The Boomerang Generation

    Alice: Hello! I’m Alice and this is 6 Minute English…and thanks to Rob forjoining me today! Hello Rob.
    Rob: Hello Alice.
    Alice: Now, Rob we’re talking about something that most people have to doat some point in their lives – leave home…Rob: Some people can’t wait to leave home and become independent, butplenty more would be happy to stay living with their parents andfamily at home.
    Alice: Many countries have legal limits for the age somebody can leavehome. In the UK you can drive a car at 17, buy alcohol and vote at theage of 18. But what age can you leave home with your parentspermission?
    Is it:
    a. 18b. 17c. 16Rob: I think you can get married at 16 can’t you? So is it 16?
    Alice: I’m not telling you yet. We’ll find out the correct answer at the end ofthe programme. What’s interesting is how more and more people arestaying at home longer in the UK. There’s even a word for it – it’scalled the boomerang generation.
    Rob: A boomerang as in the Australian tool that comes back to you whenyou throw it?
    Alice: Exactly! You should be able to see a photo of one on our website. Theboomerang generation are young people who leave home to go toUniversity but then return to live with their parents when they’vefinished their studies.
    Rob: So they leave home but come back to their parents again after studying.
    And how long do they stay with their parents after they’ve finishedUniversity?
    Alice: It varies – but the latest official figures show that the number ofgraduates returning home after University has increased by a third inthe last 20 years. Here’s the BBC’s Tim Muffett:
    Extract¹ 1The boomerang generation is booming². According to the Office for National Statistics,around 15% of female graduates move back home. For male graduates the figure is22%, that’s an increase of almost a third in twenty years, and with a lack of jobs for theclass of 2010 the numbers are expected to rise.
    Alice: The boomerang generation is booming!
    Rob: Do we know why so many more students are returning to live at home?
    Alice: Most of the reasons are economic – students are finding it difficult toget jobs after they finish their studies so they can’t afford to pay fortheir own place to live.
    Rob: I imagine it depends on where you choose to live – some students do ahouse or flat-share where they can split³ the rent with other youngpeople.
    Alice: But some students have such big debts after paying for University theycan’t afford to do a house or flat-share with other people. It’s easier togo home to their parents and try and save some money! The BBC’sTim Muffett went to meet recent graduate Kate and her mother Janice.
    Kate’s had to move back in with her parents after leaving University.
    Extract 2KATE: I lost my independence because at University you get to do what you want to do– and not be regimented by what you watch on the television.
    MUM: we lost our privacy⁵, because suddenly there is somebody else in the house. Wewouldn’t sling⁶ her out, much as we’d like to sometimes.
    TIM: Are your relieved to hear that?
    KATE: yeah!
    Alice: Kate’s complaining that she’s lost her independence. At Universityshe got to do what she wanted.
    Rob: She says she could watch what she wanted on TV – it wasn’tregimentedAlice: regimented – that’s a military term meaning there are strict rulesthat have to be followed – like a regiment⁴.
    Rob: What about her parents?
    Alice: Let’s listen again to what Kate’s mum Janice said:
    MUM: we lost our privacy, because suddenly there is somebody else in the house. Wewouldn’t sling her out, much as we’d like to sometimes.
    Alice: Kate’s mum Janice says she has lost her privacy because suddenlythere’s someone else in the house.
    Rob: I hope she’s joking when she says ‘we wouldn’t sling her out’!
    Alice: I hope she is joking – she wouldn’t really ask her daughter Kate toleave the family home! Let’s hear from one more person today. This isProfessor of Sociology⁷, Gill Jones, who’s been speaking to lots ofyoung people about returning home after University. She thinks life forthe boomerang generation is very difficult:
    Extract 3If young people can’t become independent when they are technically⁸ adult then itcreates all sorts of problems, about what does it mean to be adult – are young peoplewilling to defer⁹ adulthood¹⁰ and what are parents taking on when they have children?
    How long are they going to be responsible for them?
    Alice: Young people are technically adult – they’re officially adultsbecause they can vote, get married and live on their own butbecause they’re having to return home there can be problems.
    Rob: Professor Gill Jones says they have to defer adulthoodAlice: That means they have to wait til they leave home again before they canreally feel like adults.
    Rob: And parents are having to be responsible for children for many moreyears than they expected.
    Alice: Which brings me to the question I asked earlier. What is the legal age for children to be allowed to leave home in the UK? Was it:
    a 18b. 17c. 16Rob: I’m guessing 16?
    Alice: You’re right. You can also get married at age 16 if you have yourparents’ permission in the UK. Shall we have a quick re-cap of thevocabulary we’ve come across today:
    Rob: leave home independent legal limit boomerang booming house or flat-share debts regimented technically adulthood Well that’s all we’ve got time for today. Thanks for joining us and seeyou next time. Bye!（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 extract   

vt.取出，提取，获得，摘录；n.摘录，提出物

参考例句：

• The article was a choice extract from her writings.这篇文章是从她的著作中摘录出来的精粹。
• We can extract oil from olive.我们可以从橄榄中榨油。

2 booming   

adj.急速发展的v.激增( boom的现在分词 )；猛涨；发出隆隆声；以低沉有力的声音说话

参考例句：

• The opera singer has a deep, booming, masculine voice. 这位歌剧演唱家有一副深沉而又浑厚有力的嗓音。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He is booming as a teacher. 作为一位教师，他日趋成功。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 split   

n.劈开，裂片，裂口；adj.分散的；v.分离，分开，劈开

参考例句：

• Who told you that Mary and I had split up?谁告诉你玛丽和我已经离婚了？
• The teacher split the class up into six groups.老师把班级分成6个小组。

4 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

5 privacy   

n.私人权利，个人自由，隐私权

参考例句：

• In such matters,privacy is impossible.在这类事情中，保密是不可能的。
• She wept in the privacy of her own room.她在自己房内暗暗落泪。

6 sling   

vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓

参考例句：

• The boy discharged a stone from a sling.这个男孩用弹弓射石头。
• By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。

7 sociology   

n.社会学，社会关系学，群落生态学

参考例句：

• He is studying sociology.他正研究社会学。
• A pioneer of legal sociology in Germany was Max Weber.德国法律社会学的先驱是马克斯·韦伯。

8 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

9 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。

10 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。