Unit 5

T1

Leisure inactivities – or how to relax and do nothing

1 Centuries ago people didn't have much free time, because everyone was working too hard. In Britain in the 19th century, people had more time off, but the Victorians thought relaxing and doing nothing was a sin. So to avoid temptation, they invented football, rugby and cricket. People took up more gentle leisure activities like bird-watching, gardening and trainspotting, and it was even possible simply to watch a sport and give the impression that you were actually doing something useful.

2 One instance of this is cricket, which is a peculiar game with weird rules, where nothing happens for five days, at the end of which the players often decide to call it a draw. And everyone, players and spectators, feel perfectly fulfilled by this non-event. It's a good example of what we can now call a leisure inactivity.

3 Gradually over the years, leisure inactivities have involved even less interaction. In the 1990s a new leisure creature evolved, one who thinks that lying on the sofa watching sport or DVDs on the television is the most exciting inactivity they can manage. This is the couch potato.

4 So who wants to be a couch potato? Well, as a matter of fact, many people do, and for understandable reasons. Maybe it's your one day off in the week. Maybe you just got back from work or school. Maybe you're tired and just want to chill. For the couch potato, every activity is too much trouble, and laziness is an art form.

5 How do you become a couch potato? It's easy. Sit down in a comfortable place, such as a reclining chair, a beanbag or … you knew it was coming … a couch. Don't sit on a potato. Make sure you have everything you need, snacks (especially potato chips – no serious couch potato would eat anything else), drinks, magazines and a telly.

6 The most important piece of equipment is of course, the remote control. Without the freedom to change channel without moving from the couch, no couch potato would be worthy of the name. In fact, watching TV without a remote control becomes dangerously like physical exercise, and probably should be avoided.

7 Now just start watching the telly. Change channels every ten seconds, and then move on. Don't be too keen, try not to get too interested in anything, because that risks your status as a couch potato. ( Remember that you have the attention span of a Maris Piper. ) Finally, ask other people to do things for you, like get more food, or rent a movie. But be nice to them! If you aren't nice, you'll probably have to do it yourself.

8 But with every new fashion, there's a reaction. British farmers were recently reported by the BBC to be angry at the use of the expression couch potato, because it was damaging the vegetable's image. Potatoes are inherently healthy, says the British Potato Council, and is organizing protests to demand the removal of couch potato from the Oxford English Dictionary.

9 So there you are! Couch potatoes are healthy.

10 Of course, for the true couch potato, there are inherent risks. Perhaps the greatest of these results from the lack of exercise, and is referred to by professional couch potatoes as telly belly. Some, however, see their telly belly as a mark of their dedication to their leisure inactivity, and wear it proudly over the top of their trousers. ( Interestingly, this is a highly fashionable style known as a muffin top. Find out why next time you're in Starbucks. )

11 But times move on, and in the 21st century we now have a version of the couch potato specially for the online activities on the computer. This is called the mouse potato. A mouse potato spends excessive amounts of time in front of a computer monitor, with the same lack of interest in the outside world as their older cousin, the couch potato. Mouse potatoes are addicted to online gaming with other fellow tubers around the world. In fact, leaving the computer not only seems pointless but also risks a threat by some rival mouse potato in a brighter time zone across the world. For time off, they usually perform extensive Internet searches or participate in online chat rooms, leaving ill-informed and badly spelt opinions around the virtual world, and generally insulting one's intelligence.

12 For the more adventurous mouse potatoes, you can even travel the world and visit countries you might otherwise never see by going to CouchPotatoTravel.com. You can also find out how much time you spend on your computer by logging the distance your mouse travels. These are called mouse miles, and who knows, maybe one day you can exchange them for more potato chips at all good computer stores.

13? So with a minimum of effort you too can have your own leisure inactivity. Become a couch potato! Earn that telly belly! Train hard as a mouse potato, and earn mouse miles. Get started today. There's so much time, and so little to do.

閑暇無為——或如何歇著無所事事

1 數(shù)百年前，人們沒有多少空閑時(shí)間，因?yàn)槿巳硕荚谛量鄤谧?。?9世紀(jì)的英國，人們有了較多閑暇，可是維多利亞時(shí)代的人認(rèn)為歇著無所事事是一種罪過。于是為了避免誘惑，他們發(fā)明了足球、橄欖球和板球。人們開始從事更溫和的休閑活動(dòng)，如觀鳥、園藝、收集火車頭號碼。他們甚至可能只是觀看一項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)，給人一種有事可做的印象。

2 其中一個(gè)例子是板球。這是一種規(guī)則怪異的奇特游戲，如果五天之內(nèi)毫無進(jìn)展，玩家往往就會(huì)決定雙方戰(zhàn)平。而無論是玩家還是觀眾，人人都對這毫無結(jié)果的比賽感到心滿意足。這是個(gè)我們現(xiàn)在可以稱之為閑暇無為的好例子。

3 近年來，閑暇無為中的互動(dòng)逐漸變得更少了。在20世紀(jì)90年代，一個(gè)新的休閑物種進(jìn)化成功，它認(rèn)為躺在沙發(fā)上看電視體育節(jié)目或數(shù)碼影碟是它們能做到的最令人興奮的無為了。這就是沙發(fā)土豆。

4 那么，誰想當(dāng)沙發(fā)土豆呢？好吧，事實(shí)上，許多人都想，理由也是可以理解的。也許今天你休息。也許你剛下班或放學(xué)。也許你累了，只想放松。對沙發(fā)土豆來說，任何活動(dòng)都太麻煩，懶散是一門藝術(shù)。

5 怎樣才能變成沙發(fā)土豆呢？那很容易。在一個(gè)舒適的地方坐下，例如一張?zhí)梢?、一個(gè)豆袋或……你知道接下來就是……一張沙發(fā)?？蓜e坐在土豆上。確保你擁有所需的一切：零食（尤其是土豆片——嚴(yán)肅的沙發(fā)土豆不會(huì)吃別的）、飲料、雜志和電視。

6 最重要的裝備當(dāng)然是遙控器了。沒有無需離開沙發(fā)就能換頻道的自由，沙發(fā)土豆就配不上這個(gè)稱號。事實(shí)上，沒有遙控器看電視有變成近似體育鍛煉的危險(xiǎn)，或許是應(yīng)當(dāng)避免的。

7 現(xiàn)在，就開始看電視吧。每隔十秒鐘換一次頻道，然后繼續(xù)換。別太用心，盡量不要對任何節(jié)目太感興趣，因?yàn)檫@會(huì)威脅到你的沙發(fā)土豆身份。（記住，你的注意力持續(xù)時(shí)間只有瑪麗斯?派鉑馬鈴薯的那么長。）最后，要讓別人幫你做事，如拿更多食物，或租影碟。但是對他們態(tài)度要好！如果你態(tài)度不好，你就很可能得親自動(dòng)手了。

8 但是，對于每種新時(shí)尚，都會(huì)有反對者。英國廣播公司最近報(bào)道，英國農(nóng)民對“沙發(fā)土豆”這一叫法感到憤怒，因?yàn)樗鼣牧送炼沟男蜗?。英國土豆協(xié)會(huì)稱，土豆是天然有益于健康的，他們將要組織抗議活動(dòng)，要求把“沙發(fā)土豆”一詞從《牛津英語詞典》中刪除。

9 你瞧我沒說錯(cuò)吧！沙發(fā)土豆是健康的。

10 當(dāng)然，對于真正的沙發(fā)土豆來說，固有的危險(xiǎn)還是有的。也許最大的危險(xiǎn)來自缺乏鍛煉，其后果便是被專業(yè)沙發(fā)土豆稱為電視肚。然而，有些人則視自己的電視肚為專注閑暇無為的標(biāo)志，驕傲地把它系在褲腰之上。（有趣的是，這是一種極為時(shí)尚的穿法，叫做松糕頂。下次泡星巴克的時(shí)候去弄明白為什么吧。）

11 可是時(shí)間在推移，到了21世紀(jì)，我們現(xiàn)在又有了沙發(fā)土豆的翻版，特指電腦在線活動(dòng)。這叫做鼠標(biāo)土豆。鼠標(biāo)土豆在電腦顯示器前面花費(fèi)太多的時(shí)間，和他們的表兄沙發(fā)土豆一樣缺乏對外界的興趣。鼠標(biāo)土豆癡迷于與世界各地的塊莖同伴玩在線游戲。事實(shí)上，離開電腦不僅毫無意義，而且會(huì)使你受到世界上較亮?xí)r區(qū)的鼠標(biāo)土豆對手的威脅。休息期間，他們通常在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上進(jìn)行廣泛搜索或加入在線聊天室，在虛擬世界到處留下缺乏見識(shí)和拼寫拙劣的意見，一般來說是對人家智力的污辱。

12 對于更具冒險(xiǎn)精神的鼠標(biāo)土豆來說，你甚至可以登錄沙發(fā)土豆旅游網(wǎng)站，去周游世界，造訪列國，如果沒有該網(wǎng)站你可能永遠(yuǎn)也去不了這些地方。通過記錄你的鼠標(biāo)旅行的距離，你還可以算出你在電腦上花了多少時(shí)間。這叫做鼠標(biāo)英里數(shù)，或許將來的某一天，在所有好的電腦商店里你可以拿它換更多的土豆片。

13 就這樣，費(fèi)最小的勁，你也可以擁有自己的閑暇無為。變成一個(gè)沙發(fā)土豆吧！養(yǎng)一個(gè)那樣的電視肚吧！作為鼠標(biāo)土豆刻苦訓(xùn)練，掙鼠標(biāo)英里數(shù)吧。今天就開始吧。時(shí)間那么多，而要做的事情卻那么少。

T2

Painting as a pastime

1 A gifted American psychologist has said, " Worry is a spasm of the emotion; the mind catches hold of something and will not let it go. " It is useless to argue with the mind in this condition. The stronger the will, the more futile the task. One can only gently insinuate something else into its convulsive grasp. And if this something else is rightly chosen, if it is really attended by the illumination of another field of interest, gradually, and often quite swiftly, the old undue grip relaxes and the process of recuperation and repair begins.

2 The cultivation of a hobby and new forms of interest is therefore a policy of first importance to a public man. But this is not a business that can be undertaken in a day or swiftly improvised by a mere command of the will. The growth of alternative mental interests is a long process. The seeds must be carefully chosen; they must fall on good ground; they must be sedulously tended, if the vivifying fruits are to be at hand when needed.

3 To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real. It is no use starting late in life to say: "I will take an interest in this or that." Such an attempt only aggravates the strain of mental effort. A man may acquire great knowledge of topics unconnected with his daily work, and yet hardly get any benefit or relief. It is no use doing what you like; you have got to like what you do. Broadly speaking, human beings may be divided into three classes: those who are toiled to death, those who are worried to death, and those who are bored to death. It is no use offering the manual labourer, tired out with a hard week's sweat and effort, the chance of playing a game of football or baseball on Saturday afternoon. It is no use inviting the politician or the professional or businessman, who has been working or worrying about serious things for six days, to work or worry about trifling things at the weekend.

4 As for the unfortunate people who can command everything they want, who can gratify every caprice and lay their hands on almost every object of desire – for them a new pleasure, a new excitement is only an additional satiation. In vain they rush frantically round from place to place, trying to escape from avenging boredom by mere clatter and motion. For them discipline in one form or another is the most hopeful path.

5 It may be said that rational, industrious, useful human beings are divided into two classes: first, those whose work is work and whose pleasure is pleasure; and secondly, those whose work and pleasure are one. Of these the former are the majority. They have their compensations. The long hours in the office or the factory bring with them as their reward, not only the means of sustenance, but a keen appetite for pleasure even in its simplest and most modest forms. But Fortune's favoured children belong to the second class. Their life is a natural harmony. For them the working hours are never long enough. Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays when they come are grudged as enforced interruptions in an absorbing vocation. Yet to both classes the need of an alternative outlook, of a change of atmosphere, of a diversion of effort, is essential. Indeed, it may well be that those whose work is their pleasure are those who most need the means of banishing it at intervals from their minds.

繪畫消遣

1 一位天才美國心理學(xué)家說過：“煩惱是感情的發(fā)作；此時(shí)大腦纏住了某種東西不肯放手?！痹谶@種情況下，和頭腦爭論（讓它放手）是無用的。愿望越強(qiáng)烈，與之爭論就越是徒勞。你只能溫和地將另一種東西慢慢灌輸?shù)蒋d攣狀態(tài)的頭腦中。如果（這一東西）選得恰當(dāng)，而且它真的從另一領(lǐng)域的情趣中受到啟迪的話，那么逐漸地，往往也是迅速地，原先不適當(dāng)?shù)摹安豢戏攀帧本蜁?huì)慢慢放松，恢復(fù)和補(bǔ)救的過程就會(huì)開始。

2 因此，對于公眾人物而言，培養(yǎng)業(yè)余愛好和新的興趣才是上策。但這并非一日之功，也不是單憑意志力就能做到的事情。精神情趣的培養(yǎng)是一個(gè)長期的過程。要想在需要的時(shí)候可隨手摘取充滿生機(jī)的果實(shí)，種子就必須精挑細(xì)選，必須播種在肥沃的土壤里，還必須辛勤地護(hù)理。

3 要想真正快樂，真正安全，一個(gè)人至少應(yīng)有兩三種業(yè)余愛好，而且必須是實(shí)際可行的。到了晚年才開始說：“我會(huì)培養(yǎng)對這或?qū)δ堑呐d趣”，這是沒有用的。這種愿望只能加劇精神緊張。一個(gè)人可能會(huì)獲得大量與其日常工作無關(guān)的知識(shí)，卻不能從中得到任何益處或?qū)捨?。做你喜歡做的事是沒有用的，你要喜歡你做的事。泛而言之，人可以分為三類：極其勞累的人，極其操心的人，極其無聊的人。對于賣了一周力氣、流了一周汗水的體力勞動(dòng)者來說，讓他們在星期六下午踢足球或打棒球是不合適的。同樣，對于工作了六天、一直為公務(wù)操心的政界人士、專業(yè)人員或商人來說，在周末再讓他們?yōu)殡u毛蒜皮的瑣事而操心勞累也是無益的。

4 那些能夠支配一切、能夠肆意妄為、能夠染指一切追求目標(biāo)的人是“不幸的”。對于他們而言，多一種新的樂趣、多一種新的刺激只是增加一分厭膩而已。他們到處狂奔亂跑，企圖靠喧鬧和騷動(dòng)來擺脫無聊對他們的報(bào)復(fù)，但這么做是徒勞的。對他們來說，某種形式的紀(jì)律約束是最有希望讓他們走出困境、走上正道的。

5 可以這樣說，理智的、勤勞的、有用的人可以分為兩類：第一類人認(rèn)為工作是工作，娛樂是娛樂；第二類人認(rèn)為工作和娛樂是一回事。這兩類人當(dāng)中，第一類人占大多數(shù)。他們是能夠得到補(bǔ)償?shù)?。在辦公室或工廠里長時(shí)間工作給他們帶來了報(bào)酬，這不僅是謀生的手段，也使他們對尋找快樂充滿了渴望，哪怕是最簡單、最質(zhì)樸的快樂。但是，幸運(yùn)之神偏愛的是第二類人。他們的生活是一種自然的和諧。對他們來說，工作時(shí)間永遠(yuǎn)都不夠長，每一天都是假日，而當(dāng)普通節(jié)日來到時(shí)，他們會(huì)感到厭惡，因?yàn)檫@強(qiáng)行打斷了他們埋頭從事的工作。然而對這兩種人來說，換換腦子，改變一下氣氛，轉(zhuǎn)移一下注意力都是不可缺少的。其實(shí)，把工作當(dāng)作樂趣的人，很可能是最需要每隔一段時(shí)間就把工作放下，讓頭腦放松的人。

T3

A love of words

1 About 15 years ago, readers of The Independent, a daily national newspaper, were asked by its travel correspondent what they missed when they were away from home, and what they looked forward to when they returned. Apart from "family", "friends" and "favourite foods", many people mentioned "the Sunday newspapers" and "the crossword puzzle".

2 It's certainly true that among their many hobbies, the English enjoy words, above all reading them and playing with them. Reading books is one of the most popular leisure activities, with approximately 100,000 books a year published. Over 80 per cent of the population regularly read a daily newspaper, and there are more newspapers per person than any other country except Japan. The weekend newspapers generally contain hundreds of pages, and even the most popular hobbies – fishing, stamp collecting, train-spotting, bird-watching, walking, sports, pets, flower-arranging, knitting, and pigeon-fancying – have at least one, if not several specialist magazines, devoted to them. In fact, many people probably spend more time reading about their hobbies than actually doing them.

3 It's also undoubtedly true that word games, puzzles and competitions are hugely popular, in newspapers, on the radio and even on television. One of the most popular television games in the 1980s and 1990s was "Call My Bluff", where two teams of players had to guess which of three meanings of an unfamiliar word was correct. In many cases newspapers have a word games section, such as a "Words within Words" competition where the aim is to make as many words as possible with the letters of a single word. Above all, crossword puzzles are the most familiar word game, with clues ranging from words which have the same meaning as other words, to the "cryptic" crossword, where the clue expresses the word in a very indirect way, and uses a variety of linguistic and cultural references. Apparently, some people choose their newspaper not because of the quality of the news coverage but because of the crossword puzzle.

4 You may think that you would need an excellent command of the English language to enjoy playing with words as much as the English do. But many of the word games are very simple and good fun, and in fact, the only skill you must have is to speak and listen or read and write a little.

熱愛文字

1 大約 15 年前，《獨(dú)立報(bào)》（一份全國性日報(bào)）的讀者被該報(bào)旅游記者問及，當(dāng)離家外出的時(shí)候，他們想念什么；當(dāng)回家的時(shí)候，他們期望什么。除了“家人”、“朋友”和“最愛吃的食物”之外，許多人都提到了“周日版報(bào)紙”和“填字游戲”。

2 這確實(shí)是真的：在許多愛好中，英國人最喜歡文字，尤其喜愛閱讀文字、玩文字游戲。讀書是最流行的休閑活動(dòng)之一 ；每年大約有十萬種圖書出版。80% 以上的人經(jīng)常讀一份日報(bào)；人均擁有報(bào)紙數(shù)量僅次于日本。周末版報(bào)紙一般厚達(dá)數(shù)百頁；甚至最流行的業(yè)余愛好——釣魚、集郵、收集火車頭號碼、觀鳥、散步、運(yùn)動(dòng)、寵物、插花、編織和養(yǎng)鴿——都擁有至少一種甚至數(shù)種專業(yè)雜志。事實(shí)上，許多人很可能花更多時(shí)間“閱讀”愛好，而不是“踐行”愛好。

3 報(bào)紙上、廣播上，甚至電視上的文字游戲、字謎和相關(guān)的比賽非常受人歡迎，這也無疑是真的。20 世紀(jì)八九十年代間最流行的電視游戲之一是“跟我叫陣”，其中兩隊(duì)參賽選手要猜出一個(gè)生僻詞的三種備選意思哪個(gè)是正確的。大多數(shù)報(bào)紙都有一個(gè)文字游戲?qū)?，例如“詞中詞”競賽，其目的是用一個(gè)詞的字母拼寫出盡量多的詞來。其中人們最熟悉的文字游戲是填字游戲，其提示詞從同義詞到“隱秘的”交叉詞，多種多樣，后者是用各種語言和文化知識(shí)以非常間接的方式提示的。顯然，有些人選擇報(bào)紙不是為了看其高質(zhì)量的新聞報(bào)道，而是為了其填字游戲。

4 你可能以為，你需要精通英語才能像英國人一樣玩文字游戲。但是，許多文字游戲都非常簡單而且好玩；事實(shí)上，你所需的唯一技巧只是擁有一點(diǎn)聽說或讀寫能力。