拥有一个不快乐的青春期有多重要：英语精读讲义

Being unhappy is never wholly to be recommended. 語法

不开心绝不是什么值得提倡的事。

But if there is any period of life in which the mood may be justified and in certain ways judged important, 語法

但如果人生中有一段时期，这种情绪是情有可原，甚至在某种程度上被认为是重要的，

then it is roughly between the ages of 13 and 20.

那大概就是13岁到20岁这段时间。

It is hard to imagine going on to have a successful or even somewhat contented next six decades 短語動詞

很难想象，一个人在接下来的六十年里能够过上成功甚至稍微满足的生活，

if one has not been the beneficiary of a good deal of agonizing introspection 講解

如果他没有在这一时期受益于大量的痛苦反省，

and intense dislocation in this period.

以及强烈的迷茫与脱节感。

At the root of adolescent sorrow and rage 語法

青春期悲伤与愤怒的根源，

is the recognition that life is hugely harder, 語法

在于认识到生活要艰难得多，

more absurd, and less fulfilling

荒谬得多，成就感也少得多，

than one could ever hitherto have suspected or had been led to suppose 短語搭配

比他们迄今为止可能怀疑或被引导去设想的，

by kindly representatives of the adult world.

从那些友善的成人世界的代表那里。

The sentimental protection of childhood falls away 短語動詞

童年温情的保护层褪去，

and a range of searingly malevolent but profoundly important realizations strike.

一系列令人痛苦却极其重要的领悟袭来。

For a start, one recognizes that no one understands. 表達脈絡

首先，人们会意识到没有人理解自己。

That isn't quite true, but of course

这并不完全正确，但显然，

the more complicated any human being is, 語法

一个人越是复杂，

the less likely they are to be easily and immediately understood.

他就越不可能被轻易且迅速地理解。

Therefore, as a child develops into an adult,

因此，随着孩子长大成人，

the chances of those around them exactly sympathizing with

周围人能完全体谅，

and swiftly grasping their inner condition necessarily decreases sharply.

并迅速掌握他们内心状况的机会必然急剧下降。

The first response of the teenager is to think themselves uniquely cursed, 語法

青少年的第一反应是认为自己受到了独特的诅咒，

but the better eventual insight is that true connection with another person

但最终更深刻的认识是，与另一个人建立真正的连接

is possible yet astonishingly rare.

是可能的，但却惊人地罕见。

This leads one to a number of important moves.

这会引导人们迈出几个重要步伐。

Firstly, to a heightened and more appropriate gratitude

首先，会对任何真正理解自己的人，

towards anyone who does understand.

产生更强烈且更适当的感激之情。

Secondly, to greater efforts to make oneself understood. 語法

其次，会更加努力地让别人理解自己。

The sullen grunts of early adolescence

青春期早期的闷哼，

can give way to the enormous eloquence of the poetry, 短語動詞

可以让位给青春期后期诗歌中展现的极大口才、

diaries, and songs of later teenagehood.

日记和歌曲。

The most beautiful pieces of communication humanity has ever produced

人类有史以来最美好的沟通作品，

have largely been the work of people who couldn't find anyone in the vicinity

很大程度上是由那些在周围找不到任何

they could talk to.

可以说话的人所创作出来的。

And lastly, the sense that one is different from other people,

最后，感觉自己与众不同的想法，

though it may be searingly problematic at the time, 語法

尽管当时可能会引发严重的问题，

represents a critical moment

却代表了一个关键时刻：

when a new generation starts to probe at and selectively improve upon the existing order. 短語動詞

新一代人开始探索并有选择地改善现有的秩序。

To be 16 and find everything perfect just as it is

16岁时若觉得一切都很完美，

would be a terrifyingly sterile position to adopt.

这将是一种令人感到恐惧的极度空虚的立场。

A refusal to accept the folly, error, and evil of the world

拒绝接受世界的愚蠢、错误和邪恶，

is a precondition of later achievement. 用詞

是日后取得成就的先决条件。

There really seems no alternative but to be miserable in mid-adolescence 語法

看来除了在青春期中期感到痛苦之外别无选择，

if one is to stand any chance of making a go of the rest of one's life. 講解

如果一个人想要在余生中获得成功的机会。

Another key realization of adolescence is that one hates one's parents.

青春期的另一个重要认识是，人会讨厌自己的父母。

Yet it is truly an enormous tribute to the love and care of parents 短語搭配

然而，这实际上是对父母之爱和照顾的极大赞颂，

if their teenage children turn around and tell them at the top of their voice 講解

如果十几岁的孩子们转过身，扯着嗓子告诉父母

that they loathe them.

他们有多讨厌他们。

It isn't a sign that something has gone wrong, 表達脈絡

这不是什么出了问题的迹象，

it's evidence that the child knows they are loved.

这是孩子知道自己被爱的证据。

The really worrying teenagers aren't those who misbehave around their parents

真正令人担忧的青少年并不是那些在父母面前行为不端、

and take out their random misery on them. 短語動詞

并把无端痛苦发泄在他们身上的人。

It's those who are so worried about not being loved 語法

而是那些因为太担心不被爱，

they can't afford to put a foot wrong. 習語

以至于不敢犯一点错的人。

To develop proper trust in other human beings,

为了对其他人建立适当的信任，

it can be deeply important to be able to test a few examples,

能够去测试几个例子是非常重要的，

to tell them the very worst things one can think of,

告诉他们你能想到的最糟糕的事情，

and then watch them stick around and forgive one. 短語動詞

然后看着他们留下来并原谅你。

You have to have a few goes at breaking love to believe it can be solid. 短語搭配

你必须经历几次打破爱的尝试，才能相信爱是坚固的。

And of course, one's parents really are rather annoying in many ways,

确实，父母在很多方面也是相当令人烦躁的，

but that too is an important realization.

但这同样是一个重要的认识。

We would never leave home and become parents ourselves

我们永远不会离家并自己成为父母，

if we weren't at some level compensating for the problems, mistakes, and vices 短語搭配

如果我们在某种程度上不是为了弥补我们在十四岁半时，

we had first identified in our own parents at the age of 14 and a half.

在自己父母身上最先发现的问题、错误和恶习。

Another source of teenage sorrow is how many big questions suddenly fill one's mind,

青春期悲伤的另一个来源是，脑海中突然充满了许多大问题，

not least what is the point of it all? 講解

尤其是，这一切的意义何在？

This questioning too is vital.

这种质疑也是至关重要的。

The sort of questions that adolescents raise tend to get a bad name, 習語

青少年提出的那些问题往往名声不佳，

but that's more to do with how they answer them 語法

但这更多是因为他们回答问题的方式，

than with the questions themselves.

而不是因为这些问题本身。

What is the meaning of life?

生命的意义是什么？

Why is there suffering?

为什么会有痛苦？

Why does capitalism not reward people more fairly?

为什么资本主义不能更公平地回报人们？

Adolescents are natural philosophers.

青少年是天生的哲学家。

The true end point of adolescence is not, as it's sometimes suggested,

青春期的真正终点，并不像有时被认为的那样，

that one stops asking huge questions and just gets on with the day-to-day. 短語動詞

是人们不再提出大问题并只是继续过好每一天。

It's that one acquires the resources and intelligence to build an entire life 短語搭配

而是人们获得了资源和智慧来构建一生，

around the sort of big questions that first obsessed one at 17.

去围绕那些在17岁时首先让人着迷的大问题。

Lastly, and most poignantly, teenagers tend to hate themselves.

最后，也是最令人心酸的一点，青少年往往讨厌自己。

They hate the way they look, how they speak, 語法

他们讨厌自己的长相、说话的方式、

the way they come across. 短語動詞

给人留下的印象。

It feels like the opposite of being loved, 表達脈絡

这感觉就像是被爱的反面，

but in fact these isolated, self-hating moments are the start of love.

但事实上，这些孤立的、自我憎恶的时刻是爱的开始。

These feelings are what will one day be the bedrock of the ecstasy 習語

这些感觉有一天将成为某种狂喜的基石，

we'll feel in the presence of that rare partner who can accept and desire us back.

当我们遇到那个能够接受并回应我们渴望的罕见伴侣时。

Tenderness will mean nothing to us 語法

温柔对我们来说将毫无意义，

unless we first spent many nights alone crying ourselves to sleep. 語法

除非我们首先经历了许多独自哭着入睡的夜晚。

Nature appears to have so arranged things 語法

大自然似乎做出了这样的安排，

that we really can't get to certain insights without suffering.

让我们不经历痛苦就无法获得某些见解。

The real distinction is between suffering with a purpose and suffering in vain. 語法

真正的区别在于有目的的痛苦和徒劳的痛苦。

For all the horrors of adolescence, one of its glories 語法

尽管青春期充满恐怖，但它的荣耀之一，

is that the suffering it inflicts is largely securely rooted 短語搭配

在于它所施加的痛苦很大程度上，深深植根于

in some of the most crucial developments and realizations of adulthood.

成年后一些最关键的成长和领悟中。

These fascinatingly miserable few years should be celebrated

这迷人而痛苦的几年应该被庆祝，

for offering us suffering at its best. 表達脈絡

因为它为我们提供了最美好形式的痛苦。

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参加一门课程，或者现在点击屏幕上的链接看看我们的商店。