每日英語 #093: How Mirrors Stopped People from Complaining about

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How Mirrors Stopped People from Complaining about Elevators

After World War II, the American economy “rebounded” (recovered; got better), leading to a “boom” (sudden increase) in the construction of tall office buildings and “high-rises” (tall apartment buildings). With tall buildings came the “proliferation” (rapid spreading or increase) of “elevators” (machines that move people up and down between floors in a building). You would think that a time-saving, convenient machine like an elevator would have made people happier, since now they did not have to walk up the stairs. But that’s not what happened.

二戰結束後，美國經濟「復甦」（恢復；變好），導致高層辦公樓和「高層住宅」（高層公寓樓）建設的「繁榮」（突然增加）。隨著高樓而來的是「電梯」（在建築物內上下移動人們的機器）的「激增」（迅速擴散或增加）。你可能會認為像電梯這樣節省時間、方便的機器會讓人們更快樂，因為他們不再需要走樓梯。但事實並非如此。

Instead, building owners started getting “complaints” (expressions of dissatisfaction or disappointment about something), and lots of them. The problem? People didn’t like having to wait for the elevator to arrive at their “floor” (level in a building). So building owners began installing “mirrors” (a surface that allows one to see oneself) next to the elevators. And almost immediately, people stopped complaining.

相反，建築物業主開始收到大量的「投訴」（對某事的不滿或失望表達）。 問題是什麼？人們不喜歡等待電梯到達他們的「樓層」（建築物內的樓層）。因此，建築物業主開始在電梯旁安裝「鏡子」（能讓人看到自己的表面）。幾乎立刻，人們停止了抱怨。

Why did the mirrors stop people from complaining? Well, when you give people a mirror, they will naturally look at themselves and the people around them. Instead of just waiting for the elevator, people now have something “mildly” (somewhat) interesting to do. This shows a basic “principle” (idea) of “queuing” or waiting in line: “occupied” (busy) time seems shorter, or to pass more quickly, than unoccupied time. Even if you have to wait the same amount of time, it doesn’t seem as long when you have something to do.

為什麼鏡子讓人們停止抱怨？當你給人們一面鏡子時，他們自然會看自己和周圍的人。人們不再只是等待電梯，現在有一些「稍微」（某種程度上）有趣的事情可做。 這展示了一個基本的「排隊」（等待的）「原則」（理念）：「佔據的」（忙碌的）時間似乎比未佔據的時間更短或更快過去。 即使你必須等待相同的時間，當你有事情做時，時間看起來也不會那麼長。

重點單字

• Rebound /rɪˈbaʊnd/ - 復甦
• Boom /buːm/ - 繁榮
• Proliferation /prəˌlɪfəˈreɪʃən/ - 激增
• Elevator /ˈɛləˌveɪtər/ - 電梯
• Complaint /kəmˈpleɪnt/ - 投訴
• Floor /flɔːr/ - 樓層
• Mirror /ˈmɪrər/ - 鏡子
• Mildly /ˈmaɪldli/ - 稍微
• Principle /ˈprɪnsəpəl/ - 原則
• Occupied /ˈɒkjʊpaɪd/ - 被佔據的