《中英對照讀新聞》Why teens are lousy at chores
青少年為何處理日常雜務一團糟

◎陳宜君

Finally researchers have come up with a reason other than pure laziness for why teenagers can't shower and brush their teeth or unload the dishwasher and wipe down the counter.

為什麼青少年無法淋浴後接著把牙刷好，或拿出洗碗機裡的碗盤後順手把流理台清理乾淨，研究人員終於找出一個除了純屬懶惰之外的理由。

Blame it on "cognitive limitations." Their brains can't multitask as well as those of the taskmasters.

將這歸咎於「感知限制」。他們大腦的多工能力不像嚴厲的監工者那麼優秀。

The part of the brain responsible for multitasking continues to develop until late adolescence, according to a new study in the May/June issue of the journal Child Development.

大腦負責多工的區域持續發育，直到青春期後期，根據「兒童發展」期刊的五╱六月號刊登的一項新研究指出。

The frontal cortex, which starts just behind the eyes and goes back almost to the ears, figures out what to do when a person is asked to juggle multiple pieces of information. Imagine, then, how "make your bed and bring the laundry down" might befuddle a 13-year-old.

當一個人被要求處理多項資訊時，會由額葉皮質區（從眼睛後方開始，向後延伸幾乎到達耳朵之間的區域）想出該做什麼。想像「鋪好你的床，把衣服拿去洗」這麼一句話，確實可能把一個十三歲的孩子搞昏頭。

新聞辭典

chore：名詞，日常零星工作、令人厭煩或困難的工作。例句：It is such a chore filling in tax forms. （填寫納稅表格是令人倒胃口的工作。）

come up with：提出或想出（計畫等）。例句：The airline has come up with a novel solution to the problem of jet-lag. （這家航空公司提出一個解決時差問題的新奇辦法。）

multitask：動詞，原是指電腦能夠多工（亦即可以同時開啟多個程式運作），現在也用來指一個人一段時間內要處理多件任務。

figure out：理解、想出。例句：I can't figure him out--he is a mystery! （我無法捉摸他─他是一團謎！）