英语阅读二(第三课)中英对照ARE THESE THE BEST YEARS OF YOUR LIFE

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ARE THESE THE BEST YEARS OF YOUR LIFE?
這些是我们生命中的黄金时期吗？

(Which are the best years of life? All of us ask ourselves this question from time to time, and we probably come up with different answers. The reason seems to be that different periods are related to different kinds of achievement and relates these areas to specific periods of life.)（哪段时光是人生的黄金岁月？我们所有的人都经常问自己这个问题，而且我们得出的答案可能各不相同。原因似乎是不同的阶段与不同的成就相关联，而这些不同的领域又与生命的各个具体阶段相联系。）

The ups and downs of life may seem to have no predictable (1a. that can be seen or told in advance 可预言的) plan. But scientists now know there are very definite life patterns that almost all people share. Today, when we live 20 years longer than our great-grandparents, and when women mysteriously outlive (v. live longer than 活过……，比……活得长) men by seven years, it is clearer than ever that the “game of life” is really a game of trade-offs. As we age, we trade strength for ingenuity (n. skill and cleverness in making and arranging thins 机灵，独创性), speed for thoroughness, passion for reason. These exchanges may not always seem fair, but at every age, there are some advantages. So it is reassuring to note that even if you’ve passed some of your “prime (n. the time of greatest perfection, strenth or activity 全盛时期)”青春的，精华的, you still have other prime years to experience in the future. Certain important primes seem to peak later in time.生活中的沉浮似乎并没有什么可预见的计划，但现在科学家们知道，几乎所有的人都有一些非常固定的生活模式。今天，当我们比祖辈多活20年的时候，当女性神秘地比男性寿长７岁的时候，“人生的游戏”实际上就是“交换的游戏”，这一点比以往任何时候都更加清楚。随着年龄的增长，我们用智慧代替力量，用全面代替速度，用理性代替激情。这些交换似乎并不总是那么公正的，但在每一个年龄段上，人都有各自的某些优势。所以，不妨尽可放心地看到，尽管你已经逾越了生命中的某些黄金时期，你在未来仍然有另外的黄金岁月去度过，某些重要的颠峰时期在时间上出现得比较晚。
WHEN ARE YOU SMARTEST? From 18 to 25, according to I. Q., scores; but you are more experienced with increasing age. You’re sharpest in your 20’s; around 30, memory begins to decline (v. decrease, move from a better to worse position 减少，下降), particularly your ability to perform mathematical computations. “But your I. Q. for other tasks climbs,” says Berkeley psychologist. Arthur Jensen. Your vocabulary at age 45, for example, is three times as great as when you graduated from college. At 60, your brain possesses almo

st four times as much information as it did at age 21. This trade-off between sharpness and wisdom has led psychologist Dr. Leopold Bella to suggest that “maturity quotients（成熟商数）” (M.Q. s instead of I. Q. s) be adopted for adults.你什么时候最聪明？根据智商分数推算，18到25岁时最聪明。但随着年龄的增长，你的智慧和经验会越来越多。人２０岁时最机敏，３０岁左右时记忆力开始衰退，尤其是数学计算能力。伯克利心理学家阿瑟。詹森说：“但你做其他事情的能力却在增长。”比如，你４５岁时的词汇量是你大学刚毕业时的三倍；６０岁时，你大脑中拥有的信息量几乎是你２１岁时的四倍。这种机敏与智慧之间的交换使得心理学家利奥普。白洛克博士提出建议，应该用“成熟商数”来衡量成年人。

WHEN ARE YOU HEALTHIEST? For men, from 15 to 25; for women 15 to 30.
“A man is in his best shape in the decade before age 25,” says New York internist Dr. Donald Tompkins. “His muscles are firmest, his resistance to colds and infections (n. the state of result of disease being put into body 传染，感染) is highest, and his body is most efficient in utilizing nutrients. “Women, for reasons scientists do not understand, get a five-year bonus (n. anything pleasant, but unexpected 意想不到的收获). Peak health begins to decline when the body process called anabolism (n. cell growth 细胞生长) (cell growth) is overtaken by the opposite process, catabolism (n. cell death 细胞死亡) (cell death). “Cells have been dying since birth,” says Tomkins, “but in our late 20’s, they start dying faster than they are replaced.” Also, muscle is replaced with fat. 你什么时候身体最健康？男性１５到２５岁，女性１５到３０岁。纽约内科医生唐纳德。汤姆金斯说：“男性２５岁前的１０年身体状况最佳，肌肉最结实，对感冒和传染的抵抗力最强，食物消化能力也最强。”连科学家也说不清楚，女性要（比男性）多５年最健康时间。当人体中的细胞死亡数量超过细胞生长数量时，健康就从高峰期开始衰退。汤姆金斯说：“细胞从出生就在死亡，但当我们接近３０岁时，细胞的死亡速度超过其被更换速度。”肌肉也在被脂肪所取代。

Women also get an additional bonus of good health later in life. The figures of National Institute of Health show that the onset of such “old age” disease as arthritis(n. inflammation of a joint, as in gout or rheumatism 关节炎), rheumatism（n. any disorder of the extremities or back, characterized by pain or stiffness 风湿病）, and heart ailments (n. illness 疾病) deny the generally greater fitness of women: Life expectancy for men is now 68.3; for women 75.9. Says U. S. aging authority William Kennel, “Older women with low blood pressure are practically important.

” However, psychologists believe that by entering the competitive job market in increasing numbers, women may eventually give up their statistical (a. of collected numbers which represent facts or measurement 统计的) advantage.在生命的晚期，女性也格外身体好。国家健康研究所数字显示，这种诸如关节炎、风湿病和心脏病的“老年”病的发作，总体来说对适应性较强的女性并不多见。男人的估计寿命是６８.3岁，女人则为７５.9岁。年龄权威人士威廉姆.凯纳尔说：“年龄较大的女性保持低血压实际上是非常重要的。”但心理学家认为，随着愈来愈多的女性进入竞争激烈的就业市场，女士最终可能不再具有现在统计数字上的优势。
WHEN ARE YOU MOST LIKELY TO DEVELOP MENTAL DISORDERS? From 30 to 35.This surprisingly narrow peak is very real. The National Institute of Mental Health (INMH) reports that more than half of the patients in mental hospitals, male and female, are in this age group (men leading women by about 20%)什么时候你最容易患精神错乱病症？是３０到３５岁之间。这种十分短暂的患这种病的高峰期是千真万确的。全国精神健康研究所的报告称：在精神病医院里，在这个年龄段内的男女患者超过总数的一半（男性比女性高２０％）

But if we are most neurotic (a. 患神经病的) between 30 and 35, apparently we recover quickly. Admissions to mental hospitals drop sharply around age 40 and stay down until age 65. Yet, say psychologists, between 40 and 55, more people report they “feel” on the verge (n. 边缘) of a nervous breakdown. Relatively few actually occur. “We become veterans (n. a person who has had long experience 老手，有经验的人) at coping,” says psychologist Marvin Marlins.但如果我们在３０到３５岁之间最易患神经病，很明显，我们会很快康复。精神病医院接纳的４０岁左右的病人数量急剧减少，而且一直持续到６５岁的患者都很少。不过心理学家说，在４０到５５岁之间的人罗多的人说他们“感到”处在神经崩溃的边缘，实际发生的却相对很少。心理学家马文.卡林斯说：“我们在处置这类情况时很有经验。”
Suicide, a measure of mental problems, peaks from 20 to 24 and then again around 70. Incidences of suicide are smallest among people with intact marriages, highest among the divorced.自杀是精神问题的一种，高峰期出在２０到２４岁之间和７０岁左右。完整婚姻中的自杀率最低，而在离异家庭中自杀率最高。

WHEN ARE YOU HAPPIEST? You have the best physical sense of yourself from 15 to 24; the best professional sense from 40 to 49. Pessimism (n. tendency to look at the worst aspect of things 悲观主义) peaks between 30 and 39. San Diego State University psychologists Marilyn Barges and Linda Dutton found that before age 24, we b

elieve that our happiest years are yet to come; over 30, we believer that they’re behind us. A National Health Survey agrees: After age 30, we “become more realistic and do not view happiness as a goal in itself. If we maintain our health, achieve professional and emotional goals, then happiness, we feel, we follow.”你什么时候最幸福？你对自己的身体状况感到最满意是１５至２４岁，对事业感到最满意是４０至４９岁，悲观情结最严重是３０至３９。对地亚哥州立大学心理学家玛里琳.博格斯与琳达.达顿发现，24岁之前，我们认为我们最幸福的日子还没到来；过了３０岁，我们又认为最幸福的日子已经过去了。国家健康调查报告认为，过了３０岁以后，我们“变得较为现实，而且并不把幸福就当作目的本身。如果我们保持身体健康，实现了事业和感情的目标，那么我们就会感到我们获得了幸福。”
The American Institute of Public Opinion says that the pessimism peak occurs when we realize that talent and determination aren’t enough to guarantee (v. to assure, ensure保证，担保) success. Lady Luck must help.美国公共舆论研究所认为，当我们认识到才能与意志并不足以保证我们获得成功时，严重的悲观情绪就会产生了，此时就要靠“运气女神”帮忙了。

Also, youth’s good physical sense of self apparently does little to foster happiness. “Parents who tell their teenage children, ‘ These are the happiest years,’” says Lagged, “couldn’t be more wrong. Adolescence is very difficult. Only when you are 49 and looking back does youth look blissful (a. extremely happy 非常幸福的，极其快乐的).”另外，年轻人对自己的身体状况感觉良好很明显并不能产生幸福感。“父母对他们未成年的孩子说：‘这是最幸福的岁月。’”利格特说：“这样说就大错特错了。青春时期，荆刺遍地。只有当你４０岁回首往事时才会发现青春是极为美好的。
WHEN ARE YOU MOST CREATIVE? Generally between 30 to 39, but the peak varies with different professions.

Mozart wrote a symphony and four sonatas (奏鸣曲) by age eight, and Mendelssohn composed his best-known work, A Midsummer Night’s dream, at 17. Psychologist H. C. Lehman presents the years for peak work in many fields. Though the peak in most fields comes early---most Nobel Prize winners did their top research in their late 20’s and 30’s----creative people continue to produce quality work throughout their lives.你什么时候最富有创造力？一般说是在３０至39岁之间，但其高峰期又因职业而异　。莫扎特８岁时即创作出一部交响曲和四首奏鸣曲。门德尔松17岁时谱写了他的广为人知的作品《仲夏夜之梦》。心理学家H.C.莱曼描绘了许多领域里高峰期代表作的不同年龄。尽管在大多数领域中，这种高峰

期均来得很早－大多数诺贝尔奖获得者都是在其３０岁前那几年和３０至４０岁之间作出了最突出的成就－但具有创造力的人终其一生都能做出高质量的工作。
By viewing life’s various peaks, we can easily get the feeling that we are part of a giant give-and –take plan. Though statistically the plan is there, we must remember that every peak has many exceptions. Says Mulish, “The human life journey cannot be charted by a single curving line.”通过观察一生中不同的高峰期，我们很容易得到这种印象，即我们都是一项放庞大的（给予与索取）计划中的一部分。虽然从统计上看确有这么一个计划，我们必须记住，所有的高峰期都具有例外的。麦克利什说:“人的生命历程不能用单一的曲线来勾划。”