Q. Reading and answering e-mail is taking up more and more of your time at work. How could this affect your work? 問：閱讀和回覆電子郵件占據你愈來愈多的工作時間。這對你的工作有何影響？- ph. []1. 開始從事2. 佔用;化去
A. There is no doubt that e-mail, with its unparalleled ability to interrupt thoughts and offer other distractions, can sap productivity and undermine our ability to concentrate at work. 答：電子郵件有打斷思路和提供其他分心事物的空前本事，毫無疑問會降低生產力，並破壞我們專心工作的能力。
- []a.1. 無比的;無雙的;空前未有的
- []vt.1. 削弱,逐漸消耗
- []vt.1. 暗中破壞;逐漸損害
Some workers maintain that they can work simultaneously on e-mail and other tasks. But in fact, “our brains aren’t able to do two things at one time,” said Kathleen Nadeau, a business coach and clinical psychologist who specializes in attention deficit disorder and time management. “We are constantly interrupting one task to attend to another task,” she said, “and that leads to very rapid cognitive fatigue.” 一些上班族堅稱他們能同時處理電郵和其他工作。但專攻注意力不足症和時間管理的企業教練凱瑟琳‧納道說，事實上，「我們的大腦無法同時做兩件事」。她說：「我們不斷中斷一件工作，去處理另一件工作。這會導致快速認知疲勞。」
- []ad.1. 同時地
- []n.1. 不足額;赤字[C]
- []a.1. 認知的;認識的
- []n.1. 疲勞,勞累[U]
Q. Is there any way that e-mail can have a positive effect? 問：電郵有沒有在哪方面可能有正面影響？
A. Some psychologists say e-mail interruptions can enhance creativity and productivity – up to a point. 答：部分心理學家說，電子郵件的干擾可在一定程度上加強創造力和生產力。
Adam Cox, a clinical psychologist whose work focuses on the effects of multitasking and interruptions, said that when we receive work-related e-mail messages, they often stimulate the prefrontal cortex of the brain, our creative center, and make us better at problem solving. 專攻多重工作和干擾影響的臨床心理學家亞當‧考克斯說，我們收到和工作有關的電子郵件時，通常會刺激我們的創造力中樞，也就是大腦前額頁皮層，使我們更擅長解決問題。
- []n.1. 【電腦】多重任務處理;多重任務執行
- []a.1. 【解】前額葉的
- []n.1. 腦皮層2. 皮層,皮質
But there is a limit, Dr. Cox cautioned. “We don’t know how many e-mails puts a person over the edge,” he said, “but clearly at some point, it no longer leads to greater productivity.” 但考克斯警告說，這也有其限度。他說：「我們不知道多少封電郵才會把人逼急，但顯然達到某個程度以後，電郵就不再創造更高的生產力。」
Q. Should you try to limit the number of times you check e-mail during the day? 問：應該試著去限制白天查看電郵的次數嗎？
A. Ideally, yes, though your ability to do that will depend on your job and your industry. Most organizational experts suggest setting aside two or three times a day to check e-mail. 答：理想上，是的，不過你能做到什麼程度，要看你的工作和產業而定。大部分組織專家建議每天撥出時間查看電郵兩三次。
- ph. []1. 留出,撥出2. 不顧;不理會3. 駁回;撤銷
Kerul Kassel, president of New Leaf Systems, a productivity consulting firm in New Harmony, Florida, said that if it is impossible to ignore incoming e-mail for big chunks of time, putting limits on your viewing time can help. 佛羅里達州新哈莫尼市的生產力顧問公司新葉系統公司總裁克魯爾‧卡塞爾說，如果絕大部分時間做不到不去理會不斷傳進來的電郵，限制閱讀電郵的時間也許有幫助。
- []n.【口】[C]1. (肉、木材等的)大塊,厚片2. 相當大的部分(或數量)
Q. What should you do when the in-box is overflowing? 問：收件匣滿了該怎麼辦？
A. Before opening any new messages, you may want to scan for those you are most likely able to answer in two minutes or less, and tackle those immediately. “You don’t want to have to open it again later and re-analyze the same message,” said Mike Song, chief executive of Cohesive Knowledge Solutions, an e-mail efficiency and business etiquette training firm in Guilford, Connecticut, and co-author of “The Hamster Revolution: How to Manage Your E-Mail Before It Manages You.” 答：在打開新郵件前，也許該先花一兩分鐘掃描你最可能回覆的郵件，並立刻處理這些郵件。康乃狄克州吉爾福德市的電郵效率和企業禮儀訓練公司「凝聚知識解決方案」執行長邁可‧宋說：「你不會想稍後還得再打開和重新分析同一封郵件。」他也是「倉鼠革命：如何在電郵控制你之前控制它」一書的共同作者。
- []vt.1. 著手對付(或處理)2. 與...交涉[O][(+about/over/on)]
- []a.1. 有黏著力的;凝聚性的;有結合力
- []n.[U]1. 禮節;禮儀2. (同業間的)規矩;成規
- []n.1. 【動】倉鼠
You can also use a preview function, which lets you read the first line or two of a message and immediately delete what you don’t need, said Eric Abrahamson, a professor at Columbia Business School in New York. 紐約哥倫比亞商學院教授艾瑞克‧亞布拉罕森說，你也可以利用預覽功能，這種功能讓你先看一封電郵的頭一兩行，並立刻刪除不需要的信。
Q. How can you cut down on the amount of e-mail you receive? 問：如何減少所收到的電郵？
- ph. []1. 削減2. 縮短
A. Don’t hit “reply” too often. 答：不要太常按「回信」鍵。
Remember: the fewer messages you send, the fewer you are likely to receive, Mr. Song said. 邁可‧宋說，記住：你傳送出去的電郵愈少，你可能收到的愈少。
