8 Today we have an equivalent need to recognize a new phase of life that comes after high school graduation, continues through college, and then leads to starting

a family and having a career, the so-called odyssey years. (Para. 4)

Meaning: Today we are also required to recognize a new life stage which starts from high school graduation through col ege till they settle down with a family and a career. This new phase might be cal ed the odyssey years, the years of self-discovery.

9 Recent trends show radical changes as young people are following a different agenda. (Para. 4)

Meaning: As young people are living a different lifestyle, the society has gone through tremendous changes.

Meaning beyond words: Young people tend to behave rebel iously, which is contrary to the traditional way and beyond the expectations of their parents.

10 They take breaks from school, live with friends and often return to living with their parents.(Para. 4)

Meaning: They stop going to school for a while, live with friends and often even return to living with their parents.

Meaning beyond words: They obviously have more freedom than the older generation.

*take a break from: rest for a short period of time when you stop doing sth.中断；暂停

She took a break from her work to make herself some coffee and then resumed a few minutes later. 她暂停了一会儿工作，给自己泡了一点咖啡，然后几分钟后继续工作。

11 Similarly, they fall in and out of love, quit one job and try another or even shift to a new career.(Para. 4)

Meaning: Likewise, they fal in and out of love, give up one job and try another, or change

to a completely different profession.

Meaning beyond words: Before they final y settle down, col ege graduates need to accumulate life experiences – to discover themselves during their odyssey years.

12 So, we need to recognize this new stage, the odyssey years, which many now consider to be an unavoidable stage in reaching adulthood. (Para. 4)

Meaning: Therefore, it is necessary to recognize this unavoidable new stage, where young people explore life in order to reach adulthood.

13 People who were born prior to the 60s or 70s in the last century tended to frame their concept of adulthood based upon achieving certain accomplishments: moving away from home, becoming financially

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independent, finding the right spouse and starting a family. (Para. 5)

Meaning: People born before the 1960s or 1970s were likely to define the term adulthood according to certain accomplishments, such as moving away from home, having financial independence, and starting a family with a good husband or wife. *tend to do sth.: usu. do a particular thing 倾向于；往往会；易于做某事

*People tend to need less sleep as they get older. 随着年纪的增长，人们需要的睡眠会变少。

Because my car tends to overheat in the summer, I frequently have to turn on the A/C to help the engine cool down. 因为我的车往往在夏天会过热，所以我得常将空调打开，以帮助引擎冷却。

14 But that emphasis on stability did not remain static. Today, young people are unlikely to do the same. (Para. 5)

Meaning: However, stability didn’t stay the same forever since young people today are doing things differently from their parents.

Meaning beyond words: Young people today are unlikely to behave the same way as was at one time considered as the norm: moving away from home, becoming financially independent, finding the right spouse and starting a family right away after they graduate from college.

15 During the odyssey years, a high proportion of young people are delaying marriage, childbearing, and even employment. (Para. 5)

Meaning: Many young people postpone getting married, having children and taking a job during their odyssey years.

16 The odyssey years can saddle young people with enormous pressure to move forward quickly. (Para. 6)

Meaning: The odyssey years can make young people feel much stressed to move ahead quickly.

17 As the sole heir and focus of their parents’ expectations, hopes and dreams, some react with rebellious and prideful attitudes and behavior toward their parents. (Para. 6)

Meaning: Being the only heir and focus of their parents’ expectations, hopes and dreams, some young people behaved rebelliously and proudly toward their parents.

18 They often resent the pressure they’re feeling and keep a distance from their parents or even run away from home. (Para. 6)

Meaning: They often feel upset about the stress they have and stay away from their parents or even secretly leave home.

19 Their confusion comes from the difficulties to make parents understand

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them and the fluid journey of discovery they need in this phase of their lives. (Para. 6)

Meaning: They get confused because it’s hard to communicate with their parents and also because the journey of self-discovery they need in this particular life stage is full of uncertainty.

Meaning beyond words: In addition to the uncertainty of this newly added life stage, there is a generation gap between parents and children, which could be frustrating to young people.

20 To get away from this confusion and upset, many young people resort to computer games, iPod, iPhone, or iPad to help distract them from their pain and stress. (Para. 6)

Meaning: In order not to be bothered by this confusion and frustration and to forget about their pain and stress, many young people turn to computer games, iPods, iPhones or iPads.

Meaning beyond words: As young people can’t bear such big stress, they try to do something which will make them feel better to temporally enjoy themselves and get rid of their parents.

21 Likewise, their parents are feeling more anxious. (Para. 7) Meaning: Their parents become more restless as well .

Meaning beyond words: As their grown children would not listen to their advice, parents are getting more worried about what direction their children may move to.

22 They may make allowances for a transition phase from student life to adult life, but they get upset when they see the transition of their grown children’s lives moving away from their expectations and stretching five years to seven years, and beyond. (Para. 7)

Meaning: Parents may accept their grown children to delay the transition period from student life to adult life, but they are frustrated when they find their children moving away from what they expected and when they extend the period to too many years.

23 The parents don’t even detect a clear sense of direction in their children’s lives. They look at them and see the things that are being delayed. (Para. 7) Meaning: The parents even lose track of their children’s lives, so they just look at them and see how the things that should be done are being postponed.

Meaning beyond words: Parents are very worried about their grown children’s future but simply don’t know what to do to help.

24 It’s hard to predict what’s next. New guidelines haven’t been established yet, and everything seems to give way to a less permanent version of itself. (Para. 8)

Meaning: It is hard to say in advance what will happen next. Since no new social

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rules or instructions have been set up yet, everything seems to be temporary or unfixed.

Usage note predict, anticipate

predict 和 anticipate 都是动词，都含有“预言；预料”之意。

1 predict 表示“预言；预料”之意时，往往是根据内心感受、经验、证据或迹象；anticipate表示“预期；预料”之意时，往往根据以往的经验、自己的向往、设想来推测。例如：

In fact, no one can predict whether his idea will end up with a great success for our business.

事实上，没人能预测他的想法是否最终会使我们的业务取得成功。

*I anticipate a lot of interest in my newspaper advertisement. 我预料我在报纸上登的广告会引起人们很大的兴趣。

*I predict this year’s drought to have a detrimental effect. 我预测今年的干旱有不利的影响。

2. predict 是及物动词，后可接名词词组或名词从句作宾语，后接动词不定式时常用于被动结构。例如：

*Unemployment is predicted to increase to 700,000 by the end of the year. 预计失业人口到今年年底将增至 70 万。

Professor Murray, who creates a graph of their conversations, believes it could eventually be used to predict the likelihood of divorce. 默里教授根据他们的对话画出一幅曲线图, 他相信这条曲线最终可以用来预测夫妻离婚的可能性。 Forecasters will be able to predict where the expected storm surges will strike and how big they will be. 预报员们将可预报风暴潮袭击的地点及其规模。 anticipate 是及物动词, 一般接名词、动名词或名词从句作宾语, 可用于被动结构；anticipate 后不能跟动词不定式。例如：

A good manufacturer must try to anticipate what his customers wil want and decide what shall be produced. 一位优秀的制造商必须努力预料顾客需要什么，然后决定生产什么。

It is far better for us to anticipate the worst and get out of it before it hinders the progress.

我们最好能事先预料到最坏的情况，并在它阻碍进程之前摆脱它。

25 There’s been a shift in the status and balance of power between the genders, too.More women are getting degrees than men. (Para. 8)

Meaning: There’s also been a change in the social status and power between male and female. Now more women are getting degrees than men.

26 Male wages have remained stable over the past decades, while female wages have boomed. (Para. 8)

Meaning: Male wages have remained steady over the past decades; in contrast, female wages have been on the increase.

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27 Apart from anything else, this has had an implicit effect on courtship. Educated

women can get many of the things they want, such as security, accomplishment,

and identity without marriage. (Para. 9)

Meaning: In addition to anything else, the delay has affected romantic relationships in a subtle way. Unmarried but educated women can stil have many of the things that they want, such as security, accomplishment and identity.

Meaning beyond words: In terms of romantic relationships, educated women can always get more advantages than men.

28 However, both genders are having a harder time finding suitable mates to build their lives with.(Para. 9)

Meaning: However, it has become difficult for both males and females to find their appropriate partners whom they can build their future with.

Meaning beyond words: The difficulty for both genders to find a suitable spouse is caused by the transition phase.

29 Considering all of this, it’s beneficial to know that even if graduates are delaying many things after college, surveys show they still hold highly traditional aspirations. (Para. 9)

Meaning: When thinking about all of this, it’s good to know that even if graduates are delaying many things after col ege, surveys show they stil keep highly traditional desires and goals.

30 For example, this contemporary generation rates parenthood even more highly than previous generations did! (Para. 9)

Meaning: Young people, for instance, think of parenting more important than previous generations did.

Meaning beyond words: Young people think that the quality of their own parents’ parenting was inadequate and their own parenting should be of a higher quality.

31 This new phase will likely grow more pronounced in the coming years. (Para. 10)

Meaning: This new phase in the development of young people will continue to spread and gain easier recognition in the near future.

32 Nations around the world have witnessed similar trends toward delaying marriage and spending more years than ever shifting between higher education and settling down with a career and family. (Para. 10)

Meaning: The whole world has noticed a similar tendency – grown children delay marriage and spend more years than generations before them, wandering at higher

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