今天明显对时间有了敬畏感_

一转眼，2024年就过半了。有网友感慨，今天明显对时间有了敬畏感。年初立下的那些Flags，你都实现了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. What can be inferred about the importance of new experiences in our perception of time?

A) New experiences make time seem to pass more quickly.

B) Routine activities help in better time management.

C) New experiences make time feel longer when looking back.

D) Routine activities have no effect on time perception.

2. How does Adrian Bejan explain the perception of time speeding up as we age?

A) By stating that older adults have more responsibilities.

B) By highlighting the decreased number of images the brain processes.

C) By suggesting that older people are less active.

D) By indicating that older adults have fewer new experiences.

无注释原文：

Time Flies By Faster As We Get Older. Here's Why.

From: The Huffington Post

For many people, 2024 went by in a blink ― doesn't it feel like it was just January? But for others, especially children, holidays may seem like eons ago.

There's a reason why you may feel like the years moved slowly when you were a kid, but zoom by now. Experts say our perception of time greatly changes as we age, which makes certain periods feel like they go by quickly.

“Our perception of days, weeks, years and that kind of time seems to be especially influenced by our perspective: Are we in the moment experiencing it, or are we looking backward on time?” said Cindy Lustig, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan.

She added that the perception of time is also influenced by memory and how much you've experienced. For an 8-year-old, a week is a big portion of their life. For an 80-year-old, a week is a much smaller portion of their life, which contributes to the feeling that it went by quickly.

Looking back on time plays into this feeling of acceleration.

A day in the life of a retired 80-year-old may feel like it's going by more slowly than that of an 8-year-old who is busy at school. However, when both people look back on a month or a year, that period of time will seem like it went by faster to the older person.

This is for a number of reasons. For the 80-year-old, their life probably doesn't look too different than it did when they were 78 or 79, “so, in that case, they're looking back on fewer events,” Lustig said. “When you're looking back, the less rich your representation is, the more it's going to seem like the time went by quickly.”

In other words, our brains lump time together when the days or weeks are similar. So for an 80-year-old who largely does the same thing every day, the year is going to blend together in their mind and feel like it went by quickly.

The new and exciting things in a day are what make the days and months feel different, and thus set them apart in our minds.

Changes to your routine can also affect how fast the years seem to go by.

“Our brains are designed to record change,” said Adrian Bejan, a professor of mechanical engineering at Duke University and the author of the recent book “Time And Beauty: Why Time Flies And Beauty Never Dies.”

The many experiences young children have in a day (such as learning new things at school, going to ballet class or visiting a new friend's house) contribute to the notion that time is more plentiful and more activities can fit into that time. Therefore, when looking back, time may feel slower.

This can apply to adults, too. When we look back on a time period that was filled with lots of new experiences, “we see [a] large expense of events and memories, and that makes it seem like time stretches out ... and it feels very long,” Lustig said. If you're not introducing new patterns into your life, time can feel like it's going by much quicker overall.

Some experts think that how our brain absorbs images impacts our perception of time.

How we process what we see can also influence how we view time, Bejan said. Our brains are trained to receive many images when we are infants. Because we're absorbing so many new images as kids, it may feel like months and years are longer.

As adults, “the brain receives fewer images than it was trained to receive when young,” Bejan said. Therefore, we feel like time went by more quickly. In other words, there are physiological factors at play that influence our perception of time ― namely, the older we get, the faster it feels.

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Time Flies By Faster As We Get Older. Here's Why.

From: The Huffington Post

For many people, 2024 went by in ablink― doesn't it feel like it was just January? But for others, especially children, holidays may seem likeeonsago.

对许多人来说，2024年仿佛一眨眼就过去了——是不是觉得才刚刚1月吗？但对其他人，尤其是孩子们来说，假期似乎已经是很久以前的事了。

in a blink

blink /blɪŋk/ 作动词，1）表示“（光）闪烁”，英文解释为“If a light blinks, it flashes on and off.”

2）表示“眨眼睛”，英文解释为“when you blink or blink your eyes or your eyes blink , you shut and open your eyes quickly”举个🌰：She blinked and forced a smile. 她眨了眨眼，挤出了一丝微笑。

作名词，可以直接表示“眨眼”。

📍in the blink of an eye 表示“一眨眼，瞬间”，英文解释为“extremely quickly”举个🌰：In the blink of an eye, he was gone. 一眨眼他就不见了。

📍说到blinking, blinking 想到iPhone 13刚上市时的段子，为什么iPhone 13是历代iPhone中最亮眼、最闪闪发光的，因为13 13 亮晶晶。

eon

eon /ˈiː.ɒn/ 表示“极长的时期；万古”，英文解释为“a period of time that is so long that it cannot be measured”举个🌰：I've been waiting eons for my new computer. 我等新电脑等了好长时间了。

There's a reason why you may feel like the years moved slowly when you were a kid, butzoom bynow. Experts say ourperceptionof time greatly changes as we age, which makes certain periods feel like they go by quickly.

小时候觉得时间过得慢，现在却觉得时间过得快，这是有原因的。专家说，随着年龄的增长，我们对时间的感知会发生很大的变化，这让我们感觉某些时间段过得很快。

zoom by

表示“飞驰而过：以高速通过或穿过某物或某地”，英文解释为“to move quickly or suddenly with a loud humming or buzzing sound”

perception

perception /pəˈsep.ʃən/ 1）表示“认识，观念，看法”，英文解释为“a belief or opinion, often held by many people and based on how things seem”举个🌰：These photographs will affect people's perceptions of war. 这些照片会影响人们对战争的看法。

2）表示“知觉；感知”，英文解释为“the way you notice things, especially with the senses”如：visual perception 视觉；

🎬电影《失落的大陆》（Land of the Lost）中的台词提到：he has terrible depth perception 他的深度感知力很差。

“Our perception of days, weeks, years and that kind of time seems to be especially influenced by ourperspective: Are we in the moment experiencing it, or are we looking backward on time?” said Cindy Lustig, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan.

“我们对天、周、年等时间的感知似乎特别受我们视角的影响，” 密歇根大学心理学教授辛迪·卢斯蒂格（Cindy Lustig）说。“我们是在经历当下，还是在回顾过去？”

perspective

perspective /pəˈspek.tɪv/ 表示“（思考问题的）角度，观点，想法”，英文解释为“a particular way of considering something”举个🌰：Her attitude lends a fresh perspective to the subject. 她的态度为这一问题提供了新的视角。

She added that the perception of time is also influenced by memory and how much you've experienced. For an 8-year-old, a week is a bigportionof their life. For an 80-year-old, a week is a much smaller portion of their life, which contributes to the feeling that it went by quickly.

她补充说，对时间的感知也受记忆和经历多少的影响。对于一个8岁的孩子来说，一周的时间在他们的生命中占据很大一部分。而对于80岁的老人来说，一周的时间在他们的生命中只占很小一部分，这就会让他们觉得时间过得很快。

portion

portion /ˈpɔː.ʃən/ 1）表示“一部分；一份”，英文解释为“a part or share of something larger”举个🌰：A large/major portion of the company's profit goes straight back into new projects. 公司利润的一大部分/主要部分又直接投入了新的项目。

2）表示“（食物的）一份，一客”，英文解释为“the amount of a particular food that is served to one person, especially in a restaurant or a shop that sells food ready to be eaten”举个🌰：The portions are very generous in this restaurant. 这家饭店每份菜量都很足。

📍宝马mini道歉文中，路透社（Reuters）用serving，表示该含义，原文：A person familiar with the matter said the booth had finished giving out 300 servings of ice cream meant for visitors when the incident occurred and the foreigner in the video was a BMW employee. 一名知情人士表示，事发时，该展位已经发放完300份为参展者准备的冰淇淋，视频中的外国人是宝马公司的员工。

📍serving /ˈsɜː.vɪŋ/ 作名词，表示“（供一人食用的）一份；一客”，英文解释为“an amount of one type of food that is given to one person”举个🌰：The quantities given in the recipe should be enough for four servings. 食谱上给出的量足够4个人吃。

Looking back on time plays into this feeling ofacceleration.

回首往事也会产生这种加速感。

退休的80岁老人一天的生活可能感觉过得比忙于上学的8岁孩子更慢。然而，当两个人回顾一个月或一年的时光时，老人会觉得这段时间过得更快。

acceleration

acceleration /əkˌsel.əˈreɪ.ʃən/ 表示“增速，加快；加速性能”，英文解释为“the increase in something's speed, or its ability to go faster”或者物理上的“加速度”，英文解释为“the rate at which the velocity (= speed in a particular direction) of an object changes”

This is for a number of reasons. For the 80-year-old, their life probably doesn't look too different than it did when they were 78 or 79, “so, in that case, they're looking back on fewer events,” Lustig said. “When you're looking back, the less rich yourrepresentationis, the more it's going to seem like the time went by quickly.”

原因有很多。对于80岁的老人来说，他们的生活可能与78或79岁时没有太大的不同，“因此，在这种情况下，他们回顾的事件就会比较少，”卢斯蒂格说。“当你回顾过去时，回忆中的事件越少，你就越会觉得时间过得飞快。”

representation

representation /ˌrep.rɪ.zenˈteɪ.ʃən/ 1）表示“作为…的代表（或代理人）；作为…的代言人”，英文解释为“a person or organization that speaks, acts, or is present officially for someone else”举个🌰：Can he afford legal representation? 他请得起律师吗？

2）表示“表现；展现；描绘；描述；表现物（尤指画或模型）”，英文解释为“the way that someone or something is shown or described”举个🌰：He gave a talk on the representation of women in 19th-century art. 他作了一个演讲，是关于19世纪艺术中女性形象塑造的。

3）representations，一般用复数，表示“陈述；述说；抗议”，英文解释为“formal statements made to sb in authority, especially in order to make your opinions known or to protest”举个🌰：We made representations to the boss about the long working hours. 我们就工作时间过长一事向老板提出抗议。

In other words, our brainslump time togetherwhen the days or weeks are similar. So for an 80-year-old who largely does the same thing every day, the year is going toblendtogether in their mind and feel like it went by quickly.

换句话说，当几天或几周相似时，我们的大脑会把时间混在一起。因此，对于每天生活都差不多的80岁老人来说，一年的时间会在他们的脑海中混在一起，感觉过得很快。

lump

lump /lʌmp/ 作名词，1）表示“（通常指无固定形状的）块，团”，英文解释为“a piece of a solid substance, usually with no particular shape”如：a lump of coal 一块煤；

2）表示“（尤指因疾病或伤害而出现的）肿块”，英文解释为“a hard swelling found in or on the body, especially because of illness or injury”举个🌰：She found a lump in her breast. 她在胸部发现了一个肿块。

作动词，lump sb/sth together 表示“把…混到一块儿，把…合并在一起”，英文解释为“to put different groups together and think about them or deal with them in the same way”举个🌰：All the children are lumped together in one class, regardless of their ability. 不管资质如何，所有孩子都被合并到一个班。

blend

blend /blend/ 表示“（使）混合，（使）混杂;（使）交融”，英文解释为“to mix or combine together”举个🌰：Blend the ingredients into a smooth paste. 将这些原料混和成均匀的糊状。

The new and exciting things in a day are what make the days and months feel different, and thus set them apart in our minds.

每天都有新奇和令人兴奋的事情，才会让人感觉每天每月都不一样，从而在我们的记忆中变得独特。

Changes to your routine can also affect how fast the years seem to go by.

日常生活的改变也会影响我们对时间流逝的感知。

“Our brains are designed to record change,” said Adrian Bejan, a professor of mechanical engineering at Duke University and the author of the recent book “Time And Beauty: Why Time Flies And Beauty Never Dies.”

“我们的大脑就是用来记录变化的，”杜克大学机械工程教授阿德里安·贝扬（Adrian Bejan）说，他也是新书《时间与美：为什么时间飞逝而美永恒》（Time And Beauty: Why Time Flies And Beauty Never Dies）的作者。

The many experiences young children have in a day (such as learning new things at school, going to ballet class or visiting a new friend's house) contribute to thenotionthat time is more plentiful and more activities can fit into that time. Therefore, when looking back, time may feel slower.

孩子们每天有许多新体验（如在学校学习新知识、上芭蕾课或到新朋友家做客），这促使他们认为时间更加充裕，可以在这些时间里进行更多的活动。当回首往事时，可能会觉得时间过得比较慢。

notion

notion /ˈnəʊ.ʃən/ 表示“观念；看法；理解；概念”，英文解释为“a belief or idea”举个🌰：The show's director rejects the notion that seeing violence on television has a harmful effect on children. 节目制片人们并不认为看到电视上的暴力场景会对孩子们造成不良影响。

This can apply to adults, too. When we look back on a time period that was filled with lots of new experiences, “we see [a] large expense of events and memories, and that makes it seem like timestretchesout ... and it feels very long,” Lustig said. If you're not introducing new patterns into your life, time can feel like it's going by much quicker overall.

成年人也是如此。当我们回顾一段充满许多新体验的时光时，“我们会发现有大量事件和记忆，这让时间看起来似乎延长了......感觉非常漫长，”卢斯蒂格说。如果你没有在生活中加入新的变化，时间整体上会感觉过得更快。

stretch

stretch /stretʃ/ 作名词，1）表示“（连续的）一段时间”，英文解释为“a continuous period of time”举个🌰：The elderly generally need far less rest than the young, and tend to sleep in several short stretches. 年长者一般需要的休息时间比年轻人要少得多，而且往往会分成几个小段时间睡觉。

2）表示“（土地或水域的）一片，一段”，英文解释为“a continuous area of land or water”举个🌰：This particular stretch of coast is especially popular with hikers. 在这一段海岸散步的人特别多。

作动词，1）表示“到…的限度；超过…的限度；竭尽”，英文解释为“to go as far as or past the usual limit of something”举个🌰：Many families' budgets are already stretched to breaking point. 许多家庭的预算已经撑到了极限。

2）表示“伸出；伸长；拉伸”，英文解释为“to cause something to reach, often as far as possible, in a particular direction”举个🌰：She stretched out her hand and helped him from his chair. 她伸手将他从椅子上扶起来。

3）表示“展开，铺开；延伸”，英文解释为“to spread over a large area or distance”举个🌰：A huge cloud of dense smoke stretched across the horizon. 一大团浓烟在地平线上蔓延开来。

4）表示“延续”，英文解释为“to spread over a long period of time”举个🌰：The dispute stretches back over many years. 这场争论可追溯到许多年以前。

Some experts think that how our brainabsorbsimages impacts our perception of time.

一些专家认为，大脑处理图像的方式会影响我们对时间的感知。

How we process what we see can also influence how we view time, Bejan said. Our brains are trained to receive many images when we areinfants. Because we're absorbing so many new images as kids, it may feel like months and years are longer.

贝扬说，我们如何处理所看到的东西也会影响我们对时间的感知。当我们还是婴儿时，我们的大脑就接受了接收大量图像的训练。因为我们在小时候接收了太多的新图像，所以可能会觉得几个月和几年的时间更长。

absorb

absorb /əbˈzɔːb/ 1）表示“（尤指逐渐）吸收”，英文解释为“to take something in, especially gradually”举个🌰：Plants absorb carbon dioxide. 植物吸收二氧化碳。

2）表示“（公司等）承担开支”，英文解释为“if a business absorbs the cost of something, it pays that cost easily”举个🌰：The school has absorbed most of the expenses so far, but it may have to offer fewer places next year to reduce costs. 这间学校目前能够承担大部分的费用，可是明年可能不得不通过减少招生降低开支。

3）表示“理解；掌握（事实、想法等）”，英文解释为“to understand facts or ideas completely and remember them”举个🌰：It's hard to absorb so much information. 掌握如此大量信息非常困难。

名词：absorption /əbˈzɔːp.ʃən/ 表示“吸收”，英文解释为“the process of taking something into another substance”举个🌰：Some poisonous gases can enter the body by absorption through the skin. 一些有毒气体可以通过皮肤吸收进入体内。

infant

infant /ˈɪn.fənt/ 表示“婴儿”，英文解释为“a baby or a very young child”如：a newborn infant 新生儿。

As adults, “the brain receives fewer images than it was trained to receive when young,” Bejan said. Therefore, we feel like time went by more quickly. In other words, there arephysiologicalfactors at play that influence our perception of time ― namely, the older we get, the faster it feels.

成年后，“大脑接收的图像比小时候少，”贝扬说。因此，我们会感觉时间过得更快。换句话说，有生理因素在影响我们对时间的感知——即年龄越大，时间感觉过得越快。

physiological

physiological /ˌfɪz.i.əˈlɒdʒ.ɪ.kəl/ 表示“生理学的”，英文解释为“relating to the way in which the bodies of living things work”举个🌰：Touching causes a physiological reaction. 触摸引起生理反应。

- 词汇盘点 -

in a blink、 eon、 zoom by、 perception、 perspective、 portion、 acceleration、 representation、 lump、 blend、 notion、 stretch、 absorb、 infant、 physiological

- 词汇助记 By ChatGPT -

In a blink, an infant's eon stretches, perception zooming by. Physiological acceleration lumps portions of experience, blending representation and perspective. Notions absorb, shaping life's blend.

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