你觉得 “daydreaming（做白日梦）” 是一件好事吗？许多人在做白日梦时会从眼前的事情中分心，无法专注于当下。但一些研究表明，放空大脑、让思绪自由地 “漫游” 有助于思考并提升创造力。本文探讨做白日梦的益处与其带来的问题。

词汇：daydreaming 做白日梦

1 Daydreaming has a bad reputation – we say things like "he's away with the fairies" or "she has her head in the clouds" implying these people are inattentive, easily distracted, maybe even lazy. Is this reputation justified? Or is a trip to la-la land actually something that might benefit us?

2 First, it's important to differentiate daydreaming from mind wandering. Mind wandering happens when you're busy with a task and your mind disengages from it, whereas daydreaming happens when you're doing nothing and spontaneous thoughts unrelated to your surroundings pop up. In a review of research called 'The costs and benefits of mind-wandering', the authors found mind wandering negatively impacted reading comprehension, attention, memory and intelligence. None of that sounds great, so are there any benefits at all?

3 Activities that allow your mind to wander, like having a bath or meditating can lead to the 'aha' moment that you've been waiting for, which is why people often say they have their best ideas in the shower. This might work in the workplace too. In a 2021 study called 'Zoning out or breaking through? Linking daydreaming to creativity in the workplace', the authors concluded that "daydreaming carries noteworthy benefits for creativity". In other words, daydreaming at work may help you to come up with solutions to your problems. It's also suggested that daydreaming can provide a sort of mental escape, both from the difficulty of the task, but also from the stresses of everyday life.

4 So, it seems daydreaming might be a bit of a double-edged sword, and the extent to which it provides benefits rather than downsides depends on things like how positive the thoughts are as well as your ability to identify and control them. If you find yourself endlessly staring into space, pondering the meaning of life while you're trying to get things done, why not try a mindfulness technique?

5 Observe the thoughts as they pop up, visualise them as clouds and watch them pass by. Alternatively, when you've got some time to yourself, instead of reading a book or listening to music, why not let yourself get lost in thought?

测验与练习

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 _______
Paragraph 2 _______
Paragraph 3 _______
Paragraph 4 _______
Paragraph 5 _______

a. Mindfulness technique
b. Sleep dreaming
c. The benefits of daydreaming
d. The costs of mind wandering
e. It's not so simple
f. Daydreaming = laziness?

二、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. Mind wandering is the same as daydreaming.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

2. The impacts of mind wandering mentioned are…
a. positive.
b. negative.
c. neutral.

3. Daydreaming can be good for creativity.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

4. Daydreaming can be good for productivity.
a. True
b. False
c. Not given

5. The advice given at the end is about…
a. avoiding daydreaming.
b. allowing daydreaming.
c. studying daydreaming.

三、用下列单词完成对本文的总结。

When you've got what feels like a million things to do, the worst place to find yourself is in 1) _______ with your 2) _______. However, when you've got nothing to do, allowing yourself to get 3) _______ is great for encouraging those 4) _______. Letting your mind wander allows the best ideas to 5) _______.

la-la land
pop up
head in the clouds
'aha' moments
disengage
lost in thought
inattentive

（答案见词汇表后）

词汇表

away with the fairies 精神恍惚，神游天外
have your head in the clouds 心不在焉
inattentive 不专心的，注意力不集中的
distracted 注意力分散的
la-la land 头脑中想象出的世界
mind wandering 心神漫游
disengage 把注意力从…上移开，不再专注于
spontaneous 自发的
pop up 突然出现
'aha' moment 顿悟的时刻
zone out 走神
break through 突破性进展
double-edged sword 双刃剑，优点和缺点都很明显的事物
stare into space 发呆
ponder 沉思
mindfulness 正念，专注当下
lost in thought 陷入沉思

答案

一、将标题和段落配对。

Paragraph 1 f) Daydreaming = laziness?
Paragraph 2 d) The costs of mind wandering
Paragraph 3 c) The benefits of daydreaming
Paragraph 4 e) It's not so simple
Paragraph 5 a) Mindfulness technique

二 、根据文章内容选出正确的选项。

1. b. False. Mind wandering happens when you're busy with a task and your minddisengages from it, whereas daydreaming happens when you're doing nothing and spontaneous thoughts unrelated to your surroundings pop up.

2. b. …the authors found mind wandering negatively impacted reading comprehension, attention, memory and intelligence.

3. a. True. Linking daydreaming to creativity in the workplace', the authors concluded that "daydreaming carries noteworthy benefits for creativity".

4. c. Not given. The impacts of daydreaming on productivity are not mentioned.

5. b. Alternatively, when you've got some time to yourself, instead of reading a book or listening to music, why not let yourself get lost in thought?

三、下列单词完成对本文的总结。

When you've got what feels like a million things to do, the worst place to find yourself is in la-la land with your head in the clouds. However, when you've got nothing to do, allowing yourself to get lost in thought is great for encouraging those 'aha' moments. Letting your mind wander allows the best ideas to pop up.