Chinadaily BBS - Translation Tips 翻译点津 - The Only Child Myth(e-c)practice

Guest: Login | Register | Search | FAQ

Chinadaily BBS » English Study» Translation Tips 翻译点津» The Only Child Myth(e-c)practice

Last Thread

Next Thread

hly_abc
Junior Member
Rank: 3

UID 140706
Digest Posts 0
Credits 1922
Posts 1922
Registered 2007-7-22
Status Offline

The Only Child Myth(e-c)practice

The Only Child Myth
"独生子女"谜团

Many Believe Lack of Siblings Leads to Selfish, Spoiled Kids
许多人相信没有兄弟姐妹会产生自私和惯坏了的孩子。

Only Child

By JUJU CHANG and SARA HOLMBERG
Aug. 17, 2007

Spoiled, selfish and bratty are terms often used to describe only children, which suggest that being an only child is undesirable. Is there a grain of truth to the stereotype or is it just a myth?

Angela Hult is the mother of an only child and is an only child herself. She has felt the prejudice against so-called "onlies" firsthand. She says that when people find out that she's an only child the response is often, "Oh you must have been a spoiled brat. You must be really bossy. And wow, I wonder what you're going to be like to deal with?"

The myth of the only child dates back to the late 1800's, when G. Stanley Hall known as the founder of child psychology, called being an only child "a disease in itself."

宠坏了，自私，令人讨厌的，这些是往往用于形容那些独生子女的词汇，暗示身为一名独生子女是人们不受欢迎的。在这一成不变的独生子女形象中有没有丝毫的真实性呢？或只不过是一个虚构说法？

Angela Hult就是一个独生子女的母亲，她自己也是独生女。她亲身体会到了人们对这些“独苗”们的偏见。她説当人们发现她是独生子女，他们的反应是：“哦，你一定是一个被惯坏了的调皮鬼。

你一定非常地专横跋扈。呃，哇，我想和你来往会是什么样子”

独生子女的谜团可以回溯到1800年晚期，那时候，被誉为儿童心理学创始人的G. Stanley Hall,将独生子女说为“自身就是一种病毒”

Long List of Stereotypes

Susan Newman, a social psychologist at Rutgers University and the author of "Parenting an Only Child," says the myth has been perpetuated ever since. "People articulate that only children are spoiled, they're aggressive, they're bossy, they're lonely, they're maladjusted," she said. "And the list goes on and on and on."

《抚养独生子女》一书的作者，Rutgers 大学社会心理学家 Susan Newman说这样的谜团从那以后便一直存在。 “人们谈论独生子女如何如何地被惯坏，如何地好胜，专横，孤独，不适应环境” 她说：“这样列举单越来越长。

But is there any science that makes the stereotype stick? "No," Newman said. "There have been hundreds and hundreds of research studies that show that only children are no different from their peers."
In order to find out for ourselves, "20/20" gathered a group of onlies in New York and asked them whether they thought the stereotype is true.

可存在任何科学能维持这样一成不变的形象吗？ ”没有“ Newman说到：“已经做过了的调查研究有成百上千，它们显示粗独生子女们和他们的同伴没有什么不同”

为了我们自己来探个究竟，“20/20"报道组的人员召集了一群来自纽约的独生子女们，并问他们是否他们认为这样的形象是真的。

"I'm an only child. I don't think I'm that bossy," Corinne said, and 16-year-old Ben said, "I'm sure there is but it's not because … they're only children. I mean, it depends on the parents. If the parents are indulgent parents you can have 30 kids, they're all gonna be overindulged."

”我是独生子女。我认为我不跋扈“ Corinne说到。十六岁的Ben说到：”我相信肯定会有，但是那不是因为--他们是独生子女。我的意思是，这取决于父母。

如果父母们是溺爱的父母，就算自己有30个小孩，他们各个都会被溺爱过度“

While a battery of studies shows no difference with onlies when it comes to bossiness or acting spoiled, it turns out there is a significant difference when it comes to intelligence. A landmark 20-year study showed that increased one-on-one parenting produces higher education levels, higher test scores and higher levels of achievement.

虽然一系列研究都在独生子女身上找不到任何不同，可是结果发现在智力上存在了意义重要的区别。一个具有标志性持的、续时间为20年的研究就显示一对一抚育量增加能带来更高的教育水平、考试分数，成就水平。

One-on-One Time
一对一的时间

What explains that apparent advantage? Newman says, "They have all their parents financial resources to get them extra lessons, to get them SAT training but more critical is the one-on-one time at the dinner table."

是什么来解释明显的优势？ Newman说：”他们全都有父母的经济资源来获得额外的课程，来获得SAT培训但是更重要的是在饭桌上的一对一的时间多了“

Which means more reading time, more homework time and eventually better test scores. Hult said of her son, "I think we felt as a family that we were able to give him more attention and spend more time together and really focus on him."

这意味着更多的阅读事件，更多的功课事件，最终更好的考试分数。Hult说到她的儿子：”我想我感到一个家庭，我们能给他更多的关注，花更多的时间在一起，并真正去关注他“

A generation ago, only 10 percent of families had only children. Today that percentage has more than doubled. And it's no wonder — it costs between $200,000 and $300,000 to raise one child to the age of 17, and that's not including the cost of college.

一代人之前，只有10%的美国家庭是独生子女家庭。如今，这个百分数超过了一倍多。而且，也不奇怪-要把一个孩子养大到17岁要花的钱在20-30万美元之间。还不包括大学费用。

"Families have changed," said Newman. "I actually call the only child the 'new traditional family.'"

"家庭已经改变”Newman说：“我实际上把独生子女称之为‘新的传统家庭’“

And yet, despite the explosion of families with onlies, a recent poll suggests only 3 percent of Americans believe one is an ideal number. Could it be that the myth of the only child persists?

可是，虽然独生子女家庭爆发出现，最近的民意调查显示仅有3%的美国人们认为一个是理想的数字。会不会是独生子女的谜团仍继续笼罩呢？

Image Attachment: onlies.JPG (2007-8-18 10:51 AM, 17.87 K)

2007-8-18 10:51 AM

练习翻译？遇到难题？快来翻吧

yuna1314
Newcomer
Rank: 1

UID 93659
Digest Posts 0
Credits 24
Posts 24
Registered 2006-3-18
Status Offline

I am living in a family of four children, I am the second one...
most of my classmates are the only child in their family, and many times, I find that they are difficult the get along with, For they seems to think that everything are theirs, and when they met a mini difficult, they would began to worry and sometimes cry...
they are too weak!

2007-8-21 01:53 PM

练习翻译？遇到难题？快来翻吧

hly_abc
Junior Member
Rank: 3

UID 140706
Digest Posts 0
Credits 1922
Posts 1922
Registered 2007-7-22
Status Offline

Thanks:-)

2007-8-21 05:56 PM

练习翻译？遇到难题？快来翻吧

Printable Version | Email to Friend | Subscription | Favorites


Forum Rules	Feedback	Privacy