評論
打印
It's a problem that's notoriously difficult to unpick.
要解開這個問題相當困難
One theoretical solution that has enticed scientists for many years
一種理論上的解決方法吸引了科學家多年
would be to isolate a child and raise them in silence.
就是讓一個孩子與世隔離在無聲環境長大
Would the child develop language on their own?
那個孩子會發展自己的語言嗎
Because of the cruelty involved,
由于這種做法的殘忍性
scientists could never carry out this test on humans.
科學家永遠不會在人類身上做這樣的實驗
It's become known as the forbidden experiment.
這是眾所周知的禁忌實驗
The best scientists could hope for
科學家能期望的
would be to find real live case studies,
頂多是找到這樣的實例來研究
feral children, those brought up by animals in the wild.
比如在野生環境下由動物撫養長大的孩子
If children raised away from human contact could be found,
若能找到在遠離人類的環境中長大的孩子
how they communicated could finally answer the question
他們的交流方式將會最終解答
of whether the ability to talk was innate.
說話能力是否天生這一問題
In 1991 the scientific community believed
1991年科學界認為
they'd stumbled across such a child.
他們已經發現了一個這樣的孩子
