【今日阅读推荐】本篇阅读材料“年龄与智慧：姜真的是老的辣吗？”选自《经济学人》（原文标题：Ageandwisdom: Olderandwiser? 2012.4.7）。如果大家觉得比较简单，就当作泛读材料了解了解，认识几个新单词或新表达方式也不错。如果大家觉得这些材料理解上有难度，不妨当做挑战自己的拔高训练，希望大家都有进步^^
　　Americansgetwiserwithage. Japanesearewisefromthestart.
　　ONEstereotypeofwisdomisawizenedZen-mastersmilingbenevolentlyattheanticsofhispupils, whilereferringtothemaslittlegrasshoppersorsomesuchaffectation, safeintheknowledgethatonedaythey, too, willhavebeensetonthepaththatleadstowizenedmasterhood. Butisittruethatagebringswisdom? AstudytwoyearsagoinNorthAmerica, byIgorGrossmannoftheUniversityofWaterloo, inCanada, suggestedthatitis. Inasmuchasitispossibletoquantifywisdom, DrGrossmannfoundthatelderlyAmericanshadmoreofitthanyoungsters. Hehas, however, nowextendedhisinvestigationtoAsia—thelandofthewizenedZen-master—and, inparticular, toJapan. There, hefound, incontrasttotheWest, thatthegrasshoppersaretheirmasters’ equalsalmostfromthebeginning.
　　stereotypen. 刻板印象；老套
　　benevolentadj. 仁慈的；亲切的；仁爱的
　　quantifyv. 量化；为……定量
　　DrGrossmann’sstudy, justpublishedinPsychologicalScience, recruited186 Japanesefromvariouswalksoflifeandcomparedthemwith225 Americans. Participantswereaskedtoreadaseriesofpretendnewspaperarticles. Halfdescribedconflictbetweengroups, suchasadebatebetweenresidentsofanimpoverishedPacificislandoverwhethertoallowforeignoilcompaniestooperatetherefollowingthediscoveryofpetroleum. (Thoseinfavourvieweditasanopportunitytogetrich; thoseagainstfearedthedisruptionofancientwaysandpotentialecologicaldamage.) Theotherhalftooktheformofadvicecolumnsthatdealtwithconflictsbetweenindividuals: siblings, friendsandspouses. Afterreadingeacharticle, participantswereasked“Whatdoyouthinkwillhappenafterthat?” and“Whydoyouthinkitwillhappenthisway?” Theirresponseswererecordedandtranscribed.
　　walksoflife各界；各行各业
　　impoverishedadj. 穷困的；用尽了的，无创造性的
　　infavor赞同；偏向
　　disruptionn. 破坏；毁坏
　　siblingn. 兄弟姐妹
　　spousen. 配偶
　　transcribev. 转录；抄写
　　DrGrossmannandhiscolleaguesremovedage-relatedinformationfromthetranscripts, andalsoanycluestoparticipants’ nationalities, andthenpassedtheeditedversionstoagroupofassessors. Theseassessorsweretrainedtoratetranscribedresponsesconsistently, andhadbeentestedtoshowthattheirratingswerestatisticallycomparablewithoneanother.
　　Theassessorsscoredparticipants’ responsesonascaleofonetothree. Thisattemptedtocapturethedegreetowhichtheydiscussedwhatpsychologistsconsiderfivecrucialaspectsofwisereasoning: willingnesstoseekopportunitiestoresolveconflict; willingnesstosearchforcompromise; recognitionofthelimitsofpersonalknowledge; awarenessthatmorethanoneperspectiveonaproblemcanexist; andappreciationofthefactthatthingsmaygetworsebeforetheygetbetter.
　　compromisen. 妥协
　　perspectiven. 观点
　　Ascoreofoneonanyaspectindicatedaparticipantgavenoconsiderationtoit. Ascoreoftwoindicatedsomeconsideration. Ascoreofthreeindicatedagreatdealofconsideration. Eachparticipant’sscoreswerethenaddedupandmathematicallytransformedtocreateanoverallvaluewithinarangeofzeroto100 forbothinterpersonalandintergroupwisdom.
　　Theupshotwasthat, asDrGrossmannhadfoundbefore, Americansdogetwiserwithage. Theirintergroupwisdomscoreaveraged45 attheageof25 and55 at75. Theirinterpersonalscoresimilarlyclimbedfrom46 to50. Japanesescores, bycontrast, hardlyvariedwithage. Both25-year-oldsand75-year-oldshadanaverageintergroupwisdomof51. Forinterpersonalwisdom, itwas53 and52.
　　Takenatfacevalue, theseresultssuggestJapaneselearnwisdomfasterthanAmericans. Oneup, then, tothewizenedZen-masters. Buttheyalsosuggestaparadox. Generally, Americaisseenasanindividualisticsociety, whereasJapanisquitecollectivist. YetJapanesehavehigherscoresthanAmericansforthesortofinterpersonalwisdomyoumightthinkwouldbeusefulinanindividualisticsociety. Americans, bycontrast—atleastinthematurityofoldage—havemoreintergroupwisdomthanthepurportedlycollectivistJapanese. Perhaps, then, youneedindividualskillswhensocietyiscollective, andsocialoneswhenitisindividualistic. Allofwhichgoestoshowthattherealrootofwisdomisthis: donotassume, littlegrasshopper, thatyourprejudicesarecorrect.
　　paradoxn. 悖论；似是而非的观点
　　Questiontime:
　　1. What’sthefindingofDrGrossmann’sresearch?
　　2. Whatarethecrucialaspectsofwisereasoning?
　　1. Americansgetwiserwithage. Japanesearewisefromthestart.
　　2. willingnesstoseekopportunitiestoresolveconflict; willingnesstosearchforcompromise; recognitionofthelimitsofpersonalknowledge; awarenessthatmorethanoneperspectiveonaproblemcanexist; andappreciationofthefactthatthingsmaygetworsebeforetheygetbetter.