Experiencing Nature Makes Us More Forward-Thinking1

By Ben Thomas

To get some perspective on daily troubles, lots of people escape to the outdoors—maybe a weekend bike ride, a fishing trip or a hike—to clear their minds.2. perspective: 觀點(diǎn)，看法；clear: v. 清理，不再煩惱。And now there’s some scientific evidence that it actually helps. Researchers have found that looking at natural landscapes makes people more forward-thinking in their decision-making.3. depict: 描繪，描寫；landscape:風(fēng)景，景色；decision-making:決策，做決定。

Different Landscapes

The researchers started by preparing two different photographic slideshows—one depicting lush green natural landscapes, the other depicting urban environments.4. slideshow: 幻燈片；lush: 繁茂的，茂盛的。The team then recruited 47 volunteers and assigned each volunteer to one of the slideshow rooms at random.5. recruit: 募集，招收；assign: 布置，分配；at random: 隨機(jī)地，任意地。In each room, volunteers listened to an audio script encouraging them to become immersed in the environment shown in the photographs.6. audio script: 錄音腳本； be immersed in sth.: 專心于某事物，沉浸于某事物。

After each of the volunteers had watched one or the other of the slideshows, the researchers offered them a choice between two types of financial reward: 100 euros now, or a larger sum in 90 days’ time. And to test just how willing each participant was to wait for a reward, the researchers ratcheted the amount of the delayed reward upward in 10-euro increments until each volunteer chose it over the immediate reward.7. ratchet:（使）增加（或減少）；increment: 增值，增加額。

居住在城市中的我們每天面對(duì)高樓林立、車水馬龍的世界，過著快節(jié)奏、高壓力的生活，似乎生活因科技在改善，實(shí)則我們成了鋼筋水泥中的“困獸”，緊張的生活讓我們只能看到眼前的利益。那就回歸自然吧，在大自然的懷抱中給自己的心靈“洗洗澡”，無限廣闊的空間和寧靜美好的意境讓我們心靈更加釋然，眼光更加長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)。

Delayed Gratification8. gratification: 滿足，滿意。

As you might expect, very few of the volunteers chose to wait 90 days for 110 euros when they could have 100 euros right now—and on the other hand, almost all of them were willing to wait 90 days for 150 euros or more.

When the value of the delayed reward fell in between these two figures,though, a clear distinction became apparent.9. distinction: 差別，區(qū)別；apparent: 清晰可見的，顯而易見的。Participants who’d viewed the natural-scene slideshows were far more willing to wait for an extra 20, 30 or 40 euros than were the ones who’d seen urban scenes—hinting that their exposure to natural beauty may have made them more amenable to delayed gratification.10. hint: 暗示，示意；exposure:接觸，經(jīng)歷；amendable: 愿意同意的，順從的。

Pace of Nature

To pinpoint11. pinpoint: 確切地解釋（或找出）（真相）。this effect, the researchers conducted additional experiments. In one, they offered immediate or delayed rewards to three groups of volunteers—a group who’d viewed photos of natural scenes, a group who’d viewed urban photos, and a group who didn’t view any photos at all. In another, they sent one group of volunteers to take a walk in a forested12. forested: 森林覆蓋的。city park and sent the other to hang out in a heavily developed business district, offering similar reward choices afterward.

These subsequent experiments confirmed the team’s results:Participants who’d spent time viewing or exploring nature had the lowest thresholds for delaying future reward, implying that their exposure to natural scenes made them more inclined to care for the future.13. 這些后續(xù)的實(shí)驗(yàn)證實(shí)了該團(tuán)隊(duì)的結(jié)論：那些花時(shí)間觀賞或探索大自然的參與者對(duì)于推遲未來獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)所要求的門檻最低，這說明接觸自然景色使他們更傾向于關(guān)心未來。threshold:起始點(diǎn)，門檻；imply: 意味著，暗示。

The researchers say the psychological benefit could be because nature moves at a slower pace overall, while city life relentlessly bombards us with pressure to acquire status, material goods and mates.14. 研究人員稱，這種心理益處可能是由于大自然總體上的運(yùn)動(dòng)速度更加緩慢，而城市生活卻不斷地向我們施加種種壓力，讓我們不停地追逐地位、物質(zhì)利益和伴侶。relentlessly: 不間斷地，無休止地；bombard: 不斷攻擊，向……一下子提供大量信息。When we take a step back and see the environment as a whole, all those tiny struggles vanish into the grand timescales of the Earth itself.15. vanish: 消失，突然不見；timescale:（某事發(fā)生或完成的）時(shí)間段，時(shí)標(biāo)。

As the old Greek proverb says, A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. We might all be doing our grandchildren a favor if we spend less time running the rat race16. rat race: 激烈競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，無情爭(zhēng)奪。, and more time planting those trees .