Controlling Your Concentration

CONCENTRATION IS CENTERING YOUR ATTENTION

Psychologically defined, concentration is the process of centering one's attention over a period of time. In practical application, however, concentration is not as simple to deal successfully with as the definition may imply. For this reason, it is helpful to keep the following points in mind.

Your attention span varies

Even with the greatest effort, our span of attention fluctuates. You can demonstrate for yourself this fluctuation of attention. In a quiet room, place a watch so that it can just scarcely be heard. Listen carefully and notice how the ticking increases in apparent intensity, fades to a point where it cannot be heard, and then increases again. This phenomenon reveals how our span of attention fluctuates, for the intensity of the ticking is actually constant.

You pay attention to one thing at a time

Evidence to date indicates that you attend to one idea at a time. It is possible for your attention to shift so rapidly that it seems that you attend to several concepts at once. But apparently this is only an illusion. In high concentration the shift from the focus of attention is of short duration and relatively infrequent.

An illustration of periods of high, moderate, and low attention

High attention has long periods of attending and short distraction periods. In low attention the periods of attending are short and the distraction periods long. In moderate attention there is a mixture of the extremes. Thus it is easy to see that it is highly unlikely that the student who has most of his attention centered on fancying at large will be able to recall even the major points of a lecture.

Lack of concentration is a symptom, not the cause, of difficulty. When a student says "I can't concentrate", what he is really saying is, "I can't attend to the task at hand because my distractors are too strong."

DISTRACTORS ARE OF TWO SORTS - PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL

A distractor is anything which causes attention to vary from a central focal point. In the study situation distractors may be thought of as either psychological or physical in nature. Both types of distractors must be understood before the student can attempt to remedy his lack of concentration.

Emotions are the most powerful distractors

The angry man forgets the pain of injury, the fearful man finds it difficult to enjoy pleasure and the tense or anxious person may react violently to the smallest of matters. In the student's life there are many psychological pressures and tensions which block effective productivity. The fears about making the grade, the doubts of the friendliness of a friend's behaviour and the pressures of limited finances - these are only a few of the emotional forces which affect the student.

Emotional reaction varies greatly from person to person. Some persons gain goal and direction from their tensions and actually do better because of them. Others fall apart under pressure, while a few people do well despite the pressure.

Physical distractors are always present and rarely understood

Our environment is much more important to how we feel and react than we often think. Particularly is this true of the effect of physical distractors on mental tasks. One research report has shown that comprehension and retention of reading were decreased when students listened to lively music. However, rate of reading was not affected, so that many students were not aware that they were affected by the background distractor. Another study found that the ability to recall accurately was affected by distracting conditions. Most of the evidence indicates that noise affects adversely higher mental task output. Still, the effect of distractors is seldom fully appreciated by students.

ROUTING AND REASONING TASKS ARE AFFECTED DIFFERENTLY BY DISTRACTORS

Typically when students are faced with the evidence on distractors the argument is given that their cousin, friend, or classmate can study in "Grand Central Station." And he makes "all A's" too! There is evidence, of course, that motivation plays an important role in overcoming the effects of distractors and that there are considerable differences in individual spans of attention. Either of these factors could account for some individuals being able to do well using inefficient methods. The fact that some exceptional people do well under adverse conditions scarcely justifies your assuming that you are exceptional in the same manner. Your chances of success are higher if you avoid the distractors which are known to hinder the typeical student.

译文：

控制你的注意力

聚精会神就是集中你的注意力

按心理学定义，专心是一段时间内集中注意力的过程。然而，在实际应用中，成功地对待专心这个问题并不像定义中所说的那么简单。正因为这样，把以下几点记在心里是有帮助的。

你的注意力范围是变化的

即使付出最大努力，我们注意力的范围还是波动的。你可以自己证明这种注意力的变化。在一个安静的房间里，把一块表放在刚刚能听到它声音的地方，仔细听，注意到嘀嗒声是如何明显地提高强度，继而，衰弱到听不到，然后又提高了。这种现象揭示了我们注意力范围是如何波动的，因为嘀哒声的强度实际上并无变化。

你在同一时刻注意一件事情

至今为止的资料表明，在同一时刻你只能注意到一个念头。你的注意力可能转移得很快，似乎能立刻注意到几个概念。但显然这只是一个错觉。在注意力集中时，注意力的焦点转移是在很短时间内，而且比较而言是很少发生的。

高度、适度、低注意力的说明

高度注意有较强的注意期和很短的注意力分散期。在低注意力下，注意到短期而注意力分散期长。适度注意力融合了两种极端。因此，显而易见，把自己的注意力集中在胡思乱想上的学生甚至不可能回想出讲课的要点。

缺乏注意力是困难的征兆，而不是起因。当一个学生说"我无法集中注意力"时，他其实在说，"因为分散我的注意力的东西太强，我不能专心手头的工作"

注意力的干扰有两种：心理上的和物质上的

干扰物是任何可以使注意力偏离中心焦点的东西。在学习的情况下，干扰物实际上可以被认为是心理的或者是物质的。在学生尝试补救自己注意力缺乏之前，应当首先了解这两种干扰物。

情绪是最强大的干扰

生气的人会忘记伤害的疼痛，恐惧的人会发现很难享受快乐，紧张、焦虑的人可能对极小的事情反应强烈。在学生生活里，有许多心理压力和紧张，严重影响学习效率。对是否能取得好成绩的担忧，对朋友行为是否友好的怀疑和经济能力有限而造成的压力――这些仅仅只是几种影响学生的精神压力。

每个人情绪的反应大不相同。一些人从他们的紧张中获得目标和方向，实际上却因此做得更好。基他人在压力下崩溃了，而一些人尽管有压力却做得很好。

物质干扰时常存在，却难以理解解

我们的环境对我们如何感受和反应比我们通常认为的重要得多。对脑力劳动的物质干扰的效果而言，尤其如此。一项研究报告表明，在听轻快的音乐时读书的理解力和记忆力降低了。然而，读书的速度未受影响。另一项研究发现准确回忆的能力受到纷杂环境的影响。许多迹象表明噪音对较高级脑力工作成果有不利影响。干扰物的影响仍没有得到学生们的充分重视。

日常的推理性的工作受到干扰的不同影响

许多日常工作能够在有干扰的背景下完成，结果受到很小影响或无任何不利影响。许多学生从自身经历中发现这是一个事实。他们中学时可能有过这样的作业，练习或仅仅是抄写。在放着最新的唱片或演着电视的背景下，做这些作业是可能的。经过一段时间后，这些学生觉得自己肯定能用同样的方式做所有的工作――日常工作或解决问题的工作。证据却表明了相反的结论。

例外会误导你

典型的情况是，当要求学生们拿出关于干扰物的证据时，他们提出自己的表兄弟、朋友或同学能在纽约的"中央火车站"学习，而且考试可以得"全优"。当然，有证据表明动机在克服干扰物的影响方面起了重要的作用。个人的注意力范围也有相当大的区别。这些事实中的任何一个都可以解释一些个别人能用低效的方法做得很好。一些例外的人在不利条件下做得很好的事实不能证明在同一方式下你也是例外的假设。如果你避开那些已知的妨碍一般学生的干扰物，你的成功机会就更大些。

课文讲解：

一、单词讲解：

1. span

1)N.跨距、指距 The arch has a span of sixty meters.这拱门的跨距为60米。

2)N.（有限的）时间、期间：How short is the span of life,人生何其短暂！

3）V.(在时间上、空间上）跨过、持续: Her life spanned almost a century.

2.fluctuate波动、起伏：The price of vegetables fluctuates according to the weather.

3. remedy

1)N。药物、疗法： The remedy has taken effect.

2）N.矫正、补救办法：There is no remedy for this kind of trouble.

3)V.治疗、改善、补救：Your faults of pronunciation can be remedied.

4.finance

1)N.财政、金融、经费：The company needs a man who knows finances

2)V.提供资金给。。。 His father financed his way through college.

5.hinder 妨碍、阻碍： The snow hindered our progress

6. typical 典型的、特有的、独特的 This mountain scenery is typical of Scotland.

7.fade

1)V.（颜色）消退、退色：The sun faded the wallpaper.

2)V.（花草）枯萎，（气势等）衰退： Flowers soon fade when cut

3)V.(声音、光线）变微弱、黯淡： The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced 夜深勒，喧闹声渐归沉寂。

8.moderate

1）ADJ.适度的、中等的、有节制的： prices in this hotel are strictly moderate.

2)V.使平稳、使缓和。He was forced to morderate his demands.

9.appreciate

1)V.鉴赏、欣赏：Youll appreciate his novels better if you read his autobiography

2)V.重视、赏识： His great ability was universally appreciated. 他的杰出才能获得普遍的赞赏。

3）V.感谢、感激： I would much appreciate it if you could do him that favour.如果你能帮助他的话，我会非常感激。

二、课文讲解

1.In practical application, however, concentration is not as simple to deal successfully with as the definition may imply.然而，在实际应用中，成功地对待专心这个问题并不像定义中所说的那样简单。

在表示“和。。。一样的。。。。”和“不及。。。。”这类概念时，可以用“as…as 和”not so/as … as这样的结构。 例如： The city center isnt as crowded today as it usually is. 今天市中心没有平常那么拥挤。

2.This phenomenon reveals how our span of attention fluctuates, for the intensity of the ticking is actually constant. 这种现象揭示勒我们注意力范围是如何波动的，因为滴答声的强度实际上并无变化

并列连词for在句子中表示因果关系，例如，Youd better put on your sweater, for its rather cold outside.你最好把毛衣穿上，外面很冷。

3。Thus it is easy to see that it is highly unlikedly that the student who has most of his attention centered on fancying at large will be able to recall even the major points of a lecture. 因此，显而易见，把自己的注意力集中在胡思乱想上的学生甚至不可能回忆出讲课的要点。

这是一个比较长的复合句。其中第一个that 用作宾语从句，在此宾语从句中，又包括另一个以链接代词that引导的主语从句，主语从句中的主语the student后面又尾随一个定语从句who has most of his attention centered on fancying at large。其中，过去分词短语“centered on fancying at large和名词短语”most of his attention一起构成动词“has ”的复合宾语。 感官动词和使役动词后面都可以接此类复合宾语“名词/代词＋过去分词。”例如：She was glad to see her children well taken care of in the nursery.

4.However, rate of reading was not affected, so that many students were not aware that they were affected by the background distractor.然而，读书的速度未受影响，以至于许多学生没有意识到他们受到了潜在干扰物的影响。

Be＋形容词＋that从句“这类结构后面，that引起的从句在概念上接近宾语。能接这类从句常见的形容词有：aware, sure, certain, convinced, confident等。例如：We are fully confident that we can surmount these difficulties. 我们完全相信能克服这些困难。

5.Still, the effect of distractors is seldom fully appreciated by students. 干扰物的影响仍没有得到学生们的充分重视。

有些副词如still, though, however, otherwise. 等在句子中起链接词的作用，使句子和前面说的话连接得更紧密一些。

6.Typically when students are faced with the evidence on distractors the argument is given that their coousin, friend, or classmate can study in Grand Central Station. And he makes all As too!典型的情况是，当要求学生们拿出关于干扰物的证据时，他们提出自己的表兄弟、朋友或同学可以在纽约的”中央火车站学习，而且考试可以得“全优”。

在主句中that引导的从句为同位语从句，用来解释前面的the argument. 因为the argument在句子中做主语，而谓语is given较短，所以为了避免句子头重脚轻，将同位语从句后置。同位语从句常接在idea,fact,news, assumption, hope等名词之后，例如：We expressed the hope that they would come and visit China again.