Directions: Complete the passage with the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. There is one extra that you do not need.
A. heighten B. Generally C. beneficial D. tire E. distracting F. association G. devote H. little I. relief J. Consequently K. uncertainty |
The Pleasure of Puttering
Tidying your desk, watering your plants, or folding laundry ... These household chores are hardly the height of hedonism (享乐主义). Yet I often find myself seeking pleasure and comfort in these small repetitive tasks.
I am not alone in this. As we faced the stresses of the pandemic, many people reported finding renewed interest in looking after their homes as a way of coping with the 19 . On YouTube, there is even a huge audience for videos of other people going about their chores, with millions of views for some of the most popular clips. Psychologists suggest that there are many potential mechanisms (机制) that might explain the perfect pleasure of puttering.
At the most superficial level, puttering may be useful because it occupies the mind so that we 20 fewer resources to the things that are worrying us. Even if we struggle with structured forms of meditation (冥想), for instance, we may find household tasks can anchor us in the here and now.
Unlike other 21 activities, such as playing computer games or watching trashy TV, puttering also has the advantage of being positive and useful, increasing our perceived sense of control.
When we feel anxious, a sense of helplessness can 22 our physiological stress response, increasing levels of hormones such as cortisol (皮质醇). Over the long term, this sense of helplessness can even harm the functioning of our immune system (免疫系统). Ideally, we ought to deal directly with the upsetting situation itself. However, research suggests that we can gain a perception of control from activities that may have 23 effect over whatever particular situation it is that may be bothering us.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to align with actual control, as long as we believe, or feel, we have control,” says Stacey Bedwell, a psychologist at King’s College London. Simply being able to change our environment can create a sense of agency that can be 24 to us, which may explain why cleaning and organizing our homes can feel so therapeutic.
The benefits do not end there. If your puttering takes the form of organizing and decluttering (整理), you may find that the tidier environment is itself a 25 . Brain imaging studies support this view. 26 , you see much greater brain activity as you increase the number of distracting objects within a scene — with each object competing for our attention. This may lead your brain to 27 so that it struggles to maintain its focus over long periods of concentration.
But like all activities, the extent of these benefits will be influenced by your personal tastes and the 28 that you link with the tasks. We know, for example, that the effects of certain exercises like running can be moderated by people’s mindsets. If you are housework-averse and will never pick up a duster unless threatened, the pleasures of puttering may be forever elusive (难以理解的). For the homebodies among us, however, we can now understand why our fruitful fidgeting (小动作) can be such a salve for the restless mind.