年轻人取得成功的三个关键因素
Three Keys to Success for Young People
刘立军 供稿
TRANSCRIPT
Why do some young people from really tough backgrounds beat the odds? And what can we all learn from them?
When I was a child, I was bounced from children’s home to children’s home. Yeah, it was tough. But I made it as a writer and as a poet. So this subject, above all, is very close to my heart.
“How do you do it?” said night.
“How do you wake and shine?”
“I keep it simple,” said light.
“One day at a time.”
There are no simple answers, but we do have some really interesting clues. Some come from a major study, which has been following 12,000 children in four different countries, over a period of 20 years.
The Young Lives team, led by the University of Oxford, tracks children in Ethiopia, Peru, Vietnam and India. They looked at those who’d managed to beat the odds and pulled out a few common threads. Here are three key ones.
l Supportive Relationships
I didn’t have family around me, and the absence of it actually gives you an opportunity to see just how important these supportive relationships are for a child. I saw them because I didn’t have them. Think of a baby just learning to crawl. They only go so far before they look back. When I looked back, there was nobody there. However tenuous, having somebody who’s on your side, it’s really important.
For me, I didn’t realize it at the time, but the truth is my social worker was that person. He didn’t feel like a role model. He didn’t feel like a friend. But he was something more. He was a person keeping his binoculars focused on my emotional state. And that ― that proved pivotal to me.
l Safety Nets
The second key element is the importance of a safety net. Studies in the UK have consistently shown a link between poverty and poor outcomes for kids. Children who experience persistent poverty are four times more likely to be in the bottom 10% in vocabulary aged five.
Small things can make a big difference. Like the warmth of the relationship between a parent and a child. Reading to kids. And having a safety net in those early years is so important.
In Ethiopia and Peru, the Young Lives team found children whose parents had received government support for basics like food when they were very young had significantly better long-term memory and cognitive skills at the age of 12 than those who hadn’t. The more disadvantaged the family, the greater the impact.
And there’s similar evidence from the US, where the Baby’s First Years study looked at the impact of giving money to the poorest families in four cities. They gave $20 a month to one set of families, the control group, and $333 a month to the other group. They then scanned the brains of the babies at the age of one, and just look at the difference. The images on the left show the babies from the high-cash group and those on the right from the low-cash group. The babies whose mothers received the high-cash gift showed significantly more activity in parts of the brain associated with language and cognitive skills. Wow.
l Second Chances
When I look back at my younger self, all I wanted was compassion. And second chances are about just that ― compassion.
I was given a book of poetry by a teacher in the children’s home when I was 13 years of age. But it wasn’t just the book of poetry which helped me ― though it did immensely. It was also the fact that I was worth giving a book to. I was lucky because I found the thing I love ― poetry. And regardless of your upbringing, that’s one of the greatest things that a child, or a person, can ever find ― what it is that they love.
“I am not defined by darkness,” confided the night.
“Each dawn I am reminded,”
“I am defined by light.”
VOCABULARY
1. binoculars n. 双筒望远镜
2. cognitive adj. 认知的，认识的
3. compassion n. 同情心，怜悯
4. confide v. 吐露，倾诉
QUESTIONS
Listen to the news and choose the best answer to each question you hear.
1. In which of the following countries did the Young Lives team in the passage carry out a study tracking children?
A. America and United Kingdom.
B. Ethiopia, Vietnam, India, and Peru.
C. China, Japan, Germany, and Canada.
D. Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Cuba.
2. What was the most essential role played by the social worker for the narrator?
A. He acted as the narrator’s friend.
B. He was a role model for the narrator.
C. He provided financial support to the narrator.
D. He focused on monitoring the narrator’s emotional state.
3. According to the Young Lives team’s research, what benefits did government support bring to young children?
A. Improved long-term memory and cognitive skills.
B. Better academic performance in school.
C. Increased physical strength and health.
D. Greater opportunities for higher education.
4. According to the Baby’s First Years study, what was the result of giving more money to families?
A. The children from these families showed more activity in parts of the brain associated with language and cognitive skills.
B. The children from these families grew up to be successful individuals.
C. The children from these families developed stronger physical attributes.
D. The children from these families showed a greater interest in academics.
5. In the narrator’s view, what does giving a second chance signify?
A. Forgiveness.
B. Compassion.
C. Empathy.
D. Trust.
KEY
1. In which of the following countries did the Young Lives team in the passage carry out a study tracking children?
A. America and United Kingdom.
B. Ethiopia, Vietnam, India, and Peru.
C. China, Japan, Germany, and Canada.
D. Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Cuba.
【答案】B
【解析】细节题。题目的命题出处是：The Young Lives team, led by the University of Oxford, tracks children in Ethiopia, Peru, Vietnam and India. 根据该句话，我们知道Young Lives团队在埃塞俄比亚、秘鲁、越南和印度进行了对儿童的跟踪研究。
2. What was the most essential role played by the social worker for the narrator?
A. He acted as the narrator’s friend.
B. He was a role model for the narrator.
C. He provided financial support to the narrator.
D. He focused on monitoring the narrator’s emotional state.
【答案】D
【解析】细节题。题目的命题出处是：He was a person keeping his binoculars focused on my emotional state. 根据内容可知，社工对叙述者最重要的角色是关注其情感状态的变化。
3. According to the Young Lives team’s research, what benefits did government support bring to young children?
A. Improved long-term memory and cognitive skills.
B. Better academic performance in school.
C. Increased physical strength and health.
D. Greater opportunities for higher education.
【答案】A
【解析】细节题。题目的出处是：In Ethiopia and Peru, the Young Lives team found children whose parents had received government support for basics like food when they were very young had significantly better long-term memory and cognitive skills at the age of 12 than those who hadn’t. 根据该段内容可以判断，政府对儿童的支持有助于提高他们的长期记忆和认知技能。
4. According to the Baby’s First Years study, what was the result of giving more money to families?
A. The children from these families showed more activity in parts of the brain associated with language and cognitive skills.
B. The children from these families grew up to be successful individuals.
C. The children from these families developed stronger physical attributes.
D. The children from these families showed a greater interest in academics.
【答案】A
【解析】细节题。题目的命题出处是：The babies whose mothers received the high-cash gift showed significantly more activity in parts of the brain associated with language and cognitive skills.根据该句，我们知道向家庭提供更多资金，可以使该家庭的孩子在与语言和认知技能相关的大脑部位显示出更多的活动。
5. In the narrator’s view, what does giving a second chance signify?
A. Forgiveness.
B. Compassion.
C. Empathy.
D. Trust.
【答案】B
【解析】推理题。题目的命题出处是：When I look back at my younger self, all I wanted was compassion. And second chances are about just that ― compassion. 从叙述者的角度看，给予第二次机会意味着表达同情。
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