If you spend the day surreptitiously trawling Facebook and Twitter while trying to convince the boss you are hard at work, then such clandestine behaviour could soon be a thing of the past.

　　如果你成天花大把大把的時間逛社交網站玩微博，同時又想向老板證明你是個扎實能干情分上進的員工，那么你這樣偷偷摸摸的行為很快就會成為過去了。

　　Wasting time on the Internet might actually be beneficial to the work environment, according to a study.

　　據一項最新調查顯示，花時間泡在互聯網上事實上是有利于工作環境的。

　　Scientists at the University of Copenhagen divided a selection of workers into two groups. Both were instructed to watch a video of people passing a ball back and forth.

　　哥本哈根大學的科學家們將員工們分成兩組，分別讓其觀看一段視頻，視頻中有人來回的傳球。

　　Each group was then asked if they could remember how many times the ball had been passed.

　　之后，詢問兩組受測者是否還記得傳球的次數。

　　One group was allowed to watch a funny clip online beforehand, while members of the other team had to go straight to work - while listening to the laughter of their peers in the other room.

　　其中一組人員在這此前先看到了一段在線的滑稽視頻，而另一組人員則徑直的開始接受測試，并且一邊還能聽到另一組人看滑稽視頻時發出的笑聲。

　　The research found workers who had watched the funny clip made fewer mistakes when asked to focus on the task than the group that wasn't allowed to slack off for a few minutes.

　　研究發現，先看過一段滑稽錄像的員工數秋數的準確率更高，另一組沒有視頻小插曲的結果則并不太好。

　　The study isn't conclusive and critics suggest that the first group may have been distracted by the laughter of their colleagues.

　　這項研究并沒有排除這組人員可能是因為別組發出的笑聲而分心的可能性。

　　The idea behind the Danish study is that people have a finite amount of willpower when it comes to amusing distractions like the internet.

　　此項試驗的目的是說明人們對于類似于互聯網這樣的有趣的干擾是具有一定的意志力的。

　　The research concluded that if you ban workers from using the internet freely then eventually they become less focused, motivated and effective.

　　得出的結論是，如果禁止員工自由的使用互聯網，最總會使其的注意力減弱，同時工作效率也會降低。

　　Some studies have suggested that companies could increase productivity by giving employees 'internet breaks', during which they're free to do whatever they like.

　　有研究稱，公司如果能給員工適當的機會上上網，隨心所欲的做自己想做的事情，這將有助于提高整體的生產效率。

　　It's not too outlandish an idea - Google employees have long enjoyed '20 per cent time' where they are allowed to do as they please for a fifth of the working day.

　　其實，這并非是個稀奇古怪的想法，谷歌的員工們一直以來都有一項成為“20%時間”福利，他們可以自由支配自己工時中五分之一的時間，做任何喜歡做的事。

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