科學家實證的10個小技巧：讓你讀書更有效率
Our brain can potentially memorize 2.5 petabytes of information, which is roughly the equivalent of 3 million hours of YouTube videos.
人的大腦有存儲2.5PB信息的潛力，約等於YouTube上三百萬小時的影片。
In order to use some of that staggering capacity a little more effectively when you learn, here are some tips that are based on widely accepted research by neuroscientists and learning experts.
為了在讀書的時候發揮一些這種驚人的能力，我們根據神經科學家普遍認可的研究，找出了一些讀書的小技巧。
間隔重複
To maximize your learning, study short but often.
為了讓學習（效果）最大化，讀書要讀得短，但是要頻繁。
Neuroscientist proved that synapses, the million billion connections in your brain that make you remember and understand stuff, grow mainly at night when you are asleep.
科學家實證，神經突觸，也就是大腦裡幫助你記憶和理解的上百億個神經元，它們主要在夜晚和睡覺的時候生成。
This means that it is more productive to study regularly with sleeping breaks in between.
也就是說，更有效的學習方式是在規律的讀書時間中夾雜睡眠時間。
Try it!
試試吧！
Practice something for 15 minutes every day and you'll be surprised by your progress within just weeks.
每天花十五分鐘做一件事，幾個禮拜內就會達到讓你意想不到的進步。
找到自己的方法
Some enjoy watching videos over reading books; others study with friends and some like sitting in silence among a million books.
有些人更喜歡看影片，有些人喜歡跟朋友在一起讀書，也有一些人喜歡在書堆裡安靜地讀書。
Everybody is different.
每一個人都是獨一無二的。
晚上好好睡覺
Sleep and dreams are vital to processing and storing new information.
睡覺和做夢都對處理和儲存新信息十分重要。
A Harvard study showed that students who had a good night’s sleep remembered their study materials 35% better than those who studied in the morning to take a test in the evening.
一個哈佛大學的研究顯示，一夜好眠的學生在晚上的考試中，比熬夜看書的學生多記了百分之三十的學習內容。
專注
If you tend to procrastinate, which means that you tend to switch from doing something hard like studying math to something easy like browsing the web, protect yourself from distraction.
如果你習慣拖拖拉拉，也就是習慣逃避做像數學題這樣困難的事，而去做上網這類簡單的事，那請你把持住自己，保持專心。
One way of doing this is to shut down your mobile phone or go to a quiet place like a library.
一個方法就是關掉你的手機，或者去圖書館這類安靜的地方。
難事優先
Do the things that are difficult first.
先做困難的事。
Once you are done with the hard stuff you will feel better for the rest of the day and probably more motivated to get other things done.
只要你完成了困難的事，這一天剩下的時間你都會感覺更棒，甚至更有動力完成其他事情。
6. Exercise, Meditate and Converse
運動，冥想，交流
There are few activities proven to grow your brain however physical exercise, regular meditation and good conversation apparently do exactly that.
許多活動都被證實有利於大腦發育，而身體運動、規律性的冥想和良好的溝通更有顯著的作用。
They lead to the creation of new neurons inside your brain and therefore grow its potential.
它們能夠促使新的神經細胞生成，因此會增加你的大腦的潛力。
出門去！
You can create deeper memories of a subject by learning in a richer environment that offers more visual clues.
在富有視覺刺激的多元環境中學習，你對事物的記憶會更深刻。
In an experiment two groups of students had to remember random words.
在一項實驗中，兩組學生需要記住一些隨機的生詞。
One group changed the classroom while studying, the other didn't.
一組在讀書的時候換教室，另一組則不換。
The group that studied in two different rooms (one was small and windowless, the other big and bright) was 40% more likely to recall the words later.
在兩間不同的教室讀書的那組（其中一件教師狹窄，而且沒有窗戶；另一間又大又明亮）能背出單詞的概率（比沒換教室的那組）要高出40%。
認真地玩
Whatever it is, find a fun way to practice.
不論何事，找一個有趣的方法去練習。
Modern learning science believes that positive emotions are very important for increasing your learning potential.
當代科學相信，正面情緒對提高大腦潛力具有十分重要的作用。
So do yourself a favour and have a good time!
所以讓自己好好玩耍吧！
間隔讀書時間
In order to remember things for a longer time, repeat the material in spaces intervals.
如果你想把某事記得更久，那就間隔一段時間後複習。
Vocabularies for example are best learned if you review them the first time 1-2 days after the initial study and then again after 1 week and after 1 month.
例如單詞，只要你在學習新知識的一兩天後複習一次，接著在一個月後再複習一次，你就能把它們記得非常清楚。
立即自我測試
After you study finish up with a quick quiz.
當你讀完書，就進行一個小小的測試。
Immediate recall in form of a test or a short summary on what you've just learned can increase retention by as much as 30%.
立即回想考試內容或者你學到的東西的概要，這能讓你的記憶增加30%。
Because it's much harder for your brain to reflect that to read, that extra effort creates deeper traces in your memory.
因為對大腦來說，回想比閱讀難得多，這樣額外的努力會讓你的記憶更加深刻。
（內容整理自每日英語聽力，圖片來源於網絡）
►編輯：Bella 盧比的姐姐