托福阅读素材：人生真有时刻表吗

'Indeed, nearly 80 per cent of our guarantors are family members.'

“确实如此，我们的担保人近8成是家庭成员。”

The team of researchers also found those who are yet to tick off significant milestones are struggling to do because of financial pressures.

研究小组还发现，由于经济压力，即将完成这些大事的人都在苦苦挣扎。

Of those who have managed to achieve most of those on the list, the majority did so within their targeted time-frame.

而那些已经实现了清单上大多数大事的人，多数也是在他们的目标时间内完成的。

But the milestones which proved the most difficult to achieve and which took longer than expected were passing a driving test, buying a first car and then being able to afford a brand new car.

这些大事中最难的、可能需要花费比预想的更长时间才能做到的是：拿到驾照，买到第一部车，以及有能力支付一辆新车。

Most had to wait longer to have their second child than they would have liked, while getting to the point where two holidays a year wasn’t a problem also proved tough.

大多数人花了比他们料想的更长时间才迎来了他们的第二个孩子。毫不费劲地支付一年两次的旅行，要达到这个阶段也比较难。

The study also looked into the subject of pressure and the part it plays in helping us achieve our goals.

这项研究还对压力这一话题及它在我们实现目标过程中的作用进行了分析。

One in three people said they felt there was more pressure on the current generation to reach milestones within specific time-frames.

三分之一的人坦言，当代人在既定时间内实现人生大事得承担着更大的压力。

But according to the data, a large percentage of us also put the pressure on ourselves to achieve things by certain times.

调查数据显示，我们中大部分人也会自我施压，迫使自己在既定时间内实现既定目标。

Vocabulary

splash out 随意花钱

tender age 未成熟的年纪

sunnier climes

阳光更充沛的地带

tick off 勾出