VOA慢速英语 2008 0227a

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

A new study shows that unhappiness in middle age, also known as midlife crisis, is a universal experience.

Two economists¹ did the study: Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick in England and David Blanchflower at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. They used information collected earlier on two million people from eighty nations. 
Who is happiest?

They found that people around the world seem to share an emotional design in life. That design, they say, is shaped like the letter U. Levels of happiness are highest when people are young and when they are old. In the middle, however, most people's happiness and life satisfaction levels drop.

Professor Oswald says some people suffer from midlife depression more than others. But, he says, it happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor and to those with and without children.

Generally speaking, people reach their lowest levels between the ages of about forty and fifty-five. But then, as they continue into old age, their happiness starts to climb back up.

What the research does not show is why all this happens. Professor Oswald says one possibility is that people recognize their limitations in middle age and give up on some long-held dreams.

Or perhaps people who are happier live longer, and this is responsible for a growing percentage of happy older people. Or, he says, maybe people have seen others their age die and they value more their own remaining years.

The report is to be published in the journal Social Science and Medicine.

Last December, government researchers reported a big increase in suicides among middle-aged² people in the United States. They looked at injury-related death rates by age group from nineteen ninety-nine to two thousand four. They found that suicide increased almost twenty percent among people ages forty-five to fifty-four. No one is sure why.

By comparison, rates generally fell for those sixty-five and older. And for people twenty to twenty-nine the suicide rate was nearly unchanged.

The report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted³ that the findings are subject to some limitations. For example, accidental drug poisonings might sometimes be mistaken for suicides. 

Over all, suicides in the United States increased four percent from nineteen ninety-nine to two thousand four. That year thirty-two thousand four hundred people took their own lives.

And that’s the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver⁴. I’m Jim Tedder⁵.

 

1 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 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。

5 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网