262. The world is divided between Askers and Guessers. Askers feel no shame when making requests and are willing to be told no without being hurt. They'll invite themselves over as a guest for a week. They have no compunction about asking and do not take offense when they are refused.
compunction 内疚，后悔，懊悔; a guilty feeling
without compunction, feel no compunction, has no compunction
take offense 生气,见怪,动怒，感到自己受到了侮辱
263. Guessers hate asking for favors and feel guilty when saying no to other people's requests. In Guess culture, you avoid putting a request into words unless you're sure the answer will be yes. In Guess culture you never say no to someone else directly. You make excuses. Every request, made or received, is fraught with emotional and social peril.
be fraught with 充满，带有，预示着
peril 危险; 冒险
264. He would take charge of some field - movies, TV, music, design, fashion, or something else, and impose his delightful sensibility on grateful world.
take charge of 负责; 担任; 照管; 监理
265. Cities have become the career dressing rooms for young adults. They have become the place where people go in their twenties to try on different identities. Then once they know who they are, they leave.
266. He dreamed of finding some calling that would end all uncertainty and would give his life meaning. He longed for some theme that would connect one event in his life to another and replace the jarring sensation he had that each of his moments was unconnected to what came before and after.
jarring 不和谐的
267. You can only discover your vocation by doing it, and seeing if it feels right. There is no substitute for the process of trying on different lives and waiting to find one that fits.
277. There used to be four life phases - childhood, adolescent, adulthood, and old age. Now there are at least six - childhood, adolescence, odyssey, adulthood, active retirement, and old age. Odyssey is the decade of wandering that occurs between adolescence and adulthood.
278. Adulthood can be defined by four accomplishments: moving away from home, getting married, starting a family, and becoming financially independent.
279. People around the world are shacking up more and postponing marriage. People around the developed world are spending more years in school and taking more time to finish their education.
shack up 同居，同住;
280. People are living longer, and so have more time to settle on a life course. The economy has become more complicated, with a broader array of career possibilities, so it takes a while for people to find the right one. Society had become more segmented, so it takes longer for people to find the right psychological niche. Women are better educated than before and more likely to be working full-time.
life course 生命历程
array of 一大批
281. Many of these women want to, or feel compelled to, postpone marriage and family until they are professionally established.
be compelled to 迫不得已
282. Earlier generations assumed that a young person should get married and then together as a couple go out and get established in the world. But people in Harold's social class generally took a different view. First you got established. Then when you were secure and could afford a wedding, you got married.
283. It was the debate between freedom and commitment, about whether life is happier footloose or firmly rooted. This is an old debate - the debate between On The Road and It's a Wonderful Life.
footloose 自由自在; 无拘无束; 未婚的; 独身的
284. The next clear finding from research is that people are pretty bad at judging what will make them happy. People vastly overvalue work, money and real estate. They vastly undervalue intimate bonds and the importance of arduous challenges.
arduous [ˈɑ:rdʒuəs] 艰巨的; 努力的
285. He wanted to have a successful marriage. If you have a successful marriage, it doesn't matter how many professional setbacks you endure, you will be reasonably happy. If you have an unsuccessful marriage, it doesn't matter how many career triumphs you record, you will remain significantly unfulfilled.
triumphs [ˈtraɪəmf] 胜利; 巨大的成就
286. He want to find some activity, either a job or hobby, which would absorb all his abilities. He imagined himself working really hard at something, suffering setbacks and frustrations, and then seeing that sweat and toil lead to success and recognition.
toil 长时间苦活，苦工
"通常意义上，人生被划为四个阶段：童年（childhood）, 青春期（adolenscence）, 成年（adulthood）, 老年（old age）. "
"而如今，有人重新划分人生阶段：童年，青春期，奥德赛时期（odyssey), 成年，活跃退休期（active retirement), 老年。"
"或许最让人费解的就是所谓的奥德赛时期，事实上这个时期是我们这代人正在或即将要经历的，不管是心理上，还是实际行动上。"
"奥德修斯于特洛伊攻陷后体验了十年流浪的种种经历，而当我们走出懵懂青涩的青春期，向社会迈出第一步的时候，我们的惆怅茫然，我们的自我探索，应该算得上是一种“流浪”。"
"所谓奥德赛时期，指的是后20几岁，30出头的年轻人。他们大学之后，在工作与学校之间徘徊来徘徊去：时而工作，时而上学。对于他们来说，上学已不再是22 岁之前的专利，而是如同男女朋友一般，可以换来换去。他们当中的很多人在经济上还不能完全独立，还要依赖父母的支持。他们推迟工作，推迟结婚，推迟生子。总之，从大学毕业到成年阶段，这个档期被拉长了五年，七年甚至更长。"
"这一时期，人游走于社会与校园，徘徊于多样的选择；与朋友合租，抑或和父母同住；感受爱情的甜蜜，又饱尝失恋的痛苦；他们不愿过早地安定，他们有些许的壮志未酬，于是婚期可以不断延迟，工作可以不断改变。"
