在社交場合為哥哥解圍。 “即使在一個空房間里，伯達尼也能交朋友，” 艾莉森驕傲地說， “有不同需求的兄弟姐妹，讓她變得很包容。”

艾瑪就讀的是一所特殊學校，家里人也會即時為她的每一次成功慶祝。 “有一天，她自己系上了衣服上所有的扣子，這絕對是進步，”艾莉森說。

湯普森一家嘗試著像正常家庭那樣去生活。去年年底，他們參加了一個觀察式電視紀錄片的拍攝，向大家證明并不是所有的天才兒童都是過于雄心勃勃的父母造就的。同時是空手道棕帶的卡梅倫很高興參加這次紀錄片拍攝，因為他一直想上電視。

“社會給了像艾瑪這樣的孩子許多幫助，但對于天才兒童幾乎沒有任何幫助，”艾莉森說。 “天才兒童也需要支持，但他們的生活并沒有和其他人太不同。卡梅倫就是個例子�！�

10 Biggest Puzzles of Human Evolution

NOBODY would mistake a human for a chimpanzee, yet we share more DNA than mice and rats do. How can that be? Advances in genomics are starting to uavel the mystery.

Line up the genomes of humans and chimps side by side and they differ by little more than 1 per cent. That may not seem like much, but it equates to more than 30 million point mutations. Around 80 per cent of our 30, 000 genes are affected, and although most have just one or two changes (Gene, vol 346, p 215), these can have dramatic effects. The protein made by the human geneFOXP2, which helps us to speak, differs from its chimp counterpart by just two amino acids, for example. And small changes in the microcephalin andASPM genes may underlie big differences in brain size between humans and chimps.

But protein evolution is only part of what makes us human. Also critical are changes in gene regulation - when and where genes are expressed during development - says James Noonan of Yale University. Mutations in key developmental genes are likely to be fatal. But, he says: "Altering the expression of a gene in a single tissue or at a single time can more easily lead to an innovation that is not lethal." Noonan's lab is one of many that are busy comparing gene expression in tissues such as the brain to home in on the key regulatory difference between chimps and humans, most of which have still to be uncovered.

Then there's gene duplication. This can give rise to families of genes that diversify and take on new functions, says Evan Eichler at the University of Washington in Seattle. His lab has identified uniquely human gene families that affect many aspects of our biology, from the immune system to brain development. He suspects that gene duplication has contributed to the evolution of novel cognitive capacities in humans, but at a cost: greater susceptibility to neurological disorders.

Copying errors mean whole chunks of DNA have been accidentally deleted. Other chunks find themselves in new locations when mobile genetic elements jump around the genome or viruses integrate themselves into our DNA. The human genome contains more than 26, 000 of these so-called INDELs, many linked with differences in gene expression between humans and chimps (Mobile DNA, vol 2, p 13).

Even a complete catalogue of genetic differences will not solve the mystery. Much of what makes us human is cultural, passed from generation to generation by learning, says Ajit Varki at the University of California, San Diego. What's more, he says, The co-evolution of genes and culture is a major force in human evolution, famously leaving the descendents of dairy farmers able to digest milk protein, for example. To crack the mystery of human uniqueness we need to know how genomes build bodies and brains, how brains create culture, and how culture eventually feeds back to alter the genome. It remains a distant goal.

人類進化十大謎（之一）：我們與黑猩猩：形不似而基因似？人類和黑猩猩外貌迥異，沒有人會搞錯，但這兩者間的基因相似度卻很高，高過野鼠和家鼠之間的基因相似度。這怎么可能呢？基因組學研究正在解開這個謎底。

把人類和黑猩猩的染色體組并排比較，二者差異略高于百分之一。看似不多，但卻相當于三千多萬的點突變。我們30,000個基因的約百分之八十都會受影響，盡管多數(shù)僅有一兩處變異（見《基因》第346卷第215頁），但影響可能十分巨大。比如，人類FOXP2基因所制造的蛋白質作用于我們的語言能力，只有兩個氨基酸與黑猩猩的相應蛋白質不同。此外，微腦磷脂和ASPM基因里的細微差別可能決定了人類和黑猩猩大腦尺寸的巨大差異。

但是，蛋白質的進化只是造就人類的部分原因。耶魯大學詹姆斯?努南（James Noonan）說，基因規(guī)則的變化同等重要——在生長過程中基因何時何地進行表達。關鍵性發(fā)展基因的突變很可能致命。不過他說：“改變單一組織的基因表達或僅改變一次某個基因的表達更容易帶來安全的創(chuàng)新�！迸系膶嶒炇颐τ诒容^黑猩猩和人類大腦等組織之間的基因表達，找出關鍵性的規(guī)則差異；從事這一工作的實驗室還很多，大多尚不為世人所知。

此外還有基因復制。西雅圖華盛頓大學的伊萬?艾克勒（Evan Eichler）說，由此可能產生多樣化和具備新功能的基因族。唯有他的實驗室找出了影響了我們免疫系統(tǒng)到大腦發(fā)展等多個方面生物性的基因族。他懷疑基因復制對人類新認知能力的進化起著作用，不過是有代價的：更容易神經紊亂。

復制錯誤就意味著整段的DNA被意外刪除。別的基因段進入新的位置，基因組附近出現(xiàn)活動的基因成分，或者病毒融入我們的DNA。人類的基因組包含26000多個這種所謂的基因插入/缺失（INDEL），許多都和人類與黑猩猩之間的基因表達差異相關（《可移動的DNA》第2卷第13頁）。

即使取得完整的基因差異圖也無法揭開這個謎團。加州大學圣地亞哥分校的阿吉特?瓦基（Ajit Varki）說，造就人類的主要是代代傳承的文化。他還說，基因與文化的共同進化才是人類進化的主要力量，比如這個眾所周知例子，畜牧業(yè)牧民的后代擅于消化牛奶蛋白。要解開人類特殊性之謎，我們必須了解基因組如何構建出身體和大腦，大腦如何創(chuàng)造文化，文化最終又如何反過來改變基因組。這個目標依然遙遠。

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