作者 王逢鑫

選自《英語(yǔ)世界》2015年第11期

“效應(yīng)”的原義是“物理的或化學(xué)的作用所產(chǎn)生的效果”，也可泛指“某個(gè)人物的言行或某種事物的發(fā)生和發(fā)展在社會(huì)上所引起的反應(yīng)或效果”。英語(yǔ)的對(duì)應(yīng)詞是effect。自然界和人間社會(huì)存在各式各樣的效應(yīng)。其中“溫室效應(yīng)” （green-house effect）是我們最常見的一種大氣保溫效應(yīng)，與地球變暖（global warming）有關(guān)。例如：

1. The term “greenhouse effect” has two common meanings. There is a natural greenhouse effect that keeps the Earth’s climate warm and habitable. There is also a man-made greenhouse effect, which is the enhancement of Earth’s natural greenhouse effect by the addition of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels (mainly petroleum, coal, and natural gas).
“溫室效應(yīng)”這個(gè)詞有兩個(gè)基本意思：一個(gè)是使地球氣候保持溫暖和適宜居住的自然溫室效應(yīng)；另一個(gè)是人為溫室效應(yīng)，即由于燃燒化石燃料（主要是石油、煤和天然氣）造成溫室氣體增多而導(dǎo)致的地球自然溫室效應(yīng)增強(qiáng)。

2. Earth’s natural greenhouse effect is critical to supporting life. But human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests, have intensified the natural greenhouse effect, causing global warming.
地球的自然溫室效應(yīng)對(duì)維持生命是至關(guān)緊要的，但是人類活動(dòng)，主要是燃燒化石燃料和砍伐森林，已加劇了這種自然溫室效應(yīng)，引起全球變暖。

與我們生存環(huán)境密切相關(guān)的另一種自然效應(yīng)是“城市熱島效應(yīng)”（urban heat island effect）。例如：

3. Temperatures are often a few degrees higher in cities than they are in their surrounding rural areas. This temperature discrepancy is the result of a bizarre phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect. As the name implies, the effect turns cities into islands of heat.
城市溫度常常比周圍農(nóng)村高出幾度。這種溫差是一種叫做“城市熱島效應(yīng)”的奇異現(xiàn)象造成的。正如其名所示，這種效應(yīng)使城市變成熱島。

4. According to the latest statistics from the China Meteorological Administration, about one-fourth of the temperature rise caused by climate warming can be blamed on the urban heat island effect. This effect is adding to our woes.
根據(jù)中國(guó)氣象局的最新統(tǒng)計(jì)，在氣候變暖引起的氣溫上升中，大約有1/4是城市熱島效應(yīng)造成的。這種熱島效應(yīng)正在給我們?cè)鎏砺闊?/p>

美國(guó)數(shù)學(xué)與氣象學(xué)家愛德華·諾頓·羅倫茲（Edward Norton Lorenz）發(fā)現(xiàn)的“蝴蝶效應(yīng)”（butterfly effect）也與自然氣象有關(guān)。例如：

5. A few occasional flaps of the wings of a butterfly in a South American tropical rain forest in the Amazon Basin may cause a tornado in Texas, the United States two weeks later. This is because the movement of the wings of the butterfly will bring about changes in the air system around it, and also cause weak air flow, which will lead to relevant changes in the air and other systems around it. This will cause a series of chain reactions, and eventually lead to significant changes in other systems.
亞馬孫盆地的南美熱帶雨林中的一只蝴蝶，偶爾扇動(dòng)了幾下翅膀，兩周后在美國(guó)得克薩斯州可能引起一場(chǎng)龍卷風(fēng)。這是因?yàn)楹岚虻倪\(yùn)動(dòng)會(huì)導(dǎo)致其身邊的空氣系統(tǒng)發(fā)生變化，并產(chǎn)生微弱氣流，而微弱氣流又會(huì)引起它四周空氣或其他系統(tǒng)產(chǎn)生相應(yīng)的變化，由此引起一系列連鎖反應(yīng)，最終導(dǎo)致其他系統(tǒng)的極大變化。

“蝴蝶效應(yīng)”作為一種自然現(xiàn)象，也出現(xiàn)在文藝作品中。美國(guó)歌手戴維·赫爾南德斯（David Hernandez）的The Butterfly Effect 一詩(shī)開頭有這樣的詩(shī)句

If a butterfly flapping its wings in Beijing

could cause a hurricane off the coast of Florida,

so could a deck of cards shuffled at a picnic.

假如北京的一只蝴蝶扇動(dòng)雙翅

能讓佛羅里達(dá)海岸外刮起一場(chǎng)颶風(fēng)，

野餐時(shí)洗一副紙牌也能掀起颶風(fēng)。

“鯰魚效應(yīng)”（catfish effect）是以動(dòng)物行為產(chǎn)生的效應(yīng)，比喻社會(huì)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)現(xiàn)象。例如：

6. In Norway, live sardines are several times more expensive than frozen ones, and are valued for better texture and flavor. It was said that only one ship could bring live sardine home, and the shipmaster kept his method a secret. After he died, people found that there was one catfish in his tank. The catfish keeps swimming, and the sardines try to avoid this predator. This increased level of activity keeps the sardines active instead of becoming sedentary.
在挪威，鮮活的沙丁魚比冰凍的貴好幾倍，而且因其更好的口感和質(zhì)地受人青睞。據(jù)說(shuō)，以前僅有一條船能把鮮活的沙丁魚運(yùn)回家來(lái)，但是那位船長(zhǎng)將他的方法保密。他去世后，人們發(fā)現(xiàn)他的貯水箱里有一條活鯰魚。這條鯰魚一直游來(lái)游去，而那些沙丁魚則試圖躲開食肉的鯰魚。活動(dòng)量增加使得沙丁魚活躍，而不是變得不愛游動(dòng)。

“鯰魚效應(yīng)”指的是鼓勵(lì)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，常用于人力資源管理。例如：

Catfish effect is a term used in human resource management to describe how groups are motivated by the addition of a strong competitor. Actions for actively applying the catfish effect in an organization are called catfish management. This is a method used to motivate a team so that each member feels strong competition, thus keeping up the competitiveness of the whole team.
“鯰魚效應(yīng)”是一個(gè)用于人力資源管理的術(shù)語(yǔ)，描述群體如何因增加有力的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手而受到激勵(lì)。在一個(gè)組織內(nèi)積極應(yīng)用鯰魚效應(yīng)而做出的行動(dòng)，被稱作“鯰魚式”管理。這是一種用于激勵(lì)團(tuán)隊(duì)的方法，使每位成員感到激烈的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，從而保持整個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力。

“名人效應(yīng)”（celebrity effect）是現(xiàn)在常見的一種社會(huì)現(xiàn)象。例如：

7. Celebrity effect means using a famous person’s image to sell products or services by focusing on the person’s money, popularity or fame.
“名人效應(yīng)”是通過(guò)聚焦名人的財(cái)富、知名度或聲譽(yù)來(lái)利用名人形象銷售產(chǎn)品或服務(wù)。

?Although many brand managers favour the use of celebrities in advertisements, others worry that celebrities may overshadow their brands. So celebrity effect can be positive or negative.
許多品牌經(jīng)理喜愛在廣告中利用名人，另一些人則擔(dān)憂名人會(huì)給他們的品牌蒙上陰影。因此名人效應(yīng)可能是正面的，也可能是負(fù)面的。

“光環(huán)效應(yīng)”（halo effect）與名人相關(guān)，也是常見的一種社會(huì)現(xiàn)象。例如：

8. The halo effect of celebrities gives people a cloak of generalized trustworthiness which extends well-beyond their industry or expertise. The halo effect works both in positive and negative directions.
名人“光環(huán)效應(yīng)”給人們一層對(duì)籠統(tǒng)的可信賴性的模糊認(rèn)識(shí)，大大超越了名人的勤奮與學(xué)識(shí)。“光環(huán)”效在正面和負(fù)面雙向產(chǎn)生作用。

“馬太效應(yīng)”（Matthew effect）屬于社會(huì)學(xué)領(lǐng)域，與人的聲譽(yù)和地位相關(guān)。例如：

In sociology, the Matthew effect is the phenomenon where “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer”. In both its original and typical usage it is meant metaphorically to refer to issues of fame or status, but it may also be used literally to refer to cumulative advantage of economic capital.
在社會(huì)學(xué)中，“馬太效應(yīng)”指“富人越富，窮人越窮”的現(xiàn)象。在其本原和通常的用法中，喻指聲譽(yù)和地位的問(wèn)題，但是它在字面上也可用來(lái)指經(jīng)濟(jì)資本的累積優(yōu)勢(shì)。

（來(lái)源：《英語(yǔ)世界》，編輯：Helen）