四六级

　　Since 1980 China has had a one-child policy. The result is that traditionally large families have turned into 1)inverted pyramids with multiple grandparents for every treasured little one, a child on whom much attention is 2)lavished and of whom great things are expected

　　自1980年起，中国实行独生子女政策。其结果是传统的大家庭变成了倒置的金字塔，在这个金字塔里，每一个宝贝小孩子都有几个祖辈老人，过多的注意力都集中在一个小孩身上，同时，很多期望也寄托在一个小孩身上。

　　This is the Long Yun Guzheng Training Academy. It's a private music school where girls learn to play the Guzheng. The school is run by Ms. Long, herself a fine 3)soloist, who has even toured in the U.S. I asked her how many of the students are only children.

　　这里是成都的龙韵古筝艺术培训中心。这是一家教女孩子学习弹奏古筝的私立音乐培训机构。这个培训中心是由龙德君女士开办的，龙女士本身就是一名优秀的古筝演奏家，她还曾经在美国作巡回演出。我问她，学琴的学生当中有多少是独生子女。

　　Long Dejun: (via translator) All of the students in this school are only children. We have 300 student a little over 300.

　　龙德君：(通过翻译)这里全部的学生都是独生子女。我们有三百名学生，三百略多一点。

　　Ms. Long says the pressure that only children can feel might be too much for some student but it might actually make others work harder.

　　龙女士说独生子女受到的压力对于一些学生来说可能难以承受，但也可能使另外一些学生更加刻苦用功。

　　In this practice room, three girls age six, six and a half, and ten play in 4)unison with a 5)metronome keeping time. Each is perched on her three-legged stool in front of her instrument. The six-and-a-half-year-old in the front chair is so little her feet don't reach the ground. As the children take their lesson the parents or grandparents who brought them wait. A few told us their kids practice at least an hour a day. I asked Ye Ping about the phenomenon of so many only children. She's an accountant who is waiting for her 10-year-old daughter. She said, ye these kids live under a great deal of pressure.

　　在这个琴房里，三个女孩子的年龄分别是六岁、六岁半和十岁，她们在节拍器的帮助下练习合奏。每个女孩子都坐在琴前的三脚凳上。那个六岁半的小女孩儿身体太矮小了，她的脚都够不着地。而在孩子们练琴的时候，把她们送来的父母或者家里的老人则在一旁等候。有几个人告诉我们，他们的孩子一天至少要练一个小时的琴。我向叶萍(音译)问起她对独生子女现象的看法。她是一名会计师，正在等她十岁的女儿。她说，是的，这些孩子都在巨大的压力下生活。

　　Ye Ping: (via translator) Children here don't have a very happy childhood.

　　叶萍：(通过翻译)这里的孩子没有一个开心的童年。

　　Reporter: What would be a better word to describe their childhood?

　　记者：你觉得什么词描述他们的童年会更合适?

　　Ye Ping: (via translator) Hard work.

　　叶萍：(通过翻译)辛苦。

　　Song Daode is a 66-year-old retiree who happily admits to 6)doting full time on his 12-year-old granddaughter. She's his only grandchild. He says many more people now can provide their kids with a good education and they feel that they have to so that their children can compete.

　　宋道德(音译)是一名六十六岁的退休人员，他很乐意承认自己把全部时间都花在他十二岁的孙女身上，她也是他惟一的孙辈。他说，现在有更多的人有条件让自己的孩子接受良好的教育，他们觉得如果想让自己的孩子将来能与他人竞争，就必须这么做。

　　Song Daode: (via translator) The big difference between China and other countries is that there are so many of u so the pressures on the children are so much greater. I've been to Singapore and they don't have as many people. Pressure on their students is not as great as here. In China, the pressure to study is great. So we parents and grandparents are all running around in circles for our kids.

　　宋道德：(通过翻译)中国与其他国家的一个很大的不同点就是中国人太多了，因此孩子要承受的压力就更大了。我去过新加坡，他们没有那么多人，因此他们学生的压力就不像这里的学生压力大。在中国，小孩的学习压力很大，所以我们这些父母和老人全部都为孩子忙得团团转。