Our busy lifestyles mean five important tasks or facts slip our minds during the course of a typical day, a study has revealed.
Failing to return calls and reply to emails are the most common omissions during hectic days at work.
And forgetting colleagues' names, leaving paper in the printer and neglecting to grab our packed lunch on our way out of the house also feature high on the list.
More than half of those surveyed blamed their forgetfulness on trying to do too many things.
A quarter said they were expected to remember too much, and a fifth said there weren't enough hours in the day to deal with everything.
The problem seems to get worse with age, with more than half saying they forget things more frequently as they get older.
And modern life adds to the burden, with one in five forgetting important passwords and a quarter not remembering to charge their mobile phone battery.
A further 12 per cent get a rude awakening every weekend because they forget to turn their alarm clocks off.
Seven out of ten also said they had become dependent on to-do lists to keep their lives in order.
Putting rubbish out, takinglaundry out of the washing machine and doing the washing up were all among the 20 things most frequently "forgotten".


据英国《每日邮报》11月2日报道，一项研究显示，我们繁忙的生活方式意味着，在具有代表性的一天过程中，有五项重要的任务或是事件滑过我们的大脑，被我们遗忘。
在工作繁忙的日子里，忘记回复电话和邮件是最常见的疏漏。

忘记同事的名字，把文件落在打印机上，出门时忘记拿外带午餐，这些也很常见。

超过一半的受访者都会责备自己的健忘，总是忘记要做许多事。
四分之一的人说他们总是被要求记住太多事，还有五分之一的人则认为一天中没有足够的时间处理每件事情。

问题似乎会随着年龄变得更糟，一半以上的人说，随着他们年龄越大，忘记事情也就越频繁。

现代生活加重了这一负担，五分之一的人忘记了重要的密码，四分之一人记不起给手机电池充电。
另外还有12%的人每到周末都会追悔莫及，因为他们忘了把闹钟关掉。
十分之七的人也表示，他们已经变得依赖于列出待办事项清单，以保证他们的生活井井有条。

扔垃圾、把洗好的衣服从洗衣机里拿出来以及餐后洗碗，都名列"最易被遗忘的20件事"之中。

• charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)
• typical [´tipikəl] a.典型的；象征的 (高中英语单词)
• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
• dependent [di´pendənt] a.依赖的；从属的 (高中英语单词)
• printer [´printə] n.印刷者；排字工人 (英语四级单词)
• trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)
• weekend [´wi:kend, ,wi:k´end] n.周末休假 (英语四级单词)
• rubbish [´rʌbiʃ] n.垃圾；碎屑；废话 (英语四级单词)
• laundry [´lɔ:ndri] n.洗衣店；待洗的衣服 (英语四级单词)
• forgetfulness [fə´getminɔt] n.健忘 (英语六级单词)
• awakening [ə´weikəniŋ] n.&a.觉醒(中的) (英语六级单词)
• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)