Passage 1
College grads, 30 isn't the new 20
A It's graduation time again, and according to the National Center for Education Statistics, about 1.78 million students will walk across a stage and pick up a college diploma. Then they will face terrifying statistics about employment, pressure to make their 20s the best years of their lives, and slogans that suggest what you do right after college may not matter anyway. What not enough graduates are hearing, however, is that our 20s are life's developmental sweet spot. They matter a lot.
B Katherine came to my office just before graduation. She filled her mind with day to-day drama to distract herself from her anxiety about the future. Things went multimedia as she pulled up texts and photos to share, and tweets chirped (叽叽喳喳地说) into our sessions with late-breaking news. Somewhere between updates, I found out this: She hoped to figure out what she wanted to do by age 30. By then, she joked, the economy might improve. “30 is the new 20,” she said, sounding unconvinced.
C Katherine didn't invent this idea. Some researchers say the 20s are an extended adolescence; others call them "emerging adulthood". This "changing timetable" for adulthood reduces young adults to the ranks of kids, just when they need to engage the most. It doesn't help that today's students are graduating into a global financial downturn. Research shows that those who start their adult lives in hard times are inclined to believe that luck, not their own efforts, determines success.
D Yet even as we dismiss -or just give up on -the twentysomething years, we are mad about them. Child celebrities and everyday kids spend their youth acting 20, while mature adults and the "Real Housewives" try to look 29, collapsing the life span into one long twentysomething ride. These are contradictory and dangerous messages. We are led to believe that the 20s don't matter, yet there is little to remind us that anything else ever will. Twentysomethings like Katherine have been caught in cheating and misunderstanding, much of which has trivialized (轻视) what is actually the defining decade of our adult lives.
E Consider this: About two-thirds of lifetime wage growth happens during the first 10 years of a career, with the biggest gains coming from job-hopping or earning advanced degrees before marriage, family and mortgages (抵押贷款) take hold. Even the underemployed can take heart in knowing that wage losses disappear by about age 30 if they move through post-college jobs and degrees strategically. Personality changes for the better during our 20s more than at any other time in life, if we engage with adult roles and, as researchers say, "get along and get ahead". Good jobs may seem difficult to get, but some workplace success-even just goal setting-in our 20s is associated with greater confidence and well-being in our 20s and 30s.
F More than half of Americans are married, or are dating or living with their future partner, by age 30. Along the way, loyal relationships in our 20s make us more secure and responsible-and less depressed and anxious -whether these relationships last or not. Female fertility peaks at about age 28. And the brain caps its last growth spurt in our 20s, making these years our best chance to learn to manage emotions and wire ourselves to be the adults we want to be.
G Far from being an irrelevant in-between time, the 20s are a crucial period that comes only once. I know this because my sessions with those in their 30s and 40s are even more compelling than with those twentysomethings. I have witnessed the true heartache that accompanies the realization that life is not going to add up(一步步得到理想的结果) quite as they'd like.
H When a lot has been left to do, the pressure is enormous to make money, get married buy a house, go to graduate school, start a business, save for college and retirement, and have children in a much shorter period of time. Many of these things are incompatible and, as the research on postponing work and family is just starting to show, harder to do all at the same time in our 30s. When it comes to love, jobs and babies, 40 is definitely not the new 30. The new midlife crisis isn't buying a red sports car. It's smart, well-meaning 40-year-olds grieving a little as they look at themselves-and at me sitting across the room- and say about their 20s,"What was I doing? What was I thinking?
I New college graduates like Katherine are living with a great amount of uncertainty, which makes people anxious. It's easy to stay distracted and wait for deliverance at 30. It's almost a relief to imagine that twentysomething jobs and relationships don't count. But a career spent studying adult development tells me this isn't true And a decade of listening to young adults tells me that, deep down, they want to take their lives seriously. The 30-year-old who feel betrayed by their 20s almost always ask, “Why didn't someone tell me this sooner -like when I graduated from college?”
J So here goes. I'll say what I said to Katherine. I’ll even make it short enough to tweet: 30 is not the new 20. Don't be defined by what you didn't know or do. You're deciding your life right now. (908 words)
______ 1 Faithful relationships help 20-year-olds improve their sense of security and
responsibility.
______ 2 Katherine tried to escape from anxiety before graduation.
______ 3 Mature adults try to look and behave as if they were always at their 20s.
______ 4 If given another chance, many young adults would live their 20s in a serious way.
______ 5 The 20s are the best time if you want to change your personality for the better.
______ 6 Many college graduates are not in the knowledge that the 20s are an important development period in their lives.
______ 7 It is more difficult for people to finish all of big and important tasks of life in their 30s.
______ 8 The 20s are the best time for people to learn to control their emotions and become what they dream to be.
______ 9 Realizing that life has not progressed the way they expected makes 30-year-olds and 40-year-olds sad.
______ 10 People who have experienced hardships at the beginning of their adult lives tend to believe that luck rather than efforts is decisive in achieving success.
College grads, 30 isn't the new 20
A It's graduation time again, and according to the National Center for Education Statistics, about 1.78 million students will walk across a stage and pick up a college diploma. Then they will face terrifying statistics about employment, pressure to make their 20s the best years of their lives, and slogans that suggest what you do right after college may not matter anyway. What not enough graduates are hearing, however, is that our 20s are life's developmental sweet spot. They matter a lot.
B Katherine came to my office just before graduation. She filled her mind with day to-day drama to distract herself from her anxiety about the future. Things went multimedia as she pulled up texts and photos to share, and tweets chirped (叽叽喳喳地说) into our sessions with late-breaking news. Somewhere between updates, I found out this: She hoped to figure out what she wanted to do by age 30. By then, she joked, the economy might improve. “30 is the new 20,” she said, sounding unconvinced.
C Katherine didn't invent this idea. Some researchers say the 20s are an extended adolescence; others call them "emerging adulthood". This "changing timetable" for adulthood reduces young adults to the ranks of kids, just when they need to engage the most. It doesn't help that today's students are graduating into a global financial downturn. Research shows that those who start their adult lives in hard times are inclined to believe that luck, not their own efforts, determines success.
D Yet even as we dismiss -or just give up on -the twentysomething years, we are mad about them. Child celebrities and everyday kids spend their youth acting 20, while mature adults and the "Real Housewives" try to look 29, collapsing the life span into one long twentysomething ride. These are contradictory and dangerous messages. We are led to believe that the 20s don't matter, yet there is little to remind us that anything else ever will. Twentysomethings like Katherine have been caught in cheating and misunderstanding, much of which has trivialized (轻视) what is actually the defining decade of our adult lives.
E Consider this: About two-thirds of lifetime wage growth happens during the first 10 years of a career, with the biggest gains coming from job-hopping or earning advanced degrees before marriage, family and mortgages (抵押贷款) take hold. Even the underemployed can take heart in knowing that wage losses disappear by about age 30 if they move through post-college jobs and degrees strategically. Personality changes for the better during our 20s more than at any other time in life, if we engage with adult roles and, as researchers say, "get along and get ahead". Good jobs may seem difficult to get, but some workplace success-even just goal setting-in our 20s is associated with greater confidence and well-being in our 20s and 30s.
F More than half of Americans are married, or are dating or living with their future partner, by age 30. Along the way, loyal relationships in our 20s make us more secure and responsible-and less depressed and anxious -whether these relationships last or not. Female fertility peaks at about age 28. And the brain caps its last growth spurt in our 20s, making these years our best chance to learn to manage emotions and wire ourselves to be the adults we want to be.
G Far from being an irrelevant in-between time, the 20s are a crucial period that comes only once. I know this because my sessions with those in their 30s and 40s are even more compelling than with those twentysomethings. I have witnessed the true heartache that accompanies the realization that life is not going to add up(一步步得到理想的结果) quite as they'd like.
H When a lot has been left to do, the pressure is enormous to make money, get married buy a house, go to graduate school, start a business, save for college and retirement, and have children in a much shorter period of time. Many of these things are incompatible and, as the research on postponing work and family is just starting to show, harder to do all at the same time in our 30s. When it comes to love, jobs and babies, 40 is definitely not the new 30. The new midlife crisis isn't buying a red sports car. It's smart, well-meaning 40-year-olds grieving a little as they look at themselves-and at me sitting across the room- and say about their 20s,"What was I doing? What was I thinking?
I New college graduates like Katherine are living with a great amount of uncertainty, which makes people anxious. It's easy to stay distracted and wait for deliverance at 30. It's almost a relief to imagine that twentysomething jobs and relationships don't count. But a career spent studying adult development tells me this isn't true And a decade of listening to young adults tells me that, deep down, they want to take their lives seriously. The 30-year-old who feel betrayed by their 20s almost always ask, “Why didn't someone tell me this sooner -like when I graduated from college?”
J So here goes. I'll say what I said to Katherine. I’ll even make it short enough to tweet: 30 is not the new 20. Don't be defined by what you didn't know or do. You're deciding your life right now. (908 words)
______ 1 Faithful relationships help 20-year-olds improve their sense of security and
responsibility.
______ 2 Katherine tried to escape from anxiety before graduation.
______ 3 Mature adults try to look and behave as if they were always at their 20s.
______ 4 If given another chance, many young adults would live their 20s in a serious way.
______ 5 The 20s are the best time if you want to change your personality for the better.
______ 6 Many college graduates are not in the knowledge that the 20s are an important development period in their lives.
______ 7 It is more difficult for people to finish all of big and important tasks of life in their 30s.
______ 8 The 20s are the best time for people to learn to control their emotions and become what they dream to be.
______ 9 Realizing that life has not progressed the way they expected makes 30-year-olds and 40-year-olds sad.
______ 10 People who have experienced hardships at the beginning of their adult lives tend to believe that luck rather than efforts is decisive in achieving success.
举一反三
- “What do you like about New Year's Day?” “____________” A: We can’t find a place to held our wonderful party. B: Well, it’s a day when I can make my New Year’s<br/>resolutions. C: It’s cold everywhere.
- M: When’s the show supposed to startW: Don’t worry. It won’t start until 10:30. We’ve still got 20 minutes. What’s the time now(). A: 10:10 B: 10:20 C: 10:30
- 1. I am one of the（1） of Designing Your Life: How to Live a Well-lived Joyful Life. That’s （2） the class we Stanford teachers called Designing Your Life. 2. So one of the biggest（3） in the class is the odyssey plan. People （4） three completely different plans for their life. 3. And he had one（5） where he just described the period of time between about 20 and 35 as your odyssey years, the years when you discover and （6） who you gonna be, you know, as or for one grown-up. 4. So we use the phrase, odyssey years, to describe（7） the ten years between about 22 and 32, or 20 to 35 that ten-to-fifteen-year period. 5. It is really a （8） time in any young person’s life. And we like the idea of an odyssey. It is sort of journey, you know, a mystical journey through all these（9） . 6. And that is when we have, you know, more stages in our life, so we have more time to do this kind of（10） . So it’s really a（11） time in a young person’s life.
- Going to college is a big step for young people. Parents of new students at New York University are helping their children move in. Watch the following six brief interviews with some parents and one student, and listen to what they have to say about their feelings. Fill in the blanks according to what you have heard. Segment1 “She's a ___1__ kid. I've always been ___2___ of her. You know , it's a little ___3___ to let her go off to college.” Segment2 “I don't want to __4___ your feelings, but I'm like, I'm ready. I'm ready, I mean, I'm ready for this. You know, I've been waiting for it to happen, so I'm ready to be ___5____ , but I'm going to miss your food.” Segment3 “I am happy as can be for Louisa. She so deserves to be in New York city at NYU, right here. I couldn't be ___6___ for her.” Segment4 “___7____ moment for us, for all of our family, you know.” Segment5 “It's a big dream for her, so we're ____8____ that she's made it. We're going to miss her like crazy, but that's okay. It's a great ____9___ . So proud, so proud.” Segment6 “For me, it is peace . As a parent, you have children, you wonder what's going to take place. And now the fact that he is here now and is in one of the best schools in the nation. His future, I'm not ___10____ about, (be)cause the potential is so great.”
- What college brings us? 1 The case for college has been accepted without question for more than a generation. There has been a general consensus that all high school graduates ought to go to college because college will help them get a job, earn more money, become "better" people, and learn to be more responsible citizens than those who don't go. However, given the huge cost of attending a university and the shrinking job market, should we not re-examine the case for college? 2 The reality is that college has never been magical for everyone. Now that close to half our high school graduates are attending college, those who don't fit the pattern are becoming more numerous. Excess college graduates are selling shoes and driving taxis. 3 Some adventuresome educators and campus watchers have openly begun to suggest that we revise our attitudes and reform the system. College may not be the best, the proper or even realistic place for every young person after the completion of high school. Critics suggest we may have been looking at all those surveys and statistics upside down through the rosy glow of our own remembered college experiences. 4 Many students confirm that they feel compelled to go to college because of pressure from parents and teachers and stay there because it seems to be an alternative to a far worse fate. They quiver at the thought of the army or a dead-end job, and almost anything is better than staying at home. Potential college graduates say that they don't want to work "solely for the money" and that they want to do work that matters. Their motive is to help people and save the world, but the numbers are stacked against them. Not only are there not sufficient jobs in the world-saving fields, but in the current slowdown it has become evident that there never are enough promising jobs, presumably never will be, that require a higher education. 5 Let's acknowledge the facts. The New York Times reports close to 80 percent of new jobs can be performed by someone without a college degree. The US Department of Education estimates that only 62 percent of those enrolled in four-year institutions had earned a bachelor's degree six years later! This dilemma means that 38 percent have likely wasted time and accumulated debt! In addition, in the US, the cost of college has risen tenfold over the last 30 years, a ratio that is three times as much as general inflation over the same time period. It is clear, from an objective point of view, that many more students should be attending technical schools or two-year colleges to prepare for the jobs that will actually be available to them. 6 Of course, for many jobs a higher education is absolutely necessary and required. So, for some people, obtaining a bachelor's degree is but the first step of lifelong learning. For them, a university degree is essential. 7 There is little doubt that attending college has the potential of exposing young people to new ideas and relationships and helps promote their critical thinking skills. It also accords them a relatively safe environment for experimentation and exploration. Nevertheless, many college graduates report that what they learned on campus was better described as personal rather than academic development. Likewise, they report that the real value of college has more to do with developing their identity and practicing social skills than anything to do with the college curriculum. If you accept that the prime reason for going to college is to provide a period for pure learning and maturation of a young person, the decision is made easy as it becomes a question of affordability for the individual student. 8 Whatever college graduates want to do, most of them are going to have to adjust. During the upcoming years, according to the US Department of Labor, the biggest demand will be for jobs that do not need a university degree. Those students who have gone to college to become urban planners, editors, and college professors will have a hard time to find jobs related to what they have learned. They may well find that the only jobs available are sales agents, carpenters, mechanics or cable installers. In fact, having a university degree may be a barrier to getting these jobs. On the other hand, students who have graduated in specialized fields often find that they have learned a lot of things in classrooms that they will never use. One gloomy architecture student, who had already designed and built houses, said, "I don't want to appear cynical. It's more the degree you need, not the breadth of knowledge you learn getting it." 9 College is an outstanding place for that rare breed, those young adults who love learning for its own sake, who would literally rather read than bother to eat, and who like nothing better than writing research papers. But they are a minority, even at the famous colleges which attract and recruit the intellectually oriented. 10 In brief, our high school graduates need to evaluate the college equation more closely and critically, calculate it as a consumer product, and decide if the value proposal is worth the very large investment each student and family must make.