该怎么选专业？

长期以来，家长们一直在引导孩子进入科学技术领域，时至今日，其中一些孩子已经长大成人，甚至有了自己的孩子。他们的建议是什么？

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. Which of the following best describes Dan Dumont's evolving perspective on his children's future?

A. He still believes tech careers offer the best opportunities.

B. He regrets choosing a tech career and wants his children to avoid it.

C. He is uncertain and seeks validation from AI for his parenting choices. 

D. He acknowledges a changing landscape and considers alternative paths.

无注释原文：

Parents in Tech Want Their Kids to Go Into the Arts Instead

From: The Wall Street Journal

Parents have been steering their children into science and technology fields for so long that some of those kids are grown with little ones of their own. Their advice? Careers in the humanities, arts or skilled trades might be safer bets for the next generation.

Bots that write software and perform surgical tasks inspire fear that today's glut of STEM majors are in a bubble, kind of like their predecessors who flooded finance programs in the roaring '80s. From 2009 to 2022, the number of bachelor's degrees awarded in computer science nearly tripled, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

If the people who work on tech's cutting edge think their children should reverse course, then maybe the rest of us ought to reconsider our parental guidance.

Dan Dumont recently did what any responsible engineering director would do: He asked his favorite artificial-intelligence assistant whether his children, ages 2 and 1, should follow in his footsteps.

Maybe not, the bot warned. It recommended fostering creativity and people skills, while stopping short of prescribing specific jobs for the toddlers.

The advice jolted Dumont, 38, who works at a software startup in Greater Boston. He thought back to his time at a vocational school in Massachusetts two decades ago, when he felt confident that enrolling in college and launching a tech career was more promising than the blue-collar paths of most classmates. His professional life has generally reinforced that belief.

Now, as he and his wife mull a home renovation with their third child due this summer, he suspects the odds could be different for his kids.

“Maybe they should be contractors or electricians,” he says. “Maybe we shouldn't push them into technology.”

More parents are coming to the same conclusion, says David Ferreira, spokesman for the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators, whose members include the leaders of Dumont's alma mater and 70 other schools. He says vocational school was long looked-down-on in a state known as a science and tech hub.

“It was where other people's kids went—kids who learned with their hands and who were not college material,” he says of many white-collar parents' thinking.

Not anymore. Ferreira says 1 in 5 Massachusetts high-schoolers is in a vocational program, about 30% more than a decade ago. And trade schools that used to accept virtually everyone now have hundreds of teens on wait lists. Demand is so high that several mainstream public high schools in the state are reviving or expanding shop classes, part of a nationwide trend.

Parents who pictured their children in desk jobs are drawn to vocational education because the schools have upped their academic standards and provide a hands-on hedge against AI, according to Ferreira.

“They see a dual pathway where their kids can go to this kind of school and have options at the end,” he says. “They're qualified to go on to college or go directly into the workforce.”

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为华尔街日报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Parents in Tech Want Their Kids to Go Into the Arts Instead

From: The Wall Street Journal

Parents have been steering their children into science and technology fields for so long that some of those kids are grown with little ones of their own. Their advice? Careers in the humanities, arts or skilled trades might be safer bets for the next generation.

长期以来，家长们一直在引导孩子进入科学技术领域，时至今日，其中一些孩子已经长大成人，甚至有了自己的孩子。他们的建议是什么？对于下一代来说，从事人文、艺术或技术工人工作或许是更安全的选择。

steer /stɪər/ 1）表示“引导，带领”，英文解释为“to take someone or something or make someone or something go in the direction in which you want him, her, or it”举个🌰：She steered her guests into the dining room. 她把客人们领到餐厅。

2）表示“驾驶”，英文解释为“When you steer a car, boat, or plane, you control it so that it goes in the direction that you want.”举个🌰：He steered the boat into the harbour. 他把船开进港。

(the) humanities 表示“人文学科（如文学、语言、历史、哲学等）”，英文解释为“the study of subjects such as literature, language, history, and philosophy”举个🌰：I've always been more interested in the humanities than the sciences. 我一直对人文学科比对自然科学更感兴趣。

trade /treɪd/ 熟词僻义，表示“（尤指需要特殊技术和手工劳动的）职业，行当”，英文解释为“a job, especially one that needs special skill, that involves working with your hands”举个🌰：She went to college to learn a trade. 她去一家技术学院学一门手艺。

Bots that write software and perform surgical tasks inspire fear that today's glut of STEM majors are in a bubble, kind of like their predecessors who flooded finance programs in the roaring '80s. From 2009 to 2022, the number of bachelor's degrees awarded in computer science nearly tripled, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

机器人已经会编写软件，会做外科手术，这不禁使人担心如今STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学的缩写）专业过剩的局面已经产生了泡沫，有点像上世纪80年代年轻人对金融专业趋之若鹜的情况。美国国家教育统计中心(National Center for Education Statistics)的数据显示，从2009年到2022年，被授予计算机科学学士学位的学生数量几乎增长了两倍。

surgical /ˈsɜː.dʒɪ.kəl/ 表示“（外科）手术用的；手术的，外科手术的”，英文解释为“used for medical operations”如：surgical supplies / instruments / gloves 手术器材 / 器械 / 手套（等等）。

glut /ɡlʌt/ 表示“供过于求，供应过剩”，英文解释为“a supply of something that is much greater than can be sold or is needed or wanted”举个🌰：The fall in demand for coffee could cause a glut on/in the market. 咖啡需求减少会导致市场供应过剩。

predecessor /ˈpriː.dɪˌses.ər/ 表示“前任，前辈；原有事物，前身”，英文解释为“someone who had a job or a position before someone else, or something that comes before another thing in time or in a series”

📍successor表示“继任者，接替者；继承人；接替的事物”，英文解释为“someone or something that comes after another person or thing”举个🌰：This range of computers is very fast, but their successors will be even faster. 这个系列的电脑速度很快，但它的换代产品速度会更快。

roaring /ˈrɔː.rɪŋ/ 表示“喧嚣的，轰鸣的；强烈的，热烈的”，英文解释为“loud and powerful”如：the roaring wind 怒号的大风 如：a roaring fire 熊熊大火。

bachelor /ˈbætʃ.əl.ər/ 表示“独身男子，单身汉”，英文解释为“a man who has never married”

bachelor's degree /ˌbætʃ.əl.əz dɪˈɡriː/ 表示“学士学位”，英文解释为“a first degree at college or university”

📍词根“bachelor”源自中世纪拉丁语“baccalarius”，最初指小农场的主人。后来指未婚男士，也用于指学士学位。

triple /ˈtrɪp.əl/ 表示“（使）成三倍，（使）增加两倍”，英文解释为“to increase three times in size or amount, or to make something do this”举个🌰：We have tripled our output over the past two years. 过去两年里，我们的产量增加了两倍。

If the people who work on tech's cutting edge think their children should reverse course, then maybe the rest of us ought to reconsider our parental guidance.

如果那些在科技前沿工作的人认为他们的孩子应该改变就业方向，那么也许我们这些门外汉也应该重新考虑对孩子的就业指导。

cutting-edge /ˌkʌt.ɪŋˈedʒ/ 表示“尖端的，前沿的”，英文解释为“Cutting-edge techniques or equipment are the most advanced that there are in a particular field.”举个🌰：What we are planning is cutting-edge technology never seen before. 我们正在筹划的是前所未见的尖端技术。

🎬电影《像素大战》（Pixels）中的台词提到：I'm thinking this is a cutting-edge multinational enterprise. 我想是某先进跨国组织干的。

📍state-of-the-art表示“（技术上）最先进的”，英文解释为“If you describe something as state-of-the-art, you mean that it is the best available because it has been made using the most modern techniques and technology.”

📍leading edge表示“（某活动领域的）最重要位置，领先地位；（尤指技术上的）前沿，尖端”，英文解释为“The leading edge of a particular area of research or development is the area of it that seems most advanced or sophisticated.”如：at the leading edge of scientific research 在科学研究的前沿。

1）表示“失败；挫折”，英文解释为“a defeat or failure”举个🌰：They suffered a serious military reverse. 他们遭受了一次重大的军事失败。

2）作动词，表示“（使）反向；（使）倒转；彻底改变；推翻”，英文解释为“to change the direction, order, position, result, etc. of something to its opposite”举个🌰：The new manager hoped to reverse the decline in the company's fortunes. 新经理希望能够扭转公司江河日下的状况。

Dan Dumont recently did what any responsible engineering director would do: He asked his favorite artificial-intelligence assistant whether his children, ages 2 and 1, should follow in his footsteps.

丹·杜蒙特(Dan Dumont)最近做了一件任何负责任的工程总监都会做的事情：他问自己最喜欢的AI助手，他的两个孩子（分别只有2岁和1岁）是否应该继承他的衣钵。

Maybe not, the bot warned. It recommended fostering creativity and people skills, while stopping short of prescribing specific jobs for the toddlers.

也许不应该这么做，这个机器人警告说。它建议培养孩子的创造力和人际交往能力，但并没有为这两名幼儿指定具体工作。

recommend /ˌrek.əˈmend/ 表示“推荐，介绍；建议”，英文解释为“to suggest that someone or something would be good or suitable for a particular job or purpose, or to suggest that a particular action should be done”举个🌰：I can recommend the chicken in mushroom sauce - it's delicious. 我可以向您推荐蘑菇汁鸡肉——这道菜非常可口。

📍单词“recommend”由词根“-mend”（来自拉丁语“mendare”，表示“赞扬”）和前缀“reco-”（表示强调）组成。

foster /ˈfɒs.tər/ 作动词，表示“鼓励；促进；培养”，英文解释为“to encourage the development or growth of ideas or feelings”举个🌰：I'm trying to foster an interest in classical music in my children. 我正努力培养我的孩子们对古典音乐的兴趣。

作形容词，表示“（在有限的一段时间内）（所）收养的，（所）代养的”，英文解释为“used to refer to someone or something connected with the care of children, usually for a limited time, by someone who is not the child's legal parent”如：a foster care/home/child/mother 非亲代养/寄养家庭/代养的孩子/养母。

1) 表示“开（药、处方）”，英文解释为“If a doctor prescribes medicine or treatment for you, he or she tells you what medicine or treatment to have.”举个🌰：The physician examines the patient then diagnoses the disease and prescribes medication. 内科医生检查了病人，然后对疾病作出诊断，并开出药方。

2) 表示“规定，指定”，英文解释为“If a person or set of laws or rules prescribes an action or duty, they state that it must be carried out.”如：Article II of the constitution, which prescribes the method of electing a president 规定总统选举办法的宪法第二条。

📍prescriptions 处方药；处方

toddler /ˈtɒdlə/ 表示“学步的儿童”，英文解释为“A toddler is a young child who has only just learned to walk or who still walks unsteadily with small, quick steps.”举个🌰：I had a toddler at home and two other children at school. 我有一个刚学步的孩子在家中，另外两个孩子在学校。

🎬电影《相助》（The Help）中的台词提到：She's trying to blame it on a toddler. 她想把错赖在小孩子身上。

The advice jolted Dumont, 38, who works at a software startup in Greater Boston. He thought back to his time at a vocational school in Massachusetts two decades ago, when he felt confident that enrolling in college and launching a tech career was more promising than the blue-collar paths of most classmates. His professional life has generally reinforced that belief.

这个建议让38岁的杜蒙特大吃一惊，他在大波士顿地区的一家软件初创公司工作。他回想起20年前在马萨诸塞州一所职业学校上学的时光，当时他自信地认为，考上大学并投身科技生涯会比大多数同学的蓝领生涯更有前途。他后来的职业生涯也大体强化了这种信念。

jolt /dʒəʊlt/ 作名词，1）表示“震动，剧烈晃动；颠簸”，英文解释为“a sudden violent movement”举个🌰：As the plane touched the ground, there was a massive jolt and we were thrown forwards. 飞机着陆时剧烈震动，我们被猛地甩向前方。

2）表示“（一阵强烈的感情）震惊，惊讶”，英文解释为“an unpleasant shock or surprise”举个🌰：His self-confidence took a sudden jolt with the news that he had not been selected. 他未被选中的消息使他的自信心遭受意外打击。

表示“（使）加入；注册；招（生）；吸收”，英文解释为“If you enrol or are enrolled at an institution or in a class, you officially join it.”举个🌰：I was enrolled at the University in 2016. 我是2016年上大学的。

blue-collar /ˌbluːˈkɒl.ər/ 表示“蓝领阶级的，从事体力劳动的”，英文解释为“Blue-collar workers do work needing strength or physical skill rather than office work.”

Now, as he and his wife mull a home renovation with their third child due this summer, he suspects the odds could be different for his kids.

现在，他和妻子正在考虑装修房子以迎接今年夏天出生的第三个孩子，他开始怀疑他的孩子们今后会有不同的际遇。

一般是 mull sth over，表示“仔细思考，反复考虑”，英文解释为“to think carefully about something for a long time”举个🌰：I need a few days to mull things over before I decide if I'm taking the job. 在决定是否做这份工作前，我需要几天时间仔细考虑。

“Maybe they should be contractors or electricians,” he says. “Maybe we shouldn't push them into technology.”

“也许他们应该去做承包商或电工，”他说。“也许我们不应该推着他们从事科技行业。”

contractor /kənˈtræk.tər/ 表示“承包人；承包商；承包方；订约人”，英文解释为“a person or company that arranges to supply materials or workers for building or for moving goods”

More parents are coming to the same conclusion, says David Ferreira, spokesman for the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators, whose members include the leaders of Dumont's alma mater and 70 other schools. He says vocational school was long looked-down-on in a state known as a science and tech hub.

越来越多的父母正在得出同样的结论，马萨诸塞州职业管理者协会(Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators)的发言人戴维·费雷拉(David Ferreira)表示。该协会的成员包括杜蒙特的母校和其他70所学校的管理者。他说，在这个以科技中心著称的州，职业学校长期以来一直被轻视。

alma mater /ˌæl.məˈmɑː.tər/ 表示“母校”，英文解释为“the school, college, or university where you studied”

“It was where other people's kids went—kids who learned with their hands and who were not college material,” he says of many white-collar parents' thinking.

“这是别人家孩子去的地方——这些孩子学习动手技能，他们不是读大学的料，”他在谈到许多白领家长的想法时这样说道。

Not anymore. Ferreira says 1 in 5 Massachusetts high-schoolers is in a vocational program, about 30% more than a decade ago. And trade schools that used to accept virtually everyone now have hundreds of teens on wait lists. Demand is so high that several mainstream public high schools in the state are reviving or expanding shop classes, part of a nationwide trend.

如今的情况已大不相同。费雷拉说，马萨诸塞州五分之一的高中生都参加了职业教育项目，大约比十年期增加了30%。过去的职业学校基本上来者不拒，只要报名就会被录取，而现在有几百个年轻人在候补名单上排队。由于需求旺盛，该州几所公立普通高中正在恢复或扩大手工课程，顺应了全国范围内的大趋势。

Parents who pictured their children in desk jobs are drawn to vocational education because the schools have upped their academic standards and provide a hands-on hedge against AI, according to Ferreira.

那些原本设想孩子从事办公室工作的家长之所以选择职业教育，是因为这些学校提高了学术标准，通过提供手工课程来对冲AI时代的风险，费雷拉表示。

hedge /hedʒ/ 1）表示“树篱”，英文解释为“a row of bushes or small trees planted close together, usually along the edge of a field, garden/yard or road”，也可以表示“保护（或控制、限制）手段”，英文解释为“a way of protecting, controlling, or limiting something”

2）表示“保护（或控制、限制）手段”，英文解释为“a way of protecting, controlling, or limiting something”

3）作动词，hedge against表示“防备（尤指金钱损失）；采取保护措施（尤指为避免损失金钱）”，英文解释为“to do sth to protect yourself against problems, especially against losing money”如：a way of hedging against currency risks 避免货币风险的保值措施，举个🌰： You can hedge against illness with insurance. 你可以买保险以备治疗患病之需。

📍hedge fund 表示“对冲基金”（A hedge fund is an investment fund that invests large amounts of money using methods that involve a lot of risk.）

📍《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述石油价格战的文章中提到：It will not collapse; many shale firms are hedged against falling prices this year. 页岩油产业不会崩溃，许多页岩油公司都对今年的油价下跌做了对冲。

“They see a dual pathway where their kids can go to this kind of school and have options at the end,” he says. “They're qualified to go on to college or go directly into the workforce.”

“他们看到了一条双轨路径：孩子可以先上这种学校，毕业后再做出选择。他们既有资格继续上大学，也可以直接就业。”

qualify /ˈkwɒl.ɪ.faɪ/ 1）表示“（使）具有资格，（使）合格”，英文解释为“to successfully finish a training course so that you are able to do a job; to have or achieve the necessary skills, etc.”举个🌰：She hopes to qualify (as a teacher) at the end of the year. 她希望在年底获得（教师）资格。

🎬电影《合伙人》（The Company Men）中的台词提到：We're not going to be able to qualify for another house on just my salary. 只靠我的薪水我们不可能再成功申请房贷。

2）表示“达标；获得参赛资格”，英文解释为“to be of a high enough standard to enter a competition; to defeat another person or team in order to enter or continue in a competition”举个🌰：He failed to qualify. 他未能获得参赛资格。

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