摘要：雅思中国网雅思君今天要给大家分享一篇非常美好的雅思阅读文章，没错“白日梦”！白日做梦（daydreaming)？这个词一向名声很坏。但近来科学家们研究表明，我们白日做梦是必然的，甚至是有好处的（beneficial)！一起来看看吧！
But the resting state is not easy to investigate. As some cognitive psychologists have pointed out, just because a person is lying in a scanner we can’t be sure that they are alone in their thoughts, introspecting(内省). They could be thinking about the sounds of the scanner and what’s happening around them. For this reason there are still plenty of unanswered questions about mind wandering. For instance, are the daydreams we experience when we’re trying – and failing – to focus on our work different from the ones we have when we’re deliberately(有意地) trying to switch off?(比如，当我们试图—或者没做到—专心工作时体验到的白日梦，与我们刻意要关闭大脑时体验的白日梦有什么不同?)
Progress is being made, though. A study published earlier this year hinted that we might all experience the resting state in a slightly different same way. Researchers conducted a detailed brain scan study of five people who had been trained to recount their mind wanderings in detail every time they heard a computer beep. The researchers found considerable(相当大的) differences between each person’s daydreaming thoughts and experiences.
In September researchers at the University of Oxford used scans from the Human Connectome Project of 460 people’s brains in a resting state to explore which parts of the brain communicate with each other when we are at rest. Again, the results hinted at personal differences in the resting state – this time linked to life skills and experiences. The strength of the connections between different parts of the brain varies with the strength of a person’s memory, their years of education and their physical endurance.(大脑不同部分之间联系的强度取决于个人记忆力的强度、受教育长短及其身体耐力。) It is as though parts of the brain remain connected when our mind wanders just in case we need them to do something.
Scientifically, the discovery that the brain is never truly at rest could help make sense of a longstanding mystery: why does the brain uses 20% of body’s energy when the activities we know it performs should need only about 5%?Marcus Raichle has labelled the missing 15% the brain’s “dark energy” – resting state activity might account for some of this discrepancy(差异，缺口).(为什么大脑使用了身体能量的20%，而大脑完成我们所知的活动仅需要5%?Marcus Raichle将那消失的15%称为大脑的“黑能量”—休息状态下的活动也许能部分解释这15%的缺口。)
The discovery of the resting state also has the potential to change the way we each feel about our brains. We know how hard it is to empty our minds. We know how our minds have a frustrating tendency to wander even when we don’t want them to. But the emerging picture suggests these quirks(怪癖)might actually be beneficial – even if they do prevent us from finishing a task in time to meet a deadline. In other words, perhaps it’s time to celebrate the virtues of an idle mind. (换句话说，我们也许该歌颂一下胡思乱想的美德了。)
Vocabulary
Neuroscientist 神经科学家
Popular belief 通行的观点
Assumption 假设，前提
Stimulate 刺激
Evocative 召唤的;引起回忆的
Neutral 中性的
Cross 十字架
Investigate 研究;探究
Coordinate 协调
Incorporate 整合;纳入
Consistently 总是;一贯
Catch on 被人接受，变得流行
Object to 反对
Consolidate 加强;巩固
Contemplate 思考
Unoccupied 空闲的
Introspect 内省
Deliberately 刻意地
Considerable 相当大的
Discrepancy 差异;缺口
Quirk 怪癖
本文对雅思写作的启示
这篇文章可以分为三个部分：第一部分提出我们休息时，大脑其实在活动;第二部分尝试对这种现象予以解释;第三部分认为这种白日梦可能有好处(你能划出这三部分的位置吗?)。请看第一部分作者怎样引用论据来论证与常规观点相悖的看法;第二部分怎样提出解释;第三部分怎样阐述未经证实的好处。以下句式可以模仿：
1. Contrary to popular belief, those idle daydreams might even be beneficial.
与普遍观点不同的是，这些无所事事的白日梦甚至可能是有好处的。
2. The first sign that a resting brain is surprisingly active came two decades ago.
休息的大脑出奇地活跃，这个说法首次出现在20年前。
Then in 1997 an analysis incorporating(包含，整合) the results of nine brain scan studies revealed another surprise.
1997年，一份整合了9项大脑扫描研究结果的分析揭示出另一些让人意想不到的结论。
Today things are very different. Almost 3000 scientific papers have been published on the topic of the brain’s surprisingly busy “resting state”.
今天情况大不相同了，已经发表了大约3000篇科学论文，讨论大脑的这种令人惊奇的繁忙“休息状态”。
3. The big question is: why is the idling brain so active? There are plenty of theories, but no agreement yet.
重要的问题是：为什么空闲的大脑如此活跃?有很多理论，但还没有定论。
4.The discovery of the resting state also has the potential to change the way we each feel about our brains.
关于空闲状态的发现还有可能改变我们对大脑的感觉方式。
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