When do you get the highest self-esteem?

甘肅山丹縣丹尼輔導(dǎo)學(xué)校 劉欣然

題材心理文章詞數(shù) 難度 建議用時(shí)說(shuō)明文體裁332 ★★★ 6 分鐘

難詞探意

1.obsess /?b'ses/ v.使著迷；嘮叨

2.plateau /'pl?t??/ n.高原；穩(wěn)定期；停滯期

3.spouse /spa?s/ n.配偶

In our youth-obsessed culture, one would assume that your self-esteem peaks in your 20s—but that's not the case.Researchers from the University of Bern in Switzerland set out to determine when the average person's self-esteem is the highest, and the good news is that your peak comes decades later.

The study, published in the journal Psychological Bulletin, analyzed 191 self-esteem research articles covering over 165,000 people.Researchers have found that self-esteem increases throughout one's lifetime, with a slight plateau during those awkward teen years.Between ages 11 and 15, self-esteem stops rising—but it never drops.Our self-esteem levels then start rising again and don't peak until well into midlife.The highest point for self-esteem level happens at age 60 and stays there until a slight decline in one's 70s and 80s.

This news that our self-esteem will continue to rise or stay steady during the majority of our lives is exciting.We often hear of increased stress in the decades of raising teens and caring for aging parents, but there are upsides, too.“Midlife is, for many adults, a time of highly stable life in domains such as relationships and work.Moreover, during middle adulthood, most individuals further invest in the social roles they hold, which might promote their self-esteem,”study co-author Ulrich Orth, a professor of psychology at the University of Bern in Switzerland,told Time magazine.“For example, people take on managerial roles at work, maintain a satisfying relationship with their spouses or partners,and help their children to become responsible and independent adults.”

As we age and our roles tend to change, it's natural for self-esteem to take a small hit.“Old age frequently involves loss of social roles as a result of retirement, the empty nest, and,possibly, widowhood, all of which are factors that may threaten self-esteem,” Dr Orth told Time.Dr Orth believes that most people maintain a high self-esteem level even into their 90s and beyond.

Language Study

Ⅰ.Difficult sentences

1.In our youth-obsessed culture, one would assume that your self-esteem peaks in your 20s.

譯文：在我們崇尚青春的文化中，人們會(huì)認(rèn)為一個(gè)人的自尊感在20 多歲時(shí)達(dá)到頂峰。

分析：本句中，obsess 本意是“使癡迷；使迷戀”。 此處的youth-obsessed 可以理解為“崇尚青春，青春主導(dǎo)”。 此處的 assume 意為“認(rèn)為”。 而 peak 在這里為動(dòng)詞，意為“達(dá)到高峰”。

2.Researchers have found that self-esteem increases throughout one's lifetime, with a slight plateau during those awkward teen years.

譯文：研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，自尊心在人的一生中都會(huì)增強(qiáng)，在那些尷尬的青少年時(shí)期會(huì)有輕微的停滯。

分析：本句的關(guān)鍵詞是“plateau”， 其本意是“高原；穩(wěn)定期”。 根據(jù)文章的上下文可知，此處的plateau 意為“停滯期”。

Ⅱ.Useful sentence patterns

Old age frequently involves loss of social roles as a result of retirement, the empty nest, and,possibly, widowhood, all of which are factors that may threaten self-esteem.

譯文：老年人經(jīng)常會(huì)因?yàn)橥诵荨⒖粘?，可能還有喪偶而失去社會(huì)角色，所有這些都是可能威脅自尊的因素。

本句中， all of which 是一個(gè)介詞前置于關(guān)系詞作引導(dǎo)詞的結(jié)構(gòu)。再如：The people with whom we are staying are very friendly to us.和我們一起的人對(duì)我們非常友好。Practice: 用介詞前置于關(guān)系詞的結(jié)構(gòu)完成句子。

1.This is the house _________________________.(著名的作家曾經(jīng)居住過(guò)的地方)

2.There are many factors accounting for this，_________.(其中，最重要的是經(jīng)驗(yàn)不足）

Reading Check

閱讀短文，根據(jù)其內(nèi)容寫一篇60詞左右的內(nèi)容概要。

寫作導(dǎo)引

一、析結(jié)構(gòu)，理要點(diǎn)

二、依體裁，巧行文

在對(duì)不同的文本進(jìn)行概要寫作時(shí)，第一步就是明確原文的體裁，根據(jù)不同的體裁（如說(shuō)明文、議論文、記敘文、新聞等）來(lái)確定概要寫作的思路與框架。 本文是一篇說(shuō)明文的寫作，寫作時(shí)要突出說(shuō)明對(duì)象及其特征或性質(zhì)這兩個(gè)重要的要素，而對(duì)于原文的說(shuō)明方法可以忽略。 通過(guò)對(duì)這兩個(gè)要素的回答，并對(duì)原文加以信息提取與整合，輔以適當(dāng)?shù)你暯邮侄?，我們即可寫出一篇較為準(zhǔn)確的概要文章。

另外，考試中說(shuō)明文概要寫作的語(yǔ)言要力求精準(zhǔn)、具體、樸實(shí)，盡量避免使用生動(dòng)的語(yǔ)言。