Has playing a physicist on television changed how you regard science？ 在電視上飾演物理學(xué)家是否改變了你對(duì)科學(xué)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(shí)候?qū)庀髮W(xué)非常著迷。那時(shí)我住在墨西哥灣沿岸，常有颶風(fēng)從那里吹過(guò)。而我在大學(xué)掛掉的課程就是氣象學(xué)。雖然我對(duì)該課程的細(xì)節(jié)內(nèi)容不感興趣，但這對(duì)一部劇來(lái)說(shuō)是多好的基礎(chǔ)啊。我認(rèn)為這是我們[在《生活大爆炸》中]所擁有的對(duì)我們有利的事情中最了不起的一件。不過(guò)我現(xiàn)在沒(méi)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(shè)法把一個(gè)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(duì)他的反應(yīng)——發(fā)怒之余夾雜著打算容忍他的無(wú)奈。而這到觀眾那里就變成了“哦，好吧，他們是在說(shuō)這沒(méi)關(guān)系”。我并沒(méi)有試圖軟化尖刻之處。說(shuō)實(shí)話，很多時(shí)候要的就是惹惱別人。

Do you find yourself inadvertently7） mimicking8） Sheldon's odd qualities？ 你有沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)自己會(huì)在無(wú)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(lái)喋喋不休的傾向。他說(shuō)話有種樂(lè)感。有時(shí)這種樂(lè)感會(huì)出現(xiàn)在我自己說(shuō)的話里面。不過(guò)是哪個(gè)先出現(xiàn)的？在飾演這個(gè)角色之前我說(shuō)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(méi)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(dāng)時(shí)為飾演這個(gè)角色是如何準(zhǔn)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(méi)準(zhǔn)備過(guò)。當(dāng)時(shí)我們已經(jīng)拍完并播出好幾集了，我才被問(wèn)及阿斯伯格綜合征或自閉癥這個(gè)問(wèn)題。我問(wèn)了編劇們，他們就說(shuō)：“不，他沒(méi)有這個(gè)問(wèn)題。”利用“阿斯伯格綜合征”的某些特點(diǎn)對(duì)我們還是有用的，不過(guò)我們需要能夠從中走出來(lái)，如果我們想那樣的話。endprint

Do Sheldon's jokes ever go over your head13）？ 謝耳朵講的笑話會(huì)讓你覺(jué)得無(wú)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(huì)也不會(huì)。我們的科學(xué)咨詢顧問(wèn)戴維·薩爾茨伯格[有時(shí)]會(huì)在白板上以公式的形式寫一個(gè)我看不懂的笑話。有時(shí)我甚至在聽(tīng)過(guò)解釋之后，還是不覺(jué)得好笑。這并不是因?yàn)槟莻€(gè)笑話不好笑，而是因?yàn)槲铱赡苡悬c(diǎn)過(guò)于愚笨，體會(huì)不出來(lái)。他們時(shí)不時(shí)地用淺顯的英語(yǔ)寫一個(gè)我不明白為什么好笑的笑話，然后我會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己沒(méi)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(jì)·比爾曼（華盛頓州紐卡斯?fàn)柺校?/p>

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(lái)我最喜歡的科幻電影是《第三類接觸》。我過(guò)去也是《星球大戰(zhàn)》的鐵桿粉絲——不過(guò)現(xiàn)在《第三類接觸》才是我所愛(ài)。這部電影當(dāng)時(shí)讓我感到害怕，同時(shí)也令我感到安慰，因?yàn)樵谕馓沼猩嬖凇?/p>

If you were stranded16） on an island with no technology， what three things would you bring？ 如果你被困于沒(méi)有科技的孤島，你會(huì)帶哪三樣?xùn)|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(tái)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(huì)死的。

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

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(tīng)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(wú)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(lè)特質(zhì)；樂(lè)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(xué)家漢斯·阿斯伯格（Hans Asperger， 1906～1980）的姓名命名。

12. autism [???t?z?m] n. 孤獨(dú)癥；自閉癥

13. go over sb.'s head： （因太難而）無(wú)法理解

14. miss the boat： （因行動(dòng)慢而）錯(cuò)過(guò)機(jī)會(huì)，坐失良機(jī)

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）endprint