研究发现成功者往往不是“神童”

🤔️小作业：

1. Which of the following best captures the central argument of the study reported in the article?

A. Early exceptional performance guarantees elite success in adulthood

B. Specialised training during childhood is necessary but insufficient for excellence

C. Childhood achievement is a weak predictor of adult world-class performance

D. Elite adult performers generally emerge from non-competitive childhood environments

无注释原文：

Most Top-Achieving Adults Weren't Elite Specialists in Childhood, New Study Finds

From: The Wall Street Journal

Kids who are stars in sports and music don't usually grow up to be stars as adults, a new study found.

An examination of thousands of adults across fields including sports, music, academia and chess found that world-class performers—Olympic champions, renowned composers, Nobel laureates—often don't excel early.

There was just a 10% overlap between high-performing kids and elite-level adults, researchers reported in a paper Thursday in the journal Science. Most young top performers didn't remain top performers during peak-performance age, and most adult standouts weren't standouts as kids. 

“There are those child prodigies who later become world-class performers at peak performance age,” said Arne Güllich, a professor of sports science at RPTU Kaiserslautern in Germany and a co-author of the research. “But these are the exception, not the rule.”

The researchers defined peak years as being between ages 20 and 30 for sports and chess, and more middle age—between 40 and 50—for science and music. The findings were consistent across domains, using data from nearly 35,000 adults in some two dozen previously published studies.

The new analysis challenges the notion that excellence comes from hours of specialized early training—fueled in part by the growing business of elite competitive programs that kids today enroll in for sports and other activities. 

Ideas like the “10,000-hour rule,” popularized by author Malcolm Gladwell, often guide coaches, athletes and parents. The rule posits a person needs some 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery.

“Many people make decisions for themselves or their children based on these ideas, such as starting their child early in a sport or a musical instrument with the goal of producing the next Tiger Woods or Yo-Yo Ma,” said Brooke Macnamara, a human-performance researcher at Purdue University and co-author of the Science research.

Fred Oswald, an industrial organizational psychologist and professor at Rice University who wasn't involved in the work, said the findings were informative but reflect only general trends. “The implications for advising individuals are unclear,” he said. 

The analysis indicated that adult world-class performers did a range of activities when younger—with fewer practice hours in their specific discipline but more time in other activities. 

Güllich says there's a key takeaway: Encourage kids to pursue a variety of interests rather than specializing early. The evidence from this paper suggests that engaging in two additional areas to your main discipline is the sweet spot, he added. “So it's not doing as many as possible, like sampling all the instruments in music.”

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为华尔街日报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Most Top-Achieving Adults Weren't Elite Specialists in Childhood, New Study Finds

From: The Wall Street Journal

Kids who are stars in sports and music don't usually grow up to be stars as adults, a new study found.

一项新研究发现，体育和音乐领域的童星长大后通常不会成为明星。

An examination of thousands of adults across fields including sports, music, academia and chess found that world-class performers—Olympic champions, renowned composers, Nobel laureates—often don't excel early.

一项针对体育、音乐、学术和国际象棋等领域数千名成年人的研究发现，世界级人才——奥运冠军、著名作曲家、诺贝尔奖得主——通常并非年少成名。

renowned

renowned /rɪˈnaʊnd/ 表示“有名的；闻名的；受尊敬的”，英文解释为“famous and respected”举个🌰：She is renowned for her patience. 她的耐心是出了名的。

composer

composer /kəmˈpəʊ.zər/ 表示“（尤指古典音乐的）创作者；作曲者；作曲家”，英文解释为“a person who writes music, especially classical music”。

laureate

laureate /ˈlɔːrɪɪt/ 表示“荣誉获得者；获奖者”，英文解释为“a person who has been given an official honour or prize for sth important they have achieved”如：a Nobel laureate 诺贝尔奖获得者。

excel

excel /ɪkˈsel/ 表示“擅长；善于；突出”，英文解释为“to be very good at doing sth”举个🌰：She has always excelled in foreign languages. 她的外语从来都是出类拔萃。

📍2019年政府工作报告Part 5中就提到：体育健儿在国际大赛上再创佳绩。Chinese athletes excelled themselves in international competitions.

🎬电影《热血警探》（Blue Fury）中的台词提到：Academically excelled in theoretical course work and final year examinations. 在校期间理论课成绩和年终测评均为优，

There was just a 10% overlap between high-performing kids and elite-level adults, researchers reported in a paper Thursday in the journal Science. Most young top performers didn't remain top performers during peak-performance age, and most adult standouts weren't standouts as kids. 

研究人员周四在《科学》(Science)杂志上发表的一篇论文中报告称，表现优异的儿童与精英水平的成年人之间仅有10%的重合度。大多数年轻的顶尖人才在巅峰年龄未能保持顶尖水平，而大多数成年杰出人物在孩童时期也并非佼佼者。

overlap

overlap /ˌəʊ.vəˈlæp/ 可以作名词，也可以作动词，1）表示“（活动、课程或时间）相互重叠，有共同之处”，英文解释为“If two or more activities, subjects, or periods of time overlap, they have some parts that are the same.”举个🌰：My musical tastes don't overlap with my brother's at all. 我对音乐的喜好和我弟弟完全不一样。

2）表示“（与…）交叠，（与…）部分重叠，叠盖”，英文解释为“to cover something partly by going over its edge; to cover part of the same space”举个🌰：The fence is made of panels that overlap (each other). 这个围栏是由交叠的板条搭成的。

standout

standout /ˈstænd.aʊt/ 表示“突出的事物，出众的事物”，英文解释为“someone or something that you notice especially because they are an excellent example or the best example of something”举个🌰：While all the desserts are pretty good, the clear standout is the lemon pie. 所有的甜点都很不错，不过柠檬馅饼显然最受欢迎。

“There are those child prodigies who later become world-class performers at peak performance age,” said Arne Güllich, a professor of sports science at RPTU Kaiserslautern in Germany and a co-author of the research. “But these are the exception, not the rule.”

德国凯泽斯劳滕RPTU大学(RPTU Kaiserslautern)的体育科学教授、该研究的合著者阿恩·居利希(Arne Güllich)表示：“确实有神童后来在巅峰年龄成为世界级人才。但这些人是例外，不是普遍规律。”

prodigy

prodigy /ˈprɒd.ɪ.dʒi/ 表示“奇才，天才”，英文解释为“someone with a very great ability that usually shows itself when that person is a young child”

The researchers defined peak years as being between ages 20 and 30 for sports and chess, and more middle age—between 40 and 50—for science and music. The findings were consistent across domains, using data from nearly 35,000 adults in some two dozen previously published studies.

研究人员将巅峰年龄定义为：体育和国际象棋为20至30岁之间，科学和音乐则为更中年的40至50岁之间。这些发现在各个领域都是一致的，其数据来自约24项先前发表的研究中近35,000名成年人。

The new analysis challenges the notion that excellence comes from hours of specialized early training—fueled in part by the growing business of elite competitive programs that kids today enroll in for sports and other activities. 

这项新的分析挑战了卓越源于早期大量专业化训练的观念。如今孩子们参加的体育及其他活动的精英竞技项目产业日益壮大，在一定程度上助长了这种观念。

enroll

表示“（使）加入；注册；招（生）；吸收”，英文解释为“If you enrol or are enrolled at an institution or in a class, you officially join it.”举个🌰：I was enrolled at the University in 2016. 我是2016年上大学的。

Ideas like the “10,000-hour rule,” popularized by author Malcolm Gladwell, often guide coaches, athletes and parents. The rule posits a person needs some 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery.

由作家马尔科姆·格拉德威尔(Malcolm Gladwell)普及的“10,000小时定律”等理念，常常指导着教练、运动员和家长。该定律认为，一个人需要大约10,000小时的练习才能达到精通。

posit

posit /ˈpɒzɪt/ 表示“假想，设想”，英文解释为“to suggest something as a basic fact or principle from which a further idea is formed or developed”举个🌰：If we posit that wage rises cause inflation, it follows that we should try to minimize them. 如果我们假设工资上涨会导致通货膨胀的话，那么我们应该尽可能地减小工资上涨幅度。

mastery

mastery /ˈmɑː.stər.i/ 表示“熟练，精通”，英文解释为“If someone has a mastery of something, they are extremely skilled at it.”如：her mastery of the violin 她娴熟的小提琴演奏技法。

“Many people make decisions for themselves or their children based on these ideas, such as starting their child early in a sport or a musical instrument with the goal of producing the next Tiger Woods or Yo-Yo Ma,” said Brooke Macnamara, a human-performance researcher at Purdue University and co-author of the Science research.

普渡大学(Purdue University)的人类表现研究员、该《科学》杂志研究报告的合著者布鲁克·麦克纳马拉(Brooke Macnamara)说：“许多人根据这些理念为自己或孩子做决定，比如让孩子早早开始一项运动或学习一种乐器，目标是培养出下一个泰格·伍兹(Tiger Woods)或马友友。”

Fred Oswald, an industrial organizational psychologist and professor at Rice University who wasn't involved in the work, said the findings were informative but reflect only general trends. “The implications for advising individuals are unclear,” he said. 

未参与这项工作的莱斯大学(Rice University)工业组织心理学家兼教授弗雷德·奥斯瓦尔德(Fred Oswald)说，这些发现信息量很大，但只反映了一般趋势。他说：“对于为个人提供建议的意义尚不明确。”

informative

informative /ɪnˈfɔː.mə.tɪv/ 表示“提供信息的；增长见闻的”，英文解释为“providing a lot of useful information”举个🌰：This is an interesting and highly informative book. 这是一本有趣且信息量很大的书。

implication

implication /ˌɪm.plɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/ 1）表示“可能的影响（或作用、结果）”，英文解释为“a possible effect or result of an action or a decision”举个🌰：The development of the site will have implications for the surrounding countryside. 这个地点的开发将会影响周围的乡村。

2）表示“含意；暗指，暗示”，英文解释为“an occasion when you seem to suggest something without saying it directly”举个🌰：From what she said, the implication was that they were splitting up. 她的话中暗示他们将要分手。

The analysis indicated that adult world-class performers did a range of activities when younger—with fewer practice hours in their specific discipline but more time in other activities. 

该分析表明，成年世界级人才在年轻时从事了多种活动——他们在自己特定领域的练习时间较少，但在其他活动上花费的时间更多。

Güllich says there's a key takeaway: Encourage kids to pursue a variety of interests rather than specializing early. The evidence from this paper suggests that engaging in two additional areas to your main discipline is the sweet spot, he added. “So it's not doing as many as possible, like sampling all the instruments in music.”

居利希说，一个关键启示是：鼓励孩子们追求多种兴趣，而不是过早地专攻一项。他补充说，这篇论文的证据表明，在你的主要学科之外再涉足两个领域是最佳选择。“所以这并不是说要尽可能多地尝试，比如在音乐中把所有乐器都试一遍。”

takeaway

takeaway /ˈteɪk.ə.weɪ/ 1）表示“外卖；外卖餐馆”，英文解释为“a meal cooked and bought at a shop or restaurant but taken somewhere else, often home, to be eaten, or the shop or restaurant itself”如：a Chinese takeaway 外卖中餐馆。

2）表示“要点；从…中了解到的主要信息”，英文解释为“a main message or piece of information that you learn from something you hear or read”举个🌰： The takeaway from the conference was how competitive the computer science industry has become. 这场会议的主要信息是计算机科学产业的竞争已变得非常激烈。

- 词汇盘点 -

renowned、composer、laureate、excel、overlap、standout、prodigy、enroll、posit、mastery、informative、implication、takeaway

- 词汇助记 By AI -

A renowned composer, a laureate, saw a prodigy excel; their overlap was standout. He chose to enroll students, posit mastery; informative lessons' implication became a clear takeaway.

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