Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English, I'm Neil.

大家好，這是 BBC 六分鐘學英文，我是 Neil。

And I'm Sam.

我是 Sam。

Have you always wanted to learn to dance the tango, do a magic trick, or skydive?

你總是想要學習如何跳探戈、變魔術或是跳傘嗎？

If so, perhaps you need a bucket list—a list of all the things you want to do before you die.

如果是的話，你也許需要一個生命清單——列出在你死前想要做的事。

That's the topic of our program.

而這就是我們的主題。

Bucket lists have been called "the greatest hits of your life"and have helped some people overcome anxiety and fear of following their dreams.

生命清單被稱作「生命中的精選集」，它幫助許多人克服追逐夢想的焦慮與恐懼。

But they've also been accused of limiting the imagination by encouragingpeople to follow someone else's idea of the perfect life.

但也有人譴責生命清單限制了想像力，因為它鼓勵人們跟隨他人對完美生活的想法。

So, what would be on your bucket list, Neil?

Neil，你會列哪些事在你的生命清單上？

Are you a skydiving kind of person?

你是想跳傘的那種人嗎？

Not really!

不是誒！

Bungee-jumping maybe—as long as someone checked the elastic rope!

或許會想要嘗試高空彈跳——只要有人檢查彈性繩索的話！

How about you?

你呢？

One thing I've always wanted to do is swim with dolphins.

我一直想要做的一件事就是與海豚一起游泳。

Well, you're not alone there, Sam, because swimming with dolphins is one of the most commonly included personal goals on bucket list.

Sam，你不是唯一想要這麼做的人，與海豚一起游泳是生命清單上最常見的個人目標之一。

But which of the following things do you think tops the list?

你覺得下列哪一項事物位於生命清單之首呢？

That's my quiz question for today.

這是今天的小測驗。

Is it a) swimming with dolphins, b) getting a tattoo, or c) seeing the northern lights？

是 a) 與海豚一起游泳 b) 刺青 c) 看極光，哪一項呢？

I'll go for a) swimming with dolphins, one, because it's something I really want to do and two, because I've heard so many stories about how it improves your mental health.

我會選 a) 與海豚一起游泳，一是因為這是我想做的事，二是因為我聽說這會促進你的心理健康。

Well, that was certainly true in the case of blogger Annette White.

這對部落客 Annette White 而言，是千真萬確的。

She listed hundreds of things she wanted to accomplish, from learning Spanish to hanging out with penguins in Antarctica, as a way of improving her psychological wellbeing.

她列出幾百樣她想完成的事，從學西班牙到在南極跟企鵝一起玩，這成為一種促進她身心健康的一種方式。

Here she is talking to Claudia Hammond for BBC Radio 4's program, All in the Mind.

以下是她在 BBC 廣播節目 All in the Mind 中，與 Claudia Hammond 的對談。

You said that you started all this to try to help you overcome your anxiety and—has it done that?

據你所說，你開始列生命清單是為了克服焦慮，這對你有幫助嗎？

It definitely has and I feel that the reason is because that promise to live my bucket list, really continuously pushes the comfort zone, you know, to its limits and beyond it.

絕對有幫助，我覺得是因為照著生命清單所活，不斷的將我的舒適圈向外擴展。

So... every time I can have a chance to step out of my comfort zone, a little piece of that fear of the unknown is removed and replaced with a little piece of empowerment.

每次當我有機會踏出舒適圈，就會消除一小部份對於未知的懼怕，取而代之的是充滿能力的感覺。

And by continuously doing that, the size of my fear bubble has gotten smaller.

持續不斷的踏出舒適圈，恐懼的泡泡就會逐漸縮小。

Annette feels that choosing adventurous goals for her bucket list helps her step outside of her comfort zone.

Annette 認為選擇冒險刺激的目標當作生命清單，幫助她踏出舒適圈。

The situations where she feels safe and comfortable but where her ability and determination are not really being tested.

舒適圈代表感到安全且舒適的地方，但是位於舒適圈內時，你的能力和決心是無法被測試的。

Moving out of her comfort zone has helped Annette replace her feelings of fear with feelings of empowerment.

脫離舒適圈有助於 Annette 將恐懼以充滿能力的感覺所取代。

The process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling her life.

empowerment 是一種變得更加強壯和自信的過程，特別是對於掌控自己人生的部分。

Well, that all sounds pretty good to me but not everyone is convinced that bucket lists can really help people like Annette in the long run.

這在我耳裡聽起來很棒，但不是每個人都相信生命清單可以長期幫助像 Annette 這類的人。

Here's clinical psychologist Linda Blair to explain why.

以下臨床心理師 Linda Blair 會解釋原因。

I'm not really in favour of bucket lists.

我並不喜歡生命清單。

There are a couple of reasons.

有幾個原因可以解釋。

Most of all, you're kind of fooling yourself with a bucket list.

首先，有點像是你利用生命清單愚弄自己。

We fear death, more than I think we fear anything else in our existence, because we can't predict it, and because we don't know what it's like because nobody comes back and tells us.

我們害怕死亡勝過害怕任何其他現存的事物，因為我們無法預測死亡，我們不知道死亡會是怎樣，因為沒有人告訴我們。

And when you create a bucket list—something to do before you kick the bucket—the idea that you're giving yourself is that you can somehow control when and what death is going to be all about.

當你列出「死亡」前要完成的生命清單時，你在告訴自己的是，你可以掌控死亡的時間和方式。

We only make sense of our lives at the end of it.

我們僅能在一生的尾端才能理解生命。

A bucket list takes you away from the chance to be spontaneous and I think it's so delicious to be able to say: "That's an opportunity, oh, I'll do that!"

生命清單使你失去了自然發現的機會，我認為可以很有趣的說：「這是個機會？我要做！」

Linda thinks some people use bucket lists as a coping strategy to try to control something uncontrollable—death.

Linda 認為有些人把生命清單當作是一種因應策略，以嘗試掌握無法控制的事物——例如死亡。

In this way they are fooling or deceiving themselves, trying to make themselves believe something they know is not really true.

他們用這種方式愚弄或欺騙自己，試著讓他們自己相信，他們所知道的並非正確。

And by having a checklist of adventures to tick off before they die, people might lose the chance to be spontaneous.

擁有一張在死前勾選的冒險清單，人們或許會失去自然發生的機會。

To act in a natural and impulsive way without planning.

spontaneous 的意思為以自然或衝動的方式，沒有計劃的行動。

Linda also uses an unusual expression, which gave "bucket list" its name in the first place.

Linda 使用了一個特別詞語，這個詞語也是 bucket list 這個字的由來。

A bucket list is all the things you want to do before you "kick the bucket"—an informal way of saying, 'die'.

bucket list 是所有你想在死前完成的事，kick the bucket 是說明「去世」的俚語。

'Kick the bucket' is an old English expression that was even used by Shakespeare.

kick the bucket 是古英文的用詞，甚至連莎士比亞都使用過這個詞。

It refers to kicking the bucket away from under the feet of a hanging man, leaving him to drop to his death.

它代表將上吊的人腳下的水桶踢走，讓他吊死。

Well, anyway, I hope I don't kick the bucket before I've had a chance to tell you the correct answer to today's quiz.

總之，我希望在我一命嗚呼前，有機會告訴你今天小測驗的正確答案。

Remember, I asked you which personal goal was most often included in bucket lists?

記得我一開始問你，在生命清單中，最常包含的個人目標是哪一項嗎？

I said, a) swimming with dolphins

我的答案是 a) 與海豚一起游泳。

But the actual answer was c) seeing the northern lights.

但正確答案是 c) 看極光。

Well, maybe we could combine the two in a single trip.

好吧，或許我們可以在一趟旅程中同時做這兩件事。

And then get a tattoo!

還有刺青！

That would be spontaneous!

這會很即興！

Today, we've been discussing bucket lists—lists of all the things you want to do before you kick the bucket, an informal way of saying die.

今天我們談論了生命清單——列出你死前想做的所有事情，kick the bucket 是表達「去世」的俚語。

Bucket lists can be a great way to feel empowered—stronger and more in control of your life, because they take you out of your comfort zone—comfortable situations which are safe but not challenging.

生命清單可以成為讓你擁有力量的一種方式，empowered 意思為變得堅強且更能掌控自己的生活，因為生命清單使你踏出了舒適圈，comfort zone 代表舒適的情況，雖然很安全卻不具挑戰性。

But others think you're fooling or deceiving yourself—if you think bucket lists can really help you control your life.

但有些人認為，如果你覺得生命清單真的可以幫助你掌控生命，你就是在愚弄或欺騙自己。

In fact, they might even make you less spontaneous—less able to act in natural, sudden and impulsive ways.

事實上，生命清單甚至可能讓你不再自發衝動，spontaneous 意思是自然、突發且衝動的行為。

That's all from us for now.

今天就到此為止。

Why not go and make some plans for all the things you'd like to achieve in your life?

何不起身規劃一下你一生中想要做的事呢？

And start having adventures before we see you next time here at 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.

並在下一集的 BBC 六分鐘學英語前開始冒險吧！

Bye.

掰掰。

Goodbye.

再見。

6 Minute English, from BBC Learning English

BBC 六分鐘學英文

Oh hi, thanks very much for watching out program, we hope you enjoyed it.

嗨，非常謝謝你們的收看，希望你們喜歡節目。

I'm sure you did.

我確定你們一定喜歡。

Don't forget to subscribe.

記得訂閱頻道。

So you can keep up to date the wide variety English language learning programs we've got something for everyone.

你可以獲得我們為所有人準備的最新有關英語學習的節目。

And that's it, we'll see you next time.

下次見。

I'm getting eat me bagel, bye guys.

我要吃我的貝果了，大家再見。