On the Overdependence of China’s College Students on Their Parents
　　【精彩范文】
　　On the Overdependence of China’s College Students on Their Parents
　　In the United States, students generally seek an independent life at 18. They take on part-time jobs, live away from their parents, and finance their own education partially, if not completely. Upon graduation, they find a job, or launch their own business by filing for loans from the bank. They live in rented apartments even after marriage and buy a house only when they can afford it. This is a typical pattern how the American younger generation grows up.
　　By contrast, most college students in present-day China, as the sole children of their families, take for granted their excessive dependence upon their parents. They hold their parents responsible for furnishing them with all the tuitions and living expenses. They seldom work part-time to alleviate their parents of their burdens. They have expensive dinners and birthday celebrations with their parents’ hard-earned money through months of hard work.
　　In recent years, under the pretext of employment difficulty, some students return home to live with their parents after graduation. While their parents are busy at work, they idle away their time day after day, least concerned with finding a job to have their own source of income. Worse still, they exhaust every penny of their parents and even grandparents to buy an apartment for their own enjoyment. In doing so, they even plunge their parents into serious debts.
　　This group of students have come to acquire an infamous name—“the Elderly-Devouring Community”. A more understandable phrase might be “parasites”. This community has come into existence as a result of long-time over-indulgence on the part of parents and the indolence and selfishness on the part of students themselves. Compared with their American counterparts, Chinese students should feel ashamed of them and take immediate actions to terminate their elderly-devouring behavior and become independent and self-reliant.

　　【參考譯文】
　　啃老族現象
　　在美國，學生一旦年滿18，普遍都要去尋找自己獨立的人生。他們從事兼職工作，搬出家庭，與父母分開居住；即使不是全部，也會部分地支付他們接受教育的費用。畢業之際，他們會找份工作，或向銀行貸款來自己進行創業；即使是結婚成家之后，也仍住在租來的公寓里；只有當他們具備了足夠的支付能力之后，才會去購房。這就是美國年輕一代典型的成長模式。
　　與此相反，當下中國的大多數大學生，作為其家庭中的獨生子女，將他們對父母的過度依賴視為理所當然。他們認為，父母親有責任來為他們提供大學學習期間所有的學費及生活費。他們很少去做兼職的工作以減輕父母的負擔。他們拿著父母工作數月才能賺得的來之不易的錢，出入昂貴的飯館，舉辦生日慶祝晚會。
　　近年來，打著就業難的借口，有些大學生畢業之后回到家中，與父母住在一起。在其父母忙于工作的同時，他們卻日復一日地虛耗著光陰，絲毫沒有出去找工作、擁有其獨立經濟來源的心思。更為糟糕的是，他們會耗竭父母、甚至爺爺奶奶的每一個銅板，就是為著去購房供自己享受。在這么做的過程中，他們甚至令其父母債臺高筑。
　　這一學生群體，現在已獲得了一個臭名昭著的稱呼——“啃老族”。一個更清晰易懂的說法可能就是“寄生蟲一族”。該群體之所以得以形成，原因在于其父母長期的溺愛，以及學生自身的懶惰與自私。與其美國同齡人相比，中國學生應為自己感到羞愧，并應立即行動起來，終止其“啃老”行為，去尋找自己獨立的人生，自食其力。
　　【值得熟記的句式與短語】
　　1. take on part-time jobs從事兼職工作
　　2. launch their own business by filing for loans from the bank向銀行貸款來自己進行創業
　　3. the sole children of their families家庭中的獨生子女
　　4. They hold their parents responsible for furnishing them with all the tuitions and living expenses. 他們認為，父母親有責任來為他們提供大學學習期間所有的學費及生活費。
　　5. alleviate their parents of their burdens減輕父母的負擔
　　6. hard-earned money賺得的來之不易的錢
　　7. under the pretext of employment difficulty打著就業難的借口
　　8. they idle away their time day after day他們日復一日地虛耗著光陰
　　9. Worse still更為糟糕的是
　　10. they exhaust every penny of their parents and even grandparents他們會耗竭父母、甚至爺爺奶奶的每一個銅板
　　11. acquire an infamous name獲得了一個臭名昭著的稱呼
　　12. the Elderly-Devouring Community啃老族
　　13. come into existence形成
　　14. long-time over-indulgence長期的溺愛
　　15. take immediate actions立即行動起來
　　16. independent and self-reliant獨立，自食其力