2006年VOA标准英语-President Bush Turns 60

By Paula Wolfson
Washington
06 July 2006

President George W. Bush   
  
America's post-World War II baby boom generation hits a milestone¹ this year. The oldest boomers, as they are commonly called, are turning sixty. President Bush is joining their ranks on July 6. a generation that once defined being young is now teaching the nation and the world how to age in a whole new way.

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Lately, the president has been pondering the march of time.

"I'm turning 60. For you youngsters, I want to tell you something. When I was your age, I thought 60 was really old. It's all in your mind. It's not that old, it really isn't," he said.

He is not alone. The U.S. Census² Bureau says roughly every 11 seconds another baby boomer in the United States turns 60. That adds up to about 8,000 every day, and almost three million just in 2006.

 
Matt Thornhill
  
"A boomer at 60 doesn't consider themselves old, doesn't think they are going to be old for another 15 or 20 years. In fact, they think they are in the middle parts of middle age at age 60," said Matt Thornhill, who heads the Boomer Project, a company that studies that huge demographic pool of 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964.

"That is completely different from the previous generations. In previous generations you hit 60 and you were considered old. And boomers have decided³ that just is not going to work for them," added Thornhill.

As they have moved through the life cycle, baby boomers, by their sheer numbers, have shaped American society. The generation that once said do not trust anyone over 30 now controls the halls of power.

In their youth, many either fought in the Vietnam War or fought against it. Showing an idealistic fervor⁴, there were student protests for equality on the basis of sex, and race.

Their idealism has been tempered by realism. But they are gradually taking on a new cause and battling the stereotypes⁵ of aging.

"It will be the next boomer revolution," said Ken⁶ Dychtwald, who is one of the leading experts in the United States on the baby boom generation, and the author of numerous books about the aging process. "Just as there has been a revolution for this generation in civil rights and in women's rights and people with alternative lifestyles rights, here you have a generation that may very well take on the task of liberating⁷ aging."

He says this generation, more so than those that came before, has been open to growth and change. He says that may be more important now than ever, as they move into a new phase of life far more active and socially aware than past generations.

"I actually think what you are going to see, and this almost sounds ironic⁸, is this so-called youth generation will literally⁹ come into its strength as adults and as elders," continued Dychtwald. "And it may be at the end of our days we will be more remembered for how we transformed maturity¹⁰ relative to how we might have stirred up youth."

Former President Bill Clinton    
  
The list of famous Americans who will turn 60 this year is long, and besides Mr. Bush, it includes his predecessor¹¹ Bill Clinton, film director Stephen Spielberg and business tycoon¹² Donald Trump¹³. As they enter the seventh decade of life they can adopt as their motto the words of a singer-songwriter who became the poet-laureate of their youth. They are in the lyrics¹⁴ of a Bob Dylan tune¹⁵ that is perhaps more relevant today than in the 1960's: May you stay forever young.

1 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

2 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 fervor   

n.热诚；热心；炽热

参考例句：

• They were concerned only with their own religious fervor.他们只关心自己的宗教热诚。
• The speech aroused nationalist fervor.这个演讲喚起了民族主义热情。

5 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

7 liberating   

解放，释放( liberate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Revolution means liberating the productive forces. 革命就是为了解放生产力。
• They had already taken on their shoulders the burden of reforming society and liberating mankind. 甚至在这些集会聚谈中，他们就已经夸大地把改革社会、解放人群的责任放在自己的肩头了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

8 ironic   

adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的

参考例句：

• That is a summary and ironic end.那是一个具有概括性和讽刺意味的结局。
• People used to call me Mr Popularity at high school,but they were being ironic.人们中学时常把我称作“万人迷先生”，但他们是在挖苦我。

9 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

10 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

11 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

12 tycoon   

n.有钱有势的企业家，大亨

参考例句：

• The tycoon is on the verge of bankruptcy.那名大亨濒临破产的边缘。
• The tycoon has many servants to minister to his needs.那位大亨有很多人服侍他。

13 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

14 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

15 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。