Willpower 意志力

曲永华

畅销书《意志力：重新发现我们最大的力量》指出，意志力是一种能力，它能做出长期对我们更有利的决定。本文通过书中一个著名的实验说明了意志力对人们生活的影响，并告诉我们如何提高整体意志力。

Imagine this. There’s an apple and a piece of cake on a table. Which one would you like？ The delicious cake or the healthy apple？ A bestseller， Willpower： Rediscovering Our Greatest Strength， suggests that willpower（意志力）is the ability to make decisions that are better for us in the long term， rather than in the short term.

Here is a famous experiment in the book： The Marshmallow Test. In 1972， Professor Walter Mischel tested the willpower of 600 four-year-olds to six-year-olds. In the experiment， each child was left alone in a room for fifteen minutes with a marshmallow（棉花软糖）on a table in front of them. They were given two choices： they could either eat it or， if they waited fifteen minutes， they’d be given a second one（and then they could eat both）.

So， what did the kids do？ Well， as you can imagine， 70% ate the first marshmallow within the fifteen minutes. But the other 30% showed willpower—they controlled themselves and waited for the second marshmallow. But then Mischel discovered something really interesting. Twenty years later， he got in touch with the children， who， by then， were in their early twenties. And he found that those who’d shown strong willpower were getting better marks at university and were more popular.

Willpower is like a muscle（肌肉）， and the more you exercise it， the stronger it gets.

So， if you do daily “self-control exercises”， such as making your bed or brushing your teeth， you’ll improve your overall willpower. And daily willpower exercises will help you with those bigger goals， such as studying for an exam or training for a marathon.

Be careful though. Just like any muscle， your “willpower muscle” can get tired. If you’ve had to do lots of things that require willpower， take a break or give yourself a treat.

That way， you’ll build up your willpower again.

And one last thing， the writer mentions people who learn foreign languages usually have a lot of willpower. So， congratulations！

[精彩译文]

想象一下。桌子上有一个苹果和一块蛋糕。你想要哪一个？美味的蛋糕还是健康的苹果？一本畅销书《意志力：重新发现我们最大的力量》指出，意志力是一种在长期而不是短期内做出对我们更有利的决定的能力。

书中有一个著名的实验：棉花糖实验。1972年，沃尔特·米歇尔教授测试了600名4～6岁儿童的意志力。在实验中，每个孩子被单独留在一个房间里15分钟，面前的桌子上放着一个棉花糖。他们有两个选择：要么吃;要么等15分钟，再获得一个（然后两个都可以吃）。

那么，孩子们做了什么？嗯，你可以想象，70%的人在15分钟内吃了第一个棉花糖。但另外30%的人表现出意志力，他们控制自己，等待第二个棉花糖。但后来米歇尔发现了一件非常有趣的事。20年后，他和孩子們取得了联系，那时孩子们已经20岁出头了。他发现那些表现出很强意志力的人在大学里成绩更好，更受欢迎。

意志力就像一塊肌肉，你锻炼得越多，它就越强壮。

所以，如果你每天做“自我控制练习”，比如整理床铺或刷牙，你会提高你的整体意志力。每天的意志力训练会帮助你实现更大的目标，比如为考试而学习或者为马拉松而训练。

不过要小心。就像任何肌肉一样，你的“意志力肌肉”也会感到疲劳。如果你不得不做很多需要意志力的事情，休息一下或者好好犒劳一下自己。

这样，你会再次增强你的意志力。

最后一件事，作者提到学习外语的人通常有很强的意志力。所以，恭喜你！

练一练

1. How many children got two marshmallows in the Marshmallow Test in 1972？

A. 180. B. 240. C. 420. D. 600.

2. In Paragraphs 2&3， the famous experiment explains .

A. more kids have stronger willpower

B. willpower influences people’s lives greatly

C. how people practice children’s willpower

D. marshmallows can help improve willpower

3. The writer probably agrees that .

A. all the language learners have stronger willpower

B. willpower can’t be improved by doing some daily things

C. young kids don’t need to practice willpower like grown-ups

D. people with strong willpower can achieve their goals more easily

4. According to the passage， people who might have strong willpower.

A. do regular piano practice every day B. give up morning running halfway

C. eat as much junk food as they like D. usually get up late on the cold morning

答案：1. A 2. B 3. D 4. A