中級口語練習:閲讀的10大好處

記得上次看書或是閲讀雜誌文章是什麼時候嗎?身處現代信息時代，你是不是已經很久沒有撿起書本了?其實讀書有很多好處，養成定期閲讀的習慣，會給你帶來很多精神和心靈上的感悟。

When was the last time you read a book, or a substantial magazine article? Do your daily reading habits center around tweets updates? If you’re one of countless people who don’t make a habit of reading regularly, you might be missing out: reading has a significant number of benefits, and just a few benefits of reading are listed below.

還記得上次看書或是閲讀雜誌文章是什麼時候嗎?你每天是不是總關注着臉普的更新?如果你還沒有養成定期閲讀的習慣，那麼就真的忽略了：閲讀會有很多的好處，下面先一起看看列舉出來的好處吧。

　　1. Mental Stimulation

　　刺激神經

Studies have shown that staying mentally stimulated can slow the progress of (or possibly even prevent) Alzheimer’s and Dementia, since keeping your brain active and engaged prevents it from losing power. Just like any other muscle in the body, the brain requires exercise to keep it strong and healthy, so the phrase “use it or lose it” is particularly apt when it comes to your mind. Doing puzzles and playing games such as chess have also been found to be helpful with cognitive stimulation.

研究表明通過保持大腦活力和專注力，可有效防止大腦衰退，這樣的持續精神刺激能夠有效減緩(甚至可能防止)老年痴呆症的發生。正如身體其他部位的肌肉，大腦也需要通過鍛鍊來保持強壯和健康，所以有句話怎麼説來着“不用就失去”，這對腦力尤其適用。猜謎以及玩遊戲如下國際象棋也能有效刺激認知。

　　2. Stress Reduction

　　減緩壓力

No matter how much stress you have at work, in your personal relationships, or countless other issues faced in daily life, it all just slips away when you lose yourself in a great story. A well-written novel can transport you to other realms, while an engaging article will distract you and keep you in the present moment, letting tensions drain away and allowing you to relax.

無論工作、人際關係還是其他雜七雜八的日常瑣事中遇到多大的壓力，一個好故事絕對能讓你把這些都拋在腦後。一本優質小説絕對可以帶你進入另一個世界，而一篇好的文章足以把你牢牢吸引無暇顧其他，幫你去除緊張讓你得以放鬆。

　　3. Knowledge

　　知識

Everything you read fills your head with new bits of information, and you never know when it might come in handy. The more knowledge you have, the better-equipped you are to tackle any challenge you’ll ever face.

你所閲讀的都會充斥大腦，讓其得到新的信息，你絕對不知道啥時候就會派上用場，知識越多，面對挑戰時你的底氣就越足。

Additionally, here’s a bit of food for thought: should you ever find yourself in dire circumstances, remember that although you might lose everything else—your job, your possessions, your money, even your health—knowledge can never be taken from you.

另外，這是你的精神食糧，哪怕發現自己處在這樣可悲的境地，即使你失去了一切——工作，財產，金錢甚健康——你絕不會失去知識。

　　bulary Expansion

　　擴大詞彙量

This goes with the above topic: the more you read, the more words you gain exposure to, and they’ll inevitably make their way into your everyday vocabulary. Being articulate and well-spoken is of great help in any profession, and knowing that you can speak to higher-ups with self-confidence can be an enormous boost to your self-esteem. It could even aid in your career, as those who are well-read, well-spoken, and knowledgeable on a variety of topics tend to get promotions more quickly (and more often) than those with smaller vocabularies and lack of awareness of literature, scientific breakthroughs, and global events.

這和上面的話題其實差不多：你讀的越多，獲得的詞彙就越多，這樣就不可避免的會增加你的日常詞彙量。語言表達流利對任何職業都大有好處，有自信的與上級交流可是對自尊的大大增加，甚至對職業都是個幫助。相比詞彙量小、文學素養匱乏、科技知識小白、不關心國家大事的人而言，那些讀書多、口才好、博學的人似乎升職更快(更頻繁)哦。

Reading books is also vital for learning new languages, as non-native speakers gain exposure to words used in context, which will ameliorate their own speaking and writing fluency.

學習新語言，閲讀也是個不可或缺的。這樣非母語的學生才能瞭解語境中單詞的使用，促使自己在口語和寫作中更加自然流暢。

　　5. Memory Improvement

　　提高記憶力

When you read a book, you have to remember an assortment of characters, their backgrounds, ambitions, history, and nuances, as well as the various arcs and sub-plots that weave their way through every story. That’s a fair bit to remember, but brains are marvellous things and can remember these things with relative ease. Amazingly enough, every new memory you create forges new synapses (brain pathways)and strengthens existing ones, which assists in short-term memory recall as well as stabilizing moods. How cool is that?

看書的時候，你需要記住一堆人物，他們的背景、野心、歷史以及細微的差別，以及每個故事中他們的故事脈絡和發展進程。這記起來可不那麼容易，但我們大腦也十分強大，相對的放鬆就能記住這些哦。最驚奇的是，你在新突觸(腦部神經)刻入了新的記憶，舊記憶也得以加強，這樣能幫助短期記憶的回想以及穩定情緒，是不是聽起來很不錯啊!

　　6. Stronger Analytical Thinking Skills

　　提高分析思考技巧