- 注释版
- 纯净版
来源:
[1] Some of us hate meetings. Connie Gersick, a leading scholar of organizational behavior, has made a living out of studying them. She has conducted numerous detailed qualitative studies to understand how meetings unfold, and how the pattern of work and conversation changes over the course of a meeting. She has studied many kinds of meetings—meetings between students and meetings between managers, meetings intended to weigh options to produce a decision and meetings intended to brainstorm to produce something more tangible like a sales pitch. These meetings could not be more distinct. But in one way they are all the same. They all begin unfocused, the discussions abstract or tangential, the conversations meandering and often far off topic. Simple points are made in lengthy ways. Disagreements are aired but without resolution. Time is spent on irrelevant details.
make a living out of：通过做什么来谋生
例：He made a living out of selling his artwork
他通过贩卖艺术作品来谋生。
far off：(距离) 遥远的
例：That future might not be far off.
这样的未来可能并不遥远。
[2] But then, halfway through the meeting, things change. There is, as Gersick calls it, a midcourse correction. The group realizes that time is running out and becomes serious. As she puts it, “The midpoint of their task was the start of a ‘major jump in progress’ when the [group] became concerned about the deadline and their progress so far. [At this point] they settled into a . . . phase of working together [with] a sudden increase of energy to complete their task.” They hammer out their disagreements, concentrate on the essential details, and leave the rest aside. The second half of the meeting nearly always produces more tangible progress.
hammer out：(经过长时间或艰难的讨论) 制定出
例：I think we can hammer out a solution.
我想我们能够制定出一个解决方案。
concentrate on：集中精力于
例：You must concentrate all your energies on the study of English.
你必须集中全力学习英语。
leave aside：搁置，不予理会
例句：I wonder why they left aside such an important question.
我纳闷他们为什么不考虑如此重要的一个问题。
[3] The midcourse correction illustrates a consequence of scarcity capturing the mind. Once the lack of time becomes apparent, we focus. This happens even when we are working alone. Picture yourself writing a book. Imagine that the chapter you are working on is due in several weeks. You sit down to write. After a few sentences you remember an email that needs attention. When you open your inbox, you see other emails that require a response. Before you know it, half an hour has passed and you’re still on email. Knowing you need to write, you return to your few meager sentences. And then, while “writing,” you catch your mind wandering: How long have you been contemplating whether to have pizza for lunch, when your last cholesterol check was, and whether you updated your life insurance policy to your new address? How long have you been drifting from thought to vaguely related thought? Luckily it is almost time for lunch and you decide to pack up a bit early. As you finish lunch with the friend you haven’t seen in a while, you linger over coffee—after all, you have a couple of weeks for that chapter. And so the day continues: you manage to get in a little bit of writing, but far less than you had hoped.
picture：想象。
例：Picture yourself playing tennis.
想象一下你自己打网球的场面
due：预期的
例：The results are due at the end of the month.
结果预期于月底揭晓
contemplate：仔细考虑
He contemplated the problem before making a final decision.
他在做出最后的决定之前，仔细考虑了这个问题。
[4] Now imagine the same situation a month later. The chapter is due in a couple of days, not in several weeks. This time when you sit down to write, you do so with a sense of urgency. When your colleague’s email comes to mind, you press on rather than get distracted. And best of all, you may be so focused that the email may not even register. Your mind does not wander to lunch, cholesterol checks, or life insurance policies. While at lunch with your friend (assuming you didn’t postpone it), you do not linger for coffee—the chapter and the deadline are right there with you at the restaurant. By day’s end this focus pays off: you manage to write a significant chunk of the chapter.
come to mind：想到什么，出现在脑海里
例：A good idea has just come to my mind.
我刚想到了一个好主意。
press on：抓紧；决心继续
例：We must press on with the work if we are to finish it in time.
如果我们打算按时完成这一工作，我们必须继续努力。
pay off：成功; 带来好结果
例：She was determined to become a doctor and her persistence paid off.
比如她决心成为一名医生，她的坚持不懈终于带来了成功。这句话你就可以说
[5] Psychologists have studied the benefits of deadlines in more controlled experiments. In one study, undergraduates were paid to proofread three essays and were given a long deadline: they had three weeks to complete the task. Their pay depended on how many errors they found and on finishing on time; they had to turn in all the essays by the third week. In a nice twist, the researchers created a second group with more scarcity -- tighter deadlines. They had to turn in one proofread essay every week, for the same three weeks. The result? Just as in the thought experiment above, the group with tighter deadlines was more productive. They were late less often (although they had more deadlines to miss), they found more typos, and they earned more money.
proofread：校对
例：I didn't even have the chance to proofread my own report.
我甚至没有机会校对自己的报告。
[6] Deadlines do not just increase productivity. Second-semester college seniors, for example, also face a deadline. They have limited time to enjoy the remaining days of college life. A study by the psychologist Jamie Kurtz looked at how seniors managed this deadline. She started the study six weeks from graduation. Six weeks is far enough away that the end of college may not yet have fully registered, yet it is short enough that it can be made to feel quite close. For half the students, Kurtz framed the deadline as imminent (only so many hours left) and for the others she framed it as far off (a portion of the year left). The change in perceived scarcity changed how students managed their time. When they felt they had little time left, they tried to get more out of every day. They spent more time engaging in activities, soaking in the last of their college years. They also reported being happier—presumably enjoying more of what the college had to offer.
soak：沉浸在（工作或学习中）
例：Soak in study and waste away.
沉浸在学习中，日渐消瘦
[7] This impact of time scarcity has been observed in many disparate fields. In large-scale marketing experiments, some customers are mailed a coupon with an expiration date, while others are mailed a similar coupon that does not expire. Despite being valid for a longer period of time, the coupons with no expiration date are less likely to be used. Without the scarcity of time, the coupon does not draw focus and may even be forgotten. In another domain, organizational researchers find that sales people work hardest in the last weeks (or days) of a sales cycle. In one study we ran, we found that data-entry workers worked harder as the payday got closer.
[8] The British journalist Max Hastings, in his book on Churchill’s “Finest Years,” notes, “An Englishman’s mind works best when it is almost too late.” Everyone who has ever worked on a deadline may feel like an Englishman. Deadlines are effective precisely because they create scarcity and focus the mind. Whether it is the few minutes left in a meeting or a few weeks left in college, the deadline looms large. We put more time into the task. Distractions are less tempting. You do not linger at lunch when the chapter is due soon, you do not waste time on tangents when the meeting is about to end, and you focus on getting the most out of college just before graduating. When time is short, you get more out of it, be it work or pleasure. We call this the focus dividend—the positive outcome of scarcity capturing the mind.
[9] We often associate scarcity with its most dire consequences—the poor mired in debt; the busy perpetually behind on their work. The focus dividend shows how scarcity also has its benefits. But the costs are not far behind. Our largest struggles with scarcity, it turns out, share roots with our greatest benefit: they too follow from scarcity capturing the mind.
重点句子
1. She has conducted numerous detailed qualitative studies to understand how meetings unfold, and how the pattern of work and conversation changes over the course of a meeting.
她做过很多细致的定性研究，目的就是为了了解会议是如何展开的，在这个过程中人们的工作方式和交流模式是如何变化的。
2. They hammer out their disagreements, concentrate on the essential details, and leave the rest aside
他们处理争议，把注意力放在主要的细节上，并且把其他琐事搁置在一边。
3. The midcourse correction illustrates a consequence of scarcity capturing the mind.
这种中途的修正展现了稀缺占据心智时的一个结果。
4. This time when you sit down to write, you do so with a sense of urgency. When your colleague’s email comes to mind, you press on rather than get distracted.
这次当你坐下来写作时，你会带有一种紧急意识。当你想到同事发给你的邮件时，你会继续眼前的事情而不会被邮件所干扰。
5. Their pay depended on how many errors they found and on finishing on time; they had to turn in all the essays by the third week.
他们的报酬取决于两方面，一方面是他们找到了多少错误，另一方面则是他们是否按照完成了任务。他们必须在第三周之前把所有的三篇文章全都交上来。
6. Six weeks is far enough away that the end of college may not yet have fully registered, yet it is short enough that it can be made to feel quite close
六周的时间刚好足够长，你可能还没留意毕业已经悄悄来临，同时它也短得刚好，能够让你意识到毕业已经近在眼前。
7. Without the scarcity of time, the coupon does not draw focus and may even be forgotten.
如果没有时间上的稀缺性，这些优惠券不会引起人们的注意，甚至有可能干脆被遗忘掉。
8. When time is short, you get more out of it, be it work or pleasure. We call this the focus dividend—the positive outcome of scarcity capturing the mind.
当时间紧缺时，你会从中得到更多的东西，不论这东西是工作还是乐趣。我们称其为“聚焦红利”——也就是当稀缺占据心智时的积极结果。
9. Our largest struggles with scarcity, it turns out, share roots with our greatest benefit: they too follow from scarcity capturing the mind
原来稀缺给我带来的弊端和好处其实同根同源的，他们会在稀缺占据我们的心智时体现出来。
单词
qualitative：定性的，品质上
例：There are qualitative differences in the way children of different ages and adults think.
不同年龄的儿童和成人在思维方式上有着质的差异。
unfold：发展，逐渐明朗
例：The outcome depends on conditions as well as how events unfold.
结果取决于条件以及事件如何发展。
pattern 模式
例：All three attacks followed the same pattern.
3次袭击都依照同一模式。
weigh 权衡
例：She weighed her options.
她在各种选择间权衡。
sales pitch：推销辞令，商品宣传
例：His sales pitch was smooth and convincing.
他的推销辞令流畅且令人信服。
tangential 关系不大的，离题的
例：Too much time was spent discussing tangential issues.
太多时间花在了讨论那些无关紧要的问题
meandering 曲折的；聊天的；漫步的
例：We crossed a small iron bridge over a meandering stream.
我们穿过了蜿蜒小溪上的一座小铁桥。
lengthy 冗长的
例：Friedman's lengthy report quoted an unnamed source.
弗里德曼冗长的报告引用了一个未指明出处的资料。
air 公开发表
例：to air one's opinions
公开发表意见
put：表达；表述
例：He was trying to put his feelings into words.
他试图用语言表达自己的感情。
picture：想象。
例：Picture yourself playing tennis.
想象一下你自己打网球的场面
due：预期的
例：The results are due at the end of the month.
结果预期于月底揭晓
contemplate：仔细考虑
He contemplated the problem before making a final decision.
他在做出最后的决定之前，仔细考虑了这个问题。
drift：漂泊; 流浪
例：You've been drifting from job to job without any real commitment.
你频频换工作，全无恒心。
vaguely：有点儿
例：The voice on the line was vaguely familiar.
电话中的声音有点儿熟悉。
proofread：校对
例：I didn't even have the chance to proofread my own report.
我甚至没有机会校对自己的报告。
imminent：(尤指不好的事情) 即将发生的
例：There appeared no imminent danger.
眼前似乎没有危险。
soak：沉浸在（工作或学习中）
例：Soak in study and waste away.
沉浸在学习中，日渐消瘦
disparate：迥然不同的
例：Scientists are trying to pull together disparate ideas in astronomy.
科学家正试图把天文学界各种迥然不同的观点汇集起来。
mire：使陷入困境；使受困扰
例：to be mired in emotion.
陷入情感的困境。
词组
make a living out of：通过做什么来谋生
例：He made a living out of selling his artwork.
他通过贩卖艺术作品来谋生。
far off：(距离) 遥远的
例：That future might not be far off.
这样的未来可能并不遥远。
hammer out：(经过长时间或艰难的讨论) 制定出
例：I think we can hammer out a solution.
我想我们能够制定出一个解决方案。
concentrate on：集中精力于
例：You must concentrate all your energies on the study of English.
你必须集中全力学习英语。
leave aside：搁置，不予理会
例句：I wonder why they left aside such an important question.
我纳闷他们为什么不考虑如此重要的一个问题。
come to mind：想到什么，出现在脑海里
例：A good idea has just come to my mind.
我刚想到了一个好主意。
press on：抓紧；决心继续
例：We must press on with the work if we are to finish it in time.
如果我们打算按时完成这一工作，我们必须继续努力。
pay off：成功; 带来好结果
例：She was determined to become a doctor and her persistence paid off.
比如她决心成为一名医生，她的坚持不懈终于带来了成功。这句话你就可以说
来源:
[1] Some of us hate meetings. Connie Gersick, a leading scholar of organizational behavior, has made a living out of studying them. She has conducted numerous detailed qualitative studies to understand how meetings unfold, and how the pattern of work and conversation changes over the course of a meeting. She has studied many kinds of meetings—meetings between students and meetings between managers, meetings intended to weigh options to produce a decision and meetings intended to brainstorm to produce something more tangible like a sales pitch. These meetings could not be more distinct. But in one way they are all the same. They all begin unfocused, the discussions abstract or tangential, the conversations meandering and often far off topic. Simple points are made in lengthy ways. Disagreements are aired but without resolution. Time is spent on irrelevant details.
[2] But then, halfway through the meeting, things change. There is, as Gersick calls it, a midcourse correction. The group realizes that time is running out and becomes serious. As she puts it, “The midpoint of their task was the start of a ‘major jump in progress’ when the [group] became concerned about the deadline and their progress so far. [At this point] they settled into a . . . phase of working together [with] a sudden increase of energy to complete their task.” They hammer out their disagreements, concentrate on the essential details, and leave the rest aside. The second half of the meeting nearly always produces more tangible progress.
[3] The midcourse correction illustrates a consequence of scarcity capturing the mind. Once the lack of time becomes apparent, we focus. This happens even when we are working alone. Picture yourself writing a book. Imagine that the chapter you are working on is due in several weeks. You sit down to write. After a few sentences you remember an email that needs attention. When you open your inbox, you see other emails that require a response. Before you know it, half an hour has passed and you’re still on email. Knowing you need to write, you return to your few meager sentences. And then, while “writing,” you catch your mind wandering: How long have you been contemplating whether to have pizza for lunch, when your last cholesterol check was, and whether you updated your life insurance policy to your new address? How long have you been drifting from thought to vaguely related thought? Luckily it is almost time for lunch and you decide to pack up a bit early. As you finish lunch with the friend you haven’t seen in a while, you linger over coffee—after all, you have a couple of weeks for that chapter. And so the day continues: you manage to get in a little bit of writing, but far less than you had hoped.
[4] Now imagine the same situation a month later. The chapter is due in a couple of days, not in several weeks. This time when you sit down to write, you do so with a sense of urgency. When your colleague’s email comes to mind, you press on rather than get distracted. And best of all, you may be so focused that the email may not even register. Your mind does not wander to lunch, cholesterol checks, or life insurance policies. While at lunch with your friend (assuming you didn’t postpone it), you do not linger for coffee—the chapter and the deadline are right there with you at the restaurant. By day’s end this focus pays off: you manage to write a significant chunk of the chapter.
[5] Psychologists have studied the benefits of deadlines in more controlled experiments. In one study, undergraduates were paid to proofread three essays and were given a long deadline: they had three weeks to complete the task. Their pay depended on how many errors they found and on finishing on time; they had to turn in all the essays by the third week. In a nice twist, the researchers created a second group with more scarcity -- tighter deadlines. They had to turn in one proofread essay every week, for the same three weeks. The result? Just as in the thought experiment above, the group with tighter deadlines was more productive. They were late less often (although they had more deadlines to miss), they found more typos, and they earned more money.
[6] Deadlines do not just increase productivity. Second-semester college seniors, for example, also face a deadline. They have limited time to enjoy the remaining days of college life. A study by the psychologist Jamie Kurtz looked at how seniors managed this deadline. She started the study six weeks from graduation. Six weeks is far enough away that the end of college may not yet have fully registered, yet it is short enough that it can be made to feel quite close. For half the students, Kurtz framed the deadline as imminent (only so many hours left) and for the others she framed it as far off (a portion of the year left). The change in perceived scarcity changed how students managed their time. When they felt they had little time left, they tried to get more out of every day. They spent more time engaging in activities, soaking in the last of their college years. They also reported being happier—presumably enjoying more of what the college had to offer.
[7] This impact of time scarcity has been observed in many disparate fields. In large-scale marketing experiments, some customers are mailed a coupon with an expiration date, while others are mailed a similar coupon that does not expire. Despite being valid for a longer period of time, the coupons with no expiration date are less likely to be used. Without the scarcity of time, the coupon does not draw focus and may even be forgotten. In another domain, organizational researchers find that sales people work hardest in the last weeks (or days) of a sales cycle. In one study we ran, we found that data-entry workers worked harder as the payday got closer.
[8] The British journalist Max Hastings, in his book on Churchill’s “Finest Years,” notes, “An Englishman’s mind works best when it is almost too late.” Everyone who has ever worked on a deadline may feel like an Englishman. Deadlines are effective precisely because they create scarcity and focus the mind. Whether it is the few minutes left in a meeting or a few weeks left in college, the deadline looms large. We put more time into the task. Distractions are less tempting. You do not linger at lunch when the chapter is due soon, you do not waste time on tangents when the meeting is about to end, and you focus on getting the most out of college just before graduating. When time is short, you get more out of it, be it work or pleasure. We call this the focus dividend—the positive outcome of scarcity capturing the mind.
[9] We often associate scarcity with its most dire consequences—the poor mired in debt; the busy perpetually behind on their work. The focus dividend shows how scarcity also has its benefits. But the costs are not far behind. Our largest struggles with scarcity, it turns out, share roots with our greatest benefit: they too follow from scarcity capturing the mind.