2022年12月四级第2套长篇阅读匹配原文翻译及答案

A) Not doing something will always be faster than doing it. This philosophy applies in many areas of life. For example, there is no meeting that goes faster than not having a meeting at all. This is not to say you should never attend another meeting, but the truth is that we say "yes" to too many things we don't actually want to do.

不行动总比行动更快。这一理念在生活许多方面都适用。例如，没有任何会议比不开会更高效。这并非意味着你永远不该参加其他会议，但现实是我们对太多不想做的事说了“是”。

B) How often do people ask you to do something and you just reply, "Sure." Three days later, you're overwhelmed by how much is on your to-do list. We become frustrated by our obligations even though we were the ones who said "yes" to them in the first place. Even worse, people will occasionally fight to do things that waste time. You don't have to do something just because it exists. It's worth asking if things are necessary. Many of them are not, and a simple "no" will be more productive than whatever work the most efficient person can cope with. But if the benefits of saying "no" are so obvious, then why do we say "yes" so often?

人们请求你做事时，你是否常直接答“好”？三天后，你却被堆积如山的待办事项压垮。我们对自己的责任感到懊恼，尽管最初是自己应承下来的。更甚者，人们有时竟争着做浪费时间的事。不必因为某事存在就非做不可。值得追问事情是否必要。许多事其实没必要，一个简单的“不”会比最高效者完成的任何工作更有效率。但既然说“不”好处如此明显，我们为何还常说“是”？

C) We say "yes" to many requests not because we want to do them, but because we don't want to be seen as rude or unhelpful. Often, we have to consider saying "no" to someone we will interact with again in the future-our co-worker, our spouse, our family and friends. Saying "no" to our superiors at work can be particularly difficult. In these situations, I like the approach recommended in Essentialism by Greg McKeown. He writes, "Remind your superiors what you would be neglecting if you said 'yes' and force them to deal with the trade-off. For example, if your manager comes to you and asks you to do X, you can respond with 'Yes, I'm happy to make this the priority. Which of these other projects should I deprioritize to pay attention to this new project?'"

我们对许多请求说“是”，并非因为想做，而是不想显得无礼或不帮手。通常，我们得考虑对未来可能再打交道的人说“不”——同事、配偶、亲友。对工作中的上级说“不”尤为困难。在这种情况下，我推崇格雷格·麦基翁在《本质主义》中建议的方法。他写道：“提醒上级，如果你答应了会忽视什么，并迫使他们权衡取舍。例如，若经理请你做X，你可以回应‘好的，我很乐意以此为重。但为了专注于这个新项目，我该将其他哪些项目降级？’”

D) Collaborating with others is an important element of life. The thought of straining the relationship outweighs the commitment of our time and energy. For this reason, it can be helpful to be gracious in your response. Do whatever favors you can, and be warm-hearted and direct when you have to say no. But even after we have accounted for these social considerations, many of us still seem to do a poor job of managing the trade-off between yes and no. We find ourselves over-committed to things that don't meaningfully improve or support those around us, and certainly don't improve our own lives.

与人合作是生活的重要部分。担心关系受损的念头往往胜过对时间精力的投入。因此，回应时保持得体大有裨益。能帮就帮，需拒绝时则热忱而直接。但即便考虑了这些社交因素，我们中许多人仍拙于权衡“是”与“否”。我们发现自己过度承诺于那些既无助于身边人、也无益于自身生活的事务。

E) Perhaps one issue is how we think about the meaning of yes and no. The words "yes" and "no" get so often used in comparison with each other that it feels like they carry equal weight in conversation. In reality, they're not just opposite in meaning, but of entirely different magnitudes in commitment. When you say "no", you're only saying "no" to one option. When you say "yes", you're saying "no" to every other option. I like how economist Tim Harford put it, "Every time we say 'yes' to a request, we're also saying 'no' to anything else we might accomplish with the time." Once you're committed to something, you've already decided how that future block of time will be spent. In other words, saying "no" saves you time in the future. Saying "yes" costs you time in the future. "No" is a form of time credit. You retain the ability to spend your future time however you want. "Yes" is a form of time debt. You have to pay back your commitment at some point.

或许问题在于我们对“是”与“否”含义的理解。“是”和“否”常被相互对照，仿佛在交谈中分量相当。实则不然，它们不仅意义相反，承诺的量级也截然不同。说“否”只是拒绝一个选项；说“是”则意味着拒绝所有其他选项。我欣赏经济学家蒂姆·哈福德的表述：“每次我们答应一个请求，实则是在拒绝这段时间可能成就的任何其他事。”一旦你应承某事，便已决定那段时间的用途。换言之，说“否”为你未来省时；说“是”则耗时。“否”是一种时间信用，让你保留未来自由支配时间的能力；“是”是一种时间债务，你终须偿还承诺。

F) "No" is a decision. "Yes" is a responsibility. Saying "no" is sometimes seen as a luxury that only those in power can afford. And it's true: turning down opportunities is easier when you can fall back on the safety net provided by power, money, and authority. But it's also true that saying "no" is not merely a privilege reserved for the successful. It's also a strategy that can help you become successful. Saying "no" is an important skill to develop at any stage of your career because it retains the most important asset in life: your time. As investor Pedro Sorrentino put it, "If you don't guard your time, people will steal it from you." You need to say "no" to whatever isn't leading you toward your goals.

“否”是决定，“是”是责任。拒绝有时被视为权贵专享的奢侈。诚然，有权力、财富和权威作后盾时，拒绝机会更易。但拒绝并非成功者的专利，它亦是助你成功的策略。说“不”是职业生涯任何阶段都需培养的重要技能，因为它守护着生命中最宝贵的资产：时间。如投资者佩德罗·索伦蒂诺所言：“若不守护时间，他人便会窃取之。”你需对任何无助于实现目标的事说“否”。

G) Nobody embodied this idea better than Steve Jobs, who said, "People think focus means saying 'yes' to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying 'no' to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully." Jobs had another great quote about saying "no", "I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying 'no' to 1,000 things."

史蒂夫·乔布斯最能诠释这一理念。他说：“人们以为专注是对必须专注之事说‘是’。实则不然，专注是对其他成百上千个好点子说‘否’，需精挑细选。”乔布斯另有一句关于拒绝的名言：“我为我们未做之事与已做之事同样自豪。创新就是对一千件事说‘不’。”

H) Over time, as you continue to improve and succeed, your strategy needs to change. The opportunity cost of your time increases as you become more successful. At first, you just eliminate the obvious distractions and explore the rest. As your skills improve and you learn to separate what works from what doesn't, you have to continually increase your threshold for saying "yes". You still need to say "no" to distractions, but you also need to learn to say "no" to opportunities that were previously good uses of time, so you can make space for better uses of time. It's a good problem to have, but it can be a tough skill to master.

随着你持续进步并取得成功，策略需随之调整。越成功，时间的机会成本越高。起初，你只需排除明显干扰，探索其余。随着技能提升，学会区分有效与无效，你必须不断提高说“是”的门槛。仍需拒绝干扰，但也要学会对曾是良机的事物说“不”，以便为更佳用途腾出时间。这是个良性问题，却难掌握。

I) What is true about health is also true about productivity: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. More effort is wasted doing things that don't matter than is wasted doing things inefficiently. And if that is the case, elimination is a more useful skill than optimization. I'm reminded of the famous Peter Drucker quote, "There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all."

健康之道亦适用于效率：防患未然胜于亡羊补牢。更多精力浪费于无关紧要之事，而非低效执行。若果如此，消除比优化更有用。这让我想起彼得·德鲁克的名言：“最无用之事，莫过于高效地做根本不该做之事。”