VOA慢速英语2016 新书探讨内向青少年的力量

New Book Examines the Power of Young Introverts² 新书探讨内向青少年的力量

Speak up! Put yourself out there!

American society generally places high value on being friendly and speaking freely. That can can worry introverts. Introverts are people who tend to be more private and favor individual activities over social ones.

Susan Cain, an introvert¹ herself, is an expert on the subject. She has become the voice of these quiet people. In 2012, her book, “Quiet: The Power of the Introvert in a World that Can't Stop Talking,” was a success.

In her new book, “Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts,” Cain takes her hopeful message about introverts to teenagers. She says her goal is to help parents and teachers understand their introvert teens and develop their secret power.

Introverted children are not necessarily shy. In fact, they can have excellent social skills. They just tend to enjoy being alone, doing quieter things or being with just one friend at a time.

Susan Cain says that is how introverts get their energy. Their human "batteries" are actually weakened by loud, busy activities.

"If you imagine an introvert going to a party where they're having a good time. At the end of two hours, you kind of start to wish you were home in your pajamas³ because your battery is running low.

“Whereas for extroverts⁵ in the exact same situation, their batteries are getting recharged. So they kind of want more time at the party. This has everything to do with how we're wired; how our nervous systems react to stimulation⁶."

Cain says the idea that extroverts are more successful than introverts is widespread but wrong.

"If you look around, you see introverts contributing to this culture in all kinds of ways, people like Bill Gates and J.K Rowling and Dr. Seuss - any number of people you could name who are introverts.”

Cain says these people add much to society because of their quiet temperament⁷. But somehow this idea is not widely accepted. The author says American society pushes everyone to be gregarious⁸ even if it is not natural for them.

Cain says there are more introverts than people think.

"You're talking about 1 in every 2 or 3 people. That's in the U.S. But then there are other studies that look comparatively at the world and find that the U.S. is on the more extrovert⁴ side of the spectrum⁹. So there are probably more introverts in other countries."

Susan Cain spoke¹⁰ with hundreds of teens, parents and teachers to explore introversion¹¹ among teens. One of her important findings is that introverts can be effective leaders.

"For example, there was one guy we profiled named Davis, who decided¹² he wanted to run for president of his class. He was running against one of the most popular, social girls in the school who ran on a platform of more parties for everyone.

“Davis was his characteristic, serious-minded, introverted self, and did a lot of deep thinking about how he can make the school a better place. So he ran on a serious substantive¹³ platform of proposals and his classmates really recognized the value of that and ended up voting for him, and he became the class president."

In her book, Cain gives advice to parents and teachers. She tells parents that introverts usually want to come home at the end of the day and spend time alone. She says they need to recharge their batteries. She says they should not be pushed into after-school activities. For teachers, she says, introverted students might not succeed in large study groups.

"By their nature they prefer to learn independently and autonomously¹⁴. They don't want to be learning calculus¹⁵ in a group. They want to be putting their heads down, and thinking a problem through.”

Susan Cain, author of “Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts,” says what she wants young readers to take away from her book is that being introverted is not something to outgrow¹⁶. It is something to accept, develop and treasure.

说话！逼着自己说话！美国社会通常很看重与人为善和言论自由。这让内向的人很担心。内向的人通常更喜欢独来独往，与社会活动相比更喜欢自己活动。苏珊就是一个内向的人，同时也是这方面专家。她已经成为说出内向者心声的人。她2012年出版的书《安静:内向性格的竞争力》大获成功。在她的这本新书中，她向青少年讲述了内向型格的优势。她说她的目标是帮助父母和老师理解内向型格的孩子，并助力发展他们的秘密潜能。孩子性格内向不代表他/她害羞。事实上，他们可能有卓越的社交技能。他们只是表现出更愿意自己呆着、安静做事或者一次只和一个朋友在一起。苏珊说，这是内向性格的人获得能量的方式。他们的能量“电池”会因为参与吵闹繁忙的活动而被削弱。“试想一个内向性格的人去参加派对。两个小时的派对接近尾声时，你可能开始希望你已经穿着睡衣在家了，因为你的能量值已经极低。”而同样的情况对于外向的人来说却是一种充电的状态。所以他们希望能在派对上度过更多的时光。这就与他们的电路体系组成有关，与我们神经系统对刺激的反应有关。苏珊说，有一种普遍的观点认为外向性格的人要比内向性格的人更加成功，这种观点是错误的。“如果我们环顾四周，会发现内向性格的人以不同方式对人类文化作出贡献，比如比尔盖茨、JK罗琳、苏斯博士等，能说得上数的都是内向型格的人。”苏珊说，这些人之所以多社会贡献有佳就是因为他们沉静的性格。不过苏珊这种观点并不广为接受。苏珊说，美国社会迫使每个人都以群居方式来社交，即便有些人的天性并非如此。苏珊说，其实内向性格的人数量之多远超乎人们的想象。“估计内向性格的人也就两三个吧。”这就是美国人的普遍观点。但其实同一时期在世界上的其他国家也有类似的研究，可以发现美国更赞成人类外向性格的属性。其实可能美国内向的人数更多。苏珊曾与成百上千的青少年、父母、老师交谈，以探究孩子身上的内向性格因素。她有一个重要发现：内向性格的人能成为更有影响力的领导人。比如，有一个叫戴维斯的人想要竞选班长。他的竞争对手是全校最受欢迎、社交能力最强的女生。戴维斯的性格是典型的沉思内向型性格，他深入地思考了怎样能让学校变得更好。于是他站上讲台，提出倡议和方案，让他的同学们意识到如果将票投给他会有怎样的效果。于是最后他成为了班长。苏珊的书也给家长和老师提出了建议。她告诉家长，内向性格的孩子通常在上完一天的课后更愿意自己呆在家。她说，他们这样做是为了给自己重新充电。她说父母不应该强迫他们去参加课外活动。苏珊给老师的建议是，内向性格的孩子在团体学习中可能成绩不突出。因为他们的性格使他们更愿意独立自主地学习。他们不喜欢以小组形式学习微积分。他们更想要低头沉思问题。苏珊的书想让年轻人明白，内向性格不是什么坏事。内向性格应该为人所接受、培养并珍惜。

Words in This Story

introvert - n. a quiet person who does not find it easy to talk to other people​

 

shy ​-​ adj. feeling nervous and uncomfortable about meeting and talking to people​

 

extrovert ​-​ n. a friendly person who likes being with and talking to other people: an outgoing person​

 

stimulation​ ​-​ n. something that excites activity or growth

 

gregarious ​-​ adj. enjoying the company of other people​

 

autonomously ​-​ adv. independently; separately

 

temperament ​-​ n. the usual attitude, mood, or behavior of a person or animal​

 

spectrum ​-​ n. a complete range of different opinions, people, etc.​

1 introvert   

n.性格内向的人

参考例句：

• You are very much an introvert.你是一位地道的内向性格者。
• The same conversation that energizes the extravert also drains the introvert.同样的交谈能让外向者荣光焕发，却让内向者精神颓靡。

2 introverts   

性格内向的人( introvert的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Extroverts tend to lack self-discipline while introverts lack courage. 性格外向的人缺乏自我约束力，而性格内向的人则缺乏勇气。
• I an introvert and introverts get drawn in. 我是个内向的人而且内向是天生的。

3 pajamas   

n.睡衣裤

参考例句：

• At bedtime,I take off my clothes and put on my pajamas.睡觉时，我脱去衣服，换上睡衣。
• He was wearing striped pajamas.他穿着带条纹的睡衣裤。

4 extrovert   

n.性格外向的人

参考例句：

• A good salesman is usually an extrovert,who likes to mingle with people.一个好的推销员通常很外向，喜欢和人们交往。
• Do you think you're an extrovert or introvert?你认为你是个性外向的人还是个性内向的人？

5 extroverts   

性格外向的人( extrovert的名词复数 )； 活跃、愉快、爱交际的人

参考例句：

• In the second half, the students were criticized. Extroverts were unfazed. 在后半部分，举不动时学生要受批评，外向性格的学生表现出不满。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 大脑与疾病
• Extroverts prefer lively conversation to brooding on the meaning of life. 性格外向的人喜欢高谈阔论，而不愿思索人生的意义。

6 stimulation   

n.刺激，激励，鼓舞

参考例句：

• The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
• You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。

7 temperament   

n.气质，性格，性情

参考例句：

• The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
• Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。

8 gregarious   

adj.群居的，喜好群居的

参考例句：

• These animals are highly gregarious.这些动物非常喜欢群居。
• They are gregarious birds and feed in flocks.它们是群居鸟类，会集群觅食。

9 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 introversion   

n. [心理]内向性, 内省性

参考例句：

• The contrast between extroversion and introversion is entirely superficial. 在外向和内向之间所作的对比完全是表面的。
• The oft-drawn contrast extroversion and introversion is entirely superficial. 在外向和内向之间通常所作的对比完全是表面的。

12 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。

13 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

14 autonomously   

adv. 自律地，自治地

参考例句：

• To learn autonomously in the network environment is totally new to students. 基于网络环境下的自主学习对学生来说，是一种全新的学习方式。
• The QC-RS can operate autonomously or by remote control. QC-RS能实现自动操作或通过遥控来操作。

15 calculus   

n.微积分；结石

参考例句：

• This is a problem where calculus won't help at all.对于这一题，微积分一点也用不上。
• After studying differential calculus you will be able to solve these mathematical problems.学了微积分之后，你们就能够解这些数学题了。

16 outgrow   

vt.长大得使…不再适用；成长得不再要

参考例句：

• The little girl will outgrow her fear of pet animals.小女孩慢慢长大后就不会在怕宠物了。
• Children who walk in their sleep usually outgrow the habit.梦游的孩子通常在长大后这个习惯自然消失。