何时是生命中的最佳时期？

 人生的起伏似乎没有可预知的模式，但是科学家现在发现有一些模式相当明确，绝大多数人都不例外。即使你度过了一些最佳时期，你仍然会在将来经历另外几个最佳时期。某些最佳期时期似乎在生命的后半段才会到来。

　　The ups and downs of life may seem to have no predictable plan. But scientists now know there are very definite patterns that almost all people share. Even if you've passed some of your "prime", you still have other prime years to experience in the future. Certain important primes seem to peak later in life.

　　When are you smartest? From 18―25, according to I.Q. scores; but you're wiser and more experienced with increasing age.

　　You're sharpest in your 20's; around 30, memory begins to decline, particularly your ability to perform mathematical computations. But your I.Q. for other tasks climbs. Your vocabulary at age 45, for example is three times as great as when you graduated from college. At 60, your brain possesses almost four times as much information as it did at age 21. This trade-off between sharpness and wisdom has led psychologists to suggest that "maturity¹ quotients" (M.Q.) be adopted for adults.

　　When are you happiest? You have the best physical sense of yourself from 15to 24; the best professional sense from 40 to 49.

　　Before age 24, we believe that our happiest years are yet to come; over30, we believe that they're behind us. A National Health Survey agrees: After age 30, we "become more realistic and do not view happiness as a goal in itself. If we maintain our health, achieve professional and emotional goals, then happiness, we feel, will follow".

　　When are you most creative? Generally between 30 and 39, but the peak varies with different professions.

　　Mozart wrote a symphony and four sonatas² by age eight, and Mendelssohn composed his best known work A Midsummer Night's Dream at 17, but most of the great music was written by men between 33 and 39.Though the peak in most fields comes early――most Nobel prize winners did their top research in their late 20's and 30's――creative people continue to produce quality work throughout their lives. For the "well-conditioned mind", there is no upper limit.

1 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

2 sonatas   

n.奏鸣曲( sonata的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The programme includes two Mozart sonatas. 节目单中有两首莫扎特的奏鸣曲。 来自辞典例句
• He would play complete sonatas for violin and piano with no piano in sight. 他会在没有钢琴伴奏的情况下，演奏完整的小提琴与钢琴合奏的奏鸣曲。 来自辞典例句