英国新闻听力 英格兰儿童幸福状态堪虞

The Good Childhood Report published yesterday by the Children's Society is a sobering read. It focuses on the 'subjective¹ wellbeing' of children between ten and twelve; that is, how they say they're feeling - leaving aside how affluent² or healthy they are. In a table of children in fifteen countries, English children came fourteenth, below Algeria and Ethiopia.

It's sad news; and we know from elsewhere that mental health difficulties are rising sharply among young people. Bullying³ is a particular problem and English girls are especially prone⁴ to feeling bad about their appearance and confidence. But why is this happening?

Various causes are proposed — our exam-focused education system,the influence of advertising⁵ and social media and so on. A common thread is that they encourage us to compare ourselves to other people or an idealised view of how things should be — how we should look, what we should achieve or the perfect existence we ought to be having. Psychologists call this 'the discrepancy⁶ monitor'.

Approaches drawn⁷ from Buddhism⁸ already play a role in efforts to change things for young people. One alternative to constantly comparing is focusing on what's happening in the present moment, with contentment and acceptance. There's plenty of research showing how mindfulness practices drawn from Buddhism, foster that attitude. Pausing and accessing a sense of calm can create the space for a young person to start letting go of the anxious belief that they're fat or ugly, or don't fit in.

What we call 'skilful⁹ action' is also important. In Buddhist¹⁰ teachings, acting¹¹ ethically¹², with generosity¹³ and kindness, doesn't just benefit the recipient¹⁴; it also helps us. A generous act encourages a more generous state of mind. That inclines us to act generously in the future, and brings a sense of satisfaction. That's why for Buddhism generosity, truthfulness¹⁵, kindness and so on, are practices, qualities or skills that we can cultivate and refine.

The increasing pressures on young people and the signs of their growing unhappiness must mean that their emotional wellbeing is no longer something we can take for granted. Such wellbeing has long been the concern of Buddhism; but whatever its role, sources like the Good Childhood Report show the pressing need approaches if our children are to survive and thrive.

昨日，儿童协会发表的《美好童年报告》非常令人深思。该报告集中探索了10岁至12岁儿童的“主观幸福感”，也就是说他们自身的感受——而不考虑他们的贫富或健康状况。根据15个国家的儿童的状况制定的表格，英格兰排在第十四位，在阿尔及利亚和埃塞俄比亚之后。

这是非常令人感到悲哀的消息。我们从其他消息渠道得知，年轻人中精神健康问题剧增。其中，欺凌是尤其严重的问题，英格兰女孩更倾向于不满自己的外貌和自信心。但是为会出现这种情况？

报告提出了几种可能的原因——我们的应试教育体系，广告和社交媒体的影响等等。最常见的原因就是它们宣传鼓励我们和他人对比，宣扬事情理想的状态——我们应该看上去什么样，我们应该得到什么，我们应该做得如何完美。心理学家称这种现象为“差异监控”。

佛教的态度为改变年轻人的状态发挥了作用。不要经常攀比，以满足和接受的态度集中精力活在当下。大量研究表明，佛教宣扬的念力可以培养这种态度。暂停，达到思想的平静，这样可以给年轻人创造空间，释放“我很丑，我很胖”的焦虑想法，不要强求。

我们所说的“动作娴熟”也非常重要。在佛教教义中，注重伦理，慷慨，慈善，不仅仅使受者获益，也能帮助自身。慷慨的行为鼓励更开阔的思想。这样会使我们将来的行为更大度，带给我们满足感。这就是对佛教来说，慷慨，真实，善良等是我们应该培养和改善的品质的原因。

年轻人面临的压力越来越大，越来越不快乐，这表明我们不能再认为他们的情感幸福是理所当然的。佛教长期以来一直关注这种幸福感。但是无论起到什么作用，《美好童年报告》等信息来源表明，为了我们的儿童茁壮成长，探索新的方法迫在眉睫。

1 subjective   

a.主观(上)的，个人的

参考例句：

• The way they interpreted their past was highly subjective. 他们解释其过去的方式太主观。
• A literary critic should not be too subjective in his approach. 文学评论家的看法不应太主观。

2 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

3 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

6 discrepancy   

n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾

参考例句：

• The discrepancy in their ages seemed not to matter.他们之间年龄的差异似乎没有多大关系。
• There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。

7 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

8 Buddhism   

n.佛教（教义）

参考例句：

• Buddhism was introduced into China about 67 AD.佛教是在公元67年左右传入中国的。
• Many people willingly converted to Buddhism.很多人情愿皈依佛教。

9 skilful   

(=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的

参考例句：

• The more you practise,the more skilful you'll become.练习的次数越多，熟练的程度越高。
• He's not very skilful with his chopsticks.他用筷子不大熟练。

10 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 ethically   

adv.在伦理上，道德上

参考例句：

• Ethically , we have nothing to be ashamed about . 从伦理上说，我们没有什么好羞愧的。
• Describe the appropriate action to take in an ethically ambiguous situation. 描述适当行为采取在一个道德地模棱两可的情况。

13 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

14 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

15 truthfulness   

n. 符合实际

参考例句：

• Among her many virtues are loyalty, courage, and truthfulness. 她有许多的美德，如忠诚、勇敢和诚实。
• I fired a hundred questions concerning the truthfulness of his statement. 我对他发言的真实性提出一连串质问。