Why read this: This article gives B2 readers a clear way into a real scientific debate that they will meet again in biology, psychology and everyday news: how much of who we are is decided by our genes, and how much by our experiences. The Bayout court case offers a strong opening hook, and the rest of the piece guides students through twin studies, large DNA scans and life events without burying them in technical detail.
What to notice: Notice how the article keeps revising its own claim. It first suggests that one gene might cause violence, then says scientists no longer think that. It reports a 47% figure from twin studies, then a much smaller 9% to 18% figure from DNA scans. Watch for the linking words 'however', 'yet' and 'but', which signal each turn in the argument. Notice also the careful, hedged language: 'may', 'seems to', 'probably' and 'a little'. These are not weak choices; they show how scientists talk about evidence that is still incomplete.
Skills practised: Tracking a multi-step argument that does not fully agree with itself; reading numerical evidence in context (percentages and date ranges); inferring a writer's main idea from several paragraphs rather than a single line; using glossed phrases such as 'twin studies', 'genome-wide association studies' and 'foetal programming' to access a science register without getting lost in jargon.
"Are we born with our personality, or do we build it?"
"Scientists once hoped to find a few \"behaviour genes\". Today, twin studies, large DNA scans and stories of life events are all pointing to a much messier answer."
Tap any green word in the article to see its meaning.
In 2009, an Italian man named Abdelmalek Bayout faced nine years in prison for killing a man who had mockedmock: To mimic, to simulate — 模拟 him in the street. His lawyer made an unusual argument. He claimed that Bayout's DNAdna: The part of a living being that carries genetic information — 脱氧核糖核酸;基因物质 contained the warrior gene: a media nickname for a gene variant linked to aggressive behaviour — 战士基因, a tiny change linked to aggressiveaggressive: Behaving in a hostile or forceful way; pursuing goals with determination and energy. — 好斗的；激进的 behaviour. Because of this, the lawyer said, his client could not be fullyfully: Completely or entirely; to the greatest possible extent. — 完全地；充分地 blamed. The court agreed and cut a year off the sentence. Today, however, scientists see the link between genesgene: A unit of heredity that determines a particular characteristic of an organism. — 基因 and behaviour as far more complicatedcomplicated: Consisting of many interconnecting parts; difficult to understand or analyse. — 复杂的；难懂的 than that.
For more than a century, people have asked a famous question: are we shaped by nature or nurture: the debate over whether human traits come from genes or from environment — 先天与后天? Are our personalities decided by the genes we are born with, or by the family, friends and events around us? An English scientist first studied this in twins back in 1875. By the 1920s, researchers were running twin studies: research that compares twins to estimate how much of a trait comes from genes versus environment — 双胞胎研究 that compared identical twins: twins from one fertilised egg, sharing 100% of their DNA — 同卵双胞胎, who share 100% of their DNA, with fraternal twins: twins from two separate eggs, sharing about 50% of their DNA — 异卵双胞胎, who share only 50%.
Modern psychologistspsychologist: A professional who studies and treats the human mind and behaviour. — 心理学家 describe personality through five broadbroad: Wide in extent; covering a large range of subjects or areas. — 宽阔的；广泛的 traitstrait: A distinguishing quality or characteristic of a person's character. — 特征；特点；品质, often called the Big Five personality traits: the five main groups psychologists use to describe personality: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism — 大五人格特质: how open, careful, outgoingoutgoing: Extraverted: talkative, friendly, and social, especially with respect to meeting new people easily and comfortably — 外向的, kind and anxiousanxious: Feeling worried or uneasy about something with an uncertain outcome. — 焦虑的；不安的 a person tends to be. A large study in 2015 combined results from over 2,500 twin studies and concluded that around 47% of personality differences could be explained by genes. The other half, the researchers argued, must come from a person's environment. Other twin studies have reached similar numbers, usually somewhere between 40% and 50%.
Over the past 15 years, however, scientists have been able to read DNA in much greater detail. In genome-wide association studies: studies that scan the whole genome to find DNA differences linked to traits — 全基因组关联研究, researchers compare millions of small differences in DNA across huge numbers of people, looking for tiny links to personality. The early workwork: [General Physics] The product of force and distance moved in the direction of force — 功 struggledstruggle: To make forceful efforts to achieve something despite difficulty; to fight or wrestle. — 奋斗；挣扎；努力 to find clear results. We now know why: personality is shaped by thousands of these small differences, each adding only a tiny effect. Eveneven: Exactly, just, fully — 正好 when added together, they explain only 9% to 18% of personality differences, far below the 40% suggested by twin studies.
If genes matter less than once thought, perhaps experience matters more. Yet the picture is just as messymessy: (of a person) Prone to causing mess. — 邋遢的；总把东西弄乱的. Aysu Okbay, a researcher in genetics at Amsterdam UMC, says the true answer probably sits somewhere between the two estimatesestimate: To roughly calculate or judge the value, number, or extent of something — 估计；估算. Big life events such as winning the lotterylottery: A process of selecting winners randomly, especially a gambling game. — 彩票；抽奖 or losing a leg seem to change personality far less than people imagine. Even marriage and becoming a parent only nudgenudge: To push against gently, especially in order to gain attention or give a signal — 轻推 it a little. The popular trauma narrative: the popular story that bad experiences make people who they are — 创伤叙事, the idea that hard times make us who we are, is not well supported by the evidence.
"Trauma doesn't make you who you are," says Brent Roberts, a psychologypsychology: The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behaviour. — 心理学 professor at the University of Illinois. Childhood difficulties can leave a lastinglasting: Persisting for an extended period of time — 持久的 mark on adult personality, but stressful events later in life rarely do. Researchers are now asking about an even earlier influence: life inside the wombwomb: The abdomen or stomach — 腹部. Some studies suggest that high stressstress: Discomfort — 不适，不舒服 during pregnancypregnancy: the condition or period of carrying a developing embryo or foetus within the body — 怀孕；妊娠 may slightly change a baby's later temperamenttemperament: A moderate and proportionable mixture of elements or ingredients in a compound; the condition in which elements are mixed in their proper proportions — 调和体质, an idea called foetal programming: the idea that conditions in the womb shape a baby's later traits — 胎儿编程. The mechanismmechanism: A system of parts working together in a machine; a natural or established process. — 机制；机械装置 is unclear, but it seems that the environment can switch certain genes on and off.
The picture that emergesemerge: To come into view or existence; to become known or apparent — 出现；浮现 is not nature or nurture, but nature and nurture, wovenweave: To form something by passing lengths or strands of material over and under one another — 编织 tightly together. Personality, scientists now say, comes from many genes and many experiences, each pulling only a little. A genetic predisposition: an inborn tendency, based on genes, to develop a certain trait — 遗传易感性 does not force a person to behave in one fixed way. As Roberts puts it, humans are simply too complex to be reduced to a single gene or a single life event.
In 2009, an Italian man named Abdelmalek Bayout faced nine years in prison for killing a man who had mockedmock: To mimic, to simulate — 模拟 him in the street. His lawyer made an unusual argument. He claimed that Bayout's DNAdna: The part of a living being that carries genetic information — 脱氧核糖核酸;基因物质 contained the warrior gene: a media nickname for a gene variant linked to aggressive behaviour — 战士基因, a tiny change linked to aggressiveaggressive: Behaving in a hostile or forceful way; pursuing goals with determination and energy. — 好斗的；激进的 behaviour. Because of this, the lawyer said, his client could not be fullyfully: Completely or entirely; to the greatest possible extent. — 完全地；充分地 blamed. The court agreed and cut a year off the sentence. Today, however, scientists see the link between genesgene: A unit of heredity that determines a particular characteristic of an organism. — 基因 and behaviour as far more complicatedcomplicated: Consisting of many interconnecting parts; difficult to understand or analyse. — 复杂的；难懂的 than that.
For more than a century, people have asked a famous question: are we shaped by nature or nurture: the debate over whether human traits come from genes or from environment — 先天与后天? Are our personalities decided by the genes we are born with, or by the family, friends and events around us? An English scientist first studied this in twins back in 1875. By the 1920s, researchers were running twin studies: research that compares twins to estimate how much of a trait comes from genes versus environment — 双胞胎研究 that compared identical twins: twins from one fertilised egg, sharing 100% of their DNA — 同卵双胞胎, who share 100% of their DNA, with fraternal twins: twins from two separate eggs, sharing about 50% of their DNA — 异卵双胞胎, who share only 50%.
Modern psychologistspsychologist: A professional who studies and treats the human mind and behaviour. — 心理学家 describe personality through five broadbroad: Wide in extent; covering a large range of subjects or areas. — 宽阔的；广泛的 traitstrait: A distinguishing quality or characteristic of a person's character. — 特征；特点；品质, often called the Big Five personality traits: the five main groups psychologists use to describe personality: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism — 大五人格特质: how open, careful, outgoingoutgoing: Extraverted: talkative, friendly, and social, especially with respect to meeting new people easily and comfortably — 外向的, kind and anxiousanxious: Feeling worried or uneasy about something with an uncertain outcome. — 焦虑的；不安的 a person tends to be. A large study in 2015 combined results from over 2,500 twin studies and concluded that around 47% of personality differences could be explained by genes. The other half, the researchers argued, must come from a person's environment. Other twin studies have reached similar numbers, usually somewhere between 40% and 50%.
Over the past 15 years, however, scientists have been able to read DNA in much greater detail. In genome-wide association studies: studies that scan the whole genome to find DNA differences linked to traits — 全基因组关联研究, researchers compare millions of small differences in DNA across huge numbers of people, looking for tiny links to personality. The early workwork: [General Physics] The product of force and distance moved in the direction of force — 功 struggledstruggle: To make forceful efforts to achieve something despite difficulty; to fight or wrestle. — 奋斗；挣扎；努力 to find clear results. We now know why: personality is shaped by thousands of these small differences, each adding only a tiny effect. Eveneven: Exactly, just, fully — 正好 when added together, they explain only 9% to 18% of personality differences, far below the 40% suggested by twin studies.
If genes matter less than once thought, perhaps experience matters more. Yet the picture is just as messymessy: (of a person) Prone to causing mess. — 邋遢的；总把东西弄乱的. Aysu Okbay, a researcher in genetics at Amsterdam UMC, says the true answer probably sits somewhere between the two estimatesestimate: To roughly calculate or judge the value, number, or extent of something — 估计；估算. Big life events such as winning the lotterylottery: A process of selecting winners randomly, especially a gambling game. — 彩票；抽奖 or losing a leg seem to change personality far less than people imagine. Even marriage and becoming a parent only nudgenudge: To push against gently, especially in order to gain attention or give a signal — 轻推 it a little. The popular trauma narrative: the popular story that bad experiences make people who they are — 创伤叙事, the idea that hard times make us who we are, is not well supported by the evidence.
"Trauma doesn't make you who you are," says Brent Roberts, a psychologypsychology: The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behaviour. — 心理学 professor at the University of Illinois. Childhood difficulties can leave a lastinglasting: Persisting for an extended period of time — 持久的 mark on adult personality, but stressful events later in life rarely do. Researchers are now asking about an even earlier influence: life inside the wombwomb: The abdomen or stomach — 腹部. Some studies suggest that high stressstress: Discomfort — 不适，不舒服 during pregnancypregnancy: the condition or period of carrying a developing embryo or foetus within the body — 怀孕；妊娠 may slightly change a baby's later temperamenttemperament: A moderate and proportionable mixture of elements or ingredients in a compound; the condition in which elements are mixed in their proper proportions — 调和体质, an idea called foetal programming: the idea that conditions in the womb shape a baby's later traits — 胎儿编程. The mechanismmechanism: A system of parts working together in a machine; a natural or established process. — 机制；机械装置 is unclear, but it seems that the environment can switch certain genes on and off.
The picture that emergesemerge: To come into view or existence; to become known or apparent — 出现；浮现 is not nature or nurture, but nature and nurture, wovenweave: To form something by passing lengths or strands of material over and under one another — 编织 tightly together. Personality, scientists now say, comes from many genes and many experiences, each pulling only a little. A genetic predisposition: an inborn tendency, based on genes, to develop a certain trait — 遗传易感性 does not force a person to behave in one fixed way. As Roberts puts it, humans are simply too complex to be reduced to a single gene or a single life event.
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
Why did Abdelmalek Bayout's lawyer mention his client's DNA in court?
- 02
What does the gap between the twin study figure of 47% and the genome-wide association study figure of 9% to 18% most likely suggest?
- 03
Which sentence best captures the article's main idea?
- 04
Evaluate the lawyer's use of the warrior gene argument in Bayout's trial. Based on what the article says later about genes and behaviour, was it a strong argument?
Suggested length: ~80 words
- 05
How does the article challenge the popular idea that traumatic experiences shape who we are?
Suggested length: ~80 words
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
Why did Abdelmalek Bayout's lawyer mention his client's DNA in court?
- 02
What does the gap between the twin study figure of 47% and the genome-wide association study figure of 9% to 18% most likely suggest?
- 03
Which sentence best captures the article's main idea?
- 04
Evaluate the lawyer's use of the warrior gene argument in Bayout's trial. Based on what the article says later about genes and behaviour, was it a strong argument?
Suggested length: ~80 words
- 05
How does the article challenge the popular idea that traumatic experiences shape who we are?
Suggested length: ~80 words