美国国家公共电台 NPR Why Being Bored Isn't Necessarily A Bad Thing

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST: 

You know, here at MORNING EDITION we like to strive to give you in-depth lively coverage¹ of the news.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: 

Indeed, we hope you are informed and entertained.

GREENE: I mean, the last thing we want to do is bore you. But as NPR's Andrew Limbong reports, being bored might not actually be such a bad thing.

ANDREW LIMBONG, BYLINE²: Being bored sucks. Anyone sitting in a waiting room, standing³ on line at the bank or sitting through some work seminar can relate. For me, it mostly comes at night.

All right, so this is Andrew's go to bed routine.

All right, I'm not really going to make you listen to me try and fall asleep. It's a lot of rustling⁴, a lot of staring at light fixtures⁵ and a lot of thinking about my day until I get my computer and...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FRASIER")

LIMBONG: ...Pull up an old episode of "Frasier" that I've seen a bunch of times on Netflix.

So the trick of it is that you don't actually watch it, right? It's just on and you know that it's on, you know that it's there, and then just fall asleep without thinking about anything of consequence, really.

Anything but that uncomfortable feeling of boredom⁶, which I do not like.

EVA HOFFMAN: Well, first of all because we're addicted⁷ to the other thing, we're addicted to its, you know, to its counterpoint.

LIMBONG: That's Eva Hoffman, and the counterpoint here is stimulation⁸ - checking your phone, scrolling⁹ through Facebook, in my case watching a sitcom¹⁰ from the '90s, for Hoffman it was answering email.

HOFFMAN: It started making me feel sort of strangely frayed¹¹ and dissatisfied after a while. And secondly¹², I understood that I was actually doing nothing. There is an illusion of doing something, of accomplishing something, but you knew I was simply wasting time.

LIMBONG: So she wrote this book "How To Be Bored." It's a part of a self-help series called The School of Life. And her book is a mixture of the history of leisure and some concrete advice. Start journaling, read a super long book, really savor¹³ your morning cup of coffee, Hoffman refers to it as unscripted time. But maybe you don't need another book telling you to stop looking at a screen and go for a walk. The idea has been around for a while. One of Hoffman's references is tech writer Nicholas Carr. Back in 2010, he talked to NPR about his book "The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains."

NICHOLAS CARR: And so the more time we spend surfing and skimming and scanning online and multitasking and processing lots of interruptions, we begin to lose the capability¹⁴ to pay attention, to concentrate, to be contemplative and introspective.

HOFFMAN: We have lost the ability to be with ourselves and to understand how, you know, fruitful and interesting it can be.

LIMBONG: But it's possible to learn, neuroscientists have proven that our brains adapt at a cellular¹⁵ level to whatever we practice. So, really, Eva Hoffman's title - How" To Be Bored" - is a bit cheeky, and she admits that. It's more like how to get comfortable being bored. Andrew Limbong, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF DAMU THE FUDGEMUNK SONG, "TO RBI")

1 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 rustling   

n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的

参考例句：

• the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
• the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声

5 fixtures   

（房屋等的）固定装置( fixture的名词复数 )； 如（浴盆、抽水马桶）； 固定在某位置的人或物； （定期定点举行的）体育活动

参考例句：

• The insurance policy covers the building and any fixtures contained therein. 保险单为这座大楼及其中所有的设施保了险。
• The fixtures had already been sold and the sum divided. 固定设备已经卖了，钱也分了。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

6 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• 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。

7 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

8 stimulation   

n.刺激，激励，鼓舞

参考例句：

• The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
• You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。

9 scrolling   

n.卷[滚]动法，上下换行v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的现在分词 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Another important detail required by auto-scrolling is a time delay. 自动滚屏需要的另一个重要细节是时间延迟。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In 2D visualization and drawing applications, vertical and horizontal scrolling are common. 在二维的可视化及绘图应用中，垂直和水平滚动非常普遍。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

10 sitcom   

n.情景喜剧，（广播、电视的）系列幽默剧

参考例句：

• This sitcom is produced in cooperation with Hong Kong TV.这部连续剧是同香港电视台联合制作的。
• I heard that a new sitcom is coming out next season.我听说下一季会推出一个新的情境喜剧。

11 frayed   

adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His shirt was frayed. 他的衬衫穿破了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The argument frayed their nerves. 争辩使他们不快。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

13 savor   

vt.品尝，欣赏；n.味道，风味；情趣，趣味

参考例句：

• The soup has a savor of onion.这汤有洋葱味。
• His humorous remarks added a savor to our conversation.他幽默的话语给谈话增添了风趣。

14 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

15 cellular   

adj.移动的；细胞的，由细胞组成的

参考例句：

• She has a cellular telephone in her car.她的汽车里有一部无线通讯电话机。
• Many people use cellular materials as sensitive elements in hygrometers.很多人用蜂窝状的材料作为测量温度的传感元件。