Has playing a physicist on television changed how you regard science？ 在電視上飾演物理學家是否改變了你對科學的看法？

—Wen Zhang， Athens， Ohio

張文（俄亥俄州阿森斯市）

I was very fascinated with meteorology1） at a young age. I lived on the Gulf Coast， and hurricanes blew through there. That is the class I failed in college： meteorology. I didn't have an interest in the particulars—but what a wonderful basis for a show. I think it's one of the greatest things we have going for us [on The Big Bang Theory]. But I'm not watching more nova2）.

我小時候?qū)庀髮W非常著迷。那時我住在墨西哥灣沿岸，常有颶風從那里吹過。而我在大學掛掉的課程就是氣象學。雖然我對該課程的細節(jié)內(nèi)容不感興趣，但這對一部劇來說是多好的基礎啊。我認為這是我們[在《生活大爆炸》中]所擁有的對我們有利的事情中最了不起的一件。不過我現(xiàn)在沒有再觀察新星了。

How do you manage to make an easily unlikable character a likable one？ 你是怎么設法把一個很容易不討人喜歡的角色演得討人喜歡的呢？

—Julia Hall， Madera， Calif.

朱莉婭·霍爾（加利福尼亞州馬德拉市）

[The writers] are careful to soften the edges3） of the harsher words. The other thing is the way the characters are reacting to him—with exasperation4） and a resignation5） that they're going to put up with it. That translates to the audience as， \"Oh， well， they're saying it's OK.\" I don't try to soften it. Frankly， a lot of times the point is to irritate6）.

[編劇們]很小心地把那些有些刺耳的話變得不那么尖刻。另外就是其他角色對他的反應——發(fā)怒之余夾雜著打算容忍他的無奈。而這到觀眾那里就變成了“哦，好吧，他們是在說這沒關系”。我并沒有試圖軟化尖刻之處。說實話，很多時候要的就是惹惱別人。

Do you find yourself inadvertently7） mimicking8） Sheldon's odd qualities？ 你有沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)自己會在無意間模仿謝耳朵的怪癖？

—Michelle Lacy， Brick Township， N.J.

米歇爾·萊西（新澤西州布里克鎮(zhèn)）

I have a tendency to rattle9） like he does. There's a musicality10） to the way he talks. That will sometimes carry over into my own speech. But which came first？ Was I doing that before I did this part？ I'm not entirely sure.

我跟他一樣有講起話來喋喋不休的傾向。他說話有種樂感。有時這種樂感會出現(xiàn)在我自己說的話里面。不過是哪個先出現(xiàn)的？在飾演這個角色之前我說話就這樣嗎？我不是完全肯定。

Although it hasn't been addressed on the show， Sheldon clearly has some degree of Asperger's11） or autism12）. How did you prepare to play such a character？ 盡管電視劇里沒有明確提到，但是謝耳朵明顯患有一定程度的阿斯伯格綜合征或自閉癥。你當時為飾演這個角色是如何準備的？

—Michelle Shea， Falls Church， Va.

米歇爾·謝伊（弗吉尼亞州福爾斯徹奇市）

I didn't. We had already shot and aired several episodes before I was ever asked the Asperger's-or-autism question. I asked the writers， and they were like， \"No， he doesn't have it.\" It's been useful to us to utilize some of those \"Aspergian\" traits， but we need to be able to move away from it if we want to.

我沒準備過。當時我們已經(jīng)拍完并播出好幾集了，我才被問及阿斯伯格綜合征或自閉癥這個問題。我問了編劇們，他們就說：“不，他沒有這個問題?！崩谩鞍⑺共窬C合征”的某些特點對我們還是有用的，不過我們需要能夠從中走出來，如果我們想那樣的話。

Do Sheldon's jokes ever go over your head13）？ 謝耳朵講的笑話會讓你覺得無法理解嗎？

—Rick Morgan， Seattle

里克·摩根（西雅圖）

Yes and no. David Saltzberg， our science consultant， will [sometimes] put a written joke in formula form on the whiteboard that I don't get. And sometimes， even after explanation， I just don't find it funny. That's not because it's not funny. It's because I am probably a little too dumb to get it. Every once in a while they write a joke in plain English that I don't understand how to make work， and I will find out that I have missed the boat14） on their intent. That's been blessedly rare.

也會也不會。我們的科學咨詢顧問戴維·薩爾茨伯格[有時]會在白板上以公式的形式寫一個我看不懂的笑話。有時我甚至在聽過解釋之后，還是不覺得好笑。這并不是因為那個笑話不好笑，而是因為我可能有點過于愚笨，體會不出來。他們時不時地用淺顯的英語寫一個我不明白為什么好笑的笑話，然后我會發(fā)現(xiàn)自己沒跟上他們的節(jié)奏。幸好這種情況很少。

What are some of your favorite sci-fi books， TV shows， or movies？ 你最喜歡的一些科幻書、電視劇或電影是什么？

—Suzi Beerman， New Castle， Wash.

蘇濟·比爾曼（華盛頓州紐卡斯爾市）

My favorite sci-fi movie of all time is Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I was a huge Star Wars fan as well—but Close Encounters， I love. It creeped me out15） and made me feel comforted at the same time. There is life out there.

一直以來我最喜歡的科幻電影是《第三類接觸》。我過去也是《星球大戰(zhàn)》的鐵桿粉絲——不過現(xiàn)在《第三類接觸》才是我所愛。這部電影當時讓我感到害怕，同時也令我感到安慰，因為在外太空有生命存在。

If you were stranded16） on an island with no technology， what three things would you bring？ 如果你被困于沒有科技的孤島，你會帶哪三樣東西？

—Marc Bigras， Sturgeon Falls， Ont.

馬克·畢格哈斯（安大略斯特金福爾斯鎮(zhèn)）

A piano. A notepad. What else？ This is hard. You know what？ I'm going to leave the notepad， and I'm going to take both my dogs. But they'd die.

一架鋼琴。一臺平板電腦。還有什么呢？這太難選了。你知道嗎？我打算不帶平板電腦，而是帶上我的兩條狗。但是它們會死的。

1.meteorology [?mi?ti??r?l?d?i] n. 氣象學

2.nova [?n??v?] n. 新星（一類由于爆炸而在數(shù)月之內(nèi)異常明亮的恒星）

3.edge [ed?] n. （聲調(diào)的）銳利；尖刻

4.exasperation [?ɡ?z?sp??re??n] n. 惱怒；惱火

5.resignation [?rez?ɡ?ne??n] n. 聽任；順從

6.irritate [??r?te?t] vi. 引起不愉快，引起惱怒

7.inadvertently [??n?d?v??t?ntli] adv. 非故意地，無意地

8.mimic [?m?m?k] vt. 模仿

9.rattle [?r?tl] vi. 喋喋不休地講話

10.musicality [?mju?z??k?l?ti] n. 音樂特質(zhì)；樂感

11.Asperger's： 阿斯伯格綜合征，全稱為Asperger's syndrome，即一種不善交際、興趣偏狹的內(nèi)向癥狀，根據(jù)奧地利精神病學家漢斯·阿斯伯格（Hans Asperger， 1906～1980）的姓名命名。

12.autism [???t?z?m] n. 孤獨癥；自閉癥

13.go over sb.'s head： （因太難而）無法理解

14.miss the boat： （因行動慢而）錯過機會，坐失良機

15.creep sb. out： 使某人感到害怕（或惡心）

16.strand [str?nd] vt. 擱淺（在海灘上）