BBC · 6分钟 | Dealing with boredom
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Bored? You're not alone. Everyone from factory workers to pilots experience a feeling of boredom: feeling unhappy and uninterested in what they are doing. Some people get bored because they have nothing to do. But is it always a negative emotion or can it push you to do something different?
Rob and Finn discuss how to deal with boredom and teach some related vocabulary. We promise you won't be bored!
This week's question:
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the longest continuous dramatic performance was held in New Jersey, in the US, in 2010. But do you know how long the cast for The Bald Soprano was on stage for? Was it for about:
a) 8 hours
b) 17 hours
c) 23 hours
Listen to the programme to find out the answer.
Vocabulary
to yawn - to open your mouth wide and take air in and out slowly; usually a sign of boredom or tiredness
stimulating - making someone excited and interested in something
restless - unable to sit still because you are bored or worried
to cope with - to deal with a situation successfully
stuck in a rut - become too fixed in one kind of job or situation in life
to stave off - to stop or keep away an unpleasant feeling
to spur on - to encourage someone to do something
Transcript
Rob
Hello I'm Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm joined today by Finn. Hello Finn.
Finn
Hi Rob. You know, I'm happy you called me to present this programme with you because I was there by my desk feeling a bit bored (yawns loudly).
Rob
Great yawn, Finn! A yawn, of course, is that typical reaction of someone who is bored.
Finn
Yeah, it's when you open your mouth wide and take some air in and slowly out.
Rob
Okay. Let's make this a programme all about boredom, shall we? And I'll start by stimulating your imagination.
Finn
Thank you, but how are you going to make me excited and interested in something, Rob?
Rob
How about I challenge you to a question you might not know the answer to?
Finn
Okay, well, you can try. Go on then.
Rob
Well, I know you like the theatre.
Finn
I do. But it has to be an exciting play or I get restless.
Rob
Restless, you mean unable to sit still because you get bored or worried even. Okay. I wonder how you'd feel watching the longest continuous play recorded?
Finn
That's quite an offer. What do you mean?
Rob
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the longest continuous dramatic performance was held in New Jersey, in the US, in 2010. But do you know how long the cast for The Bald Soprano by Eugene Ionesco, was on stage for? Was it for about:
a) 8 hours
b) 17 hours
c) 23 hours
Finn
Wow! They're all pretty long. I'll say b) 17 hours, Rob.
Rob
Goodness! Right. Okay. I'll let you know the answer by the end of the programme. Now, let's talk more about boredom. I think this is a feeling we have to learn how to cope with.
Finn
Yes, we have to learn to deal with this situation successfully – to cope with it. But people often feel they want to change their life, to change their job. They might feel stuck in a rut.
Rob
That's a good phrase - stuck in a rut. So you mean you've become too fixed in one kind of job?
Finn
Yes. You know Rob, even I sometimes dream of something a bit more exciting like being a professional diver or maybe even a pilot of a really fast plane.
Rob
Well, guess what: even pilots get bored, you know?
Finn
Not when they are flying anyway.
Rob
Wrong. When they're up in the air!
Finn
No way! Really? I don't believe you!
Rob
Well, Missy Cummings, an American, was a fighter pilot. Listen to the phrasal verb she uses meaning to stop being bored, at least for a while. Is there ever time for a fighter pilot to get bored?
Missy Cummings, former fighter pilot:
Oh my gosh, sure, for the same reasons that commercial pilots get bored. These fighter jets are very automated when it comes to just holding altitude and heading. So you turn everything in autopilot and I probably listened to more Oprah Winfrey TV shows on the high-frequency radios… And so you get good about using the technology to figure out how to stave off that boredom.
Finn
Ah, so she listened to a show hosted by the American presenter Oprah Winfrey on the radio to stave off her boredom. Now, to stave off means to stop or to keep an unpleasant feeling away. In this case she means boredom.
Rob
Yes, indeed.
But some experts think there's something good about feeling bored.
Finn
Really?
Rob
Let's hear what Tiffany Watt-Smith has to say. She works for the Centre for the History of Emotions at the Queen Mary University of London. Pay attention to the word she uses to describe what boredom does to people.
Tiffany Watt-Smith, Queen Mary University of London:
On the one hand people are worried about being under-occupied and bored. On the other there's a set of anxieties about us having any more downtime, you know. We can constantly check our phones at the bus stop. Everything is to be filled and what does that do to our minds? I think boredom is a very useful emotion. It's an emotion which spurs people on to change something about their environment. If you're bored that gives rise to creativity.
Finn
So boredom spurs people on to change something. To spur on means to stimulate or to encourage someone to do something.
Rob
So what are you going to do, Finn? How will you change your life?
Finn
Change my life? Okay. Two things. The first one is: I want to know if I got that question right!
Rob
Well I said at the beginning of the programme that the longest continuous dramatic performance was held in New Jersey, US, in 2010. And I asked you how long was the cast on stage for to play The Bald Soprano by Eugene Ionesco.
Finn
Yes. The options were 8 hours, 17 hours and 23 hours, I think. And I said 17. Was I right?
Rob
You were not!
Finn
Oh, no!
Rob
It was even longer.
Finn
Wow! 23!
Rob
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the play lasted 23 hours, 33 minutes and 54 seconds. It was achieved by The 27 O'Clock Players who performed The Bald Soprano at Belmar, New Jersey, USA, on 27 July 2010. Anyway Finn, what's the second thing you're going to do to stave off your boredom?
Finn
You know what, Rob? I'm going to book myself a fantastic holiday! Maybe I could start with a visit to Patagonia in Argentina to see the penguins…
Rob
Yeah, it sounds very exciting. But before you head off to Patagonia, could you remind us of some of the English words we've heard today?
Finn
We heard:
yawn
stimulating
restless
to cope with
stuck in a rut
to stave off
to spur on
Rob
Thanks Finn. That's it for this programme. I hope you didn't find it boring.
Finn
Not at all. I loved it!
Rob
Please join us soon again for 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.
Both
Bye.