你是否一直想學跳探戈、變魔術或者跳傘？如果你有這樣的一個愿望，也許你需要一份 “人生愿望清單”，列出你死亡前想做的所有事情。這樣一份清單聽起來很棒，但也有人指責它限制了人們的想象力，因為它鼓勵人們追隨他人對完美生活的看法。本文討論是不是每個人都需要有一份愿望清單。

詞匯：living life 生活

‘Life is for living’, according to the well-used expression: What we choose to do is up to us. That may not be completely true, but there is no harm in dreaming about what we’d like to achieve in our life. Many of us write a list of things we’d like to do before we die – often called a bucket list.

Bucket lists have been called ‘the greatest hits of your life’ and have helped some people overcome anxiety which would have stopped them following their dreams.  Some of us may choose to write one to fill our life with exciting and new experiences – from skydiving to swimming with sharks – the list is unlimited.

This is something the BBC radio programme All In The Mind has been looking at. It heard from a blogger called Annette White who said she made a promise to live her bucket list which “continuously pushes the comfort zone to its limits and beyond it.” Such a list can be exciting and can indeed help you plan your life and give you focus. When the BBC reporter Helen Fawkes knew she was suffering from incurable ovarian cancer, she took comfort in drawing up a bucket list -although she called it her ‘list for living’ because these were things for making the most of life. Sadly, she was not able to achieve all of her 50 things before she died at the age of 45.

Creating a bucket list can certainly give us hope, but some people have argued it can be used as a coping strategy to try to control something uncontrollable – death. Clinical psychologist Linda Blair told the BBC that she was “not really in favour of bucket lists… [they] take you away from the chance to be spontaneous.” It’s probably true that a list can encourage people to follow someone else’s idea of the perfect life. And also, following a fixed list of goals makes you less impulsive - your aims and wishes might change as you approach the day when you finally kick the bucket.

But why not at least dream of what we would like to do? Why not reach for the stars, even if we only reach the sky? Whether we want to plan it or just see what happens, we don’t know what tomorrow will bring, so maybe we should live for today.

詞匯表

life is for living 活出精彩
bucket list 人生愿望清單
anxiety 焦慮
experience 經歷
skydiving 跳傘運動
comfort zone 舒適區
to its limits 到……最大限度
focus 專注的重點，中心
take comfort 從……中得到安慰
coping strategy 應對策略
uncontrollable 無法控制的
in favour of 支持，贊同
spontaneous 自發的，本能的
goal 目標
impulsive 沖動的
kick the bucket 死亡
reach for the stars 追求難以實現的東西
live for today 活在當下

測驗與練習

1.  閱讀課文并回答問題。

1. How many things were on BBC reporter Helen Fawkes ‘list for living’?

2. True or false? According to the article, a bucket list is uncontrollable.

3. According to the article, what can stop you being impulsive in what you do?

4. Why should we not wait until tomorrow to do something?

5. How many things should we have on a bucket list?

2. 選擇意思恰當的單詞或詞組來完成下列句子。

1.Dan needs to be pushed out of his _______ if he wants to further his career.

comforting zone           comfortable zone          comfort zone            comfort zones

2. News that someone had spotted our missing cat _______ that she will eventually return home. 

reach for the stars        gave us hope                took comfort            in favour of

3. We chose Thailand _______ Vietnam for our holiday because we got a good price for a flight.

in favour of                   at favour of                    in favour off             in favourite of

4. The audience was so impressed with his speech, they broke into _______ applause even before he had finished.

impulsive                      to its limits                     focus                       spontaneous

5. Finally, my old car has decided to _______. I am going to have to buy a new one. 

kicked the bucket         kick the buckets            kick the bucket        kick a bucket

答案

1.  閱讀課文并回答問題。  

1. How many things were on BBC reporter Helen Fawkes ‘list for living’?
She had 50 things on her list. She was not able to achieve all of them before she died.

2. True or false? According to the article, a bucket list is uncontrollable.
False. Some people have argued that a bucket list can be used as a coping strategy to try to control something uncontrollable – death.

3. According to the article, what can stop you being impulsive in what you do?
Following a fixed list of goals might make you less impulsive.

4. Why should we not wait until tomorrow to do something?
According to the author, we don’t know what tomorrow will bring so maybe we should live for today.

5. How many things should we have on a bucket list?
As few or many things as you like – the list is unlimited.

2. 選擇意思恰當的單詞或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. Dan needs to be pushed out of his comfort zone if he wants to further his career.

2. News that someone had spotted our missing cat gave us hope that she will eventually return home.

3. We chose Thailand in favour of Vietnam for our holiday because we got a good price for a flight.

4. The audience was so impressed with his speech, they broke into spontaneous applause even before he had finished.

5. Finally, my old car has decided to kick the bucket. I am going to have to buy a new one.