#114. Which is the most important influence on young adults, family or friends?
While some people believe that family have the biggest influence on a young adult's life, I maintain that it is friends, and not the family, that hold this influence to a larger extent. First of all, young adults usually spend more time with their friends. When a person graduates from being a teenager and becomes a young adult, many things change in his/her life. This person will likely leave his/her family home and go to university. University life is very different than home life. One will no longer be spending a lot of time with family, and instead, will usually fill his free time visiting with friends. These friends are therefore, in a much better position to influence the young adult.
Moreover, friends will usually have a better perspective on one's life than family. Because the young adult is spending so much time with friends, it is likely that the two friends will have similar perspectives on life, as they are going through the same situations together. Because of this, a friend can have a better understanding of one's life than a family member. A young adult will probably hold his/her friend's influence as more important than his family's, because the two friends think alike. Finally, friends usually have a better sense of how the world works based on today's standards. Therefore, young adults is more likely to allow themselves to be influenced by their friends than their family because they see their friends as having a more modern view of how the world works. Many young people in today's society see their parents as too traditional and stuck in their ways. A person's friends, on the other hand, are much savvier to contemporary issues.
Because of this, young adults will likely think their friend's advice or influence has more value than their parent's.
114. 家庭和朋友，谁对年轻人的影响最大？
虽然有些人觉得家庭对一个年轻人的生活影响最重大，但我坚持认为在更大程度上产生这种影响的是朋友而非家庭。
首先，年轻人通常和朋友们待在一起的时间更多。当一个人不再是十几岁的孩子而是初为成年人的时候，在他或她的生活中许多事情都发生了改变。这个人将可能离开养育他或她的家庭去上大学。大学生活与家庭生活是大相径庭的。一个人将不再把大部分的时间用来和家人待在一起，取而代之的是，他或她通常会把闲暇的时间用于和朋友们聊天。因此，这些朋友更有能力对这位年轻人产生影响。
再者，朋友们对于一个人生活的洞察通常会比家庭更好。因为这个年轻人和朋友在一起的时间很多，他们在一起经历了同样的境况，所以很可能两者会有相似的人生观。正因为如此，对于一个人的生活，一位朋友可以比家庭成员有着更好的了解。年轻人很可能会把朋友的影响看得比家人更重要，因为两个朋友之间有着近似的思维。
最后，朋友们通常可以更好地理解基于现在标准的世界是如何运转的。因此，相比家庭而言，年轻人更可能让自己受到朋友们的影响，因为他们认为朋友们对于世界如何运转有着更现代的看法。当今社会的许多年轻人都认为他们的父母很传统，而且总是固守自己的行事作风。而另一方面，一个人的朋友则对当前事务更有见识。正因如此，一个年轻人可能会认为朋友的建议或影响比自己家人的更有价值。
- influence ［ˈinflu:əns］ n. 影响
- maintain ［menˈtein］ v. 坚持认为
- to a large extent 在很大程度上
- visit with 与…聊天
- perspective ［pəˈspektiv］ n. 见解，洞察
- go through 经历
- have a sense of 理解，懂得
- savvy ［ˈsævi］ adj. 有见识的