Unit 2
1. Cool one’s heels ，be  forced to wait
to,testify to
3. apocalyptic, predicting the end of the world
4. not at all or in any respect
(prō-kŏn′səl), A high administrator in one of the modern colonial empires.
(roo′mə-nāt′),  turn a matter over and over in the mind.,go over---
,  ,noisy,talk idly
,  encourage:,  make strong
  (ăk′ə-dēm′), a. The academic environment;；b. Academic life.
,psychiatrist
/ˌsʌbˈlɪm.ɪ.nəl/,
not recognized  by the conscious mind
/truː.ɪ.zəm/, obvious truth,a statement that is so obviously true that it is almost not worth saying:
II.
, having worth or merit or value
, appeal or request earnestly;
n,  [proʊˌkræstɪ'neɪʃn]
     ,putting off or delaying an action to a later time
The Fine Art of Putting Things Off
拖延的艺术
Michael Demarest
迈克尔·德马雷斯特
1"Never put off till tomorrow," exhorted Lord Chesterfield in 1749, "what you can do today." That the elegant earl never got around to marrying his son's mother and had a bad habit of keeping worthies like Dr. Johnson cooling their heels for hours in an anteroom attests（证明） to the fact that even the most well-intentioned men have been postponers ever. Quintus Fabius Maximus, one of the great Roman generals, was dubbed "Cunctator” (Delayer拖延者) for putting off battle until the last possible vinum ['vaɪnəm] break（休息）. Moses pleaded a speech defect（语言表达缺陷） to rationalize（理由） his reluctance to deliver Jehovah's edicts （法令）to Pharaoh. Hamlet, of course, raised procrastination（拖延） to an art form.
“今天能做的事情决不要推到明天。”切斯特菲尔德伯爵在1794年劝告儿子说。但是这位高雅的伯爵一直没有抽出时间来与孩子他妈举行婚礼，也没有让约翰逊博士等名士在接待室久等的坏习惯。这足以证明，用心最善之人亦可是拖沓之士。罗马的一位大将军昆塔斯·费边·马
克西姆斯为了有尽可能多的机会喝酒消闲，常常推迟战斗，被人起了“拖延者”的绰号；摩西不愿向法老传达耶和华的法令，便借口说自己语言有缺陷；当然哈姆雷特更是把拖延上升为一种艺术形式。
2"The world is probably about evenly divided between delayers and do-it-nowers. There are those who prepare their income taxes in February, prepay mortgages and serve precisely planned dinners at an ungodly（难以忍受的） 6:30 . The other half dine happily on leftovers at 9 or 10, misplace bills and file for an extension of the income tax deadline. They seldom pay credit-card bills until the apocalyptic （警告性的）voice of Diners（大来信用卡） threatens doom from Denver（丹佛总部）. They postpone, as Faustian encounters, visits to barbershop, dentist or doctor.
世上的人基本上可以均等地分成两类：拖延者和马上行动者。有些人二月份就准备好交个人所得税，预先偿还抵押借款，按计划准时在常人难以忍受的六点半开饭；另一些人则乐于在九点或十点时吃些剩饭剩菜、错放账单和文件以期延长缴税的期限。他们非要等到信用卡总部警告他们后果自负才肯去付信用卡上的帐。就像浮士德遇见魔鬼一样，他们推迟去理发店、去看牙医或看医生。
3Yet for all the trouble procrastination may incur, delay can often inspire and revive a creative soul. Jean Kerr, author of many successful novels and plays, says that she reads every soup-can and jamjar label in her kitchen before settling down to her typewriter. Many a writer focuses on almost anything but his task—for example, on the Coast and Geodetic（土地的） Survey of Maine's Frenchman Bay and Bar Harbor, stimulating his imagination with names like Googins Ledge, Blunts Pond, Hio Hill and Burnt Porcupine, Long Porcupine, Sheep Porcupine and Bald Porcupine islands.
尽管拖延会带来诸多不便，但拖延经常可以激发和唤醒具有创新意识的灵魂。写下许多成功小说和剧本的作家琼·克尔说，她要把厨房里每个汤罐头和酱瓶子上的标签看上一遍后，才能安心地坐在打字机前。许多作家都关注着他们任务之外的各种杂事，譬如，关注在缅因州的法国人海湾和巴尔海港进行的海岸和土地测量，其中的地名，如古金斯（姓氏）暗礁、布伦特（迟钝）池塘、黑奥（含碘）山、伯恩特（焦烤）sort of things什么意思豪猪、朗（长条）豪猪、希皮（绵羊）豪猪以及鲍尔德（光秃）豪猪岛，都激起了他们的想象。
4From Cunctator's day until this century, the art of postponement had been virtually a mono
poly of the military ("Hurry up and wait"), diplomacy and the law. In former times, a British proconsul （总督）faced with a native uprising could comfortably ruminate ['ruːmɪneɪt] (思考) about the situation with Singapore Sling（酒） in hand. Blessedly, he had no nattering Telex to order in machine guns and fresh troops. A . general as late as World War II could agree with his enemy counterpart to take a sporting day off, loot the villagers' chickens and wine and go back to battle a day later. Lawyers are among the world's most addicted postponers. According to Frank Nathan, a non-postponing Beverly Hills insurance salesman, "The number of attorneys（律师） who die without a will is amazing."
从“拖延者”年代到本世纪，拖延的艺术实际上被军事“赶快、待命”）、外交和法律所垄断。在过去，英国殖民地总督，面对当地人的起义，可以端着酒，安逸地思考民族叛乱的形式。庆幸的是，他没有通过电传机来喋喋不休地命令：增加机关、增派军队。早在二战时，美国将军还可以跟敌方将军达成协议，休假一天去打猎，去掠夺村民的鸡和酒，次日再战。律师是世界上最积习难改的延误者。据贝弗利山的从不拖沓的保险推销员弗兰克·内森说，“没有留下遗嘱就去世的律师数不胜数。”
5Even where there is no will, there is a way. There is a difference, of course, between chronic（习惯性的） procrastination and purposeful postponement, particularly in the higher echelons（机构）of business. Corporate dynamics（制度、力量） encourage the caution that breeds delay, says Richard Manderbach, Bank of America group vice president. He notes that speedy action can be embarrassing or extremely costly. The data explosion fortifies those seeking excuses for inaction—another report to be read, another authority to be consulted. "There is always," says Manderbach, "a delicate edge between having enough information and too much."
无志者，事也成。当然，习惯性拖延和刻意延缓是有差别的，特别是在商业机构高层中。美洲银行集团副总裁查理德·曼德巴赫说，企业制度鼓励谨慎行事，由此滋生了拖延。他提到，仓促行事往往导致尴尬的局面，或付出沉重的代价。信息爆炸鼓励了那些为自己的懒惰借口的人——还有一篇报告要读，还有以个权威人士要咨询。曼德巴赫说：“数据的充分与盈余之间总有条微妙的界线。”

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