Realize The Only Child in the Family 認(rèn)識(shí)家庭中的獨(dú)生子女
1 獨(dú)生子女不合群?
"Most studies look at the negative consequences of having siblings in terms of educational outcome." said Donna Bobbitt-Zeher, the lead author of the study. "But we decided to look at social skills to see if there was any other possible benefit to having brothers or sisters." She and her co-author, Douglas Downey are sociologists at Ohio State's Marion campus, and neither is an only child. They presented their findings at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in August.
But an only child isn't necessarily a loner, misfit and brat. First, the social advantages found in children with siblings in the kindergarten study were quite modest. Second, the study relied on teacher evaluations, and teachers may not be reliable judges of friendships among their charges.
And now it seems that any benefits documented in kindergarten disappear altogether by middle school. Using a metric called "peer nomination," in which youths are asked to identify their friends by name, Dr. Downey and Dr. Bobbitt-Zeher drew on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, with a sample size of 13,466 students in 7th through 12th grades. They then counted how many people named each individual as a friend. This was used to proximate social skills since the socially inept would be unlikely to have lots of friends. The result: children without siblings had just as many friends as children with siblings.
"I see the two studies as a natural progression, showing what happens to the only children who didn't have much interaction before kindergarten," Dr. Downey said. Another study he is working on shows that the same only children evaluated in kindergarten had caught up by fifth grade.
While the studies don't examine the cause for the disappearing social boost to kindergartners with siblings, Dr. Downey speculates that continuing school, youth clubs and other group activities - especially in an era of overscheduled children - provide ample opportunity for onlys to sharpen their skills.
2 關(guān)于獨(dú)生子女的表達(dá)方式
Strawberry Generation "草莓族"
The "Strawberry Generation" was coined by a Taiwan writer in one of her books about office rules. Now, it refers to the new generation of office workers, who grew up in a protected environment and got easily dented-just like strawberries-by life's lightest knocks. This expression is now finding its way into the mainland, and refers to young workers, of only child families, who have been active in the workforce for just a year or two. They are generally well educated but are self-centered and give too much importance to appearance and material comforts.
one-child policy 計(jì)劃生育政策
The one-child policy literally "policy of birth planning" refers to the one-child limitation applying to a minority of families in the population control policy of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The Chinese government refers to it under the official translation of family planning policy.
"草莓族"這個(gè)說法最早出現(xiàn)在一位臺(tái)灣作家的《辦公室物語》一書中?,F(xiàn)在,它指的是新一代辦公室職員,他們像草莓一樣是在多方保護(hù)的環(huán)境中長(zhǎng)大的,生活中輕微的碰撞就能讓他們受到傷害。這個(gè)說法現(xiàn)在在中國(guó)大陸也很流行,指剛剛參加工作一兩年的獨(dú)生子女一代。他們大都受過良好的教育,但多以自我為中心,過分注重外表和物質(zhì)享受。
In the early sixties, the vast majority of all children had at least one sibling (if not more) and lived with both parents, one of whom was typically a stay-at-home mom.
上世紀(jì)60年代初期,絕大多數(shù)孩子都有至少一個(gè)兄弟姐妹(或者更多),與父母一起生活,其中一方通常都是全職媽媽。
We now live in a world where only children with single parents are both common and accepted.
在我們現(xiàn)在所處的世界,單親家庭的獨(dú)生子女早已是司空見慣的事,也為人們普遍接受。
Deciding whether to have "one and be done" or to have multiple children is a tough decision for many families.
決定"只生一個(gè)好"還是多生幾個(gè)孩子總是艱難的抉擇。
The country's family planning policy of the late 1970s restricted urban families from having more than one child to control population growth.
上世紀(jì)70年代末,為了控制人口增長(zhǎng),我國(guó)開始在城鎮(zhèn)地區(qū)實(shí)行"一對(duì)夫婦只生一個(gè)孩子"的計(jì)劃生育政策。
However, a new survey by the Beijing Administrative Institute shows 52 percent of those now-grown-up single children, who are allowed two offspring; do not want a second child.
然而,北京行政學(xué)院開展的一項(xiàng)最新調(diào)查顯示,有52%的獨(dú)生子女表示,即使政策允許,他們也不想生第二胎。
Many cited economic pressures as a factor.
很多人稱經(jīng)濟(jì)壓力是一個(gè)主要因素。
Beijing has roughly 2 million only-child adults.
目前,北京市的成年獨(dú)生子女?dāng)?shù)量約為200萬。
Beijing has maintained a super low birth rate-less than 1.3 children in a family in average-for nearly 20 years, posing increasing pressure on the country's aging population.
北京的超低生育率已持續(xù)近20年,每戶平均生育子女?dāng)?shù)不到1.3個(gè),這使我國(guó)的人口老齡化壓力日趨增大。
The top four factors that determined people's intentions to have children are "income, child care, housing and policy conditions".
影響人們生育意愿的四大主要因素為"收入、孩子照料、住房及政策"。
For the only child of post-1980s, the practical problem of "two supporting four" (a couple from a one-child families supporting four parents) is arising for the young.
對(duì)于中國(guó)的80后來說,他們面臨"兩個(gè)人扶持四個(gè)人"的現(xiàn)實(shí)問題,即夫妻倆都是獨(dú)生子女,他們需要贍養(yǎng)四位老人。
Beijing already allows couples to have more than one child if both of them are only children. One proposal is to widen that to allow two children if just one of the parents is an only child.
中國(guó)政府允許夫妻雙方均為獨(dú)生子女的家庭生二胎。一個(gè)提議是,將二胎政策擴(kuò)大到夫妻雙方只有一方為獨(dú)生子女的家庭。
If you are an only child, it is likely that you will have the advantage of getting more attention from your parents than you would otherwise do.
如果你是個(gè)獨(dú)生子,你從父母那兒得到的關(guān)注就會(huì)比不是獨(dú)生子的孩子多。
On the other hand, when you are older, particularly when you a teenager, you may find that having all your parents' attention concentrated on you is a distinct disadvantage.
從另一方面來說,當(dāng)你長(zhǎng)大后,尤其是青少年的時(shí)候,你會(huì)覺得有太多的父母關(guān)注對(duì)你來說弊大于利。
On advantage of being an only child is that you are likely to have a more affluent upbringing than you would if you had brothers and sisters.
獨(dú)生子女的一個(gè)好處就是你會(huì)有個(gè)相對(duì)富足的成長(zhǎng)環(huán)境。
One of the major disadvantages of being an only child is that you can be a bit lonely.
而一個(gè)不利之處就是會(huì)有一點(diǎn)孤獨(dú)。
Most children of the "China one" generation lack independence as they have become so reliant on their families for support. Some parents even hired a maid for their children when they go to college.
大多數(shù)獨(dú)生子女的自理能力都很差,他們太過依賴家人,甚至上大學(xué)以后還有父母為他們雇保姆。
Other unfavorable characteristics include: bad communication skills, rudeness, ungratefulness and self-centeredness.
其他不太讓人喜歡的特點(diǎn)還有:溝通能力差、不懂禮貌和感恩、以自我為中心等。
The term "China one" refers to the child who was born after the 1980s, when China launched the one-child policy.
China one指的是20世紀(jì)80年代中國(guó)實(shí)行計(jì)劃生育政策以后出生的獨(dú)生子女。
Not only are they the family's only child, but they are also the family's center of attention.
他們是家中唯一的孩子,也是家庭的中心。
Their parents and grandparents would spare no efforts in taking care of them, and would give them anything and everything, as if they were the "emperor" of the family.
他們的父母和祖父母都會(huì)不遺余力地照顧他們,滿足他們的一切需要,就好像他們是家里的"皇帝"一樣。
In 1980, China feared an explosion of people it could not feed, so it took drastic steps to limit births with its controversial "one child" policy.
1980年,中國(guó)擔(dān)心人口出現(xiàn)超出其負(fù)擔(dān)能力的爆炸性增長(zhǎng),因而實(shí)施了富有爭(zhēng)議性的獨(dú)生子女政策,通過這一頗為強(qiáng)硬的手段限制生育。
Whether because of the one child policy, or in spite of it, China's birth rate has fallen sharply, and increasing numbers of families say they do not want more than one child.
不管是不是因?yàn)楠?dú)生子女政策,事實(shí)是,中國(guó)的生育率已大幅下降,而且越來越多的家庭表示不想生第二個(gè)孩子。
Abby: Hi, Natasha, how's life?
艾比:嗨,娜塔莎,最近怎么樣?
Natasha: Great. My family came to visit me.
娜塔莎:挺好的,我家里人來了。
Abby: Oh, you must be very happy. How many people are there in your family?
艾比:那你一定很高興了。順便問一下,你們家有幾口人?
Natasha: My immediate family is very large. It's my mother, my father, my two older brothers, my younger sister and me.
娜塔莎:我的直系親屬很多,有媽媽,爸爸,兩個(gè)哥哥,妹妹和我。
Abby: I have a small family. They are my parents, my younger brother and me.
艾比:我家人不多。父母,弟弟和我。
Natasha: I thought you were the only child in the family. Didn't China practice the only-child policy in the early 1980s?
娜塔莎:我以為你是獨(dú)生子女呢。中國(guó)不是從20世紀(jì)80年代早期就開始實(shí)行計(jì)劃生育政策了嗎?
Abby: Yes, it did. But my parents are ethnic minority people. It's a preferential policy for an ethnic minority family to have two children.
艾比:是的,的確是,不過我父母是少數(shù)民族的。少數(shù)民族家庭可以享受優(yōu)惠政策生2個(gè)孩子。
Natasha: Interesting. What do you think about families with only one child?
娜塔莎:挺有意思的,那你怎么看待獨(dú)生子女家庭呢?
Abby: The child must feel very lonely. My younger brother is 10 years younger than me. Before he was born, I used to be the only child and always dreamed that I would have a younger sister or brother one day.
艾比:我覺得孩子一定很孤獨(dú)。我弟弟比我小十歲。他出生之前,我一直是家里的獨(dú)生子,那時(shí)我一直希望自己能有個(gè)弟弟或妹妹。
Natasha: Do you get along well with each other?
娜塔莎:那你們相處得好嗎?
Abby: Yes, we are very close. He is 12 years old and very smart. He always makes us laugh a lot.
艾比:是的,我們倆關(guān)系很好。他今年12歲了,很聰明。經(jīng)常逗得大家笑個(gè)不停。
Natasha: You are very lucky to have such a nice family.
娜塔莎:你真幸運(yùn),有這么幸福的家庭。
Abby: Thank you.
艾比:謝謝。