你覺得自己懶嗎？如果答案是肯定的，那你是否該為此擔憂？人們對于 “懶” 的看法可謂見仁見智，專家們對此更是各持己見。有人認為，如果生活可以更輕松省力，那何樂而不為？有人則認為懶人辦事效率低下，而且對周遭的事物漠不關(guān)心。聽 “隨身英語” 節(jié)目就這一話題展開討論，看看你同意哪種觀點。

詞匯：laziness?懶惰

Would you call yourself lazy? If you live in a messy house and are reluctant to?lift a finger?to help out, maybe you are. But laziness is a subjective thing –?sloppiness?to one person might be a form of?relaxation?to another. And if you can be bothered to read on, you'll see that opinion is divided on whether?laziness?is a bad thing.

你會說自己懶惰嗎?如果你住在一個凌亂的房子里，卻不愿意伸出一根手指去幫忙，也許你就是這樣。但懶惰是一件主觀的事情——對一個人來說馬虎可能是另一個人的一種放松。如果你能不厭其煩地繼續(xù)讀下去，你就會發(fā)現(xiàn)人們對懶惰是否是壞事的看法存在分歧。

Generally speaking, we tend to look on our laziness as a negative thing.?Inertia,?slothfulness,?idleness?and?apathy?are used as criticisms and insults against individuals and groups of people. We think of lazy people as?unproductive?or that they don't really care about things. And when we find ourselves doing nothing, we feel guilty about it. Could this be because we are not instinctively lazy creatures? And is that why we often do things we don't need to do and which are sometimes painful – like running a marathon? Writing for BBC Future, Claudia Hammond explains that "enforced and extended rest, unless we are ill and our bodies demand it, leads not to feelings of being relaxed but of?restlessness?and?irritability."

一般來說，我們傾向于把我們的懶惰看作是一件消極的事情。惰性、懶惰、懶惰和冷漠被用作對個人和群體的批評和侮辱。我們認為懶惰的人沒有生產(chǎn)力，或者他們并不真正關(guān)心事情。當我們發(fā)現(xiàn)自己什么都不做時，我們會感到內(nèi)疚。這是因為我們不是天生懶惰的生物嗎?這就是為什么我們經(jīng)常做一些我們不需要做的事情，有時是痛苦的事情——比如跑馬拉松?克勞迪婭?哈蒙德(Claudia Hammond)在為BBC Future撰寫的文章中解釋說，“強迫和延長的休息，除非我們生病了，我們的身體需要它，導(dǎo)致的不是放松的感覺，而是不安和易怒?！?/span>

Others may suggest we are naturally lazy, and that we can't help?taking it easy, though it's hard to believe because we're constantly told to do more. But?kicking back?and living?life in the slow lane?could be better for our health. A study by psychologist Dr Robert Levine in 1999, for example, concluded that people living in cities with a fast pace of life had the highest rates of?coronary heart disease.

其他人可能會認為我們天生懶惰，我們無法控制自己放松下來，盡管很難相信，因為我們經(jīng)常被告知要做更多的事情。但是放松一下，過慢節(jié)奏的生活對我們的健康更有好處。例如，心理學(xué)家羅伯特·萊文博士在1999年的一項研究得出結(jié)論，生活在快節(jié)奏城市的人患冠心病的幾率最高。

Laziness has also been shown to be good for our mental health, so having a?nap?or some?downtime?shouldn't be frowned upon. And there are other possible benefits too. Dr Masud Husain, Professor of Neurology at the University of Oxford, told the BBC: "We found that people who have tended to be more?apathetic?might in some ways be more creative, so that although they might be a?couch potato, they might be coming up with one great idea that might be very interesting and useful." So, in our?frenetic?lives, maybe we should?chill out, get into?goblin mode?and contemplate the benefits laziness can bring.

懶惰也被證明對我們的心理健康有好處，所以午睡或休息一段時間不應(yīng)該被反對。還有其他可能的好處。牛津大學(xué)神經(jīng)學(xué)教授馬蘇德·侯賽因博士告訴BBC:“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，那些往往更冷漠的人在某些方面可能更有創(chuàng)造力，所以盡管他們可能是一個電視迷，但他們可能會想出一個非常有趣和有用的好主意?！?/span>所以，在我們瘋狂的生活中，也許我們應(yīng)該冷靜下來，進入妖精模式，思考懶惰可以帶來的好處。

詞匯表

lift a finger 幫忙，盡舉手之勞
sloppiness 懶散
relaxation 消遣，放松
laziness 懶惰
inertia 惰性
slothfulness 懶散，懈怠
idleness 懶散，無所事事
apathy 漠不關(guān)心，懈怠
unproductive 效率低的，徒勞的
restlessness 焦躁不安
irritability 煩躁，易怒
take it easy 放松，休息
kick back 放松
life in the slow lane 慢半拍的生活
coronary heart disease 冠心病
nap 小睡，打盹
downtime 休養(yǎng)期
apathetic 懈怠的，（對重要事情）無動于衷的
couch potato “沙發(fā)土豆”，總看電視的人，懶惰的人
frenetic 極為忙碌的，瘋狂的
chill out 放松一下
goblin mode “躺平模式”，心安理得地好吃懶做的行為和生活態(tài)度

測驗與練習

1.?閱讀課文并回答問題。

1. According to one idea, why do we do things we don't need to do?

2. True or false??According to Claudia Hammond, doing nothing for a period of time makes us feel relaxed.

3. According to some experts, how can being lazy help us?

4. According to a study by psychologist Dr Robert Levine, where did people with the highest rates of coronary heart disease live?

5. What kind of idea might a couch potato come up with?

2.?選擇意思恰當?shù)膯卧~或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. My brother is so lazy, he never _______.

relaxation? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?relaxing? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?lifts a finger? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?lifts his finger

2. I can't wait for my holiday when I can _______ on the beach.

couch potato? ? ? ? ? ? ? downtime? ? ? ? ? ? ?kick back? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? restlessness

3. Sorry for being late. It's been quite _______ at work today.

apathetic? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? frenetic? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?unproductive? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?idleness

4. There's so much on TV to watch these days, I've become a _______.

goblin mode? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?irritability? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?chill out? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?couch potato

5. Since I retired, I've been taking _______.

life in the fast lane? ? ? a slow lane life? ? ?life in the slow lane? ? ?live in the slow lane

答案

1.?閱讀課文并回答問題。?

1. According to one idea, why do we do things we don't need to do?
We often do things that we don't need to do and which are sometimes painful because we are not instinctively lazy creatures.

2. True or false??According to Claudia Hammond, doing nothing for a period of time makes us feel relaxed.
False. Claudia Hammond explains that "enforced and extended rest, unless we are ill and our bodies demand it, leads not to feelings of being relaxed but of restlessness and irritability."

3. According to some experts, how can being lazy help us?
Being lazy might help our mental health, and, according to Dr Masud Husain, could make us more creative.

4. According to a study by psychologist Dr Robert Levine, where did people with the highest rates of coronary heart disease live?
The study found those living in cities with a fast pace of life had the highest rates of coronary heart disease.

5. What kind of idea might a couch potato come up with?
A couch potato might come up with one great idea that might be very interesting and useful.

2.?選擇意思恰當?shù)膯卧~或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. My brother is so lazy, he never?lifts a finger.

2. I can't wait for my holiday when I can?kick back?on the beach.

3. Sorry for being late. It's been quite?frenetic?at work today.

4. There's so much on TV to watch these days, I've become a?couch potato.

5. Since I retired, I've been taking?life in the slow lane.

文章來源BBC，侵權(quán)刪。