“专八 写不完”

听说，今天考「专八」了。

听不懂，写不完？有网友说，人在前面写，狗在后面追。还有说，本以为会是煎熬的两小时，没想到是人生中过得最快的两小时。

借（cèng）此（gè）机（rè）会（diǎn），我们就来看看为啥有时候我们会觉得时间过得很慢，有时又过得飞快呢。

🤔️小作业：

A) Helps us sense time accurately.

B) Provides us with a sense of self.

C) Processes external stimuli.

D) Enables multitasking.

A) Time moving more quickly than expected.

B) Time standing still.

C) Time moving slowly and continuously.

D) Time feeling fuzzy and uncertain.

A) Mindfulness. B) Multitasking.

C) Autopilot. D) Impulsiveness.

无注释原文：

Why does time fly ... or not? It's all in your mind

From: ABC Science

29 Aug 2017

How many times have you felt the time fly on a busy day or felt it drag when you least wanted it to? Why does time seem to go faster or slower depending on what else is going on?

Most of us will be familiar with the experience of time passing excruciatingly slowly when we're waiting for something to happen.

Studies have shown this is especially the case when we are looking forward to something, said cognitive neuroscientist Muireann Irish from the University of Sydney.

Think about a child who repeatedly asks, "Are we there yet?" or, "How long before I can open my Christmas presents?"

"If we're waiting for something to happen … time can dilate and actually feel it has been a lot longer in duration," Dr Irish said.

And time can appear to drag even more slowly if you're the impulsive type, who gets restless or even angry when you don't get what you want immediately.

In a study by German psychologist Marc Wittmann, people forced to sit in a room without doing anything for seven-and-a-half minutes felt the time passed differently, depending on who they were. Some said the duration was just two-and-a-half minutes, while for the most impulsive it felt like 20.

So it's not just external factors, but who we are that influences our perception of time. But how does that work?

Fast v slow: How does our brain sense time?

There's no real consensus on where and how in the brain time is processed, said Dr Wittman, who is from the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health in Freiburg.

But, he said evidence suggest our brain's motor regions are important at timescales relevant to activities like talking, playing music, driving or playing sport — a matter of a few seconds at most.

When it comes to durations longer than five seconds, Dr Wittmann's experiments indicate our judgments are not that accurate.

At this "fuzzy" level of sensing time, a different part of the brain is involved.

In another set of experiments carried out by Dr Wittman, people in an fMRI scanner were asked to judge the duration of intervals lasting up to 18 seconds.

He found more accurate judgements of duration were made by those who had more activity in a part of the brain called the insular cortex.

This is responsible for integrating signals from all over the body, and enables us to "sense our self" — and the passing of time, Dr Wittmann said.

"Through the feeling of our body over time we sense duration," he said.

When we're not doing anything, we're less distracted and are more sensitive to how we feel and to the passing of time.

"In boredom, because we are overly sensing our own bodily feelings, time expands a lot."

While time sometimes can drag — it can also fly, and when you least want it to. Like when you're having fun.

This is because we only have a finite amount of attention to give the world, Dr Irish said.

So, if we are focusing on something fun then we pay less attention to the passing of time, and it appears to move more quickly. The same applies when you're busy.

"If we are multitasking and we are extremely busy, then we can have this time contraction affect where the day seems to go by extremely quickly and we can't figure out where all those hours went," Dr Irish said.

Sometimes running on "autopilot" can make time seem to speed up so much we get stressed, Dr Wittmann said.

He said mindfulness was one way to cope with this.

"Leave the room, go out of the office building, even if it is just five minutes … you then feel yourself again … and suddenly time passes very slowly again."

- ◆ -

注：中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Why does time fly ... or not? It's all in your mind

From: ABC Science

29 Aug 2017

How many times have you felt the time fly on a busy day or felt it drag when you least wanted it to? Why does time seem to go faster or slower depending on what else is going on?

有多少次你在忙碌的日子里觉得时间过得飞快，或者在你希望时间过快点的时候却觉得时间过得很慢？为什么时间似乎会根据其他事情的发生而变得更快或更慢？

表示“ (时间或事件) 拖沓；过得很慢；拖沓地进”，英文解释为“If a period of time or an event drags, it is very boring and seems to last a long time.”举个🌰：The minutes dragged past. 时间一分一分地过去了。

Most of us will be familiar with the experience of time passing excruciatingly slowly when we're waiting for something to happen.

我们大多数人都熟悉这样的经历：当我们等待某件事发生时，时间过得极其缓慢。

excruciatingly /ɪkˈskruːʃieɪtɪŋli/ 表示“极其痛苦地；难以忍受地”，英文解释为“in a way that is extreme and difficult to bear”。

Studies have shown this is especially the case when we are looking forward to something, said cognitive neuroscientist Muireann Irish from the University of Sydney.

悉尼大学认知神经科学家穆雷安·艾里什（Muireann Irish）说，研究表明，当我们期待某事时，这种情况尤其明显。

表示“认知的；感知的；认识的”，英文解释为“Cognitive means relating to the mental process involved in knowing, learning, and understanding things.”举个🌰：As children grow older, their cognitive processes become sharper. 随着孩子们长大，他们的认知过程也变得越来越敏锐了。

neuroscientist /ˌnjʊə.rəʊˈsaɪən.tɪst/ 表示“神经科学家”，英文解释为“a scientist who studies the nervous system and the brain”举个🌰：Neuroscientists are able to record the firing of a single nerve cell. 神经科学家能够记录单个神经元发出的信号。

Think about a child who repeatedly asks, "Are we there yet?" or, "How long before I can open my Christmas presents?"

想象一下孩子反复地问：“我们到了吗？”或者“我还要等多久才能打开我的圣诞礼物？”

"If we're waiting for something to happen … time can dilate and actually feel it has been a lot longer in duration," Dr Irish said.

艾里什博士说：“如果我们在等待某件事发生……时间就会变长，实际上会觉得过去了很长时间。”

dilate /daɪˈleɪt/ 表示“（使身体的一部分）扩大，扩张，展开”，英文解释为“to (cause a part of the body to) become wider or further open”举个🌰：The pupils of the eyes dilate as darkness increases. 光线变暗时瞳孔就会放大。

And time can appear to drag even more slowly if you're the impulsive type, who gets restless or even angry when you don't get what you want immediately.

如果你是冲动型的人，当你没有立即得到你想要的东西时，你会焦躁不安，甚至生气，那么时间就会显得更慢。

impulsive /ɪmˈpʌl.sɪv/ 表示“冲动的”，英文解释为“showing behaviour in which you do things suddenly without any planning and without considering the effects they may have”举个🌰：Don't be so impulsive - think before you act. 不要如此冲动——要三思而后行。

restless /ˈrest.ləs/ 表示“呆不住的；坐立不安的，焦躁的”，英文解释为“unwilling or unable to stay still or to be quiet and calm, because you are worried or bored”举个🌰：He's a restless type - he never stays in one country for long. 他是那种呆不住的人——他从来不在一个国家呆太长的时间。

In a study by German psychologist Marc Wittmann, people forced to sit in a room without doing anything for seven-and-a-half minutes felt the time passed differently, depending on who they were. Some said the duration was just two-and-a-half minutes, while for the most impulsive it felt like 20.

德国心理学家马克·维特曼（Marc Wittmann）的一项研究中，强迫人们坐在房间里什么也不做七分半钟，人们对时间的感知各不相同。有些人说时间只过去了两分半钟，而属于最冲动型的人感觉过去了20分钟。

So it's not just external factors, but who we are that influences our perception of time. But how does that work?

所以不仅仅是外部因素，还有我们是什么样的人影响了我们对时间的感知。但这是怎么做到的呢?

external /ɪkˈstɜː.nəl/ 表示“外面的；外表的；来自外部的”，英文解释为“of, on, for, or coming from the outside”如：the external walls of the house 房屋的外墙。

1）表示“认识，观念，看法”，英文解释为“a belief or opinion, often held by many people and based on how things seem”举个🌰：These photographs will affect people's perceptions of war. 这些照片会影响人们对战争的看法。

2）表示“知觉；感知”，英文解释为“the way you notice things, especially with the senses”如：visual perception 视觉；

🎬电影《失落的大陆》（Land of the Lost）中的台词提到：he has terrible depth perception 他的深度感知力很差。

Fast v slow: How does our brain sense time?

快和慢：我们的大脑是如何感知时间的?

There's no real consensus on where and how in the brain time is processed, said Dr Wittman, who is from the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health in Freiburg.

弗莱堡心理学和精神健康前沿领域研究所的惠特曼博士（Dr Wittman）说，关于大脑中时间是在哪里以及如何处理的，目前还没有真正的共识。

consensus /kənˈsen.səs/ 表示“一致的意见；共识”，英文解释为“a generally accepted opinion or decision among a group of people”举个🌰：The general consensus in the office is that he can't do his job. 办公室成员一致认为他无法胜任工作。

But, he said evidence suggest our brain's motor regions are important at timescales relevant to activities like talking, playing music, driving or playing sport — a matter of a few seconds at most.

但他表示，证据表明，我们大脑的运动区域在像说话、演奏音乐、开车或运动等时间尺度较短的活动中非常重要，这些活动的时间尺度最多只有几秒钟。[ChatGPT解释称：换句话说，这些活动需要我们的大脑快速地做出反应和调整身体姿势和动作。]

timescale /ˈtaɪm.skeɪl/ 表示“（某事发生的）一段时间，起止时间；时段”，英文解释为“the period of time over which something happens”举个🌰：Police officers are trying to construct the timescale of events leading up to the murder. 警方正在努力把谋杀前发生的事件按时间顺序排列出来。

When it comes to durations longer than five seconds, Dr Wittmann's experiments indicate our judgments are not that accurate.

惠特曼博士的实验表明，当持续时间超过五秒时，我们的判断并不那么准确。

At this "fuzzy" level of sensing time, a different part of the brain is involved.

在这种“模糊”程度的时间感知中，另一个大脑部位参与其中。

fuzzy /ˈfʌz.i/ 表示“（图像）模糊不清的；（声音）杂乱的，有干扰的”，英文解释为“(of an image) having shapes that do not have clear edges, or (of a sound, especially from a television, radio, etc.) not clear, usually because of other unwanted noises making it difficult to hear”举个🌰：Is the picture always fuzzy on your TV? 你的电视一直这么不清楚吗？

In another set of experiments carried out by Dr Wittman, people in an fMRI scanner were asked to judge the duration of intervals lasting up to 18 seconds.

惠特曼博士进行的另一组实验中，要求人们在功能性磁共振成像扫描仪中判断间隔的持续时间，最长达18秒。

He found more accurate judgements of duration were made by those who had more activity in a part of the brain called the insular cortex.

他发现，大脑中被称为岛叶皮层（insular cortex）的部位更活跃的人对持续时间的判断更准确。

insular /ˈɪn.sjə.lər/ 表示“思想狭隘的；保守的”，英文解释为“interested only in your own country or group and not willing to accept different or foreign ideas”

cortex /ˈkɔː.teks/ 表示“（尤指大脑或其他器官的）皮层，皮质”，英文解释为“the outer layer, especially of the brain and other organs”如：the cerebral cortex 大脑皮层。

This is responsible for integrating signals from all over the body, and enables us to "sense our self" — and the passing of time, Dr Wittmann said.

惠特曼博士说，这个部位负责整合来自全身各个部分的信号，并使我们能够“感知自己”——以及时间的流逝。

integrate /ˈɪn.tɪ.ɡreɪt/ 1）表示“使合并，使成为一体”，英文解释为“to combine two or more things in order to become more effective”举个🌰：You need to integrate exercise into your normal life. 你必须让锻炼成为你日常生活的一部分。

2）表示“（使）融入（某社会或群体）；（使）成为一体”，英文解释为“to mix with and join society or a group of people, often changing to suit their way of life, habits, and customs”举个🌰：He seems to find it difficult to integrate socially. 他似乎觉得很难与别人打成一片。

"Through the feeling of our body over time we sense duration," he said.

“随着时间的推移，我们通过身体感受，来感知持续时间，”他说。

When we're not doing anything, we're less distracted and are more sensitive to how we feel and to the passing of time.

当我们什么都不做时，我们不那么分心，对自己的感受和时间的流逝更敏感。

"In boredom, because we are overly sensing our own bodily feelings, time expands a lot."

“无聊时，因为我们过度感知自己的身体感受，会觉得时间延长了许多。”

expand表示“（使）（尺寸、数量或重要性）扩大，增加；（使）膨胀”，英文解释为“to increase in size, number, or importance, or to make something increase in this way”举个🌰：The air in the balloon expands when heated. 气球里的空气加热后膨胀。

类似含义：📍extend表示“扩大；扩展；使增加长度”，英文解释为“to add to something in order to make it bigger or longer”举个🌰：We have plans to extend our house (= to make it bigger). 我们计划扩建房屋。

While time sometimes can drag — it can also fly, and when you least want it to. Like when you're having fun.

虽然时间有时会过得很慢，但它也可能飞快地流逝，尤其是当你正在玩乐的时候。

This is because we only have a finite amount of attention to give the world, Dr Irish said.

艾里什博士说，这是因为我们能给予这个世界的注意力是有限的。

finite /ˈfaɪnaɪt/ 表示“有限的；有限制的；有尽的”，英文解释为“having a limit or end”举个🌰：We only have a finite amount of time to complete this task - we can't continue indefinitely. 我们完成这项任务的时间是有限的，不能无限期地做下去。

📍反义词：infinite

So, if we are focusing on something fun then we pay less attention to the passing of time, and it appears to move more quickly. The same applies when you're busy.

因此，如果我们专注于一些有趣的事情，那么我们就不太关注时间的流逝，时间看起来会过得更快。当你忙碌时也是一样。

"If we are multitasking and we are extremely busy, then we can have this time contraction affect where the day seems to go by extremely quickly and we can't figure out where all those hours went," Dr Irish said.

艾里什博士说：“如果我们同时处理多项任务，并且非常忙，那么我们可能会出现时间收缩效应，一天似乎过得非常快，我们无法想象这些时间都去了哪里。”

multitask /ˌmʌl.tiˈtɑːsk/ 表示“同时做多件事”，英文解释为“to do more than one thing at a time”举个🌰：There's a stereotype that women tend to multitask better than men do. 有一种刻板印象，即女性往往比男性更善于同时处理多项任务。

contraction /kənˈtræk.ʃən/ 表示“收缩；缩小；缩短”，英文解释为“the fact of something becoming smaller or shorter”举个🌰：Cold causes contraction of the metal. 金属遇冷收缩。

Sometimes running on "autopilot" can make time seem to speed up so much we get stressed, Dr Wittmann said.

惠特曼博士说，有时候如果我们处于自动驾驶状态（像机器一样生活），会使时间看起来飞快，这可能让我们感到压力。

He said mindfulness was one way to cope with this.

他说，正念是应对这种情况的一种方法。

表示“正念认知”，英文解释为“the practice of being aware of your body, mind, and feelings in the present moment, thought to create a feeling of calm”。

"Leave the room, go out of the office building, even if it is just five minutes … you then feel yourself again … and suddenly time passes very slowly again."

“离开房间，走出办公楼，哪怕只有五分钟……然后你又找回了自我……突然间，时间慢了下来。”

- 今日要点 -

- 词汇盘点 -

- 词汇助记 By ChatGPT -