英語(yǔ)聽力文摘 淡定的老人們
淡定的老人們
Ya?l:So here is a question for our listeners: If there were a potion that would allow you to stay young forever, would you take it?
Don: That’s obvious, Ya?l? Who wouldn’t want to recapture their youth?
Y：I’m not so sure the answer is obvious, Don. Because the researcher has shown that the older you get, the calmer and happier you tend to be.
D: Wait a second, old age is hard. There is disease, loneliness, and depression.
Y：True, I’m not saying that being old age is easy, but social scientists at the University of Texas have found that overall, aging is associated more with positive, passive emotions instead of negative, active emotions.
D: Passive emotions?
Y：Yes, emotions can be passive and active as well as positive and negative. So, for example, feeling calm is a passive emotion. And it’s also usually seen as positive. Anxiety and anger, on the other hand, are clearly negative emotions. And at least in many cases they’re also active.
D: Can anger be passive when someone is passive aggressive?
Y：Sure, but the point is that in general, aging seems to make us more emotionally passive. And being passive seems to correlate more with positive emotions like calm and contentment. It’s not clear why aging has this effect, but maybe it’s because when you’re older you’re no longer trying to prove yourself, no longer as anxious about getting ahead. Although, to be fair, the researchers found that the richer and more educated you are, the more you experience positive emotions.
Ya?l:那么，我想問(wèn)問(wèn)我們的聽眾：如果有長(zhǎng)生不老藥，有人愿意吃嗎?
Don:Ya?l，這個(gè)問(wèn)題顯而易見(jiàn)，有誰(shuí)不愿返老孩童?
Y：Don,我倒不這么認(rèn)為。研究人員已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)人越老越平靜、快樂(lè)。
D:等等，人老了可不輕松，比如：疾病、孤獨(dú)、抑郁。
Y：你說(shuō)得對(duì)，我并不是說(shuō)人老了輕松，但是德克薩斯州大學(xué)的社會(huì)科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)：大體而言，老年人情緒更加樂(lè)觀而被動(dòng)，并非消極而主動(dòng)。
D:被動(dòng)情緒?
Y：沒(méi)錯(cuò)，情緒可分為主動(dòng)和被動(dòng);樂(lè)觀和消極。比如，淡定就是被動(dòng)情緒，也被看作是樂(lè)觀情緒。反之，焦慮和生氣很顯然是消極情緒。很多時(shí)候，還是主動(dòng)情緒。
D:因?yàn)樗硕枚窌r(shí)，生氣就是被動(dòng)情緒嗎?
Y：沒(méi)錯(cuò)，關(guān)鍵是隨著人變老普遍的情緒會(huì)被動(dòng)。而被動(dòng)情緒和很多樂(lè)觀情緒相關(guān)。比如平靜或知足。原因不詳，但可能是因?yàn)槿死狭耍僖膊粫?huì)試著表現(xiàn)自我，也不會(huì)爭(zhēng)先恐后。公正地說(shuō)，研究人員還發(fā)現(xiàn)越富裕和有文化的人，樂(lè)觀情緒會(huì)更多。
