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Alice: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Alice…
大家好，欢迎收听英语六分钟。我是爱丽丝。
Rob: And I’m Rob.
我是罗伯。
Alice: So Rob, did you get that research done that I asked you to do over the weekend?
罗伯，我让你周末做的调查你做完了吗？
Rob:
Oh … It was at the top of my to-do list. But Sunday night came around
so quickly, and I just – you know – I didn’t get round to it.
哦，它列在了我待办事项的首位。但是周日晚上来得太快了，我还没有抽出时间做呢。
Alice:
Rob! If I’d known you weren’t going to do the research, I’d have done
it myself. What did you actually do at the weekend, anyway?
罗伯！如果知道你周末不做这项调查，我就自己做了。你周末到底做什么了？
Rob: Oh, you know, this and that. It’s funny how time slips by without you noticing.
你知道的，各种各样的事。时间在不经意间就溜走了。
Alice: Hmm, yes. I bet you spent the whole weekend watching cat videos on YouTube – and googling your own name.
好吧。我打赌你整个周末都在YouTube上看猫咪视频，用谷歌搜自己的名字。
Rob:
What? That’s unfair and untrue, Alice – well, mostly untrue, anyway– I
did some shopping and I fixed my bike as well as watching videos and
googling myself.
什么？你这样说太不公平了，不是那样的。好吧，大部分不是真的。我去购物了，修了自行车，也看了视频，还用谷歌搜索了自己的名字。
Alice:
Well, perhaps I should say at this point that today’s show is about
procrastination, which means not doing something you’re supposed to do.
此刻我要说的是，今天节目的话题是关于拖延症，也就是本应该做的事却没有做。
Rob: Well, I do feel bad about my procrastination actually.
我真的对自己的拖延症感到难过。
Alice:
Well, that’s good to hear. But let’s move on now and hear today’s quiz
question: Can you tell me which American said: ‘You may delay, but time
will not?’ Was it…a) John F Kennedy? b) Benjamin Franklin? or c)
Franklin Roosevelt?
很高兴听到你这样说。我们继续谈论这个话题，你来回答今天的问题：你能告诉我哪位美国人说的：“时不我待”这句话吗？a) 约翰·肯尼迪?b) 本杰明·富兰克林还是 c) 富兰克林·罗斯福?
Rob: OK. I think I’ll go for a) John F Kennedy because I reckon he was good at making to-do lists and then getting on with them.
我要选a) 约翰·肯尼迪，因为我认为他非常擅长做计划，然后按计划行事。
Alice: Unlike somebody I could mention.
不像某些人。
Rob: Alice, I thought we were going to move on?
我们可以跳过这个继续说别的吗？
Alice: Alright then.
好吧。
Rob:
Personally, I think it’s important to try and understand why we
procrastinate. So let’s hear from Daphna Oyserman, Professor of
Psychology, Communication and Education at the University of Southern
California, talking about this.
我觉得尝试了解我们拖延的原因是很重要的。我们来听听南加州大学心理学、传媒学及教育学教授Daphna Oyserman的看法。
People
spend most of their time focused on the present, which makes perfect
sense because the present is now, and for sure. Unfortunately, many
things that are quite important about the future require that we start
doing things now rather than waiting for later to happen. Things like
saving for retirement, studying for college entry exams, revising
papers, preparing for work reports. Unfortunately, waiting till later
means that we won’t have much time.
人们大部分时间都关注当下，这很有道理，因为当下是可以确定的。不幸的是，很多关于未来非常重要的事情，要求我们现在就着手做，而不是等到事情发生了再做。例如为退休存钱、为大学入学考试努力学习、修改论文、准备工作报告等。不幸的是，等到以后再做意味着我们就没有那么多时间去完成了。
Alice: So, we are too focused on the present, and reluctant to engage in tasks that relate to the future. Why’s that, Rob?
所以，我们太关注当下，未来发生的事情现在就不愿意做。为什么呢？
Rob:
Well, like Professor Oyserman says, things in the future may never
happen – or seem too far off for you to take seriously. For example,
when you’re young, sorting out a pension plan doesn’t feel like a
priority– or something that’s more important than other things.
就如Oyserman教授所说，未来的事也许永远不会发生，也许你觉得相隔太远不用太在意。例如你还年轻，你会觉得准备养老金这种事肯定没有一些其他的事情的重要。
Alice:
But according to a new study, if you think about time in smaller units –
so days, for example, rather than months or years– you are likely to
start a task more quickly.
但是一项新研究显示，如果你将时间分为更小的单位，例如几天，而不是几个月几年，你就能更快地开始做一项任务。
Rob: So, this weekend I wasted two days…
所以这周末我浪费了两天。
Alice: Or 2, 880 minutes.
或者说2880分钟。
Rob: That does sound more urgent, when you put it like that.
如果这样算，听上去确实更紧急。
Alice: Yes. And you need to minimize – or reduce –distractions. Turn off your tech and knuckle down to your tasks, Rob.
你需要最大限度地减少干扰。关掉你的高科技工具，认真完成任务。
Rob:
To knuckle down, by the way, means to start working hard. But Alice,
sometimes it’s hard to knuckle down to a task when you don’t know how to
start it – or you’re scared to start it – or sometimes just because you
know it’s going to be really tedious – and that means boring.
knuckle down是指开始认真工作。但是爱丽丝，有时你不知道如何开始或害怕开始，或你知道任务很无聊的时候，你很难认真完成任务。
Alice: Yes. So what’s your excuse, Rob?
所以你的借口是什么呢？
Rob: Well, it’s boredom, usually.
太无聊。
Alice: You should try temptation bundling.
你应该尝试诱惑捆绑。
Rob: Temptation bundling - what’s that?
诱惑捆绑是什么？
Alice:
Temptation bundling means doing two activities together– one you should
do but are avoiding, and one you love doing which isn’t productive.
就是同时做两件事，一件是你应该做但不想做的，一件是你喜欢做但用处不大的。
Rob: For example, eating biscuits while I work?
例如，边工作边吃饼干？
Alice: Yes, that’s right. That sounds like a good one for you, Rob.
好吧。这个想法听上去比较适合你。
Rob:
It might be a good idea actually. Well, let’s listen to Dr Catherine
Loveday talking about how we often underestimate how long things will
take us.
也许真的是一个好主意。我们来听凯瑟琳·洛芙迪博士讲述我们如何低估做某件事需要的时间。
There’s this
thing called the planning fallacy. My favourite one is always the
example of the Oxford English Dictionary that they started in 1857 and
it was supposed to take five years, but five years later they’d only got
to the word ‘ant’. In the end it took another 70 years and then it was
out of date and they had to start again anyway. We never seem to get any
better at judging time in the future and how long things will take us.
有一种情况叫做规划谬误。我最喜欢的一个例子是关于牛津英文字典的，1857年人们开始编纂这本字典，预计五年完成，结果五年后，人们只编到了“ant”这个单词。最终人们花费了70年编纂完这本字典，但那时字典里的单词又过时了，他们又不得不重新编纂。我们无法判断未来的时间以及做一件事情需要花费的时间。
Rob: That’s Dr Catherine Loveday. So what’s a fallacy, Alice?
上述是凯瑟琳·洛芙迪博士教授的观点。那什么是谬误呢？
Alice: It’s a mistaken belief or idea.
就是指错误的观点。
Rob:
And for the famous Oxford English Dictionary– their mistake was to
think they would get the work done in five years when it actually took
70!
对于著名的牛津字典来说，错误在于人们以为五年内就能编纂完成，结果花了70年的时间。
Alice:
Gosh! Wow! What a long time! And talking about time – ours is running
out – let’s go back to today’s question. I asked: Which American said,
"You may delay, but time will not?" Was it … a) John F Kennedy, b)
Benjamin Franklin or c) Franklin Roosevelt?
天啊！时间真长！说到时间，我们的节目也快结束了，我们回到今天的问题上。我问：哪位美国人说的“时不我待”这句话？a) 约翰肯·尼迪?b)本杰明·富兰克林还是c) 富兰克林·罗斯福?
Rob: And I very confidently said John F Kennedy.
我非常自信，答案是约翰·肯尼迪。
Alice:
Yes, you did. And you were wrong today Rob, I’m afraid. It was Benjamin
Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Franklin
was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician,
freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman,
and diplomat. I doubt he wasted much waste time procrastinating!
你是挺自信的，但你回答错了，罗伯。答案是美国的开国元勋之一本杰明·富兰克林。富兰克林是杰出的作家、印刷家、政治理论家、政客、共济会会员、邮政局长、科学家、发明家、公民活动家、政治家和外交官。我怀疑他在治理。
Rob: No. OK, without further delay, here are the words we learned today:
肯定不是。好了，不再拖延了，我们今天学到的单词有：
procrastination
拖延症
priority
优先考虑
minimize
最小化
knuckle down
开始认真工作
tedious
无聊的
temptation bundling
诱惑捆绑
fallacy
谬误
Alice: Well, that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English. Please join us again soon!
好了，今天的英语六分钟就到这里了。请记得收听我们下期的节目。
Both: Bye.
再见。
