研究生英语教程(上Unit 8 Growth and Maturity.docx

Unit 8 Growth and MaturityText A The Trying Twenties( I )Gail Trying Twenties1The trying twenties confronts us with the question of how to take hold in the adult world. Incandescent with our energies, having outgrown the family and the formlessness of our transiting years, we are impatient to pour ourselves into the exactly right form—our own way of living in the world. Or while looking for it we want to try out some provisional form. For now we are not only trying to prove ourselves competent in the large society but intensely aware of being on trial.2 Graduate student is a safe and familiar form for those who can afford it. Working toward a degree is something young people know how to do. It postpones having to prove oneself in the bigger, bullying arena. Very few Americans had such a privilege before World War II; they reached the jumping-off point by the tender age of 16 or 18 or 20 and had to make their move ready or not. But today, a quarter of a century is often spent before an individual is expected or expects himself to fix his life’s course. Or more. Given the permissiveness to experiment, the prolonged schooling available, and the moratoria allowed, it is not unusual for an adventurer to be nearly 30 before firmly setting a course.3Today ,the seven-year spread of this stage seems commonly to be from the age of 22 to 28.4 The tasks of this period are as enormous as they are exhilarating: To shape a dream, that vision of one’s own possibilities in the world that will generate energy, aliveness, and hope. To prepare for a lifework. To find a mentor if possible. And to form the capacity for intimacy without losing in the process whatever constancy of self we have thus far assembled. The first test structure must be erected around the life we choose to by. |5One young man with vague aspirations of having his own creative enterprise, for ^stance, wasn’t sure if his forte would be photography or cabinetmaking or architecture. There is no sponsor in sight; his