外刊阅读：Why people always say "kids

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？

Why people always say "kids these days ..."

by Sara Kiley Watson

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.

generation /ˌdʒenəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 一代人
touchy /ˈtʌtʃi/ adj. 容易生气的
appreciation /əˌpriːʃiˈeɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 感激、感恩（由appreciate加后缀-ion变成名词）
senior /ˈsiːniə(r)/ adj. 年长的
counterpart /ˈkaʊntəpɑːt/ n. （职位、作用等）相当的人

And it's not just today's adults who think that. In some way or another, older generations have been lamenting（对…感到失望） the youth's decline since the earliest days of civilization. Even Aristotle talked smack about how young folks thought they knew everything back in the 4th century BC.

in some way 以某种方式
decline /dɪˈklaɪn/ n. 衰落
civilization /ˌsɪv(ə)laɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 文明
Aristotle /ˈærɪstɒt(ə)l/ n. 亚里士多德（古希腊哲学家）
talk smack /smæk/ 批评、贬低
folks /fəʊks/ = people
BC 公元前

So why do people throw all the shade on the next generation? A study out last month in Science Advances shows that negative opinions about kids aren't always based on their actions; it's more about how adults laud（赞美） their past and current selves.

throw shade 公开批评、严厉批评
negative /ˈneɡətɪv/ adj. 不好的、负面的
based on 基于
action /ˈækʃ(ə)n/ n. 行为
current /ˈkʌr(ə)nt/ adj. 现在的
self /self/ n. 自己

In the study, researchers 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. The team, led by John Protzko, a cognitive scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, 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.

researcher /rɪˈsɜːtʃə(r)/ n. 研究者（由research加上表示人的后缀-er）
a trio /ˈtriːəʊ/ of 三个
trait /treɪt/ n. 特点、特性
elder /ˈeldə(r)/ n. 长者
intelligence /ɪnˈtelɪdʒ(ə)ns/ n. 智力
enjoyment /ɪnˈdʒɔɪmənt/ n. 享受、愉悦（由enjoy加后缀-ment变成名词）
cognitive /ˈkɒɡnətɪv/ adj. 认知的、认知能力的
participant /pɑːˈtɪsɪp(ə)nt/ n. 参与者
quality /ˈkwɒləti/ n. 品质
category /ˈkætəɡri/ n. 类别
tend /tend/ v. 倾向于

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.

tag /tæɡ/ v. 贴标签
identify /aɪˈdentɪfaɪ/ v. 识别（self-identify就是自认为）
intelligent /ɪnˈtelɪdʒ(ə)nt/ adj. 有才智的、聪明的
reserve /rɪˈzɜːv/ v. 保留、保持
relate /rɪˈleɪt/ to 跟…有联系

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.

stage /steɪdʒ/ n. 阶段
assign /əˈsaɪn/ v. 赋予
random /ˈrændəm/ adj. 随机的
trick /trɪk/ v. 欺骗、哄骗
well-read 博览群书的

Protzko speculates that there are two reasons for the shift: how memories can be fallible（易出错的） 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, thinking 'oh this must have been what all kids were like,' " he says.

speculate /ˈspekjuleɪt/ v. 推测
shift /ʃɪft/ n. 转移、改变
objective /əbˈdʒektɪv/ adj. 客观的
authority /ɔːˈθɒrəti/ n. 权威
impose /ɪmˈpəʊz/ v. 强加、把…强加于

Over the years, the same memory bias keeps occurring, making it seem like kids are somehow failing more and more. In fact, the older a participant was, the more heavily this bias came into play, Protzko says.

bias /ˈbaɪəs/ n. 偏向、偏差
occur /əˈkɜː(r)/ v. 发生

While there's still a lot to learn about why adults might see younger generations as mediocre, this research hints that an age-old phrase can boil down to one classic human trait: vanity.

mediocre /ˌmiːdiˈəʊkə(r)/ adj. 平庸的
hint /hɪnt/ v. 暗示
age-old 年代久远的
phrase /freɪz/ n. 短语、习语
boil down 归根结底
classic /ˈklæsɪk/ adj. 典型的
vanity /ˈvænəti/ n. 自负、自大

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