雅思阅读 123: The Kids Are Actually All Right

改编自 Scientific American 2026 年真实文章，去广告后按雅思阅读题型出题。

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Reading Passage

If you ask most people how children are doing these days, you will probably hear complaints. Kids today are often portrayed as less mentally healthy, less resilient and less empathetic. A New York Times headline announced "America's Children Are Unwell." In a 2025 survey, 61 percent of parents said they believe kids today lag behind past generations in morals and values.

But research that does exist suggests a different story. Studies show young people are more empathetic and less narcissistic than in the past, as well as more open-minded and inclusive. Drug use is down, youth violence has dropped and teen pregnancies have declined. IQs have gone up, and kids exhibit more self-restraint and patience than they did 50 years ago.

In 2011, social psychologist Sara Konrath and her colleagues analyzed changes in empathy among nearly 14,000 college students from 1979 to 2009. They found empathy had sharply declined. Their paper led to many articles lamenting the loss of empathy among young people.

Then, in 2025, Konrath updated her analysis through 2018. She discovered that 2007 was actually the lowest point for empathy. Levels then shot back up. A decade later, empathy in young people was higher than it had been at any time in the previous 39 years.

This more positive discovery received far less media coverage than the 2011 paper. "I have to say that I've noticed good news is not as popular as bad news," Konrath says. Recent science supports this: a 2025 study found that negative, alarming articles about children are more likely to go viral than nuanced, balanced stories.

Konrath has also studied narcissism. A 2021 study she co-authored found that narcissism among US college students increased from 1982 to 2009, then started declining through 2016. Kids today are also highly interested in helping others: 73 percent of nearly 700 adolescents surveyed had volunteered or given to charity.

Young people today also appear more accepting of others. A 2019 study analyzed over four million tests of attitudes administered between 2007 and 2016 and found substantial declines in anti-gay and racial bias, especially among young people. Studies from Canada and Turkey similarly found that younger generations hold more egalitarian views about gender and are more likely to reject violence against women.

Kids' IQs seem to be increasing, and their emotional-regulation skills are improving. In 1970, Stanford researchers conducted the first Marshmallow Test, which measures delayed gratification. In 2020, psychologist John Protzko analyzed 30 such studies and found that over 50 years, delayed-gratification skills in children under 10 had improved. Whereas children in the past could wait about three minutes for a second treat, children in 2018 could wait more than eight minutes.

What is driving these positive shifts? Researchers suspect changes in education and parenting styles. In 2000, a landmark report argued that parents and schools need to prioritize children's social and emotional development because these "soft" skills are at least as important as academic skills. The popular narrative that kids are worse than ever may simply reflect cognitive biases and evolutionary tendencies that make older generations remember their own childhood more favorably.

Questions 1-5

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

1. What did the 2011 Konrath study find?

   • A. Empathy had increased.
   • B. Empathy had sharply declined.
   • C. Narcissism had decreased.
   • D. Drug use had risen.

2. When did empathy reach its lowest point?

   • A. 2018.
   • B. 2009.
   • C. 2007.
   • D. 1979.

3. What did the 2025 update find?

   • A. Empathy continued to decline.
   • B. Empathy rebounded to the highest level in 39 years.
   • C. Narcissism increased sharply.
   • D. Teen pregnancy rose.

4. In the Marshmallow Test, how long could 2018 children wait?

   • A. About 3 minutes.
   • B. About 8 minutes.
   • C. About 15 minutes.
   • D. About 1 minute.

5. Why does the bad-news narrative persist?

   • A. Because good news rarely goes viral.
   • B. Because children are actually worse.
   • C. Because researchers ignore data.
   • D. Because social media is new.

Questions 6-8

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Write:

• TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
• FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
• NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

6. Most parents in the 2025 survey believed today kids lag behind previous generations in values.
7. Narcissism among US college students has been rising continuously since 1982.
8. Young people today show more self-restraint than children 50 years ago.

Questions 9-13

Complete the summary below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Recent studies show young people are more empathetic, less narcissistic and more patient than previous generations. Negative news about children spreads more easily than balanced stories. Changes in parenting and education may explain these positive trends.

Answers

1. B
2. C
3. B
4. B
5. A
6. TRUE
7. FALSE
8. TRUE
9. empathetic
10. negative
11. parenting

Key Vocabulary

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