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Unit 7
Today's Youth
In-Class Reading
Profiles of Today's Youth: They Couldn't Care Less
1 John Karras, 28 years old, was in a card shop the other day as the radio, which provides the soundtrack for his generation, offered a report on the dead and missing in the floods that had just flashed through southeastern Ohio.
2 The cashier, a man a bit younger than Mr. Karras, looked up at the radio and said: "I wish they'd stop talking about it. I'm sick of hearing about it."
3 Mr. Karras, a doctoral student in education at Ohio State, recalled this incident to illustrate what he sees as a "pervasive" attitude among the members of his generation toward the larger world: the typical young person doesn't want to hear about it "unless it's knocking on my door."
4 The findings of two national studies concur. The studies, one released today and the other late last year, paint a portrait of a generation of young adults, from 18 to 29 years of age, who are indifferent toward public affairs. It is a generation that, as the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press put it in a report released today, "knows less, cares less, votes less, and is less critical of its leaders and institutions than young people in the past.
5 "My teacher told me: 'Always question authority,'" said Paul Grugin, 22, one of the two dozen young people interviewed this week by The New York Times in this mid-size city in the middle of the country. "You can question authority, but you can burden authority. Let them do their job."
6 The indifference of this generation--to politics, to government, even to news about the outside world--is beginning to affect American politics and society, the reports suggest, helping to explain such seemingly disparate trends as the decline in voting, the rise of tabloid television and the effectiveness of negative advertising.
7 While apathy and alienation have become a national plague, the disengagement seems to run deeper among young Americans, those 18 to 29, setting them clearly apart from earlier generations.
8 No one has yet offered a full explanation for why this should be so. The lack of mobilizing issues is part of the answer, as are the decline of the family and the rise of television.
9 Young people themselves mention the weakness of their civic education, and they talk incessantly of stress--their preoccupation with getting jobs or grades and their concern about personal threats like AIDS and drugs. "There are a lot more pressures on them than there were on us," said 48-year-old Ron Zeller, who talked about the differences along with his 22-year-old daughter, Susan, and his 18-year-old son, John.
10 The study by Times Mirror, a public opinion research center supported by Times Mirror Co., looked at 50 years of public opinion data and concluded, "Over most of the past five decades, younger members of the public have been at least as well informed as older people. In 1990 that is no longer the case."
11 This concern was echoed in a second report, prepared last year by People for the American Way, a liberal lobby and research organization, which concluded that there is "a citizenship crisis" in which "America's youth are alarmingly ill-prepared to keep democracy alive in the 1990's and beyond."
12 The decline in voting is one illustration of how what seems to be a general problem is, in fact, most heavily concentrated among the young. Surveys by the census bureau show that since 1972 almost all of the decline in voting has been among those under 45, and that the sharpest drop is among those between 18 and 25. Among the elderly, voting has risen, according to the census bureau surveys.
13 Older people, more settled than the young, have always participated more in elections. But the gap has widened substantially. In 1972, half of those between 18 and 24 said they voted, as did 71 percent of those 45 to 64, a gap of 21 percentage points. In 1988, 36 percent of the 18- to 24-year-olds and 68 percent of the 45- to 64-year-olds said they voted, a gap of 32 percentage points.
14 Shonda Wolfe, 24, who has waited on tables since dropping out of college, said she had voted only once, when she was 18 and still living at home. "I guess my mother was there to push me," she said.
15 Now, she said, she does not pay much attention to politics or to the news. "I try to avoid it--all the controversy," she said. "It just does not interest me at this point in my life. I'd rather be outside doing something, taking a walk."
16 Not one of the young people interviewed in Columbus, at the Street Scene Restaurant and the Short North Tavern, had a good word to say about politics or politicians. But unlike older people, who often express anger about news about sloth or corruption in government, these young people seem simply to be reporting it as a well-known fact. "Most politicians are liars," said Deborah Roberts, a 29-year-old secretary.
17 People for the American Way, in its report, noted that young people seemed to have a half-formed understanding of citizenship, stressing rights but ignoring responsibilities.
18 When asked to define citizenship, Shonda Wolfe said it meant the right not to be harassed by the police. She cited as an intrusion on her rights the security guards' insistence at a concert that she and her boyfriend stop turning on their cigarette lighters.
19 Nancy Radcliffe-Spurgeon, 24, a student at Ohio State, said she thought that many of the attitudes of her generation were based on feeling safe. "It's easy to isolate yourself when you think things are going pretty well for you, so you don't rock the boat."
20 Occasionally, someone in the interview would mention voting. None of the young people when asked about citizenship included in their definition of good citizenship running for office, attending a community board meeting, studying an issue, signing a petition, writing a letter to the governor, or going to a rally.
21 Certain issues do get their attention, almost always involving government interference in personal freedoms. They generally favor access to abortion, and a few of the young people were upset by efforts to cut off federal funds for art works deemed obscene.
22 Andrew Kohut, director of surveys for Times Mirror, said there was a new generation gap, in which those under 30 were separated by their lack of knowledge and interest from those over.
23 People in their 30s and 40s are disenchanted with the world, but remain aware, said Mr. Kohut. But those under 30, he said, "are not so much disillusioned as disinterested." (1099 words)
Proper Names
Andrew Kohut
（男子名）安德鲁.科胡特
Columbus
（地名）哥伦布（美国俄亥俄州首府）
Deborah Roberts
（女子名）德博拉·罗伯茨
John Karras
（男子名）约翰·卡拉斯
Nancy Radcliffe-Spurgeon
（女子名）南希·拉德克利夫一斯珀吉翁
Paul Grugin
（男子名）保罗·格拉金
Ron Zeller
（男子名）罗思·泽勒
Shonda Wolfe
（女子名）肖思德·沃尔夫
Susan
（女子名）苏珊
the Street Scene Restaurant
街景餐馆
the Short North Tavern
近北客栈
New Words
abortion
n. the act of stopping the development of a child inside a woman 堕胎；流产
e.g. I) Is abortion legal in your country?
II) Abortion was widely used as a form of birth control.
alarmingly *
adv. shockingly, in an alarming manner 让人担忧地
e.g. I) Her mother looked alarmingly thin.
II) Grandpa's sight has begun to deteriorate alarmingly.
alienation *
n. a feeling of not belonging to or being part of one's surroundings 疏离感
e.g. Jane feels a terrible sense of alienation from everyone else around her.
apathy
n. a lack of interest, enthusiasm or concern 冷漠，缺乏兴趣
bureau
n. (plural: bureaux or bureaus)
1) an office or organization that collects and/or provides facts 提供或收集消息的机构
e.g. an information bureau 新闻社
2) a division of a government department （政府部门的）司；局；处；署
e.g. Federal Bureau of Investigation (美国)联邦调查局
census
n. an official counting of a country's population or of other classes of things for statistical purposes 人口普查；统计
e.g. Most countries have a census every ten years.
concur
v. (concurred, concurring) have the same opinion; agree 同意，观点一致
e.g. Two doctors concurred that the man needs a heart operation.
corruption
n. behavior that is not honest or legal, especially by people in official positions 腐败
e.g. There were accusations of corruption among senior police officers.
disenchanted
adj. disappointed with someone or something, and no longer believing that they are good, exciting, or right 不再抱幻想的；不再着迷的；感到幻灭的
disengagement *
n. a process by which people gradually stop being involved in an activity or an organization 解脱
disillusioned *
adj. disappointed; unhappy as a result of having learned the unpleasant truth about someone or something, especially that one formerly admired or respected 不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的
e.g. I) His father was thoroughly disillusioned with him.
II) He doesn't vote anymore because he's disillusioned with politics.
disinterested*
adj. not caring; uninterested 不关心的；不感兴趣的
e.g. I) Her mother has always been disinterested in her.
II) My son seems completely disinterested in his work.
disparate
adj. very different and not connected with each other 根本不相同的；无联系的
e.g. Do you think there is a link between these very disparate aspects of scientific research?
doctoral *
adj. of or related to the university degree of doctor 博士的
e.g. a doctoral dissertation, a doctoral degree
election
n. the selection by vote of a candidate for office 选举
e.g. I) In America, presidential elections are held every four years.
II) I will not be standing for election again.
III) Unemployment was a key issue during the last election campaign.
harass *
v. trouble and annoy someone continually 骚扰
e.g. I) Black teenagers are being constantly harassed by the police.
II) She was being harassed by a mysterious caller who kept telephoning her in the middle of the night.
illustration
n. an example that explains a point 说明，例证
e.g. I) That was just one illustration of their cruelty.
II) He used the statistics of newly arrived immigrants as an illustration.
insistence *
n. an act of demanding that something should happen and refusing to let anyone say no 坚持
e.g. I) He finished the job at the boss's insistence.
II) Her insistence on quality keeps her employees hard at work.
intrusion
n. an act or instance of intruding 闯入，侵扰
mobilize
v. become or make someone or something ready for service or action 调动，鼓动，动员
e.g. I) After the earthquake, the Red Cross mobilized many workers to help people.
II) Opponents of the Council's road-building proposals are mobilizing support amongst local residents.
obscene
adj. (esp. of ideas, books, etc., usually about sex) offensive to accepted ideas of morality; indecent (尤指思想、书籍等)猥亵的，淫秽的，下流的
e.g. I) The police seized a quantity of obscene publications.
II) The condemned man made an obscene gesture at the jury.
pervasive
adj. present or felt throughout a place or thing 蔓延的，遍布的；渗透的 e.g. Certainly TV is the most powerful and pervasive of the media.
petition
n. a formally written request or document, often signed by those agreeing to it, addressed to those in authority, asking for some favor, right, or benefit 请愿（书）
e.g. I) He presented the petition, signed by over two thousand people, to the mayor.
II) They wanted her to sign a petition against experiments on animals.
profile
n.
1) a short description that gives important details about a person, a group of people, or a place 简介
e.g. I) She wanted to write profiles of the founders of the Party.
II) The television program presented profiles of some of the most important poets living in Spain.
2) the outline of the human face as viewed from one side 侧面（像）
e.g. I) He had a glimpse of her calm pale profile.
II) He photographed her in profile. 他从侧面给她拍照。
settled *
adj. unlikely to change; fixed 固定的；稳定的
e.g. The middle-aged couple led a settled life.
sloth
n. laziness; unwillingness to work 懒惰，懒散
soundtrack *
n. the recorded music from a film 电影配乐的录音
tabloid
adj. sensational 轰动性的；庸俗的
tavern
n. a pub 酒馆
widen
v.
1) become larger in degree or range, or make something do this (使)扩大
e.g. I) The gap between the rich and poor regions widened.
II) We shall be widening the range of our goods and services over this coming year.
2) become wider or make something wider (使)变宽
e.g. I) Her eyes widened in astonishment.
II) They had to widen the doorway to accommodate her wheelchair.
Phrases and Expressions
cut off
stop the supply of something to somebody 停止......的供给
e.g. I) The President decided to cut off foreign aid to these countries.
II) The electricity will be cut off during the repair work.
drop out
stop attending or taking part 退出，不参加
e.g. I) The girl dropped out of school and went to work.
II) Her injury forced her to drop out of the competition.
rock the boat
spoil the good or comfortable situation that exists 破坏良好（舒适）的现状，捣乱
e.g. I) Things are progressing well-don't do anything to rock the boat.
II) The other boys said that Henry was rocking the boat by wanting to let girls into their club.
set somebody or something apart from
make someone or something different from 使与......不同
e.g. I) These attributes set humans apart from even the highest primates(灵长目动物)
II) It is her daring that sets her apart from other designers.
wait on tables
serve meals, especially as a regular job 伺候进餐（尤指侍应等的工作）
e.g. Mrs. Brown had to teach her new maid to wait on tables properly.
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