Willpower 意志力

曲永華

暢銷書《意志力：重新發現我們最大的力量》指出，意志力是一種能力，它能做出長期對我們更有利的決定。本文通過書中一個著名的實驗說明了意志力對人們生活的影響，并告訴我們如何提高整體意志力。

Imagine this. There’s an apple and a piece of cake on a table. Which one would you like？ The delicious cake or the healthy apple？ A bestseller， Willpower： Rediscovering Our Greatest Strength， suggests that willpower（意志力）is the ability to make decisions that are better for us in the long term， rather than in the short term.

Here is a famous experiment in the book： The Marshmallow Test. In 1972， Professor Walter Mischel tested the willpower of 600 four-year-olds to six-year-olds. In the experiment， each child was left alone in a room for fifteen minutes with a marshmallow（棉花軟糖）on a table in front of them. They were given two choices： they could either eat it or， if they waited fifteen minutes， they’d be given a second one（and then they could eat both）.

So， what did the kids do？ Well， as you can imagine， 70% ate the first marshmallow within the fifteen minutes. But the other 30% showed willpower—they controlled themselves and waited for the second marshmallow. But then Mischel discovered something really interesting. Twenty years later， he got in touch with the children， who， by then， were in their early twenties. And he found that those who’d shown strong willpower were getting better marks at university and were more popular.

Willpower is like a muscle（肌肉）， and the more you exercise it， the stronger it gets.

So， if you do daily “self-control exercises”， such as making your bed or brushing your teeth， you’ll improve your overall willpower. And daily willpower exercises will help you with those bigger goals， such as studying for an exam or training for a marathon.

Be careful though. Just like any muscle， your “willpower muscle” can get tired. If you’ve had to do lots of things that require willpower， take a break or give yourself a treat.

That way， you’ll build up your willpower again.

And one last thing， the writer mentions people who learn foreign languages usually have a lot of willpower. So， congratulations！

[精彩譯文]

想象一下。桌子上有一個蘋果和一塊蛋糕。你想要哪一個？美味的蛋糕還是健康的蘋果？一本暢銷書《意志力：重新發現我們最大的力量》指出，意志力是一種在長期而不是短期內做出對我們更有利的決定的能力。

書中有一個著名的實驗：棉花糖實驗。1972年，沃爾特·米歇爾教授測試了600名4～6歲兒童的意志力。在實驗中，每個孩子被單獨留在一個房間里15分鐘，面前的桌子上放著一個棉花糖。他們有兩個選擇：要么吃;要么等15分鐘，再獲得一個（然后兩個都可以吃）。

那么，孩子們做了什么？嗯，你可以想象，70%的人在15分鐘內吃了第一個棉花糖。但另外30%的人表現出意志力，他們控制自己，等待第二個棉花糖。但后來米歇爾發現了一件非常有趣的事。20年后，他和孩子們取得了聯系，那時孩子們已經20歲出頭了。他發現那些表現出很強意志力的人在大學里成績更好，更受歡迎。

意志力就像一塊肌肉，你鍛煉得越多，它就越強壯。

所以，如果你每天做“自我控制練習”，比如整理床鋪或刷牙，你會提高你的整體意志力。每天的意志力訓練會幫助你實現更大的目標，比如為考試而學習或者為馬拉松而訓練。

不過要小心。就像任何肌肉一樣，你的“意志力肌肉”也會感到疲勞。如果你不得不做很多需要意志力的事情，休息一下或者好好犒勞一下自己。

這樣，你會再次增強你的意志力。

最后一件事，作者提到學習外語的人通常有很強的意志力。所以，恭喜你！

練一練

1. How many children got two marshmallows in the Marshmallow Test in 1972？

A. 180. B. 240. C. 420. D. 600.

2. In Paragraphs 2&3， the famous experiment explains .

A. more kids have stronger willpower

B. willpower influences people’s lives greatly

C. how people practice children’s willpower

D. marshmallows can help improve willpower

3. The writer probably agrees that .

A. all the language learners have stronger willpower

B. willpower can’t be improved by doing some daily things

C. young kids don’t need to practice willpower like grown-ups

D. people with strong willpower can achieve their goals more easily

4. According to the passage， people who might have strong willpower.

A. do regular piano practice every day B. give up morning running halfway

C. eat as much junk food as they like D. usually get up late on the cold morning

答案：1. A 2. B 3. D 4. A