研究显示 熬过40岁工作越来越顺心

 　　It is a popular internet thing to focus on the upside of being in your 30s, and it is nice to know how to do basic modern-human-being things like paying your taxes and cooking a simple meal. But it can be a less-rosy story at work: People in their late 20s to early 40s tend to report lower levels of job satisfaction and higher levels of emotional exhaustion¹ than other age groups, according to new research.

　　人们喜欢在网上关注30岁后的种种好事。30岁以后，你会掌握各种现代人类必备基本技能，比如说如何纳税和做煎蛋饭菜。但是在工作上事情就不那么美好了：根据最新研究显示，相对于其他年龄段的人，将近30到40出头这个年龄段的人普遍感到工作满意度较低、情绪衰竭度较高。

　　There’s the obvious reason: These tend to be the ages that people have young children at home, and the researchers did find that this group reported feeling increasingly crunched² for time. But adding to that pressure, co-worker support also tends to dissipate at this age. BPS Research Digest interprets the findings:

　　一个显而易见的原因是：处于这一年龄段的人往往负担着养育幼子的责任——该研究发现，这些人群往往感到时间上越来越有压迫感。不仅如此，在这一年龄段，同事间的合作关系也开始涣散。英国心理学会博客对这一现象作出了如下解释：

　　Support from co-workers probably dips in midlife as peers compete for scarce resources (promotion bottlenecks³ are often encountered during this career stage). Also, whereas younger counterparts are often hungry to forge new social networks, and older workers seek identity-affirming work experiences in their remaining tenure⁴, midlifers find it demanding enough just to maintain existing social networks. Meanwhile, time pressure likely intensifies⁵ mid-career as colleagues try to leverage⁶ one's knowledge and experience.

　　在中年时期，同志之间为了争夺稀缺资源（在这个职场阶段，许多人会遭遇升职瓶颈），对彼此的支持程度很可能降低。不仅如此，年轻一辈的职员在饥渴的构建新的社交人脉网络，老一辈的职员则是在任职的中间阶段探寻维护自己的职场地位的方法，如此一来，对这些中年人来说，要维持现有的社交人脉网络就已经够受的了。与此同时，由于其他同事竭力凸显自己的学识和资历，这些中年职员还会感到时间上的压迫感越来越强烈。

　　But the good news is that after about a decade of suck, things start to pick back up again. Occupational psychologists say that happiness at work recovers when people reach their 40s, and that people in their 50s are more satisfied with their jobs than any other age group. Hang in there, 30-somethings — soon you will be old(er), but at least work will suck less!

　　但是，好消息是，在十年艰苦的日子之后，这种状况就会好转起来。职业心理学家称，到人们四十几岁的时候，对工作的满意程度就会恢复，而五十多岁的人对自己的工作比任何其他年龄层的人都满意。坚持住，而立之年的人们——很快你们会变老，但至少生活不会这么糟糕了！

1 exhaustion   

n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述

参考例句：

• She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
• His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了，显然是太累了。

2 crunched   

v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄

参考例句：

• Our feet crunched on the frozen snow. 我们的脚嘎吱嘎吱地踩在冻雪上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He closed his jaws on the bones and crunched. 他咬紧骨头，使劲地嚼。 来自英汉文学 - 热爱生命

3 bottlenecks   

n.瓶颈( bottleneck的名词复数 )；瓶颈路段（常引起交通堵塞）；（尤指工商业发展的）瓶颈；阻碍

参考例句：

• Roadworks are causing bottlenecks in the city centre. 道路施工导致市中心交通阻塞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• At five o'clock in the afternoon the city streets are a series of bottlenecks. 下午五点市中心的街道就成了拥挤不堪的窄路。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

5 intensifies   

n.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的名词复数 )v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A clear atmosphere intensifies the blue of the sky. 纯净的空气使天空变得更蓝。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Blowing on fire intensifies the heat. 吹火使热度加强。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。