时间:2018-12-28 作者:英语课 分类:初学者听力文摘精选


英语课

It’s time to go again to the A Moment of Science mailbag. A listener writes:

又到了科学一刻的读信时间,一位听友写道:



Dear A Moment of Science,

亲爱的《科学一刻》栏目:



Everyone gets bored from time to time. But I was wondering–what is boredom 1 exactly, scientifically speaking?

每个人时不时都感觉到对某事的厌倦。但是我想知道---从科学的角度看,厌倦具体指的是什么呢?



Common Problem

普遍的问题



Boredom is one of those really common things that, partly because it’s so common, is rarely investigated with much rigor 2. But a study by researchers in Canada aims to change that. In fact, they’ve come up with a definition of boredom.

厌倦是一个普遍存在的现象,因为它是如此普遍,因此人们很少花费时间精力对它进行调查研究。加拿大研究人员试图改变这种现状。事实上,他们已经对厌倦给出了定义。



According to the study, boredom is “an aversive state of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity,” arising from failures in one of the brain’s attention networks.

调查研究表明,厌倦是指“渴望但又无法从事令人满意的活动的一种反感状态”,起因是大脑注意力网络故障。



Focusing On The Problem

焦聚该问题



In other words, you’re bored when you can’t quite focus on stuff–such as thoughts or things happening around you–that allows you to engage in absorbing activities. And, to make it worse, you’re sort of aware that you can’t pay attention, which makes you feel listless and, well, bored.

换句话说,当你无法完全集中精力在某些事情上,例如思考问题或者发生在你周围的事无法吸引你的注意力时,你便会感到无聊。更糟糕的是,你意识到自己不能集中注意力,这会让你更加无精打采进而产生厌倦情绪。



Boredom is linked to many psychological, social, and health problems. For example, being bored at work can make you less productive 3 and, in some jobs, can lead to serious accidents. Also, boredom has been linked to substance abuse and other health issues.

厌倦与许多心理学、社会学还有健康问题相关联。例如,对于工作的厌倦会让工作效率低下,对于某些工作来说可能导致严重的事故。同时,厌倦与滥用药物以及其他健康问题密切关联。



There are all sorts of ways to try to avoid becoming bored, or snapping 4 out of it when you feel bored. But this research could be a first step towards developing more scientific ways to curb 5 boredom.

其实有各种各样的方法可以让你避免陷入厌倦的困境或者及时从厌倦的状态中脱身。此项研究仅仅是开发更多科学方式以抑制厌倦的第一步。



1 boredom
n.厌烦,厌倦,乏味,无聊
  • Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
  • A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。
2 rigor
n.严酷,严格,严厉
  • Their analysis lacks rigor.他们的分析缺乏严谨性。||The crime will be treated with the full rigor of the law.这一罪行会严格依法审理。
3 productive
adj.能生产的,有生产价值的,多产的
  • We had a productive meeting that solved some problems.我们开了一个富有成效的会议,解决了一些问题。
  • Science and technology are part of the productive forces.科学技术是生产力。
4 snapping
adv.显著地,强烈地,非常地v.猛地咬住( snap的现在分词 );(使某物)发出尖厉声音地突然断裂[打开,关闭];厉声地说;拍照
  • The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away. 细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The fire is snapping. 火劈劈啪啪地响。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
5 curb
n.场外证券市场,场外交易;vt.制止,抑制
  • I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
  • You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。
学英语单词
Abraham Lincolns
acne cream
actor-character
advisory committee on fair trial and free press
aeromilometer
alpine ashes
amniocele
animal energetics
Arisaka
barbarea vulgaris r.br.var. stricta regel
batch entry
bathroom bill
bctp
bedcoverings
Blumea sericans
brandisht
bursa ranelloides
buryktalskite
centralgyl
chine line of keel
chinosol
coordinate conversion
corinths
cyclosoruss
cylindrical film memory
cytospectrophotometry
dimensional inspection
diminished resonance
double-barrelleds
dummy aircraft
encastre
entire allocation
entity-relationship models
ethylphenylephrine
film thickness gauge
first order phase transition
frank bank
frankensteinian
galumin
gamma-ray radiator
Gentiana handeliana
ground straight-shank twist drill
hexacyprone
high horizontal bar
hydrogenant
intracellular ferment
invoking subprogram
Lakatrask
lefosse
Llanfaelog
long con
love juice
magnetisierungskenn linie
MEMMs
microteks
mobile-first
Mucaine
mulitple telecommunication
multilinear system
multiple declaration
musculus quadratus femoris
Naassenes
oolithotus antillarum
orchestral score
oxidation loss
oxyuriasis
pentanoic acid valeric acid
phlebograph
polar coordinates in plane
positive excess
predating
primitive mesentery
printing quota
proceeds of forfeit
psudoalloy
raglans
raincapes
range-gated imaging technique
Ranunculus adoxifolius
reconstruction of capital
reflex ovulation
rere-ban
selenometalate
skade
spherical-seated bearing
syntax and semantics
tail gas analyzer
tail pipe up
take to one's legs
theoretical pathology
Thermosphaera
thiosilicic acid
this-worldliness
three-phase AC traction
tidal river
Tonobrein
tube conductor
unrefuted
Usengi
variable-geometry inlet
vasilar
von willebrands