-牟
Kids these days only seem dumb if you think
you’re a genius
文章选自《
Popular
Science
》
读前导读：
在生活中，
老一辈的人往往对年轻人不太满意，
常常会说
“
现在的孩子
”
如何如何不好。
那么，
现在的孩子真的不如以前吗？
一：高级实词荟萃
1.
generation
/?d?en??re??(?)n/ n.
一代人
2.
touchy
/?t?t?i/ adj.
容易生气的
3.
appreciation
/??pri??i?e??(?)n/ n.
感激、
感
恩
（由
appreciate
加后缀
-
ion
变成名词）
4.
senior
/?si?ni?(r)/ adj.
年长的
5.
counterpart
/?ka?nt?pɑ?t/
n.
（职位、作
用等）相当的人
6.
decline
/d??kla?n/ n.
衰落
7.
civilization
/?s?v(?)la??ze??(?)n/ n.
文明
8.
folks /f??ks/
= people
9.
negative /?neɡ?t?v/ adj.
不好的、负面的
10.
based on
基于
11.
action /??k?(?)n/ n.
行为
12.
current /?k?r(?)nt/ adj.
现在的
13.
self /self/
n.
自己
14.
researcher
/r??s??t??(r)/
n.
研究者（由
research
加上表示人的后缀
-
er
）
15.
trait /tre?t/
n.
特点、特性
16.
elder
/?eld?(r)/ n.
长者
17.
intelligence
/?n?tel?d?(?)ns/ n.
智力
18.
enjoyment
/?n?d???m?nt/
n.
享受、愉悦
（由
enjoy
加后缀
-
ment
变成名词）
19.
cognitive
/?k?ɡn?t?v/ adj.
认知的、认知
能力的
20.
participant
/pɑ??t?s?p(?)nt/ n.
参与者
21.
quality
/?kw?l?ti/ n.
品质
22.
category
/?k?t?ɡri/ n.
类别
23.
gratification
/?ɡr?t?f??ke??n/
n.
满意；喜
悦；使人满意之事
24.
tend /tend/
v.
倾向于
25.
tag /t?ɡ/ v.
贴标签
26.
identify
/a??dent?fa?/
v.
识
别
（
self
-
identify
就是自认为）
27.
intelligent
/?n?tel?d?(?)nt/
adj.
有才智的、
聪明的
28.
reserve
/r??z??v/ v.
保留、保持
29.
relate
/r??le?t/ to
跟
…
有联系
30.
stage
/ste?d?/ n.
阶段
31.
assign
/??sa?n/ v.
赋予
32.
random
/?r?nd?m/ adj.
随机的
33.
trick /tr?k/
v.
欺骗、哄骗
34.
well
-
read
博览群书的
35.
speculate
/?spekjule?t/ v.
推测
36.
shift /??ft/
n.
转移、改变
37.
objective /?b?d?ekt?v/ adj.
客观的
38.
authority
/???θ?r?ti/ n.
权威
39.
impose
/?m?p??z/ v.
强加、把
…
强加于
40.
bias /?ba??s/ n.
偏向、偏差
41.
occur
/??k??(r)/ v.
发生
42.
mediocre
/?mi?di???k?/ adj.
平庸的
二：高级词汇拓展
43.
hint /h?nt/
v.
暗示
44.
age
-
old
年代久远的
45.
phrase
/fre?z/ n.
短语、习语
46.
classic
/?kl?s?k/ adj.
典型的
47.
vanity
/?v?n?ti/ n.
自负、自大
1.
appreciation
/??pri??i?e??(?)n/ n.
感激、感恩由
vt
感谢；欣赏
appreciate
2.
civilization /?s?v(?)la??ze??(?)n/ n.
文明
ad
j
文明的
civilized
3.
current
/?k?r(?)nt/ adj.
现在的
adv.
现在地
currently
4.
researcher
/r??s??t??(r)/ n.
研究者
vt
研究
research
5.
intelligence /?n?tel?d?(?)ns/ n.
智力
adj
聪明的
intelligent
adv
聪明地
intelligently<
/p>
6.
enjoyment /?n?d???m?nt/ n.
享受、愉悦
vt
享受
enjoy
7.
participant /pɑ??t?s?p(?)nt/ n.
参与者
vi
参加
participate
n.
参加
participation
8.
quality
/?kw?l?ti/ n.
品质
vt
有资质；符合要求
qualify
9.
identify
/a??dent?fa?/ v.
识别
10.
relate
/r??le?t/ to
跟
…
有联系
n.
联系
relation
n
亲戚
relative
adj
有联系的
related
11.
assign
/??sa?n/ v.
赋予
;
分配
n
任务
assignment
12.
trick /tr?k/
v.
欺骗、哄骗
adj
骗人的
tricky
13.
speculate
/?spekjule?t/ v.
推测
n
猜想
speculation
14.
objective
/?b?d?ekt?v/ adj.
客观的
n
目标
object
15.
occur
/??k??(r)/ v.
发生
n
发生
occurrence
三：高级短语荟萃
1.
throw shade
公开批评、严厉批评
2.
talk smack
/sm?k/
批评、贬低
3.
a trio
/?tri???/ of
三个
4.
have enough
appreciation
有足够的欣赏力
5.
In some way or
another
以某种方式
6.
lament the
youth's decline
感叹年轻人的衰弱
7.
a cognitive
scientist
一个认知科学家
8.
a survey of
cognitive development
experts
认知发展专家调查
9.
the majority
of experts
大多数专家
10.
get better at
controlling themselves around
rewards
更好地控制自己获得奖励
11.
share the
same qualities
具有相同的品质
12.
in one of the
categories
在其中一个类别中
13.
tend
to
倾向于
14.
got tagged or
self
-
identified as
intelligent
被标记或自我识别为智能
15.
be more
likely to see “kids these days” as less intelligen
t
更可能认为
“
现在的孩子
”
不太聪
明
16.
used to
be
以前是
17.
reserve their
strong opinions for
traits
保留他们对性格的强烈看法
18.
relate to
与
…
相关。
19.
In another
stage of the study
在研究的另一个阶段
20.
assign random
scores to
将随机分数分配给
21.
trick them
into thinking how well
-
read
they were
诱使他们去想他们读得有多好
22.
change their
opinions on kid’s reading
ability
改变他们对孩子阅读能力的看法
23.
as a
result.
因此
24.
boil down
归根结底
25.
reasons for
the shift
改变的原因
26.
the lack of
objective knowledge of what childhood is really li
ke
对童年的真实情况缺乏客
观认识
27.
high in a
trait
特性高的
28.
impose their
current high standing in that
trait
把他们目前的高地位强加在这个特质上
What’s the proof that kids
these days are any less
well
-
read or
well
-
behaved than
before?
What is it about
kids these days that makes older generations so
touchy? Maybe it's because they
don't
read enough books, spend enough time outdoors, or
have enough appreciation—at least that's
what their more senior counterparts
say.
And
it's
not
just
today's
adults
who
think
that.
In
some
way
or
another,
older
generations
have
been lamenting the
youth's decline since the earliest days of
civilization. Even Aristotle
(
亚里士多
德
) talked
smack about how young folks thought they knew
everything back in the 4th century
BC.
So why all
the shade on the next generation? A study out
earlier this month in Science Advances
shows that negative opinions about kids
aren't always based on their actions; it's more
about how
adults laud their past and
current selves.
John
Protzko, a cognitive scientist at the University
of California, Santa Barbara and lead author
of
the
paper,
says
he
was
inspired
while
studying
delayed
gratification
（满足）
in
children. A
survey
of
cognitive
development
experts
found
that
the
majority
of
experts
thought
kids
hadn't
gotten better at
controlling themselves around rewards like candy
over the past 50 years. Protzko's
study, however, proved them
wrong.
This got him thinking
… what is it about adults that makes them assume
the worst about kids?
And how does it
lead to grumblings about “kids these
days”?
Protzko’s latest
research looked at a trio of traits in three
groups of U.S. adults: respect for elders
or
authoritarianism
（权威主义）
,
intelligence, and enjoyment of reading. He and his
collaborator
（合作者）
then asked
the participants whether they thought kids in the
modern age shared the
same qualities.
They found that adults who tested especially
strong in one of the categories tended
to see children today as weak in
it.
For example, if an adult
got tagged or
self
-
identified as
intelligent, they were more likely to see
“kids
these
days”
as
less
intelligent
than
they
used
to
be.
This, Protzko
thinks,
is
because
they
remembered
their
younger
selves
to
be
smarter,
whether
true
or
not.
What’s
more,
they
only
reserved their strong opinions for
traits they related to.
In
another stage of the study, the authors assigned
random scores to participants to trick them into
thinking
how
well
-
read
they
were.
Many
of
the
adults
changed
their
opinions
on
kid’s
reading
ability, past and
present, as a result.
Protzko posits that there are two
reasons for the shift: how memories can be
fallible and the lack
of
objective
knowledge
of
what
childhood
is
really
like.
“People
who
are
high
in
a
trait,
say
respect for elders or authority, are
imposing their current high standing in that trait
back in time,