四、閱讀測驗(請在下列各題中選出最適當的答案)
Since 1979, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has been popular. There are nearly 1,000 certified
MBSR instructors teaching mindfulness techniques (including meditation) in more than 30 countries.
Technology has made it easier than ever to fracture attention into smaller and smaller bits. We answer a
colleague’s questions from the stands at a child’s soccer game; we pay the bills while watching TV; we order
groceries while stuck in traffic. In a time when no one seems to have enough time, our devices allow us to be
many places at once—but at the cost of being unable to fully inhabit the place where we actually want to be.
Mindfulness says we can do better. At one level, the techniques associated with the philosophy are intended to
help practitioners quiet a busy mind, becoming more aware of the present moment and less caught up in what
happened earlier or what’s to come. Many cognitive therapists commend it to patients as a way to help cope with
anxiety and depression. More broadly, it’s seen as a means to deal with stress.
But to view mindfulness simply as the latest self-help fad underplays its potency and misses the point of why it
is gaining acceptance with those who might otherwise dismiss mental training techniques closely tied to
meditation—Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, Fortune 500 titans, Pentagon chiefs and more. If distraction is the
pre-eminent condition of our age, then mindfulness, in the eyes of its enthusiasts, is the most logical response. Its
strength lies in its universality. Though meditation is considered an essential means to achieving mindfulness, the
ultimate goal is simply to give your attention fully to what you’re doing.
There’s evidence they’re correct. Researchers have found that multitasking leads to lower overall
productivity. Students and workers who constantly and rapidly switch between tasks have less ability to filter out
irrelevant information, and they make more mistakes. And many corporate workers today find it impossible to
take breaks. According to a recent survey, more than half of employed American adults check work messages on the
weekends and 4 in 10 do so while on vacation. Now, Silicon Valley has become a hotbed of mindfulness classes and
conferences. For example, through the course Search Inside Yourself, thousands of Googlers have learned
attention-focusing techniques, including meditation, meant to help them free up mental space for creativity and big
thinking.
【題組】47. What does the word “multitasking” in paragraph 4 mean?
(A) Performing different tasks at the same time.
(B) Running more apps simultaneously.
(C) Maintaining absolute attention on one’s work.
(D) Having more difficulty retaining new information.
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