新奇事件簿 城市生活让人们更难集中精力

A new report says living in a city makes it harder for people to concentrate. The research found that people who live in rural¹ areas can focus better than people in urban areas. The study is from Goldsmiths College, which is part of the University of London. Head researcher Dr Karina Linnell and her team studied how two groups of people did the same "thinking tasks". The team went to a remote part of Namibia, southwest Africa, to study the Himba tribe². Himba people live a very basic life in the desert, doing traditional farming. The team also studied members of the same tribe who had moved to the nearest town. Dr Linnell said the tribe who lived in the desert did much better on the tests than those in the town.

一份新的报告表示，居住在城市让人们更难集中精力。研究发现，居住在农村的人比居住在城市的人更容易集中精力。研究来自伦敦大学金史密斯学院。首席研究人员Karina Linnell和她的研究小组分析了两组参加者如何完成同样的“思考任务”。该研究小组前往非洲西南部纳米比亚一个偏远地区研究辛巴族。辛巴族人在沙漠过着非常基本的生活，进行传统的耕种。该研究小组还调查了搬到最近的城镇生活的同一个种族的人。Linnell博士表示，居住在沙漠中的人比居住在城镇中的人在测试中表现好得多。

Dr Linnell's research may change the way companies operate. In the future, workers may relocate from cities to live and work in the countryside. Linnell said there are too many things around us in the city that stop us from thinking about one thing for a long time. This means we do not work at our best. She asked: "What if, for example, companies realised certain tasks would be better carried out by employees based outside of the urban environment where their concentration³ ability is better?" The past century has seen billions of people move from the countryside to big cities. If Dr Linnell's research is true, this century might see many of those people return to the great outdoors.

Linnell的研究或许会改变公司的运作方式。未来，工人们或许会从城市搬到乡村工作和生活。Linnell表示，在城市，我们周围有太多事情妨碍我们长时间专注思考一件事情。这意味着我们不能做到最好。她问：“例如，如果公司意识到在远离城市的地方雇员的注意力更集中，能更好地完成任务，那么他们会怎么做？”过去的一个世纪，数十亿人从农村搬到大城市。如果Linnell的调查结果属实，这个世纪，许多城市人会重返美妙的大自然。

1 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

2 tribe   

n.部落，种族，一伙人

参考例句：

• This is a subject tribe.这是个受他人统治的部落。
• Many of the tribe's customs and rituals are as old as the hills.这部落的许多风俗、仪式都极其古老。

3 concentration   

n.集中；专注；浓度；浓缩

参考例句：

• She wrinkled her brows in concentration.她蹙额皱眉，陷入沉思。
• If smoke is going that way,then it means the concentration here should be decreasing.如果烟雾沿着这个方向飘，这意味着，这里的浓度应该是减少的。