2011年7月23日 星期六

讀者文摘專輯第四集(13則)


Reader’s Digest


   Laughter
There were two guys working for the township. One would dig a hole: dig, dig, dig. The other would come behind him and fill the hole: fill, fill, fill. These two men worked furiously, one digging a hole, the other filling it up again.
A man watching from the pavement couldn’t believe how hard these men were working, but also couldn’t understand what they were doing.
Finally he had to ask. He said to the hole digger, “I appreciate how hard you work, but what are you doing? You dig a hole and your partner comes along and fills it up again!”
The hole digger replied, “Yes. It must look funny. The guy who plants the trees is sick today.”  (RD2012, March, p.78)

笑 譚
有兩個傢伙替公家工作;其中一個不斷在地上挖洞:挖、挖、挖。另一個跟在後面不斷把洞填平:填、填、填。兩人拚命地工作著,一個挖,一個填。一個人在人行道上看著他們,心裡納悶這兩個人為什麼工作得這麼起勁,而且不知道他們在幹什麼。
他終於忍不住,就問那個挖洞的人:「我很欣賞你們的勤奮,但你們究竟在搞什麼啊?你挖一個洞,你的搭檔馬上過來把它填了!」
挖洞的人回答說:「嗯,看起來是很好笑;那個負責種樹的傢伙今天請病假。」  (RD2012, 3月號, 78)


   “Piems”
“Piems” are pi-inspired poems where the length of each word (in letters) represents a digit of pi. For example:
“How I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics”
represents the number 3.14159265358979. Piems were developed to help people memorize the digits of pi, but now there are 10,000-word books of piems. “Pilish”, a variant of English, also follows the rule in short stories, puzzles, and plays.  (RD2012, March, p.68)

π
所謂「π詩」是根據圓周率π所作的詩,詩中每個字的長度(字母數)依序代表π裡面的一個數字。例如:
“How I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics” 【註】
即代表3.14159265358979這個數值。當初創作π詩」的目的是要幫大家記住π裡面的每個數字;而到目前為止,已經有許多一萬字的「π詩」專書出現了。「π文」——由「英文」一字演變出來的——也是根據上述規則所寫的文章,作出短篇故事、猜謎遊戲、和戲劇。  (RD2012, 3月號, 68)
【註】(在上完幾堂繁重的量子力學課之後,我多麼想來一杯——當然是要含酒精的)


2011年7月10日 星期日

藝文天地第二集(56則)



■巴哈 - 緩板 :
■貝多芬 - 三重協奏曲(2nd Mov.) :
寇達薩 - 秋之玫瑰 :

讀者文摘專輯第三集(18則)

Reader’s Digest



   Keep Fit to Prevent Flu

Regular exercise bolsters immunity to colds and flu, and sporty types who do succumb to colds tend to get off lightly. New researches found people who were physically active on five or more days a week were ill for almost half the time of those who managed only one workout a week. Cold symptoms were also up to 41% less severe in the very fit.  (RD2012, January, p.18)

多運動 防流感
經常運動可加強免疫系統對抗感冒及流感;運動型的人即使患了感冒也比較容易痊癒。新的研究發現,身體比較活躍的人(每星期至少運動五天)比起每星期勉強運動一次的人,生病時間幾乎只有一半;感冒的症狀也比較輕微(降低41%)  (RD2012, 1月號, 18)


   Laughter
A man and his wife were arguing about who should make the coffee each morning.
The wife says, “You should do it, because you get up first.” The husband says, “No! Since you’re in charge of the cooking, you should do it.”
The wife replies, “No, even the Bible says that the man should make the coffee.” The husband is incredulous. He says, “I don’t believe that! Show it to me.”
So his wife opens the Bible, and points out how the top of several pages read: “HEBREWS”.  (RD2012, January, p.145)

笑 譚

有一個人正在跟太太爭辯誰應該每天早上起來煮咖啡。太太說:「你該起來煮,因為你比較早起。」先生說:「錯了,煮東西是妳負責的,所以該妳煮。」太太反駁說:「錯的是你,連聖經都說該男人煮咖啡。」這位先生很懷疑,他說:「我不相信!除非妳指出來給我看。」
於是他老婆打開聖經,指出裡面有好幾頁最上頭都寫著:「HE BREWS。」  (RD2012, 1月號, 145)
  【譯註】其實聖經上寫的是HEBREWS是《希伯來人書》的意思,但這位太太硬把它拆成HE BREWS變成HE()BREWS()。」


   Get a Better Sleep (II)
  1. For a man, how he slept the night before will predict the quality of his interactions with his spouse the next day. For a woman, how she interacted with her spouse that day affects how she’ll sleep that night. So practice healthy conflict resolution during the day. In other words, avoid name-calling, and belittling the other person. 
  2. If you like a firmer mattress and she likes a softer one, you don’t have to compromise. Get two singles, push them together, and use king sheets. Or you can buy a strap that attaches the mattresses to each other.
  3. Watching TV at night may seem relaxing, but it beams light into your eyes, which is an “alert” signal for the brain. Read a book before bed instead.
  4. One of the best cues for the body to go to sleep is a decrease in body temperature. I recommend sleeping in a very cool environment, about 19° C. A hot bath will increase your skin temperature, which eventually decrease your core body temperature. Take a bath a half hour or so before bedtime.
  5. If you have allergies, you’re probably better off with a feather pillow than one made of foam. Feather pillows are more likely to be enclosed in a tightly woven fabric that keeps dust mites out. Relatively few people are allergic to feathers. Besides, foam can exacerbate allergies because of its moisture content.  (RD2012, January, p.74~75)
如何睡得更好()
1.      從一個男人前一夜睡得好不好,可以預知他隔日與配偶互動的品質。而一個女人白天與她的配偶互動好不好,會影響她當晚的睡眠品質。因此,在白天要練習解決衝突的健康方法,避免作人身攻擊,或貶損對方。
2.      如果你喜歡硬一點的床墊,而老婆喜歡軟一點的,那麼不必要遷就對方。買兩張單人床墊,並在一起,然後舖上特大號床罩。或者,你可以買一條寬布帶,把兩張床墊綁在一起。
3.      以為晚上看電視可以使人放鬆,其實它的光線映入眼簾時,對大腦卻是個「警示」訊號。因此,睡前看看書比較好。
4.      暗示身體該睡的最佳訊號是體溫的降低。我一向建議在非常涼爽的環境下睡覺(約攝氏19)。洗個熱水澡會升高皮膚溫度,相對的會降低體內的溫度;因此在睡前約半個小時洗個熱水澡吧。
5.      如果你有過敏的問題,使用羽毛枕頭可能比使用泡沫塑膠枕頭好。羽毛枕頭使用的布料通常織得比較細密,塵蟎不容易跑出來;而對羽毛過敏的人相對而言非常少。另外,泡沫塑膠枕頭經常含有濕氣,會加劇過敏症狀。  (RD2012, 1月號, 74~75)


   Get a Better Sleep (I)
  1. You don’t need a really expensive mattress or one with a lot of space-age bells and whistles. There’s really only one good study on mattresses, and it confirmed the Goldilocks theory: most people prefer a mattress that’s not too hard and not too soft. So look for something medium firm.
  2. If the mattress is eight to ten years old, you should probably get a new one. Seventy-two percent of people we recently surveyed said they slept far better on their new mattress than they did on their old one.
  3. We expect to sleep for eight solid hours, but that’s actually not normal compared with global populations and our own evolutionary history. People naturally wake up two or three times a night. It’s worrying about it that’s the problem.
  4. If you’re not sleeping well, you may have acid reflux, even if you don’t feel heartburn. Try elevating your head by putting blocks under the top of the bed and sleeping on your left side.
  5. The classic line is that you shouldn’t go to bed angry, but that’s sometimes impossible. If you’re lying in the same bed but mentally throwing darts at each other, go and sleep on the couch.  (RD2012, January, p.72~73)
如何睡得更好()

1.      你不一定需要一張昂貴的、具有一大堆花俏功能的床墊。我曾徹底地做過一個有關床墊的研究,結果證實了所謂的「中庸理論」:大多數的人喜歡不太硬又不太軟的床墊;因此賣一張軟硬適中的吧。
2.      如果一張床墊已經用了八到十年,你可能應該換一個新的。根據我們最近的調查,72%的人都說睡新床墊比睡舊床墊更有助於好眠。
3.      我們總希望能一次睡足八個鐘頭,但無論與世界各地的人相對照,或者從人類進化的歷史來看,那是不切實際的。一般人晚上都會自然甦醒兩三次;為此擔心才是真正的問題。
4.      如果你睡不安穩,你可能患了胃酸逆流(即使沒有感到胃痛)。想辦法用木塊將床頭墊高,使頭部高起,並且採取左側躺的姿勢睡覺。
5.      一個經典的說法是:勿含著怒氣上床;但通常不容易做到。如果你們倆同床共枕,但不斷將怒氣擲向對方,那麼請離床去睡沙發。  (RD2012, 1月號, 72~73)

讀者文摘專輯第二集(23則)

 
 
   Literature Applied (I)
I am frequently asked how and in what ways Literature makes us better. How does it help us achieve better results in our home, workplace and community? What are the practical uses of reading a book? Let me begin with Shakespeare. In Macbeth, we hear Duncan, the King of Scotland, make this observation:
There’s no art
To find the mind’s construction in the face;
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.
These lines strike a most familiar chord for they draw our attention to the fact that appearance can be – and very frequently are – deceiving. How often have we repeated these very same sentiments in our lives? “I thought he was a good person.” Or, “Looking at him I never would have thought he’d do such a thing!”
Duncan’s words reflect one of the greatest lessons of life and living. If we heed the meaning of these words, we discover much about our world and ourselves. And we’ll move forward, knowing how easily we can be duped and how we have to be ever vigilant.  (RD2011, November, p.30)

文學之用()
我經常被問到,文學如何提升我們。它如何幫助我們在家裡、在職場裡、在社區裡達到更高的境界?讀一本書究竟有何實際效用?就讓我從莎士比亞說起;在他的一部戲劇「馬克白」裡,我們聽到蘇格蘭鄧肯如是說:
我無法從一個人的面貌
看出他的內在;
曾經他是個
讓我絕對信任的君子。
這幾行字巧妙觸動了我們的心弦,提醒我們一個熟知的事實,就是外表可能(甚至非常可能)是騙人的。在我們生活當中,豈不是經常一而再、再而三地重蹈這種覆轍?例如:「我以為他是個好人。」或者:「從他的外表,我從未想過他會幹這種事。」鄧肯的話教導了我們生活上以及一生中最重要的一堂課。假如我們參透這些話的真義,就會對我們的世界和我們自己有更多的發現。同時更進一步知道,我們是多麼容易受騙,也因此必須更加提高警覺。
 (RD2011, 11月號, 30)


    Literature Applied (II)
Mahatma Gandhi wrote:
Because I am their leader I must follow them.
All of us know about leaders; some of us are leaders ourselves, others report to leaders or follow them. At one point or other, in some context, I think we are all called upon to display leadership skills. Gandhi states the most essential skill a good leader must possess and show is humility. Humility personified through example. This is a rare quality, which few great leaders in history have demonstrated – the capacity to follow the people they lead.
I’d like to highlight another critical practical use of literature: its ability to help us become better communicators. We live in an age given to everything instant. The world of social media (Facebook, Twitter) demands that we say what we want to say fast, quickly, briefly, and right now! And yet our human experience tells us that in doing this we sacrifice Truth because it’s hard to say what we experience quickly and briefly. Here is where Literature comes into play.  (RD2011, November, p.30)

文學之用()
聖雄甘地曾經寫道:
因為我是他們的領袖,所以我必須順從他們
我們都知道領袖是什麼;我們當中有些人就是領袖,另外有些人則追隨領袖。從某個角度或某個意義來說,我認為我們每個人都被要求展現領袖的能力。甘地的話告訴我們,一個卓越的領袖必須具備和展現的最重要的能力是「謙卑」;而謙卑必須由「以身作則」來體現。古今多少偉大的領袖,卻沒有幾位具有這種特質——即︰順從他們所領導的人們的雅量。
    容我再提出文學另一個非常重要的實用性,就是能夠幫助我們成為一個更好的溝通者。我們生活在一個凡事講求速成的時代;所有的社交媒體(如臉書、推特)都要求我們將想講的話很快地、很簡短地、並且立即地講出來!可是經驗告訴我們,速成會造成失真,因為用快速、簡短的方式來表達我們的見聞是一件非常困難的事。這時候,文學就有用了。  (RD2011, 11月號, 30)