So say psychologists who believe that the effect is down to the different methods the brain uses to judge the passage of time. Learning to manipulate our perception of time could make our lives feel fuller and reassure those who feel that the years slip by faster as they grow older.

　　心理學(xué)家們說(shuō)這是由于大腦在處理時(shí)間流逝時(shí)使用不同的方法導(dǎo)致的結(jié)果。學(xué)會(huì)利用時(shí)間的分布可以讓我們的生活更加充實(shí)，也會(huì)讓人們隨著年齡增加憶起往事時(shí)，覺(jué)得日子過(guò)得飛快。

　　The mystery behind the so-called "holiday paradox" was explained in a presentation by psychologist and BBC broadcaster Claudia Hammond at the British Psychological Society conference in London last week. Ms Hammond, whose book Time Warped will be published next month, said when we are doing something new and interesting – such as when we are on holiday – time appears to go more quickly than when we are bored or anxious.

　　關(guān)于“假日悖論”背后的奧妙，是由心理學(xué)家兼英國(guó)BBC播報(bào)員Claudia Hammond 上周在倫敦舉辦的英國(guó)心理社會(huì)會(huì)議上闡述的。漢孟的新書(shū)《把時(shí)間打包》將于下個(gè)月出版，她表示當(dāng)我們做一些新鮮和有趣的事情時(shí)，就例如當(dāng)我們度假的時(shí)候，時(shí)間會(huì)過(guò)的比我們覺(jué)得厭煩或焦慮時(shí)要快很多。

　　In a normal fortnight the average person only accumulates between six and nine new memories because so much of what we do is routine.But on a holiday we can build up that number of memories in a single day because everything we experience is new, meaning that when we look back it will seem to have lasted much longer than it really did.

　　人們?cè)谄匠Ｉ罾铮雮€(gè)月下來(lái)頂多記住6至9件新事情，其他大多數(shù)則為“例行公事”。但在假期里，我們可以在一天就建立很多的記憶，因?yàn)槲覀凅w驗(yàn)的每件事都是新的，也就是說(shuō)當(dāng)我們后來(lái)回想追溯時(shí)，在時(shí)間的評(píng)估上會(huì)將時(shí)程拉長(zhǎng)。

　　She said: "The same happens as we get older and time starts to speed up. There are fewer memories of new things, and we do the same things more and more often."

　　她說(shuō)：“隨著年齡的增長(zhǎng)日子會(huì)過(guò)得飛快，這是因?yàn)槲覀冊(cè)絹?lái)越多地做著重復(fù)的事情，新鮮事物的記憶越來(lái)越少，這也可用‘假期悖論’ 進(jìn)行說(shuō)明。”

　　People who complain that years seem to whizz past with increasing speed could slow things down by making the most of their weekends and breaking up their daily routine, she added. "Taking a different route to work, getting off your bus a stop early or avoiding having the same sandwich for lunch every day could make life seem a little slower," she said.

　　“抱怨時(shí)間越過(guò)越快的人們可以充分利用他們的周末，打破常規(guī)的生活習(xí)慣來(lái)放慢時(shí)間的腳步”，她補(bǔ)充道。她說(shuō)：“如果每天換不同線路去上班，吃不一樣的午餐，或許可以稍微改變對(duì)時(shí)間的感覺(jué)。”