第一步-听力练习点击下方小程序卡片，先不看字幕听 1-2 遍，再对照字幕听 1 遍，看看哪些地方没有听出来： 第二步：原文阅读独立阅读原文，看看能理解多少：Tangping describes a longing to escape the pressures of modern life in China, where young people are expected to work long hours, buy property, get married and have children. Many people in their 20s and 30s grumble that hard work no longer rewards them with a better quality of life. They have adopted an academic term, neijuan or “involution”, to describe how extra input no longer yields more output. Unlike their parents, who enjoyed a booming economy, they feel that society is stagnating and inequality growing.Other ways of expressing this mood have also become common. One is sang, or “dejected”: many young people now talk of the spread of a “sang culture” in China. They refer to “Buddhist youth”, meaning those who are never disappointed since they want nothing. Some young Chinese call themselves chives, harvested or exploited by firms. As they point out online, it is difficult to harvest chives when they are lying flat. 第三步-精读根据解析，理解原文，并记忆语言点第一段
第一段解释了中国年轻人为什么选择“躺平”。
①Tangping describes a longing to escape the pressures of modern life in China, where young people are expected to work long hours, buy property, get married and have children.
躺平描述了逃避中国当代生活压力的一种渴望，在中国，年轻人要加班、买房、结婚、生孩子。
①句指出什么是“躺平”。
这句话的核心结构是：Tangping describes a longing 躺平描述了一种渴望。所以，tangping 本质上是一种 longing.
什么样的 longing 呢？后面嵌套了一个 to do 结构进行补充：to escape the pressures of modern life in China 为了逃避中国当代生活的压力。
中国青年面临哪些压力呢？China 后面又嵌套了一个 where 引导的定语从句，进行补充：where young people are expected to work long hours, buy property, get married and have children. 在中国，年轻人要加班、买房、结婚、生孩子。
我们再来看一些语言点：longing 是名词，指“渴望”，后面可以加 to do，也可以加 for sth，比如小别胜新婚，好久没见到你的男女朋友，你会：
I felt a longing to throw myself into his arms. 我感到一种渴望，要扑到他怀里去。
好久没回家，你会 be filled with a longing for home 充满对故乡的思念。longing 一词有很多同义替换，比如 desire, craving, thirst, yearning 等，比如，有了社交媒体，你会一直忍不住去刷动态、联系朋友，《经济学人》是这么说的：
Social media creates a craving for connection. 社交媒体带来一种对联系的渴望。
escape the pressures of...可以当成一个语块记下来，表示“逃脱...的压力”，也可以用 get away from the pressures of...替换，看个例句：
It’s an ideal place in which to relax and escape the pressures of modern life. 那是松弛神经、避开现代生活压力的理想地方。
如果表示“应对压力、直面压力”，可以说 cope with, withstand, face, resist the pressures.“加班”除了文中的 work long hours，也可以说 sb be overworked 或 sb overworks，比如：
You've been overworking – why don't you take a week off?你已经劳累过度了 — 为什么不休息一周呢？
②Many people in their 20s and 30s grumble that hard work no longer rewards them with a better quality of life.很多二三十岁的人都抱怨说，努力工作已经不能提高自己的生活质量。
②句解释了中国年轻人选择“躺平”的原因。
这句话的核心结构是：Many people grumble that hard work no longer rewards them with a better quality of life. 许多人抱怨说，努力工作不能再带给他们更好的生活质量。
in their 20s and 30s 是介词后置定语，修饰 Many people，意思是：二三十岁的年轻人。
下面我们来看语言点：in one's 20s 指“20多岁”；“奔三”可以说 in one's late 20s.grumble 指“抱怨”，也可以用 complain 替换。reward sb with sth 很好理解，表示“用sth奖励sb”，比如我们社群会对坚持学习的同学发放优惠券奖励，可以说：
Those with impressive performance will be rewarded with vouchers.表现优秀的学员会得到优惠券奖励。
再比如，在个人品质的写作中，我们可以说：
Our patience / hard work / perseverance will be finally rewarded. 我们的耐心最终会得到回报。
Hard work / Patience / Perseverance builds character, and will be amply rewarded. 努力/耐心/毅力塑造性格，最终会让你有所收获。
③They have adopted an academic term, neijuan or “involution”, to describe how extra input no longer yields more output.
他们用了一个学术术语“内卷”，来描述额外投入无法带来更多收获。
③句介绍了另一个词语：内卷化。
这句话的结构很简单，我们直接来看语言点：adopt 这里不要翻译成“采纳”这么严肃、正式的说法，它本质就是 use 的意思，可以翻译成“使用”。involution 是“内卷”的意思，它源自拉丁文 involutionem，指 rolling up 卷起来。跟它对应的词是 evolution，也就是进化。直观地说，内卷就是“向内演化、绕圈圈”，宽泛一点说，所有无实质意义的消耗都可称为内卷，比如被人标榜的日本“匠人精神”，其实就是一种内卷，一个日本老头，煮饭几十年，成了“煮饭仙人”，虽然各个环节都精益求精，但都是低水平的重复劳动，只在有限的内部展开，不向外扩张，这就是内卷。还有“天妇罗之神”“寿司之神”等，都是一种内卷社会的产物。input 是名词，本义是“输入”，我们经常强调学英语要增加输入，就是 input，与之相对的则是 output “输出”。另外，input 也常常表示时间、知识、劳动力方面的投入，比如《瑞克和莫蒂》第四季中就出现了这个含义：
We owe it all to everyone's input. 我们把成功归功于每个人的努力与付出。
society is stagnating and inequality growing 是一个省略句，省略了 is，我们补充进去：society is stagnating and inequality (is) growing省略的原因是：在英语的平行结构中，如果前后两个句子的谓语动词一样，则把后面的省略，以避免重复，同时也不至于引发歧义。 再看个类似的句子，我们在 16 期精读写作课 中会讲到《经济学人》为袁隆平先生写的讣告，文中有这么一句话：
The leaves were straighter and taller than ordinary, and the grains plumper.比起普通水稻，超级稻的叶片更直更高，谷粒也更饱满。
the grains plumper 省略了 be 动词 were，我们补充进去：The leaves were straighter and taller than ordinary, and the grains (were) plumper.最后我们把这段话再整体看一遍：Tangping describes a longing to escape the pressures of modern life in China, where young people are expected to work long hours, buy property, get married and have children. Many people in their 20s and 30s grumble that hard work no longer rewards them with a better quality of life. They have adopted an academic term, neijuan or “involution”, to describe how extra input no longer yields more output. Unlike their parents, who enjoyed a booming economy, they feel that society is stagnating and inequality growing.躺平描述了逃避中国当代生活压力的一种渴望，在中国，年轻人要加班、买房、结婚、生孩子。很多二三十岁的人都抱怨说，努力工作已经不能提高自己的生活质量。他们用了一个学术术语“内卷”，来描述额外投入无法带来更多收获。他们的父母享受到了经济腾飞的红利，与父母不同，他们觉得社会发展停滞，不平等现象在加剧。
第二段
第二段描述了表达“躺平”心态的其它词语。
①Other ways of expressing this mood have also become common.
关于这种情绪的其它表达方式也已变得普遍。
①句指出，除了“躺平”，还有其他类似的表达。
this mood 指上段的“逃避生活压力”的情绪。表达“普遍”，除了 common，还可以用以下表达：1）be/become a commonplace
Over the past few years, cheating in the exam has become a commonplace, and thus how to prevent it rushed into the forefront of news and other media.过去几年，考试作弊现象非常普遍，因此如何防止作弊成了新闻和其它媒体的头条内容。
2）become the rule 谈到“沉迷电子设备”或“低头族”的话题，我们可以说：
Today, a growing number of youngsters are playing on their phones while walking on the street, with their heads bowed and eyes glued. That has become the rule over the past few years.当今，街上越来越多的年轻人一边走一边目不转睛的低头玩手机。最近几年，这种现象已变得非常普遍。
3）become routine看《经济学人》里的一句话：
But if the idea can be applied to industrial practice, then long-lived, self-cleaning surfaces may at last become routine.不过，假如这个创意能够应用于工业实践，使用寿命长且有自洁功能的表面也许终会变得司空见惯。
4）be not new英国《金融时报》中有篇文章报道了印度的考试作弊现象，文中有这么一句话：
Cheating in college admissions, or accusations of it, is not new in India. 在印度，高校入学舞弊，或指控有这种行为，都不是什么新鲜事。
②One is sang, or “dejected”: many young people now talk of the spread of a “sang culture” in China.
一个是“丧”：现在很多年轻人都会谈到中国“丧文化”的发展。
②-⑤句对①句展开，其中②句讲了第一个表达：丧。
or “dejected 是对 sang 的解释，dejected 根据前缀“de-”就可以判断出，这个词的感情色彩是向下的、负面的，词典中对它的解释是 unhappy and disappointed 垂头丧气的，比如我上篇公众号推文被恶意投诉了，我就 felt dejected 感到情绪低落。
③They refer to “Buddhist youth”, meaning those who are never disappointed since they want nothing.
他们还提到“佛系青年”一词，指那些无所期待、亦无所失望的年轻人。
③句讲了另一个表达：佛系青年。
refer to 在这里是 mention 的意思，“提及”，也可以用上句的 talk of 替换。Buddhist 是“佛门弟子”，“佛教”是 Buddhism.meaning those who are never disappointed since they want nothing 是对“Buddhist youth”的解释，即，佛教青年指那些无所期待、亦无所失望之人。
④Some young Chinese call themselves chives, harvested or exploited by the firms.
有些中国青年称自己为“韭菜”，被企业收割、剥削。
④句讲了本段第三个表达：韭菜。
chives 读音为 [tʃaɪvz]，是“韭菜”的意思，复数名词。harvested or exploited by the firms 是过去分词作 chives 的后置定语，进行修饰，我们可以还原成定语从句的形式：Some young Chinese call themselves chives, which are harvested or exploited by the firms.一些中国青年自称为韭菜，被企业收割、剥削。韭菜本是股市中对散户的一种戏称，因为韭菜能被多次收割、割完一茬又一茬，所以常暗指散户被庄家收割之后，又有一批新股民涌进，再次被收割。现在这个词的适用范围扩大，常比喻被大企业剥削的社会底层人民。
⑤As they point out online, it is difficult to harvest chives when they are lying flat.
正如他们在网上指出的那样，当你躺平后，就不会被割韭菜了。
⑤句解释了年轻人为什么会躺平：不会被割韭菜，呼应了上一段内容。
lying flat 呼应了上段的 tangping，flat 是形容词“平的”意思，比如车胎爆了，就可以说 I had a flat tire.flat 也可以用来形容情绪、市场低迷，比如受疫情和加息政策的影响，房地产市场持续低迷，我们可以说：
The housing market has been flat for months. 房地产市场已有好几个月处于低迷状态。
再比如开完 party 一个人从闹哄哄的环境中回到自己清冷的小窝，会突然感到心情 down 下去，可以说：
I felt very flat after my friends had gone home. 朋友们回家后，我感到兴味索然。
最后，我们把这段话再整体看一遍：Other ways of expressing this mood have also become common. One is sang, or “dejected”: many young people now talk of the spread of a “sang culture” in China. They refer to “Buddhist youth”, meaning those who are never disappointed since they want nothing. Some young Chinese call themselves chives, harvested or exploited by the government and firms. As they point out online, it is difficult to harvest chives when they are lying flat.关于这种情绪的其它表达方式也已变得普遍。一个是“丧”：现在很多年轻人都会谈到中国“丧文化”的发展。他们还提到“佛系青年”一词，指那些无所期待、亦无所失望的年轻人。有些中国青年称自己为“韭菜”，被企业收割、剥削。正如他们在网上指出的那样，当你躺平后，就不会被割韭菜了。 今天就讲到这里，欢迎大家在留言区分享你最近学到的表达或句型，点赞最多的五位同学可获得 6.6 元红包奖励~感谢阅读！