搜索
新视野大学英语2读写教程（第三版）Unit3课文文本及翻译SectionATextAJourneythroughtheodysseyyears1奥德赛岁月之旅Mostofusknowaboutthephasesoflifewhichwelabeltoparalleldifferentagegroupsandlifestages:Childhood,adolescence,adulthood,andoldage.Wethinkofinfancybeforechildhoodandmiddleagebeforeoldage,witheachuniquephasebringingitsownpeculiarsetofchallenges.Thesechallengescanbeovercomebyacquaintingourselveswiththem,suchasthechild’sneedtolearn,theadult’sneedtofindtherightcareerandbuildafamily,andthesenior’sneedforsupportandgoodhealthcare.Interestingly,ideasaboutthestagesoflifearechanging.Inprevioustimes,peopledidn’thaveasolidideaofchildhoodasbeingseparatefromadulthood.Ahundredyearsago,noonethoughtofadolescence.Untilrecentlyitwasunderstoodasanormthattheirinductiontoadulthoodwascompletedassoonastheygraduatedformcollege.Theywouldnowfindasensiblejobwhichwouldleadtoacareer.Thenduringthiscareertheywouldstartafamily,ideallybeforetheyturned30.Todaywehaveanequivalentneedtorecognizeanewphaseoflifethatcomesafterhighschoolgraduation,continuesthroughcollege,andthenleadstostartingafamilyandhavingacareer,theso-calledodysseyyears.Recenttrendsshowradicalchangesasyoungpeoplearefollowingadifferentagenda.Theytakebreaksfromschool,livewithfriendsandoftenreturntolivingtheirparents.Similarly,theyfallinandoutoflove,quitonejobandtryanotherorovenshifttoanewcareer.So,weneedtorecognizethisnewstage,theodysseyyears,whichmanynowconsidertobeanunavoidablestageinreachingadulthood.Peoplewhowerebornpriortothe60sor70sinthelastcenturytendedtoframetheirconceptofadulthoodbaseduponachievingcertainaccomplishments:movingawayfromhome,becomingfinanciallyindependent,findingtherightspouseandstartingafamily.Butthatemphasisonstabilitydidnotremainstatic.Today,youngpeopleareunlikelytodothesame.Duringtheodysseyyears,ahighproportionofyoungpeoplearedelayingmarriage,childbearing,andevenemployment.Theodysseyyearscansaddleyoungpeoplewithenormouspressuretomoveforwardquickly.Asthesoleheirandfocusoftheirparents’expectations,hopesanddreams,somereactwithrebelliousandpridefulattitudesandbehaviortowardtheirparents.Theyoftenresentthepressurethey’refeelingandkeepdistancefromtheir23456parentsorevenrunawayfromhome.Theirconfusioncomesfromthedifficultiestomakeparentsunderstandthemandfluidjourneyofdiscoverytheyneedinthisphaseoftheirlives.Togetawayfromthisconfusionandupset,manyyoungpeopleresorttocomputergames,iPods,iPhones,oriPadstohelpdistractthemfromtheirpainandstress.7Likewise,theirparentsarefeelingmoreanxious.Theymaymakeallowancesforatransitionphasefromstudentlifetoadultlife,buttheygetupsetwhentheyseethetransitionoftheirgrownchildren’slivesmovingawayfromtheirexpectationsandstretchinggiveyearstosevenyears,andbeyond.Theparentsdon’tevendetectaclearsenseofdirectionintheirchildren’slives.Theylookatthemandseethethingsthatarebeingdelayed.It’shardtopredictwhat’snext.Newguidelineshaven’tbeenestablishedyet,andeverythingseemstogivewaytoalesspermanentversionofitself.There’sbeenashiftinthestatusandbalanceofpowerbetweenthegenders,too.Morewomenaregettingdegreesthanmen.Malewageshaveremainstableoverthepastdecades,whilefemalewageshaveboomed.Apartfromanythingelse,thishashadanimpliciteffectoncourtship.Educatedwomencangetmanyofthethingstheywant,suchassecurity,accomplishment,andidentitywithoutmarriage.However,bothgendersarehavingahardertimefindingsuitablematestobuildtheirliveswith.Consideringallofthis,it’sbeneficialtoknowthateventhoughgraduatesaredelayingmanythingsaftercollege,surveysshowtheystillholdhighlytraditionalaspirations.Forexample,thiscontemporarygenerationratesparenthoodevenmorelikelythanpreviousgenerationsdid!Thisnewphasewilllikelygrowmorepronouncedinthecomingyears.Nationsaroundtheworldhavewitnessedsimilartrendstowarddelayingmarriageandspendingmoreyearsthanevenshiftingbetweenhighereducationandsettlingdownwithacareerandfamily.Nevertheless,graduatesshouldn’tbedeceivedintothinkingtheycanbackoffsimplybecausethingshavebecomemoredifficult.Alargenumberofpeoplechasingrelativelyfeweropportunitiescancreatestrongcompetitivepressure.So,fromtheoutset,keepyourresumeprofessionalandup-to-date.Toreinforcethisessentialmessage,successmovingthroughtheodysseyyearswillcometothosewhodon’texpecttoachievetheirgoalsrightawaybutknowthattheymusthavethestrength,capacityandconfidencetoendureoverthelongterm.Ifyou’realittlelatewithyourgoals,don’tfeellikeafailure!Staystrong,bepositive,andkeepfocused!Somedayyouwilllookbackandwonderatthevastchangesasyoupassedthroughtheodysseyyears.891011121.我们大多数人都知道，根据不同的年龄和生活阶段。人生可与此平行划分为童年、青春期、成年和老年这四个阶段。我们把这些阶层想象为婴儿期在童年之前，中年在老年之前，每个阶段都会面临一系列特有的挑战，如孩子对学习的需要，成人对找到合适的职业生涯和建立一个家庭的需要，以及年长者对得到帮助和良好医疗保健的需要。通过对它们的充分了解，我们就可以战胜这些挑战。2.有趣的是，关于人生阶段的观念正在发生变化。3.在先前的年代，人们并没有一种固有的把童年和成年分开的想法。一百年前，谁也没想到过青春期。直到最近，人们还很自然地认为：只要他们一从大学毕业，他们的成人入门阶段就结束了。他们就会找到一份把他们引入职业生涯的合适的工作。然后在此职业生涯期间，他们会成家，三十岁之前成家更为理想。4.今天，我们同样需要认识一个新的人生阶段：从高中毕业到上大学，然后到成家立业，即所谓的奥德赛岁月。由于年轻人正按照一种不同的模式生活，最近的趋势出现了根本性的变化。他们从学校休学，与朋友同住，也常回去与父母同住。同样，他们恋爱又失恋，辞掉一份工作又去寻找新的，甚至改行。因此，我们需要认识这个心阶段----奥德赛岁月。现在许多人认为这是步入成年之前的一个难以回避的阶段。5.出生于上个世纪60年代或70年代之前的人们往往会将成年的概念基于是否取得了某些成就：从父母家搬走，经济上独立，找到合