Only Boring People Are Bored|只有让人无聊的人才会感到无聊

by Brian Foden

What started off as a joke may actually be a serious problem.

It's likely you are familiar with some of the special days, weeks, and months created by organizations around the world to spread awareness of important concerns. Some examples of this include Earth Day, AIDS Awareness Month, and World Poverty Day. But have you ever heard of National Anti-Boredom Month in the US? Anything designed to _(1)_ boredom must be interesting, so read on to discover the origins of this special month.

What is National Anti-Boredom Month and how did it start? The answers _(2)_ in understanding the mindset of a New Jersey public relations expert named Alan Caruba. The initiative grew out of Caruba's 1984 spoof that involved _(3)_ a fake organization called The Boring Institute. His _(4)_ came about while he was watching the famed Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. _(5)_ that the parade always seemed the same year after year, he decided to have a bit of fun by developing a press release claiming it was actually a hoax. _(6)_ from his newly created institute, the release stated that what was shown on TV was actually a video of the parade from a decade earlier. This _(7)_ to other spoofs on celebritydom, and National Anti-Boredom Month was born.

While Caruba's organization and Anti-Boredom Month started as a joke on the media, there is a serious _(8)_ message to it all. Caruba wrote in an Internet article in 2008 that boredom was a precursor to _(9)_ and suicide and that it may lead to crime. He also stated boredom was the cause of some divorces and that it was trouble. _(10)_ National Anti-Boredom Month might be a joke, boredom can be a serious problem, so find something fun to do right now.

(A) underlying  (B) lie (C) motivation  (D) Observing   (E) depression

(F) While   (G) Issued  (H) conquer (I) led    (J) creating

只有让人无聊的人才会感到无聊

那些一开始被当作玩笑话的事，实际上可能是个严重的问题。

世界各地的组织为了传扬对重要且引人关注事项的认知而创建了特别日子、星期及月份，其中一些日子、星期及月份你很可能已经很熟悉了。这方面的一些例子包括地球日、艾滋病宣传月、世界贫困日。但你可曾听过美国的全国反无聊月？任何旨在克服无聊的活动都一定要很有趣，那么就继续往下看来发掘这个特殊月份的起源。

全国反无聊月是什么，又是如何开始的？这些问题的答案在于要先了解新泽西州一位名为艾伦‧卡鲁巴公关专家的心态。全国反无聊月的创始源自克鲁巴在 1984 年的一次整人计划，在该计划中，他创立了一个叫作『无聊协会』的假机构。克鲁巴在观赏梅西百货感恩节游行时产生了这个动机。他观察到那场游行似乎年年都是相同的活动，便决定拟一份新闻稿，声称那场感恩节游行其实是场骗局，藉此来获得一点儿乐趣。他利用新成立的协会来发布新闻稿，声称电视上所呈现的游行其实是 10 年前的录像节目。这也造成日后对名人界出现了一些整人活动，全国反无聊月于焉诞生。

虽然克鲁巴的组织和全国反无聊月起初对媒体开了一个玩笑，这一切却带有一个严肃的基本讯息。克鲁巴在 2008 年的网络文章上写道，无聊是忧郁症和自杀的前兆，同时无聊亦可能会导致犯罪。他还指出，无聊是一些人离婚的原因，并表示那会造成麻烦。虽然全国反无聊月可能是个笑话，无聊还是可能会成为严重的问题，所以现在就去找些乐事做做吧。

答案：    H   B   J   C   D G   I   A   E   F