people didn’t think about the life stage of adolescence a hundred years ago.
6 Until recently it was understood as a norm that their induction to adulthood was completed as soon as they graduated from college. They would now find a sensible job which would lead to a career. (Para. 3)
Meaning: People used to consider it normal: As soon as students graduated from college,they would become part of the adult community and find a practical and reliable job toward a career.
Meaning beyond words: Things are no longer the same as they were in the past. College graduates won’t find an ideal job right after they graduate from school. It’l take longer time before they start with their career. Usage note: sensible, sensitive
1. sensible 表示“明智的”，如：a sensible person（一个明智的人），a sensible plan（一个切合实际的计划）。
A sensible person makes good decisions and adjustments based on reason rather than emotion.
一个明智的人会根据理智而不是情感来做出合理的决定和判断。
*sensible 还可以表示“知道的；觉察的”，be sensible of … 表示“感知某事；察觉到某事”。 例如：
*I am sensible of the suffering you are undergoing. 我清楚你正在经历的痛苦。
2. sensitive 在词义上表示“敏感的；易受影响的”。例如：
*A sensitive person is easily upset by other people’s remarks or behavior. 敏感的人很容易因他人的言论或行为而生气。
*You shouldn’t be so sensitive about what people say. 你不应该对别人说什么如此敏感。
*sensitive to 表示 “对…过敏的；对…理解的”。例如：
Unfortunately, she is sensitive to penicillin, and I doubt whether any other drug will help her.
不幸的是，她对青霉素过敏，我不能确定是否有其他药物可以帮助她。
We’re trying to make people more sensitive to the difficulties faced by working mothers.
我们正在努力使人们更理解上班族妈妈所面临的困难。
7 Then during this career they would start a family, ideally before they turned 30.(Para. 3)
Meaning: While working on their career, they would get married to start their own family,preferably by age 30.
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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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