原创 Soren 2025-04-22 09:03 辽宁
成人技能课火爆美国,是成长延迟,还是世界太难?
小时候以为,长大是自然发生的事。可在美国,越来越多二三十岁的“成年人”发现,自己连选医保都不会,只能站在公司走廊里打电话问爸妈。于是,一种专门教人“怎么当大人”的课程悄然兴起。从理财、报税,到做饭、维系关系,adulting课试图填补成长中被遗漏的空白。这届年轻人,真的需要“补补课”。
我们看一篇《经济学人》的报道。
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接下来从原文中挑选部分内容,进行讲解:
1
ACC has been running such programmes for six years. The workshops are designed to help people “successfully navigate adulthood”, even those who, legally and practically, have been navigating it for quite some time. The topics run the gamut from basic—how to dress appropriately for a job interview—to advanced, such as how file income taxes.
ACC开设这类课程已有六年之久,旨在帮助人们“顺利迈入成年生活”,即便有些学员在法律意义上早已是成年人,也已实际步入社会多年。课程内容涵盖广泛,从最基础的“如何得体地穿着参加面试”,到更复杂的“如何申报个人所得税”。
navigate 是个很生动实用的小词,原义是to steer or direct the course of a ship, aircraft, or vehicle(导航、驾驶),此处引申为“成功应对、处理(复杂或困难的情境)”,写作中可以替换handle, manage, cope with, deal with 等词,使语言更生动形象。
举个例子,在大学生活、求职的话题中,我们可以说:
College students must learn to navigate the pressures of academic life and future career planning.
大学生必须学会应对学业压力与未来职业规划的多重考验。
美剧《生活大爆炸》里也出现过这种用法:
navigate certain aspects of daily life:应对日常生活的某些方面。
run the gamut from...to... 意思是“涵盖从……到……的所有范围”,指范围之广,常用于举例。gamut 原意是“音乐全音阶”,引申为“整个范围”。
这个短语的同义替换有:
range from... to...
span the spectrum from... to...
include everything from... to...
看几个例句:
Environmental issues run the gamut from local pollution to global climate change.
环境问题涵盖从局部污染到全球气候变化等多个层面。
The museum’s collection spans the spectrum from prehistoric tools to modern digital art.
该博物馆藏品内容广泛,从史前工具到现代数字艺术一应俱全。
Their policies range from economic reform to social justice.
他们的政策举措涵盖经济改革与社会公正等多个领域。
再看个《大西洋帝国》里的例句:
2
A financial naif will grasp the basics of investing. A mansplainer will come away reminded of the rewards of listening.
一名财务“小白”可以在书中掌握投资入门知识,而那些爱说教的人也会意识到“倾听”所带来的意义。
financial naif 指“在金融领域很幼稚或无知的人”,也就是“金融小白”,naif = naive。
表示“新手、小白”,还可以说novice, beginner, rookie, greenhorn, layman.
mansplainer 英文解释是a man who explains something (typically to a woman) in a condescending, overconfident, and often inaccurate or unnecessary manner. “喜欢居高临下讲道理的男性”,中文里有个词与之完美对应:爹味儿。
从构词角度看,mansplain = man + explain,爱解释的男人。
美剧《辛普森一家》中出现过 mansplainer 的动词形式 mansplain:
表示“爹味”,也可以用father-knows-best tone,例如:
His advice came with a strong father-knows-best vibe that irritated everyone.
他所提出的建议带有一种“爹味”口吻,引发众人不满。
3
Yet, as the aphorism goes, common sense is not so common.
然而,正如一句谚语所言,“常识并不常见”。
as the aphorism goes 表示“正如俗语/格言所说”,相当于:
As the saying goes
As the proverb has it
As the old adage goes
这个短语适用于写作中引入名言警句,增强论证效果。在六级写作中,常见“哲理名言类”题型。以2020年9月六级第三套为例,我们用该句型写一个开头。
题目要求是:
For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on the saying “Wealth of the mind is the only true wealth.” You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
开头段可以这样写:
As the aphorism goes, “Wealth of the mind is the only true wealth.” In a society obsessed with material gain, this saying serves as a powerful reminder of the enduring value of intellectual and emotional richness. True fulfillment, after all, lies not in possessions, but in perspective.
正如那句格言所言:“心灵的富有才是真正的富有。”在一个对物质追逐日益强烈的社会中,这句话有力提醒人们,精神与情感的丰盈才是长久不衰的财富。毕竟,真正的满足,不在于拥有多少财物,而在于拥有怎样的眼界与格局。
4
They are shrinking from responsibilities such as marriage, homeowning and child-rearing because “adulting is hard”, as one of his students put it. Western culture, Mr Hayward wrote, indulges childish fancies.
他们回避婚姻、购房和养育子女等责任事务,正如他一位学生所言:“做大人太难了。”海沃德认为,西方文化对“孩子气”的兴趣和偏好予以纵容,削弱了成年担当。
shrink from responsibilities是“逃避责任”的意思,shrinks from = 避免、逃避、对……畏缩不前,同义替换有:shy away from, recoil from, evade, dodge,看几个例句:
She tends to shy away from difficult conversations.
她往往回避那些棘手的对话。
Politicians sometimes recoil from making tough decisions.
有时,政治人物在面对艰难决策时也会有所退缩。
再看一个《复仇者联盟2:奥创纪元》里的例句:
成年人的生活不仅仅是“长大”那么简单,学会理财、做饭、沟通——这些技能,才是真正的“成人”必修课。也许,真正的成长,是在不断发现自己不会做的事后,再勇敢去学。“成人”之路,永远在补课。
今天就到这里,感谢阅读!
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