Rob: and I'm Rob.

羅布：我是羅布。

Alice: So Rob, did you get that research done that I asked you to do over the weekend?

愛麗絲。所以，羅布，你得到的研究 做我問你做 在週末？

Rob: Oh ... It was at the top of my to-do list.

羅伯：哦......。這是在我的待辦事項清單的頂端。

But Sunday night came around so quickly, and I just – you know – I didn't get round to it.

但週日晚上來的太快了，我只是--你知道--我沒來得及去做。

Alice: Rob! If I'd known you weren't going to do the research, I'd have done it myself.

愛麗絲。羅布！如果我知道你不打算做研究， 我會做自己。

What did you actually do at the weekend, anyway?

你週末到底做了什麼？

Rob: Oh, you know, this and that. It's funny how time slips by without you noticing.

哦，你知道，這個和那個。有趣的是，時間在你不經意間就溜走了。

Alice: Hmm, yes.

愛麗絲：嗯，是的。

I bet you spent the whole weekend watching cat videos on YouTube – and googling your own name.

我敢打賭，你整個週末都在YouTube上看貓咪視頻--還在谷歌上搜索自己的名字。

Rob: What? That's unfair and untrue, Alice... well, mostly untrue, anyway

什麼？這是不公平的，不真實的，愛麗絲... 好了，大部分是不真實的，反正

I did some shopping and I fixed my bike as well as watching videos and googling myself.

我買了一些東西，我修了我的自行車，也看了一些視頻，自己也上網查了一下。

Alice: Well, perhaps I should say at this point that today's show is about procrastination,

愛麗絲：好吧，也許我應該說 在這一點上，今天的節目 是關於拖延。

which means not doing something you're supposed to do.

意思是不做你應該做的事情。

Rob: Well, I do feel bad about my procrastination actually.

羅伯：嗯，其實我確實為自己的拖延症感到難過。

Alice: Well, that's good to hear.

愛麗絲嗯，這是很好聽。

But let's move on now and hear today's quiz question:

不過我們現在繼續，聽聽今天的考題。

Can you tell me which American said: 'You may delay, but time will not?' Was it...

你能告訴我哪個美國人說過："你可以拖延，但時間不會拖延 "嗎？是不是...

a) John F Kennedy?

a）約翰-肯尼迪?

b) Benjamin Franklin?

(b) 本傑明-富蘭克林?

Or c) Franklin J Roosevelt?

還是（c）富蘭克林-J-羅斯福？

Rob: OK. I think I'll go for a) John F Kennedy

羅伯：好的，我想我會選擇a)約翰-肯尼迪。

because I reckon he was good at making to-do lists and then getting on with them.

因為我估計他很擅長制定待辦事項清單，然後繼續執行。

Alice: Unlike somebody I could mention.

愛麗絲不像某人，我可以提到。

Rob: Alice, I thought we were going to move on?

羅伯：愛麗絲，我以為我們要繼續前進呢？

Alice: Alright then.

愛麗絲好吧，那麼。

Rob: Personally, I think it's important to try and understand why we procrastinate.

羅布：我個人認為，嘗試瞭解我們為什麼會拖延，這一點很重要。

So let's hear from Daphna Oyserman, Professor of Psychology, Communication and Education

那麼，讓我們聽聽心理學、傳播學和教育學教授Daphna Oyserman的看法吧。

at the University of Southern California, talking about this.

在南加州大學，談及此。

Daphna Oyserman: People spend most of their time focussed on the present, which makes

Daphna Oyserman：人們把大部分時間都集中在當下，這使得。

perfect sense because the present is now, and for sure.

完美的意義，因為現在就是現在，而且是肯定的。

Unfortunately, many things that are quite important about the future require that we

不幸的是，許多關於未來相當重要的事情，需要我們

start doing things now rather than waiting for later to happen.

開始做事情，而不是等待以後發生。

Things like saving for retirement, studying for college entry exams, revising papers, preparing for work reports.

比如為退休攢錢，為大學入學考試學習，修改論文，準備工作報告。

Unfortunately, waiting till later means that we won't have much time.

可惜的是，等到以後就意味著我們沒有多少時間了。

Alice: So, we are too focussed on the present, and reluctant to engage in tasks that relate to the future.

愛麗絲。而不願意從事與未來有關的任務。

Why's that, Rob?

為什麼，羅布？

Rob: Well, like Professor Oyserman says, things in the future may never happen

羅伯：好吧，就像Oyserman教授說的，未來的事情可能永遠不會發生。

Or seem too far off for you to take seriously.

或者說顯得太過遙遠，讓你無法認真對待。

For example, when you're young, sorting out a pension plan doesn't feel like a priority

例如，當你還年輕的時候，整理養老金計劃並不覺得是一個優先事項。

Or something that's more important than other things.

或者比其他事情更重要的事情。

Alice: But according to a new study, if you think about time in smaller units

愛麗絲但根據一項新的研究， 如果你認為時間在較小的組織、部門，

so days, for example, rather than months or years – you are likely to start a task more quickly.

是以，比如說，幾天，而不是幾個月或幾年--你有可能更快地開始一項任務。

Rob: So, this weekend I wasted two days...

所以，這個週末我浪費了兩天時間......。

Alice: Or 2,880 minutes.

愛麗絲或2880分鐘。

Rob: That does sound more urgent, when you put it like that.

羅伯：你這樣說，聽起來確實比較迫切。

Alice: Yes. And you need to minimize or reduce distractions.

愛麗絲是的。而且你需要儘量減少或降低分心。

Turn off your tech and knuckle down to your tasks, Rob.

關掉你的技術，專心做你的任務，羅伯。

Rob: To knuckle down, by the way, means to start working hard.

羅布：順便說一句，就是要開始努力工作。

But Alice, sometimes it's hard to knuckle down to a task when you don't know how to start it

但是愛麗絲，有時候當你不知道如何開始的時候，你很難去做一件事。

Or you're scared to start it ... or sometimes just because you know it's going to be really tedious

或者你害怕開始......或者有時只是因為你知道這將是非常乏味的。

And that means boring.

而這意味著無聊。

Alice: Yes. So what's your excuse, Rob?

愛麗絲愛麗絲： 是的。那麼你的藉口是什麼，羅布？

Rob: Well, it's boredom, usually.

羅伯：嗯，通常是無聊。

Alice: You should try temptation bundling.

愛麗絲，你應該試試誘惑捆綁。你應該嘗試 誘惑捆綁。

Rob: Temptation bundling - what's that?

羅布：誘惑捆綁--那是什麼？

Alice: Temptation bundling means doing two activities together ... one you should do

愛麗絲。誘惑捆綁意味著做 兩個活動在一起... 一個你應該做的

but are avoiding, and one you love doing which isn't productive.

但卻在逃避，還有一個你喜歡做的事，卻沒有成效。

Rob: For example, eating biscuits while I work?

羅伯：比如說，我一邊工作一邊吃餅乾？

Alice: Yes, that's right. That sounds like a good one for you, Rob.

愛麗絲是的，這是正確的。這聽起來很適合你，羅伯。

Rob: It might be a good idea actually.

羅伯：其實這可能是個好主意。

Well, let's listen to Dr Catherine Loveday talking about how we often underestimate

那麼，讓我們來聽聽凱瑟琳-洛夫戴博士說說我們是如何經常低估了

how long things will take us.

事情要花多長時間？

Dr Catherine Loveday: There's this thing called the planning fallacy.

凱瑟琳-拉維代博士有這個東西叫做規劃謬誤。

My favourite one is always the example of the Oxford English Dictionary that they started

我最喜歡的是牛津英語詞典的例子，他們開始了

in 1857 and it was supposed to take five years, but five years later they'd only got to the word 'ant'.

1857年，本來要花5年時間，但5年後，他們只找到了 "螞蟻 "這個詞。

In the end it took another 70 years and then it was out of date and they had to start again anyway.

最後又花了70年時間，然後就過時了，反正他們又要重新開始。

We never seem to get any better at judging time in the future and how long things will take us.

我們似乎從來沒有更好地判斷未來的時間，以及事情會花多長時間。

Rob: That's Dr Catherine Loveday. So what's a fallacy, Alice?

那是凱瑟琳-拉維代博士。那麼，什麼是謬論，愛麗絲？

Alice: It's a mistaken belief or idea.

愛麗絲：這是一種錯誤的信念或想法。

Rob: And for the famous Oxford English Dictionary

羅伯：而對於著名的《牛津英語詞典

their mistake was to think they would get the work done in five years when it actually took 70!

他們的錯誤是認為他們會在5年內完成工作，而實際上花了70年的時間!

Alice: Gosh! Wow! What a long time!

愛麗絲。天哪！哇哦!好長的時間啊!

And talking about time – ours is running out – let's go back to today's question.

說到時間--我們的時間不多了--讓我們回到今天的問題上。

I asked: Which American said, "You may delay, but time will not?"

我問道："你可以拖延，但時間不會拖延。哪個美國人說："你可以拖延，但時間不會拖延"？

Was it ... a) John F Kennedy, b) Benjamin Franklin or c) Franklin J Roosevelt?

是......a)約翰-肯尼迪，b)本傑明-富蘭克林還是c)富蘭克林-J-羅斯福？

Rob: And I very confidently said John F Kennedy.

羅伯：我非常自信的說約翰-肯尼迪。

Alice: Yes, you did. And you were wrong today Rob, I'm afraid.

愛麗絲是的，你做到了。而你今天恐怕錯了，羅布。

It was Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

他就是美國國父之一的本傑明-富蘭克林。

Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, freemason, postmaster,

富蘭克林是一位著名的作家、印刷家、政治理論家、政治家、自由職業者、郵差。

scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.

科學家、發明家、公民活動家、政治家和外交家。

I doubt he wasted much time procrastinating!

我懷疑他浪費了很多時間在拖延上!

Rob: No. OK, without further delay, here are the words we learned today:

搶：沒有，好了，不耽誤大家的時間，這是我們今天學到的單詞。

procrastination

拖延症

priority

緩急

minimize

減少

knuckle down

收斂鋒芒

tedious

乏味

temptation bundling

捆綁誘惑

fallacy

謬論

Alice: Well, that's the end of today's 6 Minute English. Please join us again soon!

愛麗絲好了，這就是今天的結束 6分鐘的英語。請大家儘快再來參加我們的節目!

Both: Bye.

都：再見。