Transcribed image text:

Reading Read the passage carefully. Then complete the exercises that follow.
CD 1 TR4 Highs and Lows in Self-Esteem by Kim Lamb Gregory,
Scripps Howard News Service 5 No one in the Gould family of Westlake Village, California,
was surprised by a study suggesting a person's age and stage of life may have a bigger
impact on self- esteem than we ever realized.
A study of about 350,000 people likens a person's self- esteem across the human lifespan to
a roller coaster ride, starting with an inflated sense of self-approval in late childhood that
plunges in adolescence. Self-esteem rises steadily through adulthood, only to drop to its
lowest point ever in old age. "I've gone through pretty much all of those cycles," Fred Gould
said. At 60, he's edging toward retirement. Fred's wife, Eileen, 46, is a businesswoman in the
throes of mid-adulthood and, according to the study, predisposed to a healthy self-regard. At
21, the Goulds' son, Jeff, has just launched that heady climb into adulthood and a buoyant
self-regard after an adolescence fraught with the usual perils of self-doubt and hormonal
warfare, His sister, Aly, 17, disagrees with a lot of the study, believing instead that each
individual has an intrinsic sense of self-esteem that remains relatively constant. But she does
agree that adolescence can give even the most solid sense of self-esteem a sound battering.
“As a teenager, I can definitely speak for all of us when I say we criticize ourselves," Aly said.
10 15 20 The Study. The drop in self-esteem in adolescence was no surprise to Richard
Robins, a psychology professor at the University of California at Davis, who spearheaded the
study, but "the drop in old age is a little bit more novel," he said. Specifically, Robins was
intrigued by the similarities in self-esteem levels between those entering adolescence and
old age. “There is an accumulation of losses occurring all at once, both in old age and
adolescence," he suggested. “There is a critical mass of transition going on." Those
answering the survey ranged in age from 9 to 90. They participated in the survey by logging
onto a website during a period between 1999 and 2000. About three-quarters were
Caucasian, the rest a mixture of people of Asian, black, Latino, and Middle Eastern descent.
Most were from the United States. The survey simply asked people to agree or strongly
disagree-on a five-point scale-with the statement: "I see myself as someone who has high
self-esteem." Everybody is an individual, Robins stressed, so self-esteem can be affected by a
number of things that are biological, social, and situational, but there are certain passages
that all of us face—and each passage can have a powerful effect on our
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转录图像文本：

阅读 仔细阅读短文。 然后完成下面的练习。
CD 1 TR4 自尊的高点和低点作者：Kim Lamb Gregory，
斯克里普斯霍华德新闻社 5 加利福尼亚州西湖村的古尔德家族中没有人对一项研究感
到惊讶，该研究表明一个人的年龄和人生阶段对自尊的影响可能比我们想象的更大。
一项针对约 35 万人的研究将一个人一生中的自尊心比作过山车，从童年晚期的自我肯
定感膨胀到青春期的自我肯定感急剧下降。 自尊在成年后稳步上升，但在老年时却降
至最低点。 “我几乎经历了所有这些周期，”弗雷德·古尔德说。 60 岁的他即将退休。
弗雷德的妻子艾琳，46 岁，是一位正处于中年阵痛的女商人，根据这项研究，她倾向
于保持健康的自尊心。 古尔德夫妇的儿子杰夫 21 岁，刚刚进入成年期，在经历了充
满自我怀疑和荷尔蒙战争的常见危险的青春期后，他开始了令人兴奋的成年生活，并
获得了积极的自尊心。他 17 岁的妹妹艾莉不同意 许多研究认为，每个人都有一种内
在的自尊感，而且这种自尊感保持相对稳定。 但她确实同意，即使是最牢固的自尊感，
青春期也会受到严重的打击。
艾莉说：“作为一个青少年，当我说我们批评自己时，我绝对可以代表我们所有
人。”10 15 20 这项研究。青春期自尊心的下降对理查德·罗宾斯来说并不奇怪，他是哈
佛大学的心理学教授。 加州大学戴维斯分校是这项研究的带头人，但他说，“老年的
下降有点新奇。”具体来说，罗宾斯对进入青春期和老年的人自尊水平的相似性很感兴
趣。 “无论是在老年还是青春期，损失都会同时发生，”他建议道。 “正在发生大量的
转型。” 接受调查的人年龄从 9 岁到 90 岁不等。他们在 1999 年至 2000 年间通过登录
网站参与调查。大约四分之三是白人， 其余是亚洲人、黑人、拉丁裔和中东人后裔的
混合体。大多数来自美国。这项调查只是要求人们同意或强烈不同意（按五分制）这
样的说法：“我认为自己 罗宾斯强调，每个人都是独立的个体，因此自尊会受到许多
生物、社会和情境因素的影响，但我们所有人都会面临某些特定的情况—— 每一段都
可以对我们产生强大的影响
25 30

CHAPTER 3

Highs and Lows in Self-Esteem

41 self-esteem 35 sense of self .
“With kids, their feelings about themselves are often based on relatively
superficial information," Robins explained. “As we get older, we base our on actual
achievements and feedback from other people." Overall, the study indicated that women do
not fare as well as men in self-esteem-a difference particularly marked in adolescence.
“During adolescence, girls' self-esteem dropped about twice as much as boys'," Robins said,
perhaps at least partially because of society's heavy emphasis on body image for girls. Add
one negative life event to all of this turmoil, and a teenager's delicate self-esteem can
crumble.
40 45 50
Emerging into Adulthood Eileen remembered having fairly high self-esteem from
ages 12 to 16. She had been very ill as a child, so the teen years were a time for her to
blossom. Then her mother died when she was 17, and her self-esteem bottomed out. "I was
like, 'What do I do? How do I handle this?'" Eileen remembered. Eileen was 22 when she
married Fred, an event that coincided with the beginning of her adult years—and an
upswing in her self- esteem. Like many adults, Eileen gained her senses of competence and
continuity, both of which can contribute to the rise in self-esteem during the adult years,
Robins said. Even if there is divorce or some other form of chaos, there has been a change in
our ability to cope, he said. We learn with experience. Fred is aware that his sense of self-
esteem may be vulnerable when he retires. "I'm concerned about keeping my awareness
level," he said. “Am I going to be aware of the social scene? Of things more global? Am I
going to be able to read and keep up with everything?" Seniors do tend to experience a drop
in self-esteem when they get into their 70s, the study says—but not always. This is enigmatic
to Robins. "When we look at things like general well-being, the evidence is mixed about
what happens in old age," he said. Some people experience a tremendous loss of self-
esteem, whereas others maintain their sense of well-being right through old age. Others are
not as lucky. Whereas adolescents lose their sense of childhood omnipotence, seniors
experience another kind of loss. Retirement comes at about the same time seniors may
begin to lose loved ones, their health, their financial status, or their sense of competence.
Suddenly, someone who was so in charge may become withdrawn, sullen, and depressed.
Their may plummet. Robins hopes the study will make us more aware of the times when our
self-esteem can be in jeopardy.
55 60 self-esteem

第3章

自尊的高点和低点
41 自尊 35 自我意识。
罗宾斯解释说：“对于孩子来说，他们对自己的感觉往往基于相对肤浅的信
息。”“随着年龄的增长，我们会根据实际成就和其他人的反馈来判断。” 总体而言，该
研究表明，女性在自尊方面的表现不如男性，这种差异在青春期尤其明显。 罗宾斯说：
“在青春期，女孩的自尊心下降幅度大约是男孩的两倍，”这或许至少部分是因为社会
过分强调女孩的身体形象。在所有这些混乱中再加上一件负面的生活事件， 青少年脆
弱的自尊心可能会崩溃。
40 45 50
进入成年期 艾琳记得，从 12 岁到 16 岁，她的自尊心相当高。她小时候病得
很重，所以青少年时期是她蓬勃发展的时期。 后来她 17 岁时母亲去世，她的自尊心
跌入谷底。 “我当时想，‘我该怎么办？我该如何处理这个问题？’”艾琳回忆道。 艾琳
(Eileen) 22 岁时与弗雷德 (Fred) 结婚，这一事件恰逢她成年时期的开始，同时也是她自
尊心的高涨。 罗宾斯说，像许多成年人一样，艾琳获得了能力感和连续性，这两者都
有助于成年后自尊心的增强。 他说，即使出现离婚或其他形式的混乱，我们的应对能
力也会发生变化。 我们通过经验学习。 弗雷德意识到，退休后他的自尊感可能会受到
影响。 “我担心保持我的意识水平，”他说。 “我会关注社交场景吗？ 更全球化的事物 ？
我能够阅读并跟上一切吗？”研究表明，老年人在 70 多岁时确实会感到自尊心下降，
但情况并非总是如此。这对罗宾斯来说是个谜。“当我们 看看总体幸福感等问题，关
于老年时发生的情况的证据好坏参半。”他说。有些人经历了自尊的巨大丧失，而另一
些人则在老年时仍保持着幸福感。 就没有那么幸运了。青少年失去了童年时的无所不
能的感觉，而老年人则经历了另一种损失。退休大约在同一时间到来，老年人可能开
始失去亲人、健康、财务状况或能力感。突然之间 ”
55 60 自尊