摘要：雅思中國網雅思君今天要給大家分享一篇非常美好的雅思閱讀文章，沒錯“白日夢”！白日做夢（daydreaming)？這個詞一向名聲很壞。但近來科學家們研究表明，我們白日做夢是必然的，甚至是有好處的（beneficial)！一起來看看吧！

But the resting state is not easy to investigate. As some cognitive psychologists have pointed out, just because a person is lying in a scanner we can’t be sure that they are alone in their thoughts, introspecting(內省). They could be thinking about the sounds of the scanner and what’s happening around them. For this reason there are still plenty of unanswered questions about mind wandering. For instance, are the daydreams we experience when we’re trying – and failing – to focus on our work different from the ones we have when we’re deliberately(有意地) trying to switch off?(比如，當我們試圖—或者沒做到—專心工作時體驗到的白日夢，與我們刻意要關閉大腦時體驗的白日夢有什么不同?)

Progress is being made, though. A study published earlier this year hinted that we might all experience the resting state in a slightly different same way. Researchers conducted a detailed brain scan study of five people who had been trained to recount their mind wanderings in detail every time they heard a computer beep. The researchers found considerable(相當大的) differences between each person’s daydreaming thoughts and experiences.

In September researchers at the University of Oxford used scans from the Human Connectome Project of 460 people’s brains in a resting state to explore which parts of the brain communicate with each other when we are at rest. Again, the results hinted at personal differences in the resting state – this time linked to life skills and experiences. The strength of the connections between different parts of the brain varies with the strength of a person’s memory, their years of education and their physical endurance.(大腦不同部分之間聯系的強度取決于個人記憶力的強度、受教育長短及其身體耐力。) It is as though parts of the brain remain connected when our mind wanders just in case we need them to do something.

Scientifically, the discovery that the brain is never truly at rest could help make sense of a longstanding mystery: why does the brain uses 20% of body’s energy when the activities we know it performs should need only about 5%?Marcus Raichle has labelled the missing 15% the brain’s “dark energy” – resting state activity might account for some of this discrepancy(差異，缺口).(為什么大腦使用了身體能量的20%，而大腦完成我們所知的活動僅需要5%?Marcus Raichle將那消失的15%稱為大腦的“黑能量”—休息狀態下的活動也許能部分解釋這15%的缺口。)

The discovery of the resting state also has the potential to change the way we each feel about our brains. We know how hard it is to empty our minds. We know how our minds have a frustrating tendency to wander even when we don’t want them to. But the emerging picture suggests these quirks(怪癖)might actually be beneficial – even if they do prevent us from finishing a task in time to meet a deadline. In other words, perhaps it’s time to celebrate the virtues of an idle mind. (換句話說，我們也許該歌頌一下胡思亂想的美德了。)

Vocabulary

Neuroscientist 神經科學家

Popular belief 通行的觀點

Assumption 假設，前提

Stimulate 刺激

Evocative 召喚的;引起回憶的

Neutral 中性的

Cross 十字架

Investigate 研究;探究

Coordinate 協調

Incorporate 整合;納入

Consistently 總是;一貫

Catch on 被人接受，變得流行

Object to 反對

Consolidate 加強;鞏固

Contemplate 思考

Unoccupied 空閑的

Introspect 內省

Deliberately 刻意地

Considerable 相當大的

Discrepancy 差異;缺口

Quirk 怪癖

本文對雅思寫作的啟示

這篇文章可以分為三個部分：第一部分提出我們休息時，大腦其實在活動;第二部分嘗試對這種現象予以解釋;第三部分認為這種白日夢可能有好處(你能劃出這三部分的位置嗎?)。請看第一部分作者怎樣引用論據來論證與常規觀點相悖的看法;第二部分怎樣提出解釋;第三部分怎樣闡述未經證實的好處。以下句式可以模仿：

1. Contrary to popular belief, those idle daydreams might even be beneficial.

與普遍觀點不同的是，這些無所事事的白日夢甚至可能是有好處的。

2. The first sign that a resting brain is surprisingly active came two decades ago.

休息的大腦出奇地活躍，這個說法首次出現在20年前。

Then in 1997 an analysis incorporating(包含，整合) the results of nine brain scan studies revealed another surprise.

1997年，一份整合了9項大腦掃描研究結果的分析揭示出另一些讓人意想不到的結論。

Today things are very different. Almost 3000 scientific papers have been published on the topic of the brain’s surprisingly busy “resting state”.

今天情況大不相同了，已經發表了大約3000篇科學論文，討論大腦的這種令人驚奇的繁忙“休息狀態”。

3. The big question is: why is the idling brain so active? There are plenty of theories, but no agreement yet.

重要的問題是：為什么空閑的大腦如此活躍?有很多理論，但還沒有定論。

4.The discovery of the resting state also has the potential to change the way we each feel about our brains.

關于空閑狀態的發現還有可能改變我們對大腦的感覺方式。