Tech’s Best Feature: The Off Switch
科技的最大特色：关机下线
1 It’s Friday evening. The smells of tasty chicken and freshly-baked bread fill the house. My daughters, three and nine, sigh as I gently take the iPads from their laps. One by one, our screens are powered down. My husband, Ken, is usually the last one, hurrying to send out just one last email before the sun sets. Then heun plugs too. We light the candles, and sit down to a luxury meal.
周五晚上，美味的鸡肉和新鲜出炉的面包的香味弥漫了整栋房子。当我从两个女儿(一个三岁，另一个九岁)腿上轻轻拿走平板电脑时，她们叹了口气。一个接一个，我们把屏幕都关掉了。我的老公肯总是最后一个关，太阳落山之前匆忙发出最后一封电邮。随后，他也拔掉了插头。我们点燃蜡烛，坐下来享用丰盛的晚餐。
2 I’m prepared. I’ve printed out the next day’s schedule, along with maps and phone numbers that live on my cell phone. Most people in our lives know they will not be able to text, tweet, email, Facebook, chat, or Skype with us for 24 hours. If they want to reach us, they call our landline. Or they come over.
我准备好了一切。我打印出了第二天的计划表，以及储存在手机里的地图和电话号码。熟悉我们的大多数人都知道，在接下来的24小时里，他们无法通过短信、推特、电邮、脸书、聊天工具或Skype网络电话和我们联络。如果他们想要联系上我们，就必须打我们的固定电话或亲自来一趟。
3 And so it has gone, every week for three years. Our “tech Shabbat” lasts from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday.
三年以来的每个礼拜我们都是这样度过的。我们的“科技安息日”从周五太阳落山一直持续到周六夕阳西下。
4 I first became aware of the importance of disconnecting in 2008, when my father was diagnosed with brain cancer. Some days he would have only one good hour,and I didn’t want to be distracted when I was with him, so I’d turn off my cellphone.
我第一次感受到断开与外界联系的重要性是在2008年，那时我的父亲被诊断出得了脑癌。有些日子，他只有一个小时状态不错。我不想自己和他在一起的时候分心，于是我关掉了手机。
5 Soon after, inspired by a National Day of Unplugging, Ken and I decided to do something we had tried in fits and starts since we met: unplugging for one full day every week.
之后不久，受“全国断网断电日”的启发，肯和我决定实行自相遇以来就断断续续尝试过的事——每礼拜拔掉电源一整天。
6 Albert Einstein said that “time is relative to your state of motion.” With all this texting, tweeting, posting, and emailing, we’re making our minds move faster, which accelerates our perception of time. It seems there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t end up thinking, “How did it get to be 5 p.m.?”
阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦曾说过，“时间和你的运动状态是相对的。”发短信，发推特，发帖子，发电邮，所有这些让我们的思维运转得更快，也就加速了我们对时间的感知。似乎每一天我都会想：“时间是怎么一下就到下午5点钟了呢？”
7 But the technology we’ve created also takes something away from us: being present, focused, and in the moment. Have you ever faked a need to use the restroom to check email? I have. More than once. Researchers have compared the sense of technological dependency—the feeling that we must be accessible and responsive at any time and in any place—to that of drugs and alcohol.
可是，我们创造的科技也让一些东西离我们远去：活在当下、保持专注以及关注此时此刻。你是否曾假装使用洗手间以查收邮件？我这么做过，而且不止一次。研究人员把科技依赖感——也就是必须随时随地都能联系上且作出回应的感觉——比作吃药上瘾和嗜酒成性。
8 Just as we discover—the hardway—the effects of too much alcohol, we are only beginning tounder stand the effects of too much technology. As we rush into this era of hyper connected human evolution, we need to evolve and be mindful of what we are doing online and when we should go off.
正如我们费了不少工夫才发现酗酒的后果，我们现在才开始意识到过多科技的影响。当我们匆忙进入超连接的人类进化时代，我们需要相应地改变，并需要开始思考，我们在线做什么，什么时候应该下线。
9 There is one other benefit to unplugging each week: By sundown on Saturday, we can’t wait to get back online. We’re hungry for connection. We appreciate technology all over again. We marvel a new at our ability to put every thought and emotion into action by clicking, calling, and linking.
每周拔掉电源的另一个好处在于：每当周六太阳落山，我们就迫不及待地重新上线。我们渴望与他人联系。我们会再次感激科技。通过点击、通话和联网，我们把每个想法和每种情绪都付诸行动，这让我们再次赞叹不已。
10 Still, every week we remember the most important thing about technology: It has an off switch.
但每周我们仍然记得关于科技最重要的东西：那就是关机下线。
From Friday evening to Saturday evening, Tiffany’s family have an off ________. They call it “Technology Shabbat”. Nobody can make _________ with them by using computers or mobile phones for 24 hours. It was her father’s illness that made Tiffany realize the __________ of disconnecting. Then, _______ by a National Day of Unplugging, Tiffany and her husband decided to _________ for one full day every week. On Saturdays, they can do all those things they have been putting off, for example, enjoying a _______ meal.
Technology brings us a lot of convenience, but it also takes something away from us. Therefore, we need to be __________ of when we should go off, and then we will get more ________ from unplugging.
