VOA慢速英语 2007 0919a

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Parents might tell teenagers, "Act your age." But some scientists say that is exactly what teens are doing. They say that while teenagers can look all grown up, studies have found that their brains are still developing.

 
 
How much this explains their behavior, though, is a subject of debate.

Jay Giedd of the National Institutes of Health in the United States is a leader in this area of research. Doctor Giedd has been studying a group of young people since nineteen ninety-one. They visit him every two years for a new M.R.I., or magnetic resonance¹ imaging, of their brains.

He says considerable development continues throughout the teen years and into the twenties. A part of the brain called the dorsal-lateral prefrontal cortex appears especially undeveloped in teens. Researchers believe that among its duties, this area controls judgment² and consideration of risk. 

So, in theory, its underdevelopment may explain why young people seem more willing to take risks like driving too fast.

Laurence Steinberg is a psychology³ professor at Temple University in Philadelphia. He says stronger laws, and stronger parental⁴ control, are needed to protect teens from themselves. That includes raising the age for driving. He says research finds that teenage brains are not fully⁵ equipped to control behavior.

Other scientists, however, say there is not enough evidence to make a strong case for such findings.

Psychologist Robert Epstein, a visiting scholar at the University of California, San Diego, notes that teen behavior differs from culture to culture. He says behavior depends for the most part on socialization. As he sees it, if teenagers are with adults more, and treated more like adults, that will lead to better, safer behavior.

But is that always true? Mike Males at the Center on Juvenile⁶ and Criminal Justice in San Francisco is a founder⁷ of youthfacts.org. He suggests that all of this talk lately about "brainless" teens could possibly be an attempt to take away attention from the reality.

Writing this week in the New York Times, he says it is middle-aged⁸ adults -- the parents -- whose behavior has worsened. In his words, "if grown-ups really have superior brains, why don't we act as if we do?"

And that’s the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver⁹.

1 resonance   

n.洪亮；共鸣；共振

参考例句：

• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments.一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。
• The areas under the two resonance envelopes are unequal.两个共振峰下面的面积是不相等的。

2 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

3 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

4 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 juvenile   

n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人，他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
• Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。

7 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

8 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

9 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。