Give yourself a test. Which way is the wind blowing? How many kinds of wildflowers can be seen from your front door? If your awareness is as sharp as it could be, you’ll have no trouble answering these questions.
给自己做个测试。风是从哪个方向吹来的？从你家门口能看到多少种野花？如果你的意识像可能的那样敏锐，你将毫不费力地回答这些问题。

Most of us observed much more as children than we do as adults. A child’s day is filled with fascination, newness and wonder. Curiosity gave us all a natural awareness. But distinctions that were sharp to us as children become unclear; we are numb(麻木的) to new stimulation(刺激), new ideas. Relearning the art of seeing the world around us is quite simple, although it takes practice and requires breaking some bad habits.
我们大多数人在儿童时期观察到的东西比成年时多得多。孩子的一天充满了惊奇、新奇和好奇。好奇心给了我们所有人一种天生的意识。但是，对我们来说曾经清晰的区分变得模糊；我们对新刺激、新想法变得麻木。重新学习观察我们周围世界的技巧非常简单，尽管它需要练习并需要打破一些坏习惯。

The first step in awakening senses is to stop predicting what we are going to see and feel before it occurs. This blocks awareness. One chilly night when I was hiking in the Rocky Mountains with some students, I mentioned that we were going to cross a mountain stream. The students began complaining about how cold it would be. We reached the stream, and they unwillingly walked ahead. They were almost knee-deep when they realized it was a hot spring. Later they all admitted they’d felt cold water at first.
唤醒感官的第一步是停止预测我们将看到和感觉到的东西。这会阻碍意识。有一天寒冷的夜晚，我和一些学生在洛基山脉徒步旅行时，我提到我们将要穿过一条山间溪流。学生们开始抱怨水会有多冷。我们到达溪流时，他们不情愿地向前走去。当他们几乎走到膝盖深的地方时，他们才意识到这是一股温泉。后来他们都承认他们最初感觉到的是冷水。

Another block to awareness is the obsession(痴迷) many of us have with naming things. I saw bird watchers who spotted a bird, immediately looked it up in field guides, and said, a “ruby-crowned kinglet” and checked it off. They no longer paid attention to the bird and never learned what it was doing.
另一个阻碍意识的因素是我们许多人对命名事物的痴迷。我看到一些观鸟者发现了一只鸟，立即在野外指南中查找，并说，“红冠冕鹪鹛”，然后把它勾掉了。他们不再关注那只鸟，也从未了解它在做什么。

The pressures of “time” and “destination” are further blocks to awareness. I encountered many hikers who were headed to a distant camp-ground with just enough time to get there before dark. It seldom occurred to them to wander a bit, to take a moment to see what’s around them. I asked them what they’d seen. “Oh, a few birds,” they said. They seemed bent on their destinations.
“时间”和“目的地”的压力是进一步阻碍意识的因素。我遇到了许多徒步旅行者，他们正前往一个遥远的营地，只有足够的时间在天黑前到达那里。他们很少想到要稍微游荡一下，花点时间看看周围有什么。我问他们看到了什么。“哦，几只鸟，”他们说。他们似乎一心想要到达目的地。

Nature seems to unfold to people who watch and wait. Next time you take a walk, no matter where it is, take in all the sights, sounds and sensations. Wander in this frame of mind and you will open a new dimension to your life.
对于那些观察和等待的人来说，大自然似乎展开了。下次你散步时，无论在哪里，都要吸收所有的景象、声音和感觉。以这种心态漫步，你将为你的生活打开一个新的维度。

1. According to Paragraph 2, compared with adults, children are more _.
   A. anxious to do wonders
   B. sensitive to others’ feelings
   C. likely to develop unpleasant habits
   D. eager to explore the world around them
   答案：D

2. What idea does the author convey in Paragraph 3?
   A. To avoid jumping to conclusions.
   B. To stop complaining all the time.
   C. To follow the teacher’s advice.
   D. To admit mistakes honestly.
   答案：A

3. The bird watchers’ behavior shows that they __.
   A. are very patient in their observation
   B. are really fascinated by nature
   C. care only about the names of birds
   D. question the accuracy of the field guides
   答案：C

4. Why do the hikers take no notice of the surroundings during the journey?
   A. The natural beauty isn’t attractive to them.
   B. They focus on arriving at the camp in time.
   C. The forest in the dark is dangerous for them.
   D. They are keen to see rare birds at the destination.
   答案：B

5. In the passage, the author intends to tell us we should __.
   A. fill our senses to feel the wonders of the world
   B. get rid of some bad habits in our daily life
   C. open our mind to new things and ideas
   D. try our best to protect nature
   答案：A