The ups and downs of life may seem to have no predictable plan. But scientists now know there are very definite patterns that almost all people share. Even if you've passed some of your "prime", you still have other prime years to experience in the future. Certain important primes seem to peak later in life.

    人生的起伏似乎沒有可預知的模式，但是科學家現在發現有一些模式相當明確，絕大多數人都有不例外。即使你度過了一些最佳時期，你仍然會在將來經歷另外幾個最佳時期。某些最佳期時期似乎在生命的后半段才會到來。

    When are you smartest? From 18-25,according to I.Q.scores;but you're wiser and more experienced with increasing age.

    什么時候你最聰明？根據智商得分，你從15歲至25歲最聰明。然而，隨著年齡增長，你更加具有智慧和經驗。

    You're sharpest in your 20's; around 30, memory begins to decline,particularly your ability to perform mathematical computations. But your I.Q.for other tasks climbs. Your vocabulary at age 45, for example is three times as great as when you graduated from college. At 60, your brain possesses almost four times as much information as it did at age 21. This trade-off between sharpness and wisdom has led psychologists to suggest that "maturity quotients"(M.Q.) be adopted for adults.

    20多歲的時候你的思維最敏捷；30歲左右，記憶力開始衰退，尤其是你的數學計算能力。然而，你做其他事情的智商提高了。例如45歲時你的詞匯量是你剛從大學畢業時的3倍。60歲時你大腦中儲存的信息幾乎是你21歲時的4倍。敏銳和智慧之間的協調，心理學家們就此提出了在成年人在采用“成熟商”這一概念。

    When are you happiest? You have the best physical sense of yourself from 15to 24; the best professional sense from 40 to 49.

    什么時候你的感覺最好？15歲至24歲之間你的身體感覺最好；40歲至49歲之間你對自己的職業感覺最佳。

    Before age 24, we believe that our happiest years are yet to come; over30,we believe that they're behind us.A National Health Survey agrees:After age 30, we "become more realistic and do not view happiness as a goal in itself.If we maintain our health,achieve professional and emotional goals,then happiness,we feel,will follow".

    24歲之前，我們相信自己最快樂的日子尚未到來；過了30歲，我們就認為最快樂的時光已逝去。一項全國性的健康調查也提示了同樣的結果：30歲過后，我們變得更加實際，不把幸福當成生命本身的一種目標。我們認為，只要我們保持健康，事業上、情感上稱心如意，那么我們就覺得幸福便會隨之而來。

    When are you most creative? Generally between 30and 39, but the peak varies with different professions.

    什么時候你最富創造力？一般在30歲至39歲之間。但是不同的職業，高峰期也不相同。

    Mozart wrote a symphony and four sonatas by age eight,and Mendelssohn composed his best known work A Midsummer Night's Dream, at 17, but most of the great music was written by men between 33and 39. Though the peak in most fields comes early--most Nobel prize winners did their top research in their late 20's and 30's--creative people continue to produce quality work throughout their lives. For the "well-conditioned mind", there is no upper limit.

    莫扎特8歲時就創作了一部交響曲、4首奏鳴曲；門德爾松17歲時就完成了他的最著名的作品《仲夏夜之夢》，但是大部分偉大的音樂作品都是人們在33歲至39歲之間創作出來的。雖然大多數領域的最佳狀態來得比較早-----大多數諾貝爾獎獲得者都是25歲以后、30多歲時完成他們最出色的研究的——但是創造型的人會在生命中不斷地完成高質量的工作。對于“狀態良好的大腦”，不存在極限。