Learn English with American Primary School Textbooks

Chapter 11 Social Life (11)
vi. to decide, to determine

consensus [k? n"sens? s] n. Unanimity, public opinion, agreement

transition[tr? n"si??n, -"zi? ? n, trɑ: n-] n. Transition, transformation, conversion
status["st? s, "st? -] n. Status, status, situation, important status

survey [s? : "vei, "s? : vei, s? -] n. Survey, overview;
vt. to investigate, to survey

Practice
What steps are important toward reaching adulthood?

Translation
According to a survey, most Americans don't think they're old until they're 26 -- by which time you've probably finished school, found a full-time job, supported a family, and become financially independent.

People also believe that the process of becoming an adult begins around age 20 and takes five years to complete, according to the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.The researchers selected 1398 people over the age of 18 as a representative sample for the study.

调查显示，人们预计会在以下年龄实现成年过程中的各个转变——20.9岁：自立；21.1岁：与父母分居；21.2岁：找到全职工作；22.3岁：完成学业；24.5岁：具备养家糊口的能力；25.7岁：结婚；26.2岁：生子。

Tom Smith, who led the survey, said: "There is considerable agreement among people from all walks of life about the relative importance of these seven transitions." The only significant differences are people's views on raising a family, having children and getting married. "Older people, married and widowed people valued these more than young people and single people," Smith added, "and this may largely reflect an intergenerational shift in traditional family values."

The survey found that in people's minds, completing school is the most important step toward adulthood, followed by finding a full-time job, raising a family, becoming financially independent, separating from parents, starting a family and becoming a parent.

Exercise
What are the important steps on the way to adulthood?

Completing an education, full-time employment, supporting a family, financial independence, living independently of parents, marriage and parenthood.
14 Color and Life Color and Life

What is your favorite color? Do you like yellow, orange, red? If you do, you must be an optimist, a leader. Do you prefer grays and blues? Then you are probably quiet, shy, and you would rather follow than lead. You tend to be a pessimist.
At least, this is what psychologists tell us, and they should know, because they have been seriously studying the meaning of color preference, as well as the effect that colors have on human beings. They tell us, among other facts, that we do Not choose our favorite color as we grow up - we are born with our preference.
If you happened to love brown, you did so, as soon as you opened your eyes, or at least as soon as you could see clearly.
Colors do influence our moods-there is no doubt about it. A yellow room makes most people feel more cheerful and more relaxed than a dark green one; and a red dress brings warmth and cheer to the saddest winter day. On the other hand, black is depressing.
A black bridge over the Thames River, near London, used to be the scene of more suicides than any other bridge in the area-until it was repainted green. The number of suicide attempts immediately fell sharply; perhaps it would have fallen even more if the bridge had been done in pink or baby blue.
Light and bright colors make people not only happier but more active. It is an established fact that factory workers work better, harder, and have fewer accidents when their machines are painted orange rather than black or gray.
Vocabulary
pessimist ["pesimist] n. pessimist

Psychologist [sai"k? led?ist] n. Psychologist
Preference ["pref? r? ns] n. preference, tendency, priority
suicide ["sjuisaid] n. suicide, suicide, suicide behavior
establish [i"st? bli?] vt. establish, place, establish
Practice
What's your favorite color? Tell your classmates what you think of colors.
Translation
What is your favorite color?Do you like yellow, orange and red?If so, you must be an optimistic person, a leader.Do you prefer gray and blue series colors?Then you are likely to be reserved, shy, you would rather be led than to lead, and you have pessimistic tendencies.

At least, that’s what psychologists tell us—psychologists are supposed to be experts in this field, because they have been seriously studying the meaning of color preferences and the different effects of various colors on people.Among the many things they tell us is that we don't grow up picking our favorite colors—we're born with that preference.

Assuming you happen to like brown, you liked brown the moment you opened your eyes and saw the world, or at least when you saw the world clearly.

Color does affect our mood, there's no doubt about it.Most people feel more cheerful and relaxed in a yellow room than in a dark one; a red dress can also warm and cheer people on the bleakest winter day.Black is depressing.

There used to be a black bridge over the Thames near London, on which more people committed suicide than on any other bridge in the borough.When it was painted green, the number of suicide attempts plummeted; if the bridge had been painted pink or light blue, the drop might have been even greater.

Light or bright colors are not only more cheerful but also more positive.It turns out that workers in factories work harder, perform better and have fewer accidents if machines in factories are painted orange instead of black or gray.

Exercise
What colour do you like?Tell me about your thoughts on color.

15 The Best Years of Your Life

The ups and downs of life may seem to have no predictable plan. But scientists know there are very definite patterns that almost all people share. Even if you've passed some of your “prime”, you still have other prime years to experience in the future. Certain important primes seem to peak later in life.
When are you smartest? From 18-25, according to IQ scores; but you're wiser and more experienced with increasing age.
You're sharpest in your 20's; around 30, memory begins to decline, particularly your ability to perform mathematical computations. But your IQ for other tasks climbs. Your vocabulary at age 45, for example, is three times as great as when you graduated from college. At 60, your brain possesses almost four times as much information as it did at age 21.
This trade-off between sharpness and wisdom has led psychologists to suggest that “maturity quotients” (MQ) be adopted for adults.
When are you happiest? You have the best physical sense of yourself from 15 to 24; the best professional sense from 40 to 49.
Before age 24, we believe that our happiest years are yet to come; over 30, we believe 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, will follow”.
When are you most creative? Generally between 30 and 39, but the peak varies with different professions.
Mozart wrote a symphony and four sonatas by age eight, and Mendelssohn composed his best known work A Midsummer Night's Dream, at 17, but most of the great music was written by men between 33 and 39.
(End of this chapter)