A Very Long Minute|非常漫长的 1分钟

by Eryk Smith

Does time really speed up as we age?

Do you remember how long a year was when you were five years old? Young children are always anxiously asking their parents if their birthdays are _(1)_ near. Upon _(2)_ a teenager, however, you might remember that birthdays began to arrive a bit more frequently. After reaching your 30s, days blend into weeks, and before you know it, months have passed. Does time really speed up as we get older? As it _(3)_, the answer is both yes and no.

Our brains have both a sleeping and a waking cycle, but scientists have never found a place in the human brain dedicated _(4)_ time perception. This means that time doesn't really exist. The sun comes up and goes down again, but hours, minutes, and seconds are just _(5)_ that help us organize our lives. Each second on the clock is _(6)_ as long as the next one, but every person in the world experiences it differently. Researchers asked people of different ages to guess when a minute _(7)_ without looking at a clock. Older people said the minute arrived faster than younger people. Thus, it is true that a minute feels longer to younger folks. So in a way, it really is longer.  

Many young people are in a rush to grow up, but as soon as they become adults and get jobs, they quickly discover that time moving faster isn't that much fun after all. A weekend passes in the blink of an eye and then it's back to work.

1.  (A) pushing (B) drawing (C) pulling (D) dragging

2.  (A) becomes (B) became  (C) becoming    (D) to become

3.  (A) turns out   (B) turns into  (C) turns up    (D) turns down

4.  (A) for (B) as  (C) in  (D) to

5.  (A) maturity    (B) guilt   (C) concepts    (D) impacts

6.  (A) most    (B) exactly (C) hardly  (D) barely

7.  (A) to pass (B) has passed  (C) had passed  (D) passing

非常漫长的 1分钟

时间真的会随着年龄增长而加快吗？

还记得当你 5岁时 1 年有多长吗？年幼的孩子总会焦急地询问父母他们的生日是否快到了。然而，一变成青少年后，你或许会记得生日的到来开始变得有点更加频繁了。当你迈入 30 岁后，日子与星期交错，不知不觉中，好几个月已经过去了。时间真的会随着年龄增长而加快吗？事实证明，答案既是对的也是不对的。

我们的大脑有睡眠及清醒周期，但是科学家们在人类大脑中并没有发现某个专司时间感知的构造。这意味着时间实际上并不存在。太阳一次次地升起及落下，但是小时、分及秒只是帮助我们规划生活的概念。时钟上的每一秒都和下一秒是完全一样长的，但世上每个人对于这 1 秒的感受都不一样。研究人员请不同年龄的人在不看时钟的情况下猜测 1 分钟何时过去。年龄较长的人表示 1分钟到来的时间要比年龄较轻的人来得快。因此，1分钟对于年纪较轻的人感觉起来真的比较长。所以，在某种程度上，1分钟就真的比较长。

许多年轻人都急着长大，但一旦他们变为成年人并有工作时，他们很快地发现时间变快毕竟没那么有趣。因为周末一眨眼就过了，然后又得要回去工作了。

答案：  1.  B   2.  C   3.  A   4.  D   5.  C

   6.  B   7.  C

时间是人根据物质运动来划分的，宇宙中的『时』本来是没有『间』的。物质运动需要耗费『时』

但是如果不把『时』分割成『间』，我们的思维就也无法识别『时』。没有分割过的『时』，无法被命名，也无法进行区分，只有分割成『时间』后，才能

被思维所用。比如我们把地球绕太阳 1 周的运动过程

划分为 1年，地球自转 1 圈的运动过程划分为 1 日，

1 日划分为 24 小时，1小时又划分为 60 分钟，这

样的划分便于思维使用数字来计算『时』。如果你不是生活在地球上，绝对不会以地球的运动过程来分割『时』。所以，时间不过是人为了便于思维及思考这个宇宙，而对物质运动进行的一种划分，是人定的规则，而并非什么自然规则。

（数据源：维基百科）