每日英語 #098: Winter Babies Versus Summer Babies

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Winter Babies Versus Summer Babies

According to some researchers, if you are born in the winter months in the United States, you will, “on average” (as a group), do more poorly in life in many ways compared to someone born in the summer months. You will do worse in school, get less education, be less healthy, and die earlier than someone who was born in the summer. This strange fact has been known for many years, yet the reasons for it remain something of a mystery.

根據一些研究人員的說法，如果你是在美國的冬季月份出生的，"平均來說"（作為一個群體），你的生活各方面表現將比夏季出生的人更差。你在學校的表現會更差，受教育程度會較低，健康狀況較差，並且壽命可能比夏季出生的人短。這個奇怪的現象已被人們知道很多年，但其原因仍然是一個謎。

A 2009 study reported in the Wall Street Journal mention that there have been different explanations proposed by scientists. A popular explanation for many years was that the problem has to do with compulsory school attendance laws in the US. Something that is “compulsory” is required, something you must do. In most U.S. states, you are required to go to school until at least your 16th birthday. This means that if you “turn” (reach the age of) 16 in, “say” (for example), January, you can leave school in the middle of the year. Since people born in winter months can leave in the middle of the year, they will get less education than someone who was born in the summer months and therefore can’t leave school until the year is over. (Note: Schools also have rules about how old you must be to start school.)

《華爾街日報》2009年的一項研究提到，科學家們提出了不同的解釋。多年來，一個流行的解釋是，這個問題與美國的強制入學法有關。“強制的”是指必須做的事情，在美國大多數州，學生必須上學至少到16歲生日為止。這意味著，如果你“滿”16歲是在“比如說”（舉個例子）一月，那麼你可以在學年中途退學。由於冬季出生的人可以在學年中退學，他們獲得的教育可能會比夏季出生的人少，因為後者必須等到學年結束才能退學。（注意：學校也有規定入學的年齡。）

Some researchers thought that these compulsory attendance laws explained why winter babies did a little worse than summer babies in “academic” (school) achievement. But a 2009 study has found another, more convincing reason: Babies born in the winter come from mothers who are “slightly” (somewhat, a little) less educated, younger, and more likely to be unmarried. Other research tells us that the children of “younger” (especially teenage girls), less educated, single mothers do worse in school and in other areas of life than those who are born to older, more educated, married mothers. (This is a statistical average, of course, and not all children are like this.) So if babies born in the winter have different family backgrounds, this reason may explain their differences in school performance, and not some other reason. A person’s parents’ income, education, and “marital status” (whether they are married or not) can have a significant influence on how well you do in school.

一些研究人員認為，這些強制入學法律解釋了為什麼冬季出生的孩子在學業上比夏季出生的孩子表現稍差。但2009年的一項研究發現了另一個更具說服力的原因：冬季出生的嬰兒來自“略微”（有點）受教育程度較低、年齡較小、且未婚的母親。其他研究告訴我們，年輕（尤其是青少年）的、受教育程度較低的單親母親的孩子在學校和生活的其他領域表現較差，與那些來自年齡較大、受過良好教育且已婚母親的孩子相比。（當然，這只是統計上的平均數，並不是所有孩子都這樣。）因此，如果冬季出生的嬰兒有不同的家庭背景，這可能就解釋了他們在學校表現上的差異，而不是其他原因。一個人的父母的收入、教育程度和“婚姻狀況”（他們是否結婚）對孩子的學校表現有著顯著的影響。

重點單字

• On average /ɒn ˈævərɪdʒ/ - 平均來說
• Compulsory /kəmˈpʌlsəri/ - 強制的
• Turn (age) /tɜːrn/ - 滿（某個年齡）
• Academic /ˌækəˈdemɪk/ - 學業的
• Slightly /ˈslaɪtli/ - 稍微地
• Marital status /ˈmærɪtəl ˈsteɪtəs/ - 婚姻狀況