经济学人下载:最美好的时光-年青人的世界

As for the prevalence of drink and sex, peer pressure, advertising and the media play their part, but so too does sheer boredom. Many of the young women, in particular, look back with some regret on very early sexual experiences, and on later ones with virtual strangers. And as for politics, what emerges is a strong feeling of disempowerment and distrust. Relatively few young people think they know or can do much about what is going on, and most of those who do follow current events and vote seem to take things no further.

至于普遍的饮酒和性行为，来自同辈的压力，广告媒体各司其所，但是一旦泛滥，就肯定会令人感到厌倦。尤其是很多年轻的妇女，当她们回想起以前，就会后悔太早有性经历，随后就是后悔与虚幻的陌生人发生关系。至于政治方面，暴露出的现象是他们有一种强烈的被剥夺权利和不被信任的感觉。相对而言，很少的年轻人认为自己知道或可以为正在发生的事做贡献，大部分关注时事和投票的人似乎也没作进一步关注。

Yet “Lost in Transition” is not, in fact, a hand-wringing tale of gloom. Nor is the moral map it describes unique to America; there are many echoes in Britain, which was struggling even before its August riots to understand why so many young people seemed adrift. It is really a warning to parents. In the guise, often, of teaching tolerance, we are failing to ensure that our children understand how to frame moral issues and make judgments about right conduct and about what is good in life. The reason for this, Mr Smith suggests, is that we are not so sure ourselves.

然而，事实上，“迷失在转型之途”并不是对阴暗面的流言的绝望。也不是仅仅描写美国人的道德风貌；这也使很多欧洲人产生了共鸣，甚至在八月骚乱之前，欧洲已经致力于了解为何那么多年轻人好像都漫无目的的。这敲醒了家长们的警钟。我们常常只是在表面上教孩子如何宽容，但是我们却不能确保孩子们真的理解如何体现道德问题，以正确的行为做判断以及什么是生活中的善行。史密斯先生表示这其中的原因我们不太确定我们自己。