CET-6 Listening Passages: Why Boredom Helps Creativity and the Psychology of Waiting

Passage One.

短文一。

When did you last feel truly bored, with nothing at all to do?

你上一次真正感到无聊、完全无事可做是什么时候？

For most of us, the answer is: not for years.

对我们大多数人来说，答案是：好几年都没有了。

Whenever we have a spare moment, we reach for a phone.

只要有一点空闲时间，我们就会拿起手机。

In 2014, two British psychologists asked a group of people to do something dull.

2014年，两位英国心理学家让一组人做一件枯燥的事。

They spent fifteen minutes copying numbers out of a phone book.

他们花了十五分钟从电话簿上抄写号码。

Then everyone was asked to think of uses for a pair of plastic cups.

然后，每个人都被要求想出一对塑料杯的用途。

The bored group came up with more ideas than people who had skipped the dull task!

做了枯燥任务的那组人，比跳过这项任务的人想出了更多点子！

The researchers think boredom pushes the mind to wander and look for something interesting.

研究人员认为，无聊会促使大脑神游，去寻找有趣的东西。

So next time you're bored, don't fill the gap immediately. Let your mind drift.

所以，下次觉得无聊时，别急着填满这段空白，让思绪自由飘荡吧。

Questions nine to eleven are based on the passage you have just heard.

第9题到第11题基于你刚才听到的短文。

Question nine. What did people in the study do first?

第9题。研究中的人们首先做了什么？

Question ten. What did the researchers find?

第10题。研究人员发现了什么？

Question eleven. What does the speaker suggest we do when we feel bored?

第11题。说话人建议我们无聊时怎么做？

Passage Two.

短文二。

Why do some waits feel much longer than others?

为什么有些等待感觉比别的漫长得多？

Some years ago, an airport in Houston had a problem.

几年前，休斯敦的一个机场遇到了一个问题。

Passengers kept complaining about how long they waited for their bags.

乘客们不停抱怨等行李的时间太长。

The airport hired more staff, and the average wait fell to about eight minutes.

机场增加了人手，平均等待时间降到了大约八分钟。

But the complaints didn't stop!

可是抱怨并没有停止！

Then someone noticed something:

后来有人注意到一件事：

passengers walked for one minute, and then stood still for seven.

乘客走一分钟，然后站着干等七分钟。

So the airport moved the arrival gates farther away from the bags.

于是机场把到达口移到了离行李提取处更远的地方。

Now people walked for six minutes and waited for only two.

现在人们走六分钟，只需要等两分钟。

The total time was the same, but complaints almost disappeared!

总时间没变，但抱怨几乎消失了！

Psychologists say that empty time feels longer than busy time.

心理学家说，空闲的时间比忙碌的时间感觉更长。

That's why some hotels put mirrors next to their lifts.

这就是为什么有些酒店在电梯旁边装镜子。

People check their hair, and the wait seems to fly by.

人们照照头发，等待的时间一晃就过去了。

Questions twelve to fifteen are based on the passage you have just heard.

第12题到第15题基于你刚才听到的短文。

Question twelve. What were passengers at the airport complaining about?

第12题。机场的乘客在抱怨什么？

Question thirteen. What did the airport do first?

第13题。机场最初采取了什么措施？

Question fourteen. Why did the complaints almost disappear?

第14题。为什么抱怨几乎消失了？

Question fifteen. Why do some hotels put mirrors next to their lifts?

第15题。为什么有些酒店在电梯旁边装镜子？