上期答案
Life is like riding a bike: initial hesitation, wobbly starts, finding balance, mastering gears, embracing the journey, and handling falls.
生活就像骑自行车：起初犹豫不决，摇摇晃晃地开始，找到平衡，掌握档位，享受旅程，并应对跌倒。
本期内容
早上好，读者朋友们，今天分享的文章节选自《大西洋月刊》。在这个快节奏、高压力的时代，我们似乎比以往任何时候都更加珍视那些能够让我们心灵得以栖息的友情。每当夜深人静，或是忙碌之余，心中总会涌起一股暖流，渴望与挚友共度时光，分享生活的点滴，让笑声与理解成为彼此间最坚实的桥梁。然而，在这份强烈的渴望之下，却隐藏着一个令人费解的现象——友谊悖论：尽管我们内心深处极度渴望与朋友紧密相连，但现实中，我们却发现自己越来越多地沉浸在独处的世界里。这究竟是为什么呢？难道是我们对友情的理解出现了偏差？还是现代生活的某种无形力量在悄然改变着我们的社交模式？让我们一起踏上这场探索之旅，揭开友谊悖论的神秘面纱。
The Friendship Paradox
友谊悖论
1
Americans are afflicted by an “epidemic of loneliness,” according to the surgeon general and dozens of researchers. The phrase conjures a nation of friendless hermits who have no one to invite to their birthday parties. But according to a pair of new surveys, American loneliness is more complex than that. The typical American, it seems, texts a bunch of people “we should get together!” before watching TikTok alone on the couch and then passing out. That is, Americans have friends. We just never really see them.
afflict /əˈflɪkt/v.使痛苦；折磨
conjure /ˈkɑːndʒər/ v.变戏法般地出现
conjure sth up 使想起
hermit /ˈhɜːrmɪt/ n.隐士
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美国卫生部长和数十名研究人员表示，美国人正受到“孤独流行病”的折磨。这个短语让人联想到一群没有朋友的隐士，他们没有人邀请他们参加生日聚会。但根据两项新的调查，美国人的孤独远比这复杂。典型的美国人似乎会给一群人发短信“我们应该聚一聚!”然后一个人在沙发上看TikTok，接着就睡着了。也就是说，美国人有朋友。我们只是从来没有真正见过。
Pennington’s research fits with past findings that Americans now spend less than three hours a week with friends, compared with more than six hours a decade ago. Instead, we’re spending ever more time alone. These days, the number of people we can develop some kind of connection to seems boundless, but the opportunities to develop deep, meaningful, even transformative relationships are much more difficult.This difficulty arises, in part, from a shortage of free time. In 2021, older Millennials—those ages 35 to 44, a demographic that’s likely to have young kids—had 16 fewer minutes of leisure time each day than similarly aged adults did in 2003, according to Bloomberg’s Justin Fox. They’ve reallocated those minutes to sleep, work, and child care.
boundless /ˈbaʊndləs/adj. 无限的
demographic /ˌdeməˈɡræfɪk/adj. 人口的，人口统计的
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彭宁顿的研究与过去的调查结果相吻合，即美国人现在每周与朋友在一起的时间不到三个小时，而十年前则超过六个小时。相反，我们花更多的时间独处。如今，我们可以建立某种联系的人似乎是无穷无尽的，但建立深刻的、有意义的、甚至是变革性的关系的机会要难得多。造成这种困难的部分原因是由于缺乏空闲时间。彭博社(Bloomberg)的贾斯汀•福克斯称，2021年，年龄较大的千禧一代——年龄在35岁至44岁之间的人，很可能有年幼的孩子——每天的休闲时间比2003年的同龄人少16分钟。他们把这些时间重新分配给了睡觉、工作和照顾孩子。
Another big hurdle is the time and effort it takes to schedule a gathering. In recent decades, participation in groups that allow friends to meet up easily—such as unions, civic clubs, and religious congregations—has dwindled. “One of the really great things about these institutions is they regularize contact,” Cox told me. “You’re there at the same time or for the same kind of meetings … with shared values and expectations for behavior. So it really takes a lot of the work off the plate of the individual.” A slew of books and apps aim to help people tend to their friendships, but these tools all have the same limitation: They put the onus on each individual to initiate and maintain contact. Each person has to send messages and sync up schedules and find the brunch spot that will accommodate everyone’s food allergies.
hurdle /ˈhɜːrd(ə)l/n.难关；障碍
dwindle /ˈdwɪnd(ə)l/v.减少，变少
onus /ˈoʊnəs/n.职责
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另一个大障碍是安排聚会所需的时间和精力。近几十年来，允许朋友轻松见面的团体（如工会、公民俱乐部和宗教集会）的参与人数已经减少。考克斯告诉我:“这些机构真正了不起的一点是，它们使联系常态化。”“你们在同一时间或参加同一类型的会议……有着共同的价值观和行为期望。因此，这确实为个人省去了很多工作。”大量的书籍和应用程序旨在帮助人们维护友谊，但这些工具都有同样的局限性:它们把发起和保持联系的责任推给了每个人。每个人都必须回消息，同步日程安排，找一个适合每个人食物过敏情况的早午餐地点。
Although everyone these days is pressed for time and less likely to be civically involved, the college educated live near the kinds of places where they’re likely to see the same set of people repeatedly. Cox found that college graduates have greater access to public libraries, parks, coffee shops, and other “third places” than people without college degrees do, and people who had more access to these kinds of spaces—a.k.a. wealthier people—also tended to have more friends. People with money and regular work hours can see friends at Orangetheory or their local bar, Cox said, whereas those who work long days, multiple jobs, or erratic schedules might not be able to. Americans without college degrees are also now less likely than those with a degree to attend religious services, thus losing an opportunity to be around friends for free. And hoping to simply run into friends in the neighborhood is a long shot: Only a quarter of Americans say most or all of their close friends live in their neighborhood or nearby.
erratic adj.不稳定的
a.k.a. abbr. 亦称；又名（also known as）
a long shot 冒险尝试
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虽然现在每个人都时间紧迫，不太可能参与公共事务，但受过大学教育的人住的地方附近很可能反复见到同一群人。考克斯发现，与没有大学学位的人相比，大学毕业生更容易进入公共图书馆、公园、咖啡馆和其他“第三空间”，而更容易进入这些空间的人——也就是更富有的人——往往也有更多的朋友。考克斯说，有钱、有固定工作时间的人可以在 Orangetheory 或当地的酒吧见到朋友，而那些工作时间长、身兼多职或时间不固定的人可能就无法做到这一点。现在，没有大学学位的美国人也比有学位的人更不可能参加宗教仪式，从而失去了与朋友相处的机会。而希望在附近遇到朋友的可能性很小：只有四分之一的美国人说他们的大多数或所有亲密朋友都住在他们附近或附近。
Maintaining friendships in this atomized new world might require ratcheting down expectations. For parents with young kids, a weekly brunch with friends may well be impossible. Instead, Goldfarb suggests getting closer to your friends by taking an interest in things they care about, and asking to hang out for small, specific amounts of time. If you’re friends with a new parent, that is, don’t invite them to a bar 30 minutes away. Ask if you can bring over fresh fruit and chat for 20 minutes. “We need our friends to see us,” Goldfarb said. “We need our friends to take all our roles into account.”
ratchet down 逐渐减少
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在这个四分五裂的世界里维持友谊可能需要降低期望值。对于有小孩的父母来说，每周和朋友一起吃早午餐是不可能的。相反，戈德法布建议通过对朋友们关心的事情感兴趣来拉近与他们的关系，并要求一起出去玩。如果你是新父母的朋友，也就是说，不要邀请他们去30分钟路程外的酒吧。问你是否可以带新鲜水果过来，聊上20分钟。“我们需要朋友关注我们，”戈德法布说。“我们需要朋友们考虑到我们的所有角色。”
Journal：theatlantic
Title:The Friendship Paradox（September 4, 2024）
Category：Friendship
END
写作句式积累
The number of people we can develop some kind of connection to seems boundless, but the opportunities to develop deep, meaningful, even transformative relationships are much more difficult.
我们可以与许多人建立某种联系，但发展深厚、有意义，甚至是变革性关系的机会却更加困难。
翻译练习
Seek out individuals who share your interests and values to build a supportive network that aligns with your fresh start in life.
翻译练习，欢迎大家文末留言打卡，下期推送文章公布答案哟，一起阅外刊学英语吧！
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