Section B Five Modern Time-Savers That Really Aren't

Last year, Apple showed people its iPad 4. It is loaded with 128 gigabytes of memory and has a 9.7-inch touch screen, and I think pretty soon I won't be able to live without it. It will save me time because I'll never again have to carry my novels to the charity shop, move them from one home to the next, or even go to a bookshop. 

1. loaded：加载，装载

2.128 gigabytes of memory： 128 G内存（表示内存大小）

3.novels：小说

4. charity：慈善

However, not all so-called convenience items can really do us good to save time. I spent the last year juggling four computers while I worked on a book on how our lives became so heartlessly ruled by e-mail, and I've come to see that some modern time-savers don't really save time. The following are some examples.

1. convenience items：方便使用的物品，便利物件

2. juggling：同时使用的，兼顾的

The digital camera: That old 35-mm camera did save you time. Each roll of film had no more than 36 photos, which meant that when you ran out, you put the camera down and enjoyed yourself. You were living, not simply photographing living. Sure, it's great you can now take a picture and e-mail it to a friend. But don't you get bored by having to sort 2,132 photos or more after every trip?

1.digital camera：数码相机

2. sort ：处理

E-mail: We e-mail all day from our computers. The hard fact is: The more we e-mail, the more e-mails we get. And that leads to more time spent e-mailing. Studies show that those hours don't come from the workday or TV viewing; they come from time with our families.

1. lead to:导致，引起

The coffeemaker: You can buy one that makes your coffee every morning, but you still have to clean, prepare, and load the machine first, which can take five minutes if you do it right. Add that up and it's about one day per year spent making coffee.

1. per year:每年

The electric shaver: Eighty years after this new tool was invented, modern man is still in want of a clean shave. Here's what your guy has to put up with almost daily: After using an electric shaver, he has to go back over his chin with a regular razor to have a clean shave by shaving off what gets away from the electric shaver. Then he has to clean both tools. Then he has to wipe the little hairs off the bathroom sink. And as you know too well, he never gets every last one.

1. electric shaver:电动剃须刀

2. chin：下巴

3.regular razor ：手动剃须刀

4. wipe：擦洗

5. sink：洗涤槽，洗脸池

Computerized call centers: Call almost any customer-service number and you will be greeted by an automated attendant. That's when things get trying. You will repeat what you need as she requests to go back a step. 

1.customer-service：客户服务

2.automated attendant：自动话务员

3.greeted：打招呼，问候 

4.requests：要求

And in a few minutes, you may just start shouting: "Operator, operator, operator..." If Samuel Beckett were alive today, Waiting for Godot might have taken place in one of these call-center hells.

1. Operator：接线员

2. alive：活着的

翻译：五个不省时的现代省时器

去年，苹果公司推出了第四代iPad平板电脑。它带有128G 的内存，9.7 英寸的触摸屏。我想过不了多久，我的生活就离不开它了。它能为我节省时间，因为我再也不必提着我的小说去慈善商店，不用搬家时把书搬来搬去，甚至不用去书店买书了。然而，并非所有的所谓便利物件都能真正帮我们节省时间。我去年同时使用四台电脑在写一本书。这本书讲的就是电子邮件是如何无情地主宰着我们的生活的。我现在终于明白，有些现代省时器其实并不省时。下面就是几个例子。

数码相机：老式的35毫米照相机才真的省时。每卷胶卷最多照36 张照片，这就是说，胶卷用完了，你就可以放下相机开心玩你的。你是在过日子，而不单单在拍摄日子。当然，现在你可以拍完照，用电邮把照片传给朋友，这的确很棒！但每次旅行之后，你都得整理2132 张甚至更多的照片，岂不是很麻烦？

电子邮件：我们整天都在电脑上发邮件。铁的事实却是：我们发的邮件越多，收到的邮件也越多。这就导致我们把更多的时间花在收发邮件上。有研究表明，用来收发电邮耗去的时间，既不是我们的工作时间，也不是看电视的时间，而是本应与家人相处的时间。

咖啡机：你可以买一个，每天早晨用它来煮咖啡。但是你还得先清洗，得作准备，得往里放东西，就算整个流程操作正确，也要花费五分钟时间。把这些时间累计起来，大概你每年有一整天的时间都花在煮咖啡上了。

电动剃须刀：在这个新工具发明80年后的今天，现代男士还是没有把胡子刮干净。你家男人几乎每天都得忍受这件事：电动剃须刀用过后，还得用普通刮须刀在自己的下巴上过一遭，把电动剃须刀刮不掉的刮干净。接着，他得清洗这两个剃须刀，还得把留在卫生间水槽里的碎胡须清理掉。而他无论怎样都不可能把水槽里的碎胡须清理得一根不剩，这点你再清楚不过了。

电脑呼叫中心：现在拨打任何客服电话，几乎都有一个自动话务员接听。而麻烦就这样开始了。她要求你“回到上一步”，你就得重新说一遍你的需求。不出几分钟，你可能就开始大叫“接线员，接线员，接线员……”。要是塞缪尔·贝克特在世，《等待多戈》就可能在这地狱般的呼叫中心上演了。