Young Men As Parents

　　Football star Michael Owen announced last week that, at 22, he will soon follow fellow Englandstar, David Beckham, 27, into the labor-ward1.

　　This impression is backed up2 by a few surveys on the mating habits of young British. In fact,British young men are five times more likely than their Italian contemporaries to have settleddown by 25 .

　　So what is happening? Has the"Loaded"generation3 gone soft? Celebrity has done a service bycasting its limelight on a largely invisible side of fatherhood.

　　When Michael Douglas ( ageing American actor) reveals about the wrinkly end of the paternalexperience, Michael Owen is doing for boy dads.

　　Powerful celebrity role models such as Beckham help young fathers feel less of an alien.Beckham, of course , has no problem with the breadwinner bit, but his distinguishingcharacteristic is his public endorsement of caring fatherhood. For a young dad, this can beliberation.

　　Just 20 percent of teenage fathers remain in touch with the mothers 15 years later. It meansthat 8, 000 children born to teenage dad this year will not be seeing him by the time theythemselves are teenagers.

　　Does this matter to the child? Hugely. According to recent findings by Professor Judy Dunn atthe UK's Institute of psychiatry, a close relationship between an estranged father and his childis highly beneficial to a child's development, particularly when the mother became pregnant asa teenager.

　　New research from Bristol University in England suggests that young fatherhood, far from beingproblematic, can bring young, disadvantaged men out of social exclusion.

　　The state has yet to appreciate the potential of young fathers summed up by Michael Owen'swords:"I've had a few exciting moments in my career but nothing that compares to how I feltwhen Louise told me the news. "

　　The example of Michael Owen's public excitement may bolster some isolated young men. Butas long as to many other people and institutions are ambivalent about his role and fail to offera helping hand, that figure of 8, 000 children in the UK4 losing their young dads by theirteenage years is unlikely to fall.

　　練習題：

　　Ⅰ. True or False:

　　1. Young men in UK is less likely to get married before 25 than those in Italy.

　　2. Celebrity’s way of life can affect average person.

　　3. Though father of two children, Beckham never supports caring fatherhood.

　　4. 20% of the children born to a teenage father will not live with their father when these childrenare in their teenage.

　　5. 80% males who get married in teens will leave their mates in 15 years.

　　Ⅱ. Questions:

　　1. Does Owen think it appropriate to be a young father? Why?

　　2. What will happen if we are reluctant to help young father?

　　Ⅰ. 1. F 2. T 3 . F 4 . F 5. T

　　Ⅱ. 1. Yes, he does. He thinks that fatherhood brings even more excitement than his career.

　　2. More children born to teenage father will lose their father who plays important role in their life.

　　少為人父

　　22歲的足球明星邁克爾· 歐文上星期宣布, 繼27歲的隊友貝克漢姆之后, 他不久也將迎來自己孩子的誕生。

　　一項研究英國年輕人婚戀觀的最新調查證實了人們的猜測。事實上, 英國青年在25歲之前成家的可能性是同齡的意大利人的5倍。

　　這是怎么回事呢? 單身貴族們昏了頭? 明星的生活將人們的視線引到了通常被忽視的少年父親的問題上。

　　美國演員邁克爾· 道格拉斯老年得子, 世人皆知, 而邁克爾· 歐文少為人父, 也給年輕的小伙子們做出了榜樣。

　　貝克漢姆等明星們的做法使少為人父不再那么另類。

　　當然, 貝克漢姆不愁養家糊口, 他與眾不同之處在于, 他公開支持慈父形象。這對一個年輕的父親來說, 是一種思想解放。

　　在少年父親中, 只有20%的人1 5 年后還會與孩子的母親保持聯系。這就意味著今年8000個少年父親生養的孩子, 當他們長到十幾歲時, 父親已經不和他們在一起生活了。

　　這對小孩有影響嗎? 影響很大。英國精神病學學院的朱迪· 頓恩教授最近的調查結果表明, 分居的父親和孩子保持密切的關系, 對孩子的發展非常有益。特別是對母親在十幾歲時懷孕生下他們的那些孩子來說。

　　布里斯托爾大學的最新研究表明, 年輕人當父親有益無害, 能夠使處在弱勢的年輕人走入社會。

　　國家還沒意識到年輕父親的潛能, 用邁克爾· 歐文的話說就是:“ 我的事業中有幾次令人激動的時刻, 但都無法和路易絲告訴我她懷孕的那一刻相比。”

　　歐文公開表現出的興奮可能會激勵某些孤立無援的年輕父親。但是, 只要其他的人和組織對年輕父親的角色有爭議, 沒有伸出援助之手的話, 那么, 對英國8000個年輕父親的孩子來說, 在十幾歲時就失去父親, 這個人數就不會下降。

　　1. labor-ward n. 合成詞, 意思是“產房”。labor 指“( 分娩時的) 陣痛, 陣痛期”, 如: begin / go into /be inlabor ( 開始/進入/ 處于陣痛期) ; She had a difficult labor. ( 她難產。)

　　2. back up 支持或鼓勵某人( 某事) , 如: If I tell the police I was with you that day, will you back meup? ( 假若我對警方說那天我和你在一起, 你肯為我作證嗎?) back 可以和許多詞構成合成詞, 比較常見和精彩的包括: backwater ( 死水, 比喻不受外界的變化、進步、新觀念等影響的地方) ; backbite ( 背后中傷他人) ; backlash ( 回浪, 比喻后果、余波) 。

　　3. 這里指當代西方社會中一批獨身而富有的男青年。類似于我們說的“單身貴族”。

　　4. UK 是縮寫, 全稱是United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ( 大不列顛及北愛爾蘭聯合王國) 。聯合王國由四個部分組成: England ( 英格蘭) 、Scotland ( 蘇格蘭) 、Wales ( 威爾士) 及Northern Ireland ( 北愛爾蘭) 。雖然英國是一個統一的國家, 但是如果一個Scottish ( 蘇格蘭人) 被叫做English 會不高興。其他的民族也是如此, 他們喜歡符合自己民族身份的稱呼。因此無論在翻譯或和他們交往相處時都要特別注意。