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[1] A FRIEND of mine has a bad habit of narrating his experiences as they are taking place. I tease him for being a bystander in his own life. To be fair, we all fail to experience life to the fullest. Typically, our minds are too occupied with thoughts to allow complete immersion even in what is right in front of us.
词汇词组：
1） Bystander/ˈbaɪstændər/：旁观者
例：Three innocent bystanders were killed in the crossfire.
2） Occupied/ˈɑːkjupaɪd/：已占用的，无空闲的
例：Only half of the rooms are occupied at the moment.
3） Immersion/ɪˈmɜːrʒn/：沉浸，专心
例：Immersion in cold water resulted in rapid loss of heat.
重难点句：
Typically, our minds are too occupied with thoughts to allow complete immersion even in what is right in front of us.
通常，我们的注意力都过于的被想法所占据，以至于不能够完全地沉浸在我们眼前的事物。
分析：typically，有典型的意思，但一般情况下，放在句首就表示，通常或者一般情况下。Too，to句型表示太怎么样而不能怎么样，我们举一个例子，比如说too young too simple，哦不对，这个举错了，Ethan is too thrilled to concentrate on class. Ethan太兴奋了，以至于不能集中精力在课堂上。Be occupied with sth，被sth占据着，complete在这儿是个形容词，完完全全的，immersion in sth，沉浸专心于什么，what is right in front of us，这是个宾语从句就在我们眼前的事情。
[2] Sometimes, this is O.K. I am happy not to remember passing a long stretch of my daily commute because my mind has wandered and my morning drive can be done on autopilot. But I do not want to disappear from too much of life. Too often we eat meals without tasting them, look at something beautiful without seeing it. An entire exchange with my daughter (please forgive me) can take place without my being there at all.
词汇词组：
1） Exchange /ɪksˈtʃeɪndʒ/：兑换，交换，交谈
例：There was only time for a brief exchange.
重难点句：
Too often we eat meals without tasting them, look at something beautiful without seeing it. An entire exchange with my daughter (please forgive me) can take place without my being there at all.
经常性地，我们吃饭却不回去品尝他们的味道，看着美好的事物却不会去欣赏它。和我女孩一次完整的交谈（请原谅我）都可以发生在我完全心不在焉的状态下。
分析：前半句是个小排比，感觉酷酷的样子，后半句理解上有点小障碍就在于对exchange这个词把握不准，它有交换，钱币兑换的意思，在这儿作名词，表示交谈对话，take place，发生，相当于happen的感觉，without my being there at all，就很形象的表达的心不在焉的意思。
[3] Recently, I discovered how much we overlook, not just about the world, but also about the full potential of our inner life, when our mind is cluttered. In a study published in this month’s Psychological Science, the graduate student Shira Baror and I demonstrate that the capacity for original and creative thinking is markedly stymied by stray thoughts, obsessive rumination and other forms of “mental load.” Many psychologists assume that the mind, left to its own devices, is inclined to follow a well-worn path of familiar associations. But our findings suggest that innovative thinking, not routine ideation, is our default cognitive mode when our minds are clear.
词汇词组：
1） Overlook /ˌoʊvərˈlʊk/：忽略
例：He seems to have overlooked one important fact.
2） Clutter /ˈklʌtər/：塞满，乱堆
例：I don't want all these files cluttering up my desk.
3） Markedly /ˈmɑːrkɪdli/：显而易见地
例：Her background is markedly different from her husband's.
4） Stymie /ˈstaɪmi/：阻碍，常用被动
例：He found himself stymied by an old opponent.
5） Stray /streɪ/：走失的，流浪的，散落的
例：A civilian was killed by a stray bullet.
6） Rumination /ˌruːmɪˈneɪʃn/：深思
7） Well-worn /ˌwel ˈwɔːrn/：用久了的，陈腐的
例：Most British visitors beat a well-worn path to the same tourist areas of the US.
8） Innovative /ˈɪnəveɪtɪv/：创新的
例：There will be a prize for the most innovative design.
9） Ideation /ˌaɪdiˈeɪʃn/：思构能力
10） Default /ˈdiːfɔːlt/：默认，缺席，违约
例：The default option is to save your work every five minutes.
11） Cognitive /ˈkɑːɡnətɪv/：认知的
例：a child’s cognitive development
重难点句：
Many psychologists assume that the mind, left to its own devices, is inclined to follow a well-worn path of familiar associations. But our findings suggest that innovative thinking, not routine ideation, is our default cognitive mode when our minds are clear.
很多心理学家认为，如果我们的大脑放空，人有自行运转的话，它是更易于沿着我们所熟知的一条老路而行。但我们的发现表明，当我们放空大脑时，富有创造性的思维而不是老套的思维模式是我们默认下的认知状态。
分析：assume这个单词非常好，和think，believe，suppose，reckon的意思都很相近，就是我认为的意思，要敢用要多用。Left to its own devices，是分词后置定语来修饰mind，它正常的表达式leave sth or sb to their own devices， 就是任由其自然发展，不管他了，放空的感觉。Be inclined to do sth表示更倾向于，更易于做什么。 Well-worn path，老路旧路，老套的那种意思。Suggest，又出现的，我之前说过，它不仅仅是建议，不能只想着建议，要不然这个词就死了，在这儿就是表明的意思。
[4] In a series of experiments, we gave participants a free-association task while simultaneously taxing their mental capacity to different degrees. In one experiment, for example, we asked half the participants to keep in mind a string of seven digits, and the other half to remember just two digits. While the participants maintained these strings in working memory, they were given a word (e.g., shoe) and asked to respond as quickly as possible with the first word that came to mind (e.g., sock).
词汇词组：
1） Participant /pɑːrˈtɪsɪpənt/：参与者
例：He has been an active participant in the discussion.
2） Simultaneously /ˌsaɪmlˈteɪniəsli/：与此同时地，及时地
例：The game will be broadcast simultaneously on TV and radio.
重难点句：
In a series of experiments, we gave participants a free-association task while simultaneously taxing their mental capacity to different degrees.
在一系列的实验中，我们给参与者一个自由联想的任务，与此同时，不同程度地增加他们的思维压力。
分析：a series of sth，一系列的什么东西，free-association是心理学上常用的一种测试方式，成为自由联想。While，连词表并列，simultaneously，与此同时地，tax在这儿是动词，表示给什么压力，to different degrees，到达不同的程度。
[5] We found that a high mental load consistently diminished the originality and creativity of the response: Participants with seven digits to recall resorted to the most statistically common responses (e.g., white/black), whereas participants with two digits gave less typical, more varied pairings (e.g., white/cloud).
重难点句：
We found that a high mental load consistently diminished the originality and creativity of the response: Participants with seven digits to recall resorted to the most statistically common responses (e.g., white/black), whereas participants with two digits gave less typical, more varied pairings (e.g., white/cloud).
我们发现，有着很大思想负担的人都会减弱回复的原创性和创造性：要求回忆7个数字的参与者会给出来一些数据上的高频回复，比如white和black，而只要求记忆两个数字的参与者则能给出来不传统更多元的配对答案，比如white和cloud。
分析：冒号前面的句子核心谓语是found，that后面跟了一个宾语从句，consistently，有统一的连贯性的意思，就是说，思想有负担的人都会怎么样，diminish，及物动词，表示消弱减弱。冒号后面，participants with 7 digits to recall是主语，with后面是来修饰participants的，resorted to，我们之前学过的，就相当于使用的那种概念，采取。Statistically，从数据上来看的，副词。Whereas，连词，然而，表转折，less typical， more varied，不单一，更多元的意思。
[6] In another experiment, we found that longer response times were correlated with less diverse responses, ruling out the possibility that participants with low mental loads simply took more time to generate an interesting response. Rather, it seems that with a high mental load, you need more time to generate even a conventional thought. These experiments suggest that the mind’s natural tendency is to explore and to favor novelty, but when occupied it looks for the most familiar and inevitably least interesting solution.
词汇词组：
1） correlate /ˈkɑːrəleɪt/：相关联
例：A high-fat diet correlates with a greater risk of heart disease.
2） Rule out：排除
例：Police have not ruled out the possibility that the man was murdered.
3） Inevitably /ɪnˈevɪtəbli/：不可避免地
例：Inevitably, the press exaggerated the story.
重难点句：
In another experiment, we found that longer response times were correlated with less diverse responses, ruling out the possibility that participants with low mental loads simply took more time to generate an interesting response.
在另一个实验里，我们发现，需要更长时间的回复是和跟单调的回答有关，这也就排出了思想压力不大就能够有更多的时间来想出有趣的回复的可能性。
分析：A correlate with B，本身就可以当作是A和B相关，在这儿你用be correlated with也是可以的，less diverse，我们反过来理解就是单调了，英语里经常会有这样的表达，就觉得他们说话比我们还会绕弯子，你这人小气，他不说你这人小气，他说你不怎么大方。后面的rule out the possibility that，这个句式也挺常用，排出了什么的可能性。
[7] In general, there is a tension in our brains between exploration and exploitation. When we are exploratory, we attend to things with a wide scope, curious and desiring to learn. Other times, we rely on, or “exploit,” what we already know, leaning on our expectations, trusting the comfort of a predictable environment. We tend to be more exploratory when traveling to a new country, whereas we are more inclined toward exploitation when returning home after a hard day at work.
词汇词组：
1） Exploration /ˌekspləˈreɪʃn/：探险，发现，文中指开拓创新的意思
例：My ideas needed more careful exploration.
2） Exploitation /ˌeksplɔɪˈteɪʃn/：剥削，利用，含贬义
例：commercial exploitation of the mineral resources in Antarctica
3） Attend to sth/sb：处理，照顾，着手做什么
例：I have some urgent business to attend to.
4） Lean on：依靠，依赖
例：He leans heavily on his family.
重难点句：
When we are exploratory, we attend to things with a wide scope, curious and desiring to learn. Other times, we rely on, or “exploit,” what we already know, leaning on our expectations, trusting the comfort of a predictable environment.
当我们去发现探索的时候，我们看待事物就会用一个更大的视野，充满好奇，并有欲望去学习它。其他的时候，我们就依靠或是“剥削利用”着我们已经知道的一切，依赖于我们的期待，相信一个可预测的环境的舒适。
分析：exploratory是exploration的形容词，但他的发音大家要注意一下，他是tory结尾，字母o发的不是一个schwa音，是后元音“哦”，和那个dictionary的结尾情形很像，有一个次重音的感觉。Attend to一定要会用，有照顾照料处理，着手做什么的意思，当然，文中就要多少隐身理解一点了，后面的rely on和lean on的意思差不多，都是依靠，依赖。Predictable，可预测的，动词是predict。
[8] Much of our lives are spent somewhere between those extremes. There are functional benefits to both modes: If we were not exploratory, we would never have ventured out of the caves; if we did not exploit the certainty of the familiar, we would have taken too many risks and gone extinct. But there needs to be a healthy balance. Our study suggests that your internal exploration is too often diminished by an overly occupied mind, much as is the case with your experience of your external environment.
词汇词组：
1） Venture /ˈventʃər/：敢于，冒险，投机
例：The directors of the company refused to undertake such a risky venture.
2） Extinct /ɪkˈstɪŋkt/：灭绝
例：The red squirrel is in danger of becoming extinct in England.
重难点句：
Our study suggests that your internal exploration is too often diminished by an overly occupied mind, much as is the case with your experience of your external environment.
我们的研究表明，你的内心的探索发现会由于思想负担过重儿减弱，差不多和这相似的是，你对外部世界的感觉也会由于思想负担过重而减弱。
分析：suggest这个词又出现了，表明说明的意思，internal和external是一对反义词，内在的和外在的。Overly occupied，过度的占据。而后面的much是一个副词，表一定程度的，差不多的，as在这儿引导了一个非限定性定语从句，前一句话就是个case，什么样的case呢？with后面的内容来解释说明一下。
[9] In everyday life, you may find yourself “loading” your mind in various ways: memorizing a list of groceries to buy later at the supermarket, rehearsing the name of someone you just met so you don’t forget it, practicing your pitch before entering an important meeting. There are also, of course, the ever-present wanderings of a normal mind. And there are more pathological, or at least more chronic, sources of mental load, such as the ruminative thought patterns characteristic of stress, anxiety and depression. All these loads can consume mental capacity, leading to dull thought and anhedonia — a flattened ability to experience pleasure.
词汇词组：
1） Rehearse /rɪˈhɜːrs/：彩排，排练
例：We were given only two weeks to rehearse.
2） Ever-present：经常存在的，始终存在的
例：love is ever-present.
3） Pathological /ˌpæθəˈlɑːdʒɪkl/：不理智的，病态的，病理学的
例：a pathological liar (= a person who cannot stop telling lies)
4） Chronic /ˈkrɑːnɪk/：长期的，难去除的
例：the country’s chronic unemployment problem
5） Anhedonia/ ˌanhɪˈdəʊnɪə/：快感缺乏，没有乐趣的
重难点句：
There are also, of course, the ever-present wanderings of a normal mind. And there are more pathological, or at least more chronic, sources of mental load, such as the ruminative thought patterns characteristic of stress, anxiety and depression.
当然，我们脑子里一直都有正常状态下的漫想。而且，那更多的是偏病态的或者说至少是一种长期的思想压力，比如说，压力，焦虑以及犹豫特征的冥想模式。
分析：ever-present，经常存在的，始终存在的意思，比如说，love is ever-present，爱一直都在，而且你要注意到ever-present中，present是一个形容词，表示现在的当下的，pathological，病态的，不理智的，chronic，指的是长期的，多和疾病相关的意思，治不好的感觉，ruminative是名词rumination 的形容词。
[10] My birthday gift to myself for the last couple of years has been a week of silence at a vipassana meditation retreat. Being silent for a week, and trying to empty your mind of thought, is not for the faint of heart, but I do wish that everyone could try it at least once. During my first retreat, I wondered how a simple tomato could taste so good, why I did not mind physical discomfort as much, how looking at a single flower for 45 minutes was even possible, let alone so gratifying. My thoughts — when I returned to the act of thinking about something rather than nothing — were fresher and more surprising.
词汇词组：
1） Retreat /rɪˈtriːt/：撤退；冥思静养，静养院
例：He went into retreat and tried to resolve the conflicts within himself.
2） Let alone：更别说，更别提
例：There isn't enough room for us, let alone any guests.
3） Gratifying /ˈɡrætɪfaɪɪŋ/：满足的，满意的
例：He felt a gratifying sense of being respected and appreciated.
重难点句：
During my first retreat, I wondered how a simple tomato could taste so good, why I did not mind physical discomfort as much, how looking at a single flower for 45 minutes was even possible, let alone so gratifying. My thoughts — when I returned to the act of thinking about something rather than nothing — were fresher and more surprising.
在我第一次冥想静养的时候，我才发现一个西红柿是多么的好吃，我能够克服身体上的不适，并且发现我能够盯着一朵花静静的看45分钟，更别提其中所得到的满足感了。在那之后，当我从放空自我的状态回到去想事情的状态时，我的思维变得更敏捷更能给我带来惊喜。
分析：wonder本身是想知道，在此我们隐身理解为，发现了解到。后面跟了三个并列的宾语从句。Let alone，这个词组非常好，表示更别提更别说的意思。最后一句，when引导的条件状语从句，当什么时候的情况下，我的思维怎么样了，当然作者是把这个条件放在了主句中。
[11] It is clear to me that this ancient meditative practice helps free the mind to have richer experiences of the present. Except when you are flying an F-16 aircraft or experiencing extreme fear or having an orgasm, your life leaves too much room for your mind to wander. As a result, only a small fraction of your mental capacity remains engaged in what is before it, and mind-wandering and rumination become a tax on the quality of your life. Honing an ability to unburden the load on your mind, be it through meditation or some other practice, can bring with it a wonderfully magnified experience of the world — and, as our study suggests, of your own mind.
词汇词组：
1） Engaged /ɪnˈɡeɪdʒd/：已婚的，占用着，正从事着
例：They were engaged in conversation.
2） Hone /hoʊn/：提高，训练
例：She honed her debating skills at college.
3） Magnified /ˈmæɡnɪfaɪd/：放大的
重难点句：
Honing an ability to unburden the load on your mind, be it through meditation or some other practice, can bring with it a wonderfully magnified experience of the world — and, as our study suggests, of your own mind.
不管是通过冥想还是其他什么方法，训练我们能够减轻思想负担的能力，可以给我们带来一个放大了的对世界的体验，同样，我们的研究也表明，对于我们的思想来说也会带来一个全新的放大的体验。
分析：这个句子里面最大的一个障碍就是be it or的用法，他其实是个倒装，whether it be 什么or什么，文中相当于一个让步状语从句的感觉，当然学术界对be it的用法各说不一，我们也就多在看文章的过程中了解一下。最后的as our study suggests同样是个插入语，我们就把它去掉都是可以的，所以最后面补齐就应该是a wonderfully magnified experience of your own mind. 就更容易理解了。
来源:
[1] A FRIEND of mine has a bad habit of narrating his experiences as they are taking place. I tease him for being a bystander in his own life. To be fair, we all fail to experience life to the fullest. Typically, our minds are too occupied with thoughts to allow complete immersion even in what is right in front of us.
[2] Sometimes, this is O.K. I am happy not to remember passing a long stretch of my daily commute because my mind has wandered and my morning drive can be done on autopilot. But I do not want to disappear from too much of life. Too often we eat meals without tasting them, look at something beautiful without seeing it. An entire exchange with my daughter (please forgive me) can take place without my being there at all.
[3] Recently, I discovered how much we overlook, not just about the world, but also about the full potential of our inner life, when our mind is cluttered. In a study published in this month’s Psychological Science, the graduate student Shira Baror and I demonstrate that the capacity for original and creative thinking is markedly stymied by stray thoughts, obsessive rumination and other forms of “mental load.” Many psychologists assume that the mind, left to its own devices, is inclined to follow a well-worn path of familiar associations. But our findings suggest that innovative thinking, not routine ideation, is our default cognitive mode when our minds are clear.
[4] In a series of experiments, we gave participants a free-association task while simultaneously taxing their mental capacity to different degrees. In one experiment, for example, we asked half the participants to keep in mind a string of seven digits, and the other half to remember just two digits. While the participants maintained these strings in working memory, they were given a word (e.g., shoe) and asked to respond as quickly as possible with the first word that came to mind (e.g., sock).
[5] We found that a high mental load consistently diminished the originality and creativity of the response: Participants with seven digits to recall resorted to the most statistically common responses (e.g., white/black), whereas participants with two digits gave less typical, more varied pairings (e.g., white/cloud).
[6] In another experiment, we found that longer response times were correlated with less diverse responses, ruling out the possibility that participants with low mental loads simply took more time to generate an interesting response. Rather, it seems that with a high mental load, you need more time to generate even a conventional thought. These experiments suggest that the mind’s natural tendency is to explore and to favor novelty, but when occupied it looks for the most familiar and inevitably least interesting solution.
[7] In general, there is a tension in our brains between exploration and exploitation. When we are exploratory, we attend to things with a wide scope, curious and desiring to learn. Other times, we rely on, or “exploit,” what we already know, leaning on our expectations, trusting the comfort of a predictable environment. We tend to be more exploratory when traveling to a new country, whereas we are more inclined toward exploitation when returning home after a hard day at work.
[8] Much of our lives are spent somewhere between those extremes. There are functional benefits to both modes: If we were not exploratory, we would never have ventured out of the caves; if we did not exploit the certainty of the familiar, we would have taken too many risks and gone extinct. But there needs to be a healthy balance. Our study suggests that your internal exploration is too often diminished by an overly occupied mind, much as is the case with your experience of your external environment.
[9] In everyday life, you may find yourself “loading” your mind in various ways: memorizing a list of groceries to buy later at the supermarket, rehearsing the name of someone you just met so you don’t forget it, practicing your pitch before entering an important meeting. There are also, of course, the ever-present wanderings of a normal mind. And there are more pathological, or at least more chronic, sources of mental load, such as the ruminative thought patterns characteristic of stress, anxiety and depression. All these loads can consume mental capacity, leading to dull thought and anhedonia — a flattened ability to experience pleasure.
[10] My birthday gift to myself for the last couple of years has been a week of silence at a vipassana meditation retreat. Being silent for a week, and trying to empty your mind of thought, is not for the faint of heart, but I do wish that everyone could try it at least once. During my first retreat, I wondered how a simple tomato could taste so good, why I did not mind physical discomfort as much, how looking at a single flower for 45 minutes was even possible, let alone so gratifying. My thoughts — when I returned to the act of thinking about something rather than nothing — were fresher and more surprising.
[11] It is clear to me that this ancient meditative practice helps free the mind to have richer experiences of the present. Except when you are flying an F-16 aircraft or experiencing extreme fear or having an orgasm, your life leaves too much room for your mind to wander. As a result, only a small fraction of your mental capacity remains engaged in what is before it, and mind-wandering and rumination become a tax on the quality of your life. Honing an ability to unburden the load on your mind, be it through meditation or some other practice, can bring with it a wonderfully magnified experience of the world — and, as our study suggests, of your own mind.