60秒：学习/工作的时候总是走神？

 [听力全文]

Think you can stay focused on this podcast for the next 60 seconds?

Well that depends on how much working memory you have, according to a new study in the journal Psychological Science (pdf).

Working memory is our ability to hold onto information for a short period of time, like keeping a phone number in mind while you search for your cell phone.

Now a study finds that your capacity for working memory is directly related to how often your mind wanders.

Scientists had subjects press a button when they saw a letter appear on a computer screen. Periodically during this task the researchers would ask the subjects whether they were actively focusing on the task or if they were thinking about something else.

The researchers also measured each subject’s working memory capacity, by testing the ability to remember a series of letters interspersed with basic math problems.  

It turns out that those with a larger working memory capacity reported more distraction during the task. Indicating that our working memory strives to work at capacity. Such subjects had greater focus when tested with more complicated tasks.

Well, the minute is up. So, did you stay focused?

—Christie Nicholson

 [重难点词汇、短语]

intersperse: v. 散布；点缀

 [参考译文]

你觉得自己能专心听完接下来60秒的内容吗？

一项发表在《心理》（Psychological Science）上的研究发现，这取决于你的工作记忆能力（working memory，WM）有多强。

工作记忆指的是我们在短时间段内对信息进行加工和贮存的能力，就好像在找到手机之前，迅速记下电话号码那样。

如今，一项研究发现一个人的工作记忆和他走神的频率有直接关系。

家让自愿者面对电脑屏幕，要求他们看到有字母出现时就按一下按钮。在任务过程中，研究人员时不时地询问自愿者，他们是聚精会神地在完成任务呢，还是会东想西想。

研究人员还测试了每一位自愿者的工作记忆能力，方法是测试他们记忆穿插在基础数学题中一系列字母的能力。

结果表明，拥有更强工作记忆能力的人在字母测试中会更经常地走神。这意味着我们的工作记忆力开足马力在干活，当要求这些自愿者完成更加复杂的任务时，他们往往更加专注。

好了，1分钟到了。你专心听下来了吗？ 

翻译 阿金