你的哥哥姐姐是否比你更聪明

 　　Certain personality traits are often attributed to oldest, middle and youngest children. But a new study found that birth order itself had no effect on character, though it may slightly affect intelligence.

　　人们往往认为，某些性格特征是专属于排行老大、排在中间或家里最小的孩子的。然而一个新研究发现，出生顺序与性格无关，但可能对智力有些许影响。

　　Researchers analyzed¹ three large ongoing² collections of data including more than 20,000 people: a British study that follows the lives of people who were born in one particular week in 1958, a German study of private households started in 1984 and a continuing study of Americans born between 1980 and 1984.

　　研究人员分析了来自2万多人的三大组持续收集数据，其来源包括一份英国研究。该研究追踪了1958年某一星期出生的人的生活状况。还有在1984年开始、关于普通家庭的一份德国研究，和关于在1980至1984年间出生的美国人的一个持续研究。

　　你的哥哥姐姐是否比你更聪明

　　They searched for differences in extroversion³, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness⁴, self-reported intellect, IQ, imagination and openness to experience. They analyzed families with sisters and brothers, large and small age gaps and different numbers of siblings⁶. But no matter how they spliced⁷ the data, they could find no association of birth order with any personality characteristic.

　　研究人员调查了在外向性、情绪稳定性、随和性、责任心、自我报告式理解力、智力、想象力和对不同经历的开放性方面的差异。他们分析了有不同的兄弟姐妹搭配、年龄差距和手足人数的家庭。但无论怎么拼接数据，他们都看不到出生顺序和性格特征之间的任何联系。

　　The study, in Proceedings⁸ of the National Academy of Sciences, did find evidence that older children have a slight advantage in IQ scores, but the difference was apparent only in a large sample, with little significance for any individual.

　　在《美国国家科学院院刊》(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)上刊登的该项研究，确实发现证据表明年龄较大的儿童有轻微的智商优势，但差异只有在大样本才明显，对个人来说意义不大。

　　The lead author, Julia M. Rohrer, a graduate student at the University of Leipzig, said that birth order can have an effect — if your older brother bullied⁹ you, for example.

　　主要作者、莱比锡大学(University of Leipzig)的研究生朱莉娅·M·罗勒(Julia M. Rohrer)说，出生顺序就可能会有影响，比如你的哥哥可能会欺负你。

　　“But these effects are highly idiosyncratic,” she said. “There is no such thing as a typical older, middle or younger sibling⁵. It’s important to stop believing that you are the way you are because of birth order.”

　　“但这些影响不具普遍性，”她说。“没有哪些性格特质专属于某个兄弟姐妹排行。重要的是，不要相信你之所以如此是因为出生顺序的关系。”

1 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

3 extroversion   

n. [心理]外向，[医]外翻 =extraversion

参考例句：

• The contrast between extroversion and introversion is entirely superficial. 在外向和内向之间所作的对比完全是表面的。
• The oft-drawn contrast extroversion and introversion is entirely superficial. 在外向和内向之间通常所作的对比完全是表面的。

4 conscientiousness   

责任心

参考例句：

• Conscientiousness is expected of a student. 学生要诚实。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Only has the conscientiousness, diligently works, can make a more splendid result! 只有脚踏实地，努力工作，才能做出更出色的成绩！ 来自互联网

5 sibling   

n.同胞手足(指兄、弟、姐或妹)

参考例句：

• Many of us hate living in the shadows of a more successful sibling.我们很多人都讨厌活在更为成功的手足的阴影下。
• Sibling ravalry has been common in this family.这个家里，兄弟姊妹之间的矛盾很平常。

6 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

7 spliced   

adj.（针织品）加固的n.叠接v.绞接( splice的过去式和过去分词 )；捻接（两段绳子）；胶接；粘接（胶片、磁带等）

参考例句：

• He spliced the two lengths of film together. 他把两段胶卷粘接起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Have you heard?John's just got spliced. 听说了吗？约翰刚结了婚。 来自辞典例句

8 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

9 bullied   

adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My son is being bullied at school. 我儿子在学校里受欺负。
• The boy bullied the small girl into giving him all her money. 那男孩威逼那个小女孩把所有的钱都给他。 来自《简明英汉词典》