课文精讲

　　Controlling your concentration

　　CONCENTARATION 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.⑴

　　1.For this reason， it is helpful to keep the following points in mind.

　　be helpful to …。 对… 很有益；

　　keep …。 in mind 把… 记在心里；

　　译文：因此，记住下列几点是很有帮助的。

　　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. ⑵Listen carefully and notice how the ticking increases in apparent intensity， fades to a point where it cannot be heard， and then increases again.⑶ This phenomenon reveals how our span of attention fluctuates， for the intensity of the ticking is actually constant.

　　2.In a quiet room， place a watch so that it can just scarcely be heard.

　　该句主句是祈使句 place a watch

　　so that 引导目的状语从句

　　译文：在一个安静的房间里，放一块表，表的声音几乎刚刚能听见。

　　3.Listen carefully and notice how the ticking increases in apparent intensity， fades to a point where it

　　cannot be heard， and then increases again.

　　where it cannot be heard 是定语从句修饰 point

　　译文：注意听表的走动声，并且注意表的嘀嗒声怎样明显增大，然后小到听不见，然后又变大。

　　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.⑷ But apparently this is only an illusion. In high concentration the shift from the focus of attention is of short duration and relatively infrequent.

　　4.It is possible for your attention to shift so rapidly that it seems that you attend to several concepts at once.

　　so …that…结果状语从句

　　全句意为：你的注意有可能转移得十分迅速，以至于好像你同时能够专心于几个想法。

　　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.⑸

　　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.

　　see 之后是一个由that引导的宾语从句，在 that 引导的宾语从句中， 含有一个who引导的定语从句

　　修饰the student

　　译文：这样我们可以很容易地看到，如果一个学生的大部分注意力用于自由幻想，即使是讲课要点，他也不可能回想起来。

　　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.”

　　DISTARCTORS 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. ⑹Both types of distractors must be understood before the student can attempt to remedy his lack of concentration.

　　In the study situation distractors may be thought of as either psychological or physical in nature.

　　thought of as 把…看作，认为…

　　译文：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。

　　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.⑺ 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 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.

　　7.The angry man forgets the pain of injury， the fearful man finds it difficult to enjoy pleasure and the tense of anxious person may react violently to the smallest of matters.

　　react … to 对…有反应

　　全句大意：愤怒的人会忘记伤痛，人害怕的时候很难享受快乐，人在紧张或焦虑的时候可能对非常小的事情做出强烈的反应。

　　Emotional reaction varies greatly from person to person.⑻ Some person 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.