By 謝忠理 on Thursday, 16 February 2023
Category: 托福口說

BBC 6 分鐘英語—Why do we procrastinate? 為什麼我們會拖拖拉拉?

不少人做事會習慣性的拖延,一直要等到截止期限來到,才匆忙開始動手,而不願意安排好時間好整以暇地按部就班完成必要的工作。這是病態,還是人類與生俱來的基因結構所導致?一起來聽聽 BBC 6 分鐘英語對這個話題的討論。

Why do we procrastinate? 為什麼我們會拖拖拉拉?

BBC 6 分鐘英語在 2023 年 02 月 16 日播出的節目 中討論的是做事拖延的問題。

人們在日常生活中為什麼會有拖延症狀?BBC 6 分鐘英語的主持人尼爾和薩姆討論將討論這個問題,同時並聽取一位喜歡把工作留到最後一刻的喜劇演員的意見。同時和往常一樣,節目主持人也教導聽眾一些相關詞彙與表達方式。

本周的問題

根據芝加哥德保羅大學最近的研究,有多大比例的人拖延時間,以至於影響了他們的日常生活?
a) 10%
b) 20%
c) 30%

詞彙

procrastination 拖延症
將必須要做的事情推遲到以後再做,往往是因為這些事情很無聊、很困難或不愉快

without a shadow of a doubt 毋庸置疑
用來強調你對某件事情完全有把握

under pressure 在壓力下
因為有太多的事情要做而感到壓力或焦慮

impulsive 衝動
突然間本能地行動,沒有考慮到行動的後果

gratification 滿足感
快樂和滿足的感覺

oodles of (something) 洋洋灑灑
非常多的令人愉快的東西

中英文稿謄本

BBC 6 minute English – Why do we procrastinate?

點此看英文原稿

Sam
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Sam.

Neil
And I’m Neil.

Sam
Come on, Neil, let’s make a start! I’ve got a deadline to meet today, and I haven’t finished my work yet!

Neil
Let me guess, it’s because you delayed, and delayed, and put your work off until the last minute - as usual! You’re a real procrastinator, Sam – someone who keeps delaying things that need to be done.

Sam
What can I say? I work better when a deadline is approaching.

Neil
I see, but did you know that that people who procrastinate have higher levels of stress and lower wellbeing? Procrastination is also linked with lower financial and career success, so there's a lot of reasons not to do it.

Sam
In this programme, we’re discussing procrastination – the act of delaying things that must be done until later, often because they’re difficult, boring or unpleasant. And, as usual, we’ll be learning some new vocabulary along the way.

Neil
So, without wasting any more time, I have a question for you, Sam. The fact that procrastinating, or putting things off, is bad for us doesn’t stop people doing it. According to recent research by DePaul University in Chicago, what percentage of people procrastinate so much that it interferes with their day-to-day life? Is it:
a)    10 percent?
b)    20 percent?  or,
c)    30 percent?

Sam
I’ll guess that around 10 percent of people have a serious procrastination problem.

Neil
OK, Sam. We’ll find out the answer later in the programme. Sam is certainly not alone in putting things off until the last minute. Here’s Ella al-Shamahi, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s, Why Do We Do That? talking to the comedian, Eshaan Akbar, about his procrastination habit:

Ella al-Shamahi
Would you say, Eshaan, that you're a procrastinator?

Eshaan Akbar
I am a serial procrastinator without a shadow of a doubt.

Ella al-Shamahi
Why? Why do you think you procrastinate?

Eshaan Akbar
Over the years, I've told myself that I procrastinate because I work better under pressure. That's what I've told myself.

Sam
Eshaan thinks that he is a procrastinator without a shadow of a doubt, a phrase which is used to emphasise that you are completely certain of something.

Neil
Eshaan also says that, like Sam, he works better under pressure, when he feels stressed or anxious because of having too much to do. But maybe, also like Sam, Eshaan has a problem organising his workload and managing his time.

Sam
Hang on, Neil, my time management skills are OK, thank you! With me, it’s more of an emotional response – I see a mountain of work, feel threatened, and think, ‘how on earth will I finish all that?!’

Neil
What Sam says is supported by a theory of human evolution which explains how putting things off is an emotional response. Back when we were living in caves, life was dangerous and short, and our ancestors were impulsive – they acted suddenly, on instinct, without thinking about the consequences of what they were doing. Back then, being impulsive was a good thing, but in modern life, with work goals and deadlines, when we are impulsive and get distracted, we procrastinate. So rather than being a problem with time management, Sam should blame her caveman ancestors who acted on impulse.

Sam
Hmm... Let’s listen again to comedian Eshaan Akbar talking how he feels when he procrastinates:

Eshaan Akbar
A lot of stuff you read about procrastination focuses on the time management element of it… I probably got a better sense that for me it seems very squarely around the emotional aspect of it. Perhaps I get more emotional gratification from doing it last minute. And, I need to understand why I prefer that over the calm serenity of getting things done with oodles of time on my hands.

Neil
In the same way that our ancestors felt good living on impulse, Eshaan thinks he gets gratification -a feeling of pleasure and satisfaction – from doing things at the last minute. What he doesn’t understand is why he prefers to work under pressure, instead of finishing calmly with oodles,or lots of,time.

Sam
Unlike Eshaan, I’d rather finish my work feeling relaxed, but there never seems to be enough time.

Neil
Well, breaking down the task into smaller stages also breaks down the level of threat you feel from your workload. Also, forgiving yourself for procrastinating in the past seems helpful in avoiding procrastinating in the future. So, forgive yourself and start making changes, Sam, before you end up like the timewasters in my question: what percentage of people procrastinate so much that it interferes with day-to-day life.

Sam
Well, I guessed it was 10 percent.

Neil
Which was… the wrong answer, I’m afraid. In fact around 20 percent of us have a procrastination habit so strong it makes life difficult. Okay, let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve learned from this programme on procrastination – delaying, or putting off,  doing things until later, often because they’re difficult, unpleasant or boring.

Sam
The phrase without a shadow of a doubt is used to emphasise that you are completely certain of something.

Neil
If you’re under pressure, you feel stressed or anxious because of having too much to do.

Sam
Impulsive 
behaviour is sudden and spontaneous, done without thinking about the consequences.

Neil
Gratification
 means a feeling of pleasure and satisfaction.

Sam
And finally, when you have oodles of something, you have a lot of a very large amount of something pleasant…. like time, which once again we’ve run out of. I’m rushing off to finish my work, Neil, but remember to make time to join us again soon, here at 6 Minute English. Bye for now!

Neil
Bye!

廣播原稿中文翻譯有兩個目的。首先是幫助聽力有困難的讀者能夠快速了解原文的意思。而更重要的原因是,提供給練習英語口語表達的讀者訓練的素材。

由於每個人的知識範疇各不相同,因此碰到超出自己專長的領域,常常會啞口無言,無話可說。這對練習英語表達是一項非常難以克服的障礙。所以參考 6 分鐘英語的對白稿,既可以讓自我練習英語對話時有貼切適當的素材,同時也能順便學些道地的表達方式,實是一舉數得。

使用上,可以在聽完一、兩次原始廣播之後,試著一邊看中文謄本,一邊流利、正確地用英語說出文中的內容。多次練習之後,未來自然能夠在碰到同樣主題時與人侃侃而談。

BBC 6 minute English – Why do we procrastinate?

點此看中文翻譯

薩姆
你好。這裡是 BBC 學習英語的 6 分鐘英語。我是薩姆。

尼爾
我是尼爾。

薩姆
來吧,尼爾,讓我們開始吧!我今天有件工作到了最後期限,而我還沒有完成我的工作!。

尼爾
讓我猜猜看,這是因為你一拖再拖,把你的工作拖到了最後一刻—像往常一樣!你真是個拖延症患者,薩姆—一個不斷拖延需要完成的事情的人。

薩姆
我能說什麼呢?當最後期限臨近時,我工作得更好。

尼爾
我明白了,但是你知道嗎,有拖延症的人有較高的壓力和更較的健康水準?拖延還與較差的財務和事業成功率有關,所以有很多理由不要這樣做。

薩姆
在這個節目中,我們將討論拖延症—將必須要做的事情推遲到以後再做的行為,通常是因為這些事情很困難、很無聊或者很不愉快。和往常一樣,我們將在這個過程中學習一些新的詞彙。

尼爾
所以,在不浪費任何時間的情況下,我有一個問題要問你,薩姆。拖延,或把事情推遲,對我們來說是有害的,但這並不能阻止人們這樣做。根據芝加哥德保羅大學最近的研究,有多大比例的人拖延到影響了他們的日常生活?是
a) 10%?
b) 20%? 或者是
c) 30%?

薩姆
我猜大約有 10% 的人有嚴重的拖延問題。

尼爾
好的,薩姆。我們將在節目的後面找出答案。把事情拖到最後一刻的人當然不只薩姆一個。下面是英國廣播公司第四台《我們為什麼要這樣做》的主持人埃拉.沙馬希與喜劇演員埃沙恩.阿克巴談論他的拖延症習慣。

埃拉.沙馬希
埃沙恩,你會說你是一個拖延症患者嗎?

埃沙恩.阿克巴
我是一個連續的拖延者,沒有任何疑問

埃拉.沙馬希
為什麼?你認為你為什麼會有拖延症?

埃沙恩.阿克巴
多年來,我告訴自己,我有拖延症是因為我在壓力下工作得更好。這就是我告訴自己的。

薩姆
埃沙恩認為他是一個毫無疑問的拖延者,這句話是用來強調你對某件事情完全確定。

尼爾
埃沙恩還說,和薩姆一樣,他在壓力下工作得更好,當他因為有太多事情要做而感到緊張或焦慮的時候。但也許,也像薩姆一樣,埃沙恩在組織他的工作量和管理他的時間方面有問題。

薩姆
等一下,尼爾,我的時間管理能力還可以,謝謝你!對我來說,這更像是一種情緒反應—我看到堆積如山的工作,感覺受到了威脅,然後想,「我到底怎麼才能完成所有的工作呢!」

尼爾
薩姆所說的得到了人類進化理論的支持,該理論解釋了推遲工作是一種情緒反應。早在我們生活在山洞裡的時候,生命是危險而短暫的,我們的祖先是衝動的—他們憑著本能突然行動,而不考慮他們所做的事情的後果。在那時,衝動是一件好事,但在現代生活中,面對工作目標和最後期限,當我們衝動和分心時,我們就會拖延。因此,與其說是時間管理的問題,不如說是薩姆應該責怪她那些憑衝動行事的穴居人祖先。

薩姆
嗯……讓我們再來聽聽喜劇演員埃沙恩.阿克巴講述他拖延時的感受。

埃沙恩.阿克巴
你讀到的關於拖延的很多東西都集中在它的時間管理元素上……我可能有一個更好的感覺,對我來說,它似乎非常正視它的情感方面。也許我從最後一分鐘做這件事中得到更多的情感滿足。而且,我需要瞭解為什麼我更喜歡這樣,而不是用大量的時間來完成事情時的平靜安寧。

尼爾
就像我們的祖先對衝動的生活感到滿意一樣,埃沙恩認為他從最後一刻做事中得到滿足—一種快樂和滿足的感覺。他不明白的是,為什麼他更喜歡在壓力下工作,而不是用大量的時間冷靜地完成工作。

薩姆
不像埃沙恩,我寧願在輕鬆的狀態下完成我的工作,但時間似乎永遠不夠。

尼爾
好吧,把任務分解成更小的階段,也能降低你從工作量中感受到的威脅程度。另外,原諒自己過去的拖延行為似乎有助於避免未來的拖延行為。所以,原諒自己並開始做出改變吧,薩姆,在你最終變得像我問題中的那些拖延者一樣:有多大比例的人拖延到影響日常生活的程度。

薩姆
嗯,我猜是百分之十。

尼爾
這恐怕是……錯誤的答案。事實上,我們中大約有 20% 的人有拖延的習慣,以至於使生活變得困難。好吧,讓我們回顧一下我們從這個節目中學到的關於拖延的詞彙—拖延,或推遲,直到以後再做事情,往往是因為它們很難,不愉快或無聊。

薩姆
毋庸置疑這個短語是用來強調你對某件事情完全確定。

尼爾
如果你處於壓力之下,你會因為有太多的事情要做而感到壓力或焦慮。

薩姆
衝動的行為是突然和自發的,不考慮後果就做了。

尼爾
滿足感是指一種快樂和滿足的感覺。

薩姆
最後,當你擁有大量的東西時,你有很多非常多的東西,比如時間……我們又一次耗盡了時間。我要趕著去完成我的工作了,尼爾,但記得要在不久後抽出時間來加入我們,在 6 分鐘英語這裡。先跟大家說再見!

尼爾
再見!

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