经受考验的20来岁（节选）E-C
The trying twenties confronts us with the question of how to take hold in the adult world. Incandescent with our energies having outgrown the family and the formlessness of our transiting years, we are impatient to pour ourselves in the exactly right form—our own way of living in the world. Or while looking for it, we want to try out some provisional form. For now we are not only trying to prove ourselves competent in the larger society but intensely aware of being on trial.
20多岁的年轻人遭受着考验，他们问我们如何能在成年世界立足。我们精力旺盛，不愿听从家庭安排，也不愿将就，一心想做自己认为正确的事——用自己的方式生活。但在寻找自己理想的过程中，我们也愿意暂时尝试其他的可能性，不是单纯为了证明自己工作后的能力，也是因为我们深知自己正经受考验。
Graduate student is a safe and familiar form for those who can afford it. Working toward a degree is something young people already know how to do. It postpones having to prove oneself in the bigger, bullying arena. Very few Americans had such a privilege before World War II; they reached the jumping-off point by the tender age of 16 or 18 or20 and had to make their move ready or not. But today, a quarter of a century is often spend before an individual is expected or expects himself to fix his life’s course. Or more. Given the permissiveness to experiment, the prolonged schooling available, and the moratoria allowed, it is not unusual for an adventurer to be nearly 30 before firmly setting a course.
年轻人知道怎样读书才能获得学位，所以对能负担读研成本的人来说，读研没有风险，只要亦步亦趋就行。读研就可以延迟参加工作的时间，与象牙塔相比，社会是更大、竞争更激烈的舞台。二战之前，只有少数美国人才能读研；大多数人16、18或20时，虽然懵懂，但已经需要进入社会，做出人生选择了。如今，很多人人生的前25年甚至更多的时间都用在了读书上。鉴于人们现在可以接受更长年限的教育和游戏人生的态度，30岁才开始工作也并不罕见。
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