文章标题：How to Boast on the Sly
这篇小文介绍了如何从自夸中获益的同时，避免其负面效果。本文依据众多科学实验的结果，介绍了一些自夸技巧，比如可以用隐形自夸，借他人之口自夸，分散听众注意力等等。文章结构清晰，采用了“提出问题-解决问题”的思路。话题本身具有较强的现实指导意义。而且可以体味“自夸”丰富的同义替换，在写作中值得借鉴。
原文
I ①An essentialquandaryof social life is how to let others know we’re awesome, without letting them know we want them to know. ②Is there a way to harvest the reputational benefits ofself-promotionwhile avoiding its costs?
Ⅱ①Researchexposesboasting’spitfalls. ②For example, when we brag, wemiscalculatehow others will react. ③In one study, self-promotersoverestimatedthe extent to which their audiences would feel “proud” and “happy,” andunderestimatedtheir annoyance. ④And when people were asked to share five facts about themselves, those who were told to sound interesting succeeded only in sounding more boastful and unlikable than those who weren’t given additionalprompts. ⑤In another study, people dislikedexplicitself-superiority claims (“I am better than others”) more thanimplicitclaims (“I am a good person”) because the stronger claims appeared todenigratethe listener.
Ⅲ①Speaking of being a good person, a caution: Broadcasting your own generosity impresses others only if they were previously unaware of it. ②In one study, a Facebook update about giving money to a food bank made the poster seem morealtruisticthan did a post about going out to eat—unless his Facebook friends already knew about the donation, in which case they saw him as less altruistic after he boasted about it.
Ⅳ①Women appear to pay the greatest price for bragging. ②When job candidates in one study self-confidently highlighted their accomplishments, they were seen as more competent than when they spoke modestly. ③Yet the women who self-promoted were seen as less likable than theself-effacingwomen.
Ⅴ①If you want to boast, hire someone to do it for you. ②Subjects rated a job candidate as more likable, competent, and deserving of a high salary when a (clearly) paid representativesang his praisesforhim. ③And an author was liked better when a literary agentdelivered his pitchthan when he did it himself—even though listeners knew he was responsible for what was said in both circumstances.
Ⅵ①If you do self-promote, keep your audience slightly distracted. ②When listeners were “cognitively busy,” they were less likely to remember a self-promoter as the source of the glowing information they had heard about him, and thus didn’t perceive him to be as immodest as they did when they were paying closer attention.③You mightalternativelytry raising a topic relevant to your intended brag (say, grades), in the hopes that yourinterlocutorwill ask just the question (“What did you get?”) that you aredying toanswer (“A+”). ④In one study, three-fifths of participants later forgot that the braggart was the one who’d raised the subject, so he paid no price.
Ⅶ①As forhumble bragging(disguising a boast as a complaint, like “People keep telling me how cute I am—awkward!”), be careful. ②The strategy canbackfire: Across several studies, humblebraggers were seen as less sincere and likable than plain braggarts.
Ⅷ①I’ll end here.②I have so many articles to write for high-profile magazines—annoying!
“How to Boast on the Sly”. By Matthew Hutson. May, 2016 Issue.The Atlantic.
词汇短语
1.*quandary [ˈkwɒndəri] n.左右为难;窘困
2.self-promotion [ˌselfprəˈməʊʃən]n.自我推销;自我抬高
3.expose [ɪk’spəʊz] v.揭露，曝光
4.pitfalls [ˈpɪtfɔ:l] n.陷阱
5.miscalculate [ˌmɪsˈkælkjuleɪt]v.估计错误；判断错误
4.prompt [prɒmpt]n.提示;提词
5.explicit [ɪkˈsplɪsɪt]n.明确的；直言的
6.implicit[ɪmˈplɪsɪt]adj.不言明的；含蓄的
7.*denigrate[ˈdenɪgreɪt]v.贬低；诽谤
8.*altruistic[ˌæltrʊ’ɪstɪk]adj.利他的
9.*self-effacing[selfiˈfeisiŋ]adj.谦虚的
10.sang his praises for夸奖
11.delivered his pitch夸奖
12.alternatively[ɔ:lˈtɜ:nətɪvli]adv.或者
13.*interlocutor[ˌɪntəˈlɒkjətə(r)]n.对话者
14.dying to渴望
15.*humble bragging[ˈhʌmbl-b’ræɡɪŋ]n.谦虚自夸
16.*backfire[ˌbækˈfaɪə(r)]v.放出逆火，事与愿违;产生反效果
注:标*号为超纲词
翻译点评
I ①An essentialquandaryof social life is how to let others know we’re awesome, without letting them know we want them to know. ②Is there a way to harvest the reputational benefits ofself-promotionwhile avoiding its costs?
翻译：社会生活的一个重要窘境是，如何让别人知道自己很棒，同时又不让他们觉察到我们想让他们知道自己很棒。有没有什么办法，能通过自夸获得的好名声同时，避免其代价呢？
点评：第一部分：段Ⅰ开门见山，引出话题。①介绍了社会生活中一个重要的困境：想要自夸，却不想让别人觉察。值得回味的是essential quandary: essential表明该话题的重要性，暗示了本文的现实意义；quandary明确表示自夸是一个两难的境地。所以需要诸多技巧，为下文埋下伏笔。②紧承上句，并且将困境具体化：既要获得自夸带来的好名声，又要避免其代价（显得不谦虚，被人讨厌等等）。该句的关键词是self-promotion（自夸），也是全文的关键词，作者在下文用了许不同的表达方式。
Ⅱ①Researchexposesboasting’spitfalls. ②For example, when we brag, wemiscalculatehow others will react. ③In one study, self-promotersoverestimatedthe extent to which their audiences would feel “proud” and “happy,” andunderestimatedtheir annoyance. ④And when people were asked to share five facts about themselves, those who were told to sound interesting succeeded only in sounding more boastful and unlikable than those who weren’t given additionalprompts. ⑤In another study, people dislikedexplicitself-superiority claims (“I am better than others”) more thanimplicitclaims (“I am a good person”) because the stronger claims appeared todenigratethe listener.
翻译：研究者揭露了一些自夸的陷阱。比如，当我们自夸时，我们会对别人的反应估计错误。在一项研究中，自夸者高估了听众觉得“自豪”与“愉快”的程度，而低估了听众觉得的厌恶程度。当人们被要求分享5条关于自己的信息时，有些人被要求表现得有趣一点，他们最后只是比没有这些额外提示的人听起来更加好自夸而且更加不讨喜。在另一项研究中，相比隐形自夸（“我是个好人”），人们更不喜欢显性自夸（“我比其他人都强”），因为后者似乎在贬低听众。
点评：第二部分：段Ⅱ-段Ⅶ总结了系列研究发现，从不同的方面（听众、自夸内容、谁来自夸、自夸时机等等）介绍自夸技巧，或者是要避开的雷区。每一段的逻辑也很清晰，都在首句提出技巧，随后举例说明，或者解释原因。段Ⅱ指出要避开的陷阱：不要错误估计听众的反应、避免明显的（explicit）自夸。①句简短有力，指出自夸存在陷阱。②句指出第一个陷阱：我们会误判听众的反应。③句紧承上句，具体化误判：高估和低估。④句具体举例说明。⑤句介绍了第二个陷阱：explicit self-praise比implicit self-praise危险，因为会在自夸的同时贬低听众，所以应当避免。从这段开始，作者就用了与自夸相关的不同表达方比如：boasting, brag, self-promoter, share facts about themselves, boastful,self-superiority claims。
Ⅲ①Speaking of being a good person, a caution: Broadcasting your own generosity impresses others only if they were previously unaware of it. ②In one study, a Facebook update about giving money to a food bank made the poster seem morealtruisticthan did a post about going out to eat—unless his Facebook friends already knew about the donation, in which case they saw him as less altruistic after he boasted about it.
翻译：说到做个好人，要注意一点：只有在别人事先尚未觉察的情况下，表扬自己有多么慷慨才会给人们留下印象。一项研究中，在脸书上发布一条给食物银行捐钱的帖子，比发一条布外出饱餐一顿的帖子更显得发帖者无私，除非他的脸书好友已经知道捐款的事了，如果是这样的话，好友就不会觉得他有自己夸耀的那么无私。
点评：段Ⅲ从自夸内容方面，介绍自夸技巧：夸听众不知道的内容。①句通过being a good person与上段的最后一句巧妙连接，不显得突兀。②句举了脸书的一个例子，帮助读者理解。
Ⅳ①Women appear to pay the greatest price for bragging. ②When job candidates in one study self-confidently highlighted their accomplishments, they were seen as more competent than when they spoke modestly. ③Yet the women who self-promoted were seen as less likable than theself-effacingwomen.
翻译：女性似乎要为自夸付出最大的代价。一项研究中，如果求职者自信地夸奖自己的成就，他们会被认为比谦虚者更有能力。但是，如果自夸者是女性，她们没有谦虚者讨人喜欢。
点评：段Ⅳ从自夸主体方面，提醒女性要慎重自夸，因为谦虚的女性更容易被接受。①句提出观点。②、③句举例说明。通过自夸与谦虚的对比，社会更要求女性表现谦虚。与自夸相关的表达：bragging，self-confidently highlighttheir accomplishments，whoself-promoted。关于谦虚的表达：modestly，self-effacing。
Ⅴ①If you want to boast, hire someone to do it for you. ②Subjects rated a job candidate as more likable, competent, and deserving of a high salary when a (clearly) paid representativesang his praisesforhim. ③And an author was liked better when a literary agentdelivered his pitchthan when he did it himself—even though listeners knew he was responsible for what was said in both circumstances.
翻译：如果你想自夸的话，找个人代替你做。当一个（明显是）收了钱的中介夸奖某个求职者时，被试会认为该求职者更讨人喜欢，更有能力，也值得高薪。如果夸奖来自出版经纪人，而非自己之口，作家会更受欢迎，即使听众知道这两种情况都是作家在自夸。
点评：段Ⅴ继续关注自夸主体，介绍了另一个技巧：借他人之口自夸。①句提出观点。②、③句举例说明。与自夸相关的表达：boast，sang his praises for，delivered his pitch。
Ⅵ①If you do self-promote, keep your audience slightly distracted. ②When listeners were “cognitively busy,” they were less likely to remember a self-promoter as the source of the glowing information they had heard about him, and thus didn’t perceive him to be as immodest as they did when they were paying closer attention.③You mightalternativelytry raising a topic relevant to your intended brag (say, grades), in the hopes that yourinterlocutorwill ask just the question (“What did you get?”) that you aredying toanswer (“A+”). ④In one study, three-fifths of participants later forgot that the braggart was the one who’d raised the subject, so he paid no price.
翻译：如果非要亲口自夸，稍微分散一下听众的注意力。相比全神贯注的时候，听众“认知繁忙”时，他们不太容易记得关于某人的赞美是某人自己说的，因此不会认为他不谦虚。另外，或许你也可以试试提出一个和想要自夸的内容相关的话题（比如，考试分数），期待听众恰好提出你渴望回答的问题（“你考了多少分？），这下正中你的下怀，就可以回答（“A+”）。一项研究中，五分之三的被试者事后会忘记提出这个话题的是自夸者本人，因此，自夸者不用付出任何代价。
点评：段Ⅵ从自夸时机方面，介绍自夸技巧：分散听众注意力。①句紧承上段，如果你必须亲自夸奖自己的话，分散听众的注意力。②句说明原因，听众认知繁忙的时候，不会记得你是你自己亲口说的。③句给出了更隐晦的方法分散注意，混淆视听：假装不经意地提出一个话题，引诱听众提问，引君入瓮，最后顺理成章地完成自夸。④句通过研究发现证明这种技巧的可行性。与自夸相关的表达：self-promote，self-promoter，source of the glowing information，braggart。
Ⅶ①As forhumble bragging(disguising a boast as a complaint, like “People keep telling me how cute I am—awkward!”), be careful. ②The strategy canbackfire: Across several studies, humblebraggers were seen as less sincere and likable than plain braggarts.
翻译：至于“谦虚自夸”（把自夸伪装成抱怨，比如“人们不停地说我有多么可爱—这太让人尴尬了！”），要小心对待。这个策略可能会适得其反，好几项研究表明，“谦虚自夸”者被认为比直接自夸者显得缺乏诚意，也没那么讨人喜欢。
点评：段Ⅶ特别介绍了谦虚自夸（humble bragging)这个技巧，但是重点在于提醒人们注意，这个策略很可能适得其反。
Ⅷ①I’ll end here.②I have so many articles to write for high-profile magazines—annoying!
翻译：我得就此搁笔了。我要给各种高端杂志写那么多文章——烦死了！
点评：第三部分：段Ⅷ干净利落地结束文章，还玩得一手好幽默，让人忍俊不禁，作者明明就是在humble bragging嘛。
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