Experiencing Nature Makes Us More Forward-Thinking1

By Ben Thomas

To get some perspective on daily troubles, lots of people escape to the outdoors—maybe a weekend bike ride, a fishing trip or a hike—to clear their minds.2. perspective: 观点，看法；clear: v. 清理，不再烦恼。And now there’s some scientific evidence that it actually helps. Researchers have found that looking at natural landscapes makes people more forward-thinking in their decision-making.3. depict: 描绘，描写；landscape:风景，景色；decision-making:决策，做决定。

Different Landscapes

The researchers started by preparing two different photographic slideshows—one depicting lush green natural landscapes, the other depicting urban environments.4. slideshow: 幻灯片；lush: 繁茂的，茂盛的。The team then recruited 47 volunteers and assigned each volunteer to one of the slideshow rooms at random.5. recruit: 募集，招收；assign: 布置，分配；at random: 随机地，任意地。In each room, volunteers listened to an audio script encouraging them to become immersed in the environment shown in the photographs.6. audio script: 录音脚本； be immersed in sth.: 专心于某事物，沉浸于某事物。

After each of the volunteers had watched one or the other of the slideshows, the researchers offered them a choice between two types of financial reward: 100 euros now, or a larger sum in 90 days’ time. And to test just how willing each participant was to wait for a reward, the researchers ratcheted the amount of the delayed reward upward in 10-euro increments until each volunteer chose it over the immediate reward.7. ratchet:（使）增加（或减少）；increment: 增值，增加额。

居住在城市中的我们每天面对高楼林立、车水马龙的世界，过着快节奏、高压力的生活，似乎生活因科技在改善，实则我们成了钢筋水泥中的“困兽”，紧张的生活让我们只能看到眼前的利益。那就回归自然吧，在大自然的怀抱中给自己的心灵“洗洗澡”，无限广阔的空间和宁静美好的意境让我们心灵更加释然，眼光更加长远。

Delayed Gratification8. gratification: 满足，满意。

As you might expect, very few of the volunteers chose to wait 90 days for 110 euros when they could have 100 euros right now—and on the other hand, almost all of them were willing to wait 90 days for 150 euros or more.

When the value of the delayed reward fell in between these two figures,though, a clear distinction became apparent.9. distinction: 差别，区别；apparent: 清晰可见的，显而易见的。Participants who’d viewed the natural-scene slideshows were far more willing to wait for an extra 20, 30 or 40 euros than were the ones who’d seen urban scenes—hinting that their exposure to natural beauty may have made them more amenable to delayed gratification.10. hint: 暗示，示意；exposure:接触，经历；amendable: 愿意同意的，顺从的。

Pace of Nature

To pinpoint11. pinpoint: 确切地解释（或找出）（真相）。this effect, the researchers conducted additional experiments. In one, they offered immediate or delayed rewards to three groups of volunteers—a group who’d viewed photos of natural scenes, a group who’d viewed urban photos, and a group who didn’t view any photos at all. In another, they sent one group of volunteers to take a walk in a forested12. forested: 森林覆盖的。city park and sent the other to hang out in a heavily developed business district, offering similar reward choices afterward.

These subsequent experiments confirmed the team’s results:Participants who’d spent time viewing or exploring nature had the lowest thresholds for delaying future reward, implying that their exposure to natural scenes made them more inclined to care for the future.13. 这些后续的实验证实了该团队的结论：那些花时间观赏或探索大自然的参与者对于推迟未来奖励所要求的门槛最低，这说明接触自然景色使他们更倾向于关心未来。threshold:起始点，门槛；imply: 意味着，暗示。

The researchers say the psychological benefit could be because nature moves at a slower pace overall, while city life relentlessly bombards us with pressure to acquire status, material goods and mates.14. 研究人员称，这种心理益处可能是由于大自然总体上的运动速度更加缓慢，而城市生活却不断地向我们施加种种压力，让我们不停地追逐地位、物质利益和伴侣。relentlessly: 不间断地，无休止地；bombard: 不断攻击，向……一下子提供大量信息。When we take a step back and see the environment as a whole, all those tiny struggles vanish into the grand timescales of the Earth itself.15. vanish: 消失，突然不见；timescale:（某事发生或完成的）时间段，时标。

As the old Greek proverb says, A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. We might all be doing our grandchildren a favor if we spend less time running the rat race16. rat race: 激烈竞争，无情争夺。, and more time planting those trees .