What Is the Relationship Between Age and Happiness?
年龄和幸福感之间存在着怎样的关联?
Are people less happy or more happy the older they get? If you answered more happy, then you were right, based on a study published two years ago. It found that people generally become happier and experience less worry after age fifty. In fact, it found that by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were at eighteen.
随着年龄的增长，人们是会变得更快乐还是更不快乐？如果你的答案是更快乐，那么根据两年前发表的一项研究显示，你的回答是正确的。据该研究发现，人们在年过五旬后通常会变得更快乐，而烦恼也会更少。事实上，研究发现，人们到85岁后的生活会比18岁时更快乐。
The findings came from a Gallup survey of more than three hundred forty thousand adults in the United States in two thousand eight. At that time, the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty-five.
该研究结果出自2008年盖洛普（一家民意调查机构）对美国34万多名成年人的一项调查。当时，参与调查者的年龄在18岁至85岁之间。
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five. Stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.
纽约州立大学石溪分校精神病学和行为科学系亚瑟·斯通主导了这项研究。他的团队发现，年龄在22至25岁之间的成年人承受的压力最大，而年过五旬后压力则会骤减。
Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. But the people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.The survey also found that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men did.
刚成年者和70岁出头的人幸福感最强，但最不可能自称具有消极情绪的则是七八十岁的人。调查还发现，随着年龄的增长，男性和女性有着相似的情感模式。然而，在所有年龄段中，女性都比男性更为感到悲伤、压力和忧虑。
The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.
研究人员还考虑到育有子女、失业或单身等潜在影响因素。但他们发现，这些因素并不会影响与年龄相关的幸福感水平。
So why would happiness increase with age? One theory is that, as people get older, they become more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
那么幸福感为什么会随着年龄而增长呢？一种理论认为，随着年龄的增长，人们会对自己所拥有的一切更为知足，同时也能更好地控制自己的情绪。他们也会花更少的时间去回想不好的经历。这项研究最终发表在《美国科学院院报》上。
Happiness is not the only thing that apparently improves with age. In a study published this year, people in their eighties reported the fewest problems with the quality of their sleep.
随着年龄的增长，人们有所提升的不仅仅是幸福感。据今年发表的一项研究显示，80多岁的人自称的睡眠质量问题最少。
Researchers surveyed more than one hundred fifty thousand American adults. The study, led by Michael Grandner at the University of Pennsylvania, appeared in the journal Sleep.
研究人员对美国超过15万名成年人进行了调查研究。该研究由宾夕法尼亚大学的迈克尔·格兰德纳主导，研究结果最终发表在《睡眠》杂志上。
The original goal was to confirm the popular belief that aging is connected with increased sleep problems. The survey did find an increase during middle age, especially in women. But except for that, people reported that they felt their sleep quality improved as they got older.
研究最初的目的是为了证实人们普遍认为的一种观点，即睡眠问题会随年龄的增长而增多。调查确实发现，中年人（尤其是中年女性）的睡眠问题会随年龄的增长而增多。但除此之外，人们都自称，随着年龄的增长，他们感觉自己的睡眠质量有所改善。
(全文共402个词，标红单词为考研重难点词汇)
重难点词汇：
sharply [ˈʃɑːrpli] adv. 急剧地；锐利地
negative [ˈneɡətɪv] adj. 负的；消极的；否定的
apparently [əˈpærəntli] adv. 显然地；似乎
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