TED演讲：不要一悔再悔(5)

 　　So let's say for instance¹ that you're on your way to your best friend's wedding and you're trying to get to the airport and you're stuck in terrible traffic, and you finally arrive at your gate and you've missed your flight. 比如，你在去你朋友婚礼的路上，机场的路上塞车，你最终到了登机口，却错过飞机了。

　　You're going to experience more regret in that situation if you missed your flight by three minutes than if you missed it by 20. 如果你只是迟到了3分钟会比迟到20分钟后悔得更厉害。

　　Why? Well because, if you miss your flight by three minutes, it is painfully easy to imagine that you could have made different decisions that would have led to a better outcome². 为什么？因为如果你只是迟到3分钟，去想像你要是做不同的决定，事情就不会这样子，这样非常痛苦。

　　"I should have taken the bridge and not the tunnel. I should have gone through that yellow light." “我本应该走大桥而不是隧道。我不应该在那个黄灯停下来。”

　　These are the classic³ conditions that create regret. We feel regret when we think we are responsible for a decision that came out badly, but almost came out well. 这是会导致后悔的典型场景。我们对一个决定负责而其结果糟糕，但离好结果近在咫尺的时候，我们就会觉得后悔。

1 instance   

n.例，例证，实例

参考例句：

• Can you quote me a recent instance?你能给我举一个最近的例子吗？
• He's a greedy boy,yesterday,for instance,he ate all our biscuits!他是个贪吃的孩子――比如，他昨天把我们的饼干都吃了！

2 outcome   

n.结果，出口，演变

参考例句：

• The outcome of the experiment is in the lap of the gods.实验结果尚难预料。
• The outcome of the war is hard to foretell.战争胜负难以预卜。

3 classic   

n.经典作品；adj.经典的，一流的；古典的

参考例句：

• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。
• The football match was a classic.那场足球比赛堪称典范。