BBC随身英语｜在困境中寻找幽默

Finding humor in hard times

Sometimes life doesn't seem to play fair. It blindsides you at the most inopportune moments, and even if we can learn to grin and bear the ups and downs, they can take their toll on our psyche. So rather than suffer in silence or let these things get you down, maybe there is another way: what if humour can help you get through the dark times?
有时候生活似乎并不公平。它会在最不恰当的时候让你措手不及，即使我们能学会咬牙忍受这些起伏，它们仍会对我们的心灵造成伤害。因此，与其默默忍受或使这些事情让你沮丧，也许还有另一种方法：如果幽默能帮助你度过那些艰难时刻呢？

According to author and clinician Kristen Lee: "Laughter and tears are both therapeutic – we need both to process such hard times." But how can we find the tough things that happen funny? Our lives are really serious, often filled with mundane and repetitive activities, whether it's arbitrary bill paying or fighting for a seat on your commute, we need to make time for fun and play – enjoy the little things. Why not make funny noises to remind you to stop taking things seriously, or learn some silly jokes, just to tell when times get hard? They could make you or other people around you laugh!
根据作家兼临床医生克里斯汀·李的说法：“笑和哭都有治疗作用——我们需要两者结合来处理这些艰难的时刻。”但我们如何能发现那些艰难的事情中的有趣之处呢？我们的生活真的很严肃，常常充满了单调和重复的活动，无论是随意的账单支付还是通勤时争夺座位，我们都需要腾出时间来娱乐和玩耍——享受那些小事情。为什么不通过发出一些搞笑的声音来提醒自己不要太认真，或者学一些愚蠢的笑话，以便在困难时刻讲出来呢？它们可以让你或周围的人开怀大笑！

When a hurdle pops up in life, it's easy to get bogged down – but the way we recount events can impact on our resilience. Rather than see the negatives, look for the ironic moments and tell people about them! Why not write parodies in your spare time about events that take place to help you compartmentalise? Script what happened as if it was happening to a character rather than yourself.
当生活中出现障碍时，我们很容易陷入困境——但是我们叙述事件的方式会影响我们的恢复力。与其只看到消极的一面，不如寻找其中的讽刺之处，并与他人分享！为什么不在业余时间写一些关于发生事件的滑稽模仿作品来帮助你分类处理它们呢？将发生的事情写成剧本，就好像它们是发生在一个角色身上，而不是你自己。

We all know that some things in life aren't fair. But take those events and send them up a bit in your scripts! Sometimes life needs a bit of a roasting to get your thoughts in order, and embracing your comedic side, seeing life's difficult moments as obstacles that can be made fun of rather than overwhelm you, may help you get through them more easily. And who knows, you may just discover a talent for writing at the end of it.
我们都知道，生活中有些事情并不公平。但是，把这些事件写进你的剧本，并进行有趣地模仿吧！有时候，生活需要一点调侃来整理思绪，而拥抱你的幽默的一面，将生活中的困难时刻看作是可以拿来开玩笑的、而非击败你的障碍，这可能会帮助你更轻松地度过难关。谁知道呢，说不定最后你会发现自己的写作天赋。

词汇表
play fair 公平行事，公平竞争
blindside [ˈblaɪndˌsaɪd] 攻其不备，出其不意地袭击
inopportune [ɪnˈɒpə(r)ˌtjuːn] 不合时宜的，不是时候的
grin and bear  [ɡrɪn] 咬牙忍受，默默忍受
ups and downs 曲折，起伏，起起落落
take a toll on [təʊl] 给…造成伤害，损害
psyche ['saɪki] 心灵，精神状态
suffer in silence 默默忍受，忍气吞声
get sb. down 使某人沮丧、不快
clinician [klɪ'nɪʃ(ə)n] 临床医生
therapeutic [ˌθerəˈpjuːtɪk] 治疗的，有疗效的
mundane [ˌmʌnˈdeɪn] 单调的，平凡的
repetitive [rɪ'petətɪv] （乏味地）重复的，反复的
arbitrary [ˈɑː(r)bɪtrəri] 任意的，随意的
commute [kəˈmjuːt] 通勤，上下班路程
hurdle [ˈhɜːd(ə)l] 障碍，困难，难关
pop up （突然地）出现，发生
get bogged down [bɒɡ] 陷于困境的，停滞不前的，深陷泥潭
recount [rɪ'kaʊnt] 叙述，描述，细述
resilience [rɪˈzɪliəns] 韧性，弹性；复原力，恢复力
negative  ['neɡətɪv] 消极的一面，坏处
parody [ˈpærədi] 滑稽模仿作品，戏仿作品
compartmentalise [ˌkɒmpɑ:t'mentəlaɪz] 分隔，隔开，划分
send sth up（开玩笑式地）模仿，讽刺
roast [rəʊst] 吐槽，调侃，开玩笑
comedic [kə'miːdɪk] 喜剧的，幽默的
obstacle [ˈɒbstək(ə)l] 障碍，阻碍
overwhelm [ˌəʊvə(r)ˈwelm] 压垮，击败，使不知所措

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