大学英语精读第三版（第四册）学习笔记（原文及全文翻译）——6B - Take It Easy to Learn Better（不慌不忙学得更好）
Unit 6B - Take It Easy to Learn Better
Take It Easy to Learn Better
Donald A. Laird
Spare-time learners are usually the best learners. Their rate of learning is helped, of course, by the fact that they want to learn and consequently try to learn. But they are also helped by circumstances — they are forced to take their learning by easy stages.
Edgar Burchell, the janitor who became a leading medical scientist and teacher, is an example. He was one of nine children, and he had to leave school and go to work before finishing the grades. At twenty-two he was scrubbing floors twelve hours a day at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary.
But during his lunch hour he attended staff lectures, carefully pretending he was in the lecture hall for janitor work, but drinking in every word that was said. When his twelve-hour shift was over he remained at the infirmary, watching the interns in the laboratory. "Teach me how you do these things," he said to them, "and I'll do them for you." Then, from his small savings, he bought a second-hand anatomy text which he studied in his other spare moments.
Picking up his education in this way, Burchell made himself one of the world's authorities on bacteriology and on the anatomy of the head. Surgeons from all over the country consulted this former janitor before performing puzzling head operations. He had never been a medical student, yet he was given one of those rare honorary degrees of Doctor of Science.
Such spare-time learning is especially efficient since there is time for it to soak in between learning periods. When learning complex things, there is an extra advantage in taking breathing spells. When beginning something new, it also speeds up learning to have breathers. Most eager beginners push themselves too long at a time. Such crowded study or practice produces fatigue or boredom which hinders learning.
You can't gain wisdom quickly, but you can gain wisdom steadily by easy stages.
Instead of practicing at the typewriter, or piano, or behind the steering wheel, for two solid hours, practice only one hour. Then take a breather before doing the second hour of practice or study. You will be fresher when you start the second part. Such spaced practice or study is better for learning than is continuous practice of the same total length.
Spaced practice not only eliminates fatigue and boredom, but also some maturation of the nerve connections which have been exercised seems to take place during the space between practice periods. Whatever the reason, however, distributed practice is better than continuous practice. Long practice periods can be safely used only after one has acquired considerable skill.
The most efficient distribution of practice or study sessions varies with the kind of material being learned. Each person has to find the best distribution of practice that fits him and his task. Follow these two guides in spacing your learning periods:
1.Each practice should be long enough to warm you up and to allow the peak of your present skill to be reached.
2.It should be halted when fatigue, boredom, error, or slowness appear.
Learning is more efficient when it is fun, less efficient when it is drudgery. Practice periods can safely be made longer if the learner is excited about learning. Learning is often more effective in a group, since individual progress then acquires some features of a game or contest. The clever teacher, or expert job trainer, has the knack of arousing the learner's interest to the point of actual excitement. The ambitious individual often lets his ambition provide the excitement. Keeping score on oneself gives some of this game spirit to the single learner. People usually master a sport such as golf or bowling quickly largely because they naturally keep tabs on how they're doing. Score keeping is easy for some kinds of learning, such as typing speed. These scores can be charted week after week to show one's learning curve, or rate of progress in mastering the subject. As for language learning, it may seem more difficult to keep a record, but there are still ways to find an indication of your progress. The expanded vocabulary, as well as the improved reading speed and accuracy, will be a record that can encourage you to get over the boredom.
参考译文——不慌不忙学得更好
不慌不忙学得更好
唐纳德·A·莱尔德
业余时间的学习者往往是最成功的学习者。当然，他们的学习进度得益于这样一个事实： 他们想学，因而努力去学。但他们也得益于自身所处的环境——迫不得已他们只好从容地、循序渐进地学习。
埃德加·伯切尔，那个后来成为卓越的医学家、教师的大楼管理工，就是一个例子。他是一家9个孩子中的一个，没念完小学就不得不辍学打工。22岁时,他在纽约眼耳科医院每天擦洗12小时地板。
可他利用午餐时间去听为医务人员举办的讲座。他小心翼翼地装作在演讲厅里做清洁工作，但却如饥似渴地记住听到的每一个字。他干完12小时一班之后还留在医院里，在实验室里看实习医生工作。“如果你们能教会我怎么做这些活，”他对他们说，“我就来替你们做。”他还用微薄的积蓄买了本旧的解剖学教材，在别的空闲时间钻研。
伯切尔就靠这样自学，使自己成为世界上细菌学和脑部解剖学方面的权威之一。全国各地的外科医生在进行脑部疑难手术前，都来请教这位过去的大楼管理工。他从来没上过医学院，却被授予最难得的荣誉学位之一——科学博士。
这样的业余学习效率特别高，因为在两个学习阶段之间，有时间消化吸收所学的东西。在学习复杂难懂的东西的过程中，作短暂休息有其特别的好处。开始学习新的东西时，不时有些间歇也会加快学习速度。大多数急切的初学者一次学习时间拖得太长。这样密集的学习或练习产生疲劳或厌倦，会妨碍学习。
一个人不可能一下子获得智慧，但可以稳步地、从容地、循序渐进地获得智慧。
不要连续整整两个小时练习打字、弹钢琴，或开车。相反，只练习一个小时。然后短暂休息一下再练习或学习一个小时。这样，当你开始第二个小时的学习时，就会觉得精神更饱满。 这样有间歇的练习或学习，比在同样长的时间内连续不停地学习，效率更高。
有间歇的练习不仅消除疲劳和厌倦，而且，在两个练习阶段的间歇期间，经过运动的大脑神经连接似乎趋于成熟。但不论是什么原因，分散练习要比连续不停地练习效率高。一个人只有在已经获得相当髙的技能之后，才可有效地进行长时间的练习。
最有效率的练习或学习时段分布因学习内容不同而异。最适合本人及其所学内容的练习时段分布得由各人自己摸索。如何间隔学习时段，可遵循以下两条原则：
1.每次练习的时间应足以使你进入状态，并使你达到目前技能的最高点。
2.出现疲劳、厌倦、差错，或速度减慢时，应停止练习。
学得开心，效率就高；学得很苦，效率就低。一个人学习兴致高的时候，练习时间可以延长而不致降低效率。小组学习效果往往更好，因为，这时个人的进步就带有某种游戏或竞技的特点。聪明的教师或经验丰富的职业培训人员懂得如何激发学生的兴趣，使其真正兴奋起来。有抱负的人常常以自己的雄心壮志来激起这种兴奋。给自己记分能给单独的学习者带来一些游戏的精神。人们通常很快就能学会诸如打高尔夫球或保龄球之类的运动，这主要是因为他们自觉地密切关注自身的进步。对有些学习项目，比如打字速度，记分是很容易的。每周记分可用图表画出，这样就能看出一个人在学习一门课程时的学习曲线，或进步速度。至于语言学习，要记录进步似乎较难，但还是有办法显示出你的进步情况。词汇量的扩大，以及阅读速度和准确性的提高，均可记录下来，它会帮你克服厌倦。
Key Words:
spare [spɛə]
adj. 多余的，闲置的，备用的，简陋的
puzzling ['pʌzliŋ]
adj. 令人迷惑的，茫然不知所措的，莫名其妙的
rare [rɛə]
adj. 稀罕的，稀薄的，罕见的，珍贵的
consequently ['kɔnsikwəntli]
adv. 所以，因此
considerable [kən'sidərəbl]
adj. 相当大的，可观的，重要的
efficient [i'fiʃənt]
adj. 效率高的，胜任的
typewriter ['taip.raitə]
n. 打字机，打字员
wheel [wi:l]
n. 轮子，车轮，方向盘，周期，旋转
vi.
continuous [kən'tinjuəs]
adj. 连续的，继续的，连绵不断的
complex ['kɔmpleks]
adj. 复杂的，复合的，合成的
n. 复合体
advantage [əd'vɑ:ntidʒ]
n. 优势，有利条件
vt. 有利于
boredom ['bɔ:dəm]
n. 厌烦，厌倦，令人厌烦的事物
fatigue [fə'ti:g]
n. 疲乏，疲劳，累活
boredom ['bɔ:dəm]
n. 厌烦，厌倦，令人厌烦的事物
contest ['kɔntest,kən'test]
n. 竞赛，比赛
vt. 竞赛，争取
encourage [in'kʌridʒ]
vt. 鼓励，促进，支持
accuracy ['ækjurəsi]
n. 准确(性), 精确度
fatigue [fə'ti:g]
n. 疲乏，疲劳，累活
adj. 疲劳的
efficient [i'fiʃənt]
adj. 效率高的，胜任的
ambitious [æm'biʃəs]
adj. 有雄心的，有抱负的，野心勃勃的
distribution [.distri'bju:ʃən]
n. 分发，分配，散布，分布
indication [.indi'keiʃən]
n. 表示，指示，象征
ambition [æm'biʃən]
n. 雄心，野心，抱负，精力
参考资料：