2018 Text 4（英语二）深度工作

Text 4

To combat the trap of putting a premium on being busy, Cal Newport, author of Deep work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted world, recommends building a habit of "deep work" —the ability to focus without distraction.

为了不让大家陷入以忙碌为荣的陷阱之中，《深度工作：在纷扰的世界中成功保持专注的原则》的作者卡尔·纽波特建议大家培养“深度工作”的习惯，即培养不受外界干扰、专注的能力。

There are a number of approaches to mastering the art of deep work — be it lengthy retreats dedicated to a specific task; developing a daily ritual; or taking a "journalistic" approach to seizing moments of deep work when you can throughout the day.

掌握深度工作这门艺术的方法很多，比如推掉其他工作，专门花很长一段时间完成特定的任务；每天规定一段时间让自己专注；或者采取 “新闻工作者” 的方法，利用好每天中每一段能够深度工作的时间。

Whichever approach, the key is to determine your length of focus time and stick to it.

不论采取哪种方式，关键是要定好保持专注的时长，并且坚持下去。

Newport also recommends "deepscheduling" to combat constant interruptions and get more done in less time.

纽波特同时也建议大家通过 “深度规划” 来避免受到频繁干扰，这样就能事半功倍。

"At any given point, I should have deep work scheduled for roughly the next month. Once on the calendar, I protect this time like I would a doctor's appointment or important meeting," he writes.

“任何时刻，我都应该将此后大概一个月中的深度工作都规划好。一旦我把某件事写进了日程表，就一定用这段时间做这件事，就像我会按照预约时间去看医生或者参加重要会议一样”，他在书中写道。

Another approach to getting more done in less time is to rethink how you prioritize your day — in particular how we craft our to-do lists.

想要事半功倍，还有一个方法，重新考虑一天之中的事情孰轻孰重，特别是该如何精巧地安排我们的待办事项清单。

Tim Harford, author of Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives, points to a study in the early 1980s that divided undergraduates into two groups: some were advised to set out monthly goals and study activities; others were told to plan activities and goals in much more detail, day by day.

《混乱：无序改变生活》的作者蒂姆·哈福德提到了20世纪80年代早期的一项研究，当时研究者将这些大学生分成了两组：给其中一组的建议是给自己设定月目标和学习活动；给另一组的建议是按天制定更详细的学习活动和目标。

While the researchers assumed that the well-structured daily plans would be most effective when it came to the execution of tasks, they were wrong: the detailed daily plans demotivated students.

研究者以为在执行计划的时候，肯定是安排得当的每日计划最有效，但是他们错了；详细的每日计划让学生失去了动力。

Harford argues that inevitable distractions often render the daily to-do list ineffective, while leaving room for improvisation in such a list can reap the best results.

哈福德认为，干扰防不胜防，会让每日代办清单失效，而在清单中留出即兴发挥的空间则能收到最佳效果。

In order to make the most of our focus and energy, we also need to embrace downtime, or as Newport suggests, "be lazy".

为了能充分利用好注意力和精力，我们也该给自己留出休息时间，正如纽波特所说的：“偷个懒。”

"Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to be brain as Vitamin D is to the body. . . idleness [is], paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done," he argues.

他认为：“偷懒不只是放假、放纵或恶习；它之于大脑，就像维生素D之于身体那样不可或缺……听上去很矛盾，但偷懒是完成工作所必不可少的。”

Srini Pillay, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, believes this counter-intuitive link between downtime and productivity may be due to the way our brains operate.

哈佛医学院精神病学助教斯里尼皮莱认为，休息和生产力之间这种与我们直觉相悖的联系，大概与我们大脑运作的方式相关。

When our brains switch between being focused and unfocused on a task, they tend to be more efficient.

面对一项任务时，大脑会在专注和分心两种状态之间转换，这样大脑就会更加高效。

"What people don't realize is that in order to complete these tasks they need to use both the focus and unfocus circuits in their brain," says Pillay.

皮莱说：“人们没有意识到，为了完成任务，就需要把大脑中管集中和管分心的这两条线路都动用起来。”

36. The key to mastering the art of deep work is to

A. keep to your focus time.

确保专注的时间

B. list your immediate tasks.

列出紧急任务

C. make specific daily plans.

制定具体的每日计划

D. seize every minute to work.

分秒必争地工作

37. The study in the early 1980s cited by Harford shows that

A. distractions may actually increase efficiency.

干扰实际上可能提高效率

B. daily schedules are indispensable to studying.

每日的规划对于学生来说必不可少

C. students are hardly motivated by monthly goals.

月度目标几乎无法激励学生

D. detailed plans may not be as fruitful as expected.

详细的计划可能达不到预期的效果

38. According to Newport, idleness is

A. a desirable mental state for busy people.

忙碌的人希望达到的一种精神状态

B. a major contributor to physical health.

身体健康的一大重要因素

C. an effective way to save time and energy.

一种省时省力的有效方法

D. an essential factor in accomplishing any work.

完成任何工作时必不可少的一个因素 eu dic 

39. Pillay believes that our brains' shift between being focused and unfocused

A. can result in psychological well-being.

会带来心理上的幸福感 eu dic 

B. can bring about greater efficiency.

能够提高效率

C. is aimed at better balance in work.

目的是为了在工作中寻求更好的平衡

D. is driven by task urgency.

由任务的紧迫程度导致

40. This text is mainly about

A. ways to relieve the tension of busy life.

缓解忙碌生活的紧张情绪的方法

B. approaches to getting more done in less time.

提高工作效率的方法

C. the key to eliminating distractions.

消除干扰因素的关键

D. the cause of the lack of focus time.

缺乏专注时间的原因