Do you ever feel like there’s not enough time in the day? That time is somehow racing away from you, and it is impossible to fit everything in. But then, you step outside into the countryside and suddenly everything seems slower, more relaxed, like time has somehow changed. It’s not just you — recent research showed nature can control our sense of time.
Richardo Correia, the researcher at the University of Finland, found that being in nature may change how we experience time and perhaps, even give us the sense of time abundance (充裕). Correia compared people’s experiences of time when they performed different types of tasks in cities and natural environments. It showed that people reported a sense of expanded time when they were in nature compared to when they were in cities. For example, a walk through the countryside felt longer than a city walk of the same distance.
It’s not just our sense of time in the moment which appears to be changed by the natural world, and it’s also our sense of the past and future. Earlier research shows that spending time in nature helps to move our focus from the immediate (目前的) moment towards our future needs. So rather than focusing on the stress of the demands (需求) on our time, nature helps us to see the bigger picture. This can help us focus on what’s important so that we meet our long-term goals. This is partly because spending time in nature appears to make us less impulsive (冲动的), enabling us to think more about future benefits instead of wanting immediate ones.
【小题1】How might you feel when you walk in the countryside?
| A．Everything remains the same. | B．Time is racing away from you. |
| C．There are less hours in the day. | D．Things seem to go at a slower speed. |
【小题2】In what way did Correia carry out the research?
| A．By doing online surveys. | B．By interviewing experts. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By reviewing earlier studies. |
【小题3】What does the underlined word “
expanded” probably mean?
| A．Real. | B．Lost. | C．Passing. | D．Increased. |
【小题4】How does nature help with our sense of the future?
| A．By meeting our needs. | B．By changing our focus. |
| C．By showing us pictures. | D．By reminding us of the past. |
【小题5】Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．What differences time brings us. | B．Where our sense of time has gone. |
| C．Why we lose sense of time in nature. | D．How nature changes our sense of time. |
