(单词翻译:单击)
What was the problem with most of these studies, do you think?
你认为这些研究中的大多数都有什么问题？
I think it was because in a lot of cases data was collected from only one sibling per family, who rated him or herself and his or her siblings at the same time.
我认为这是因为在许多情况下，数据只从每个家庭的一个孩子那里收集，这个孩子同时给自己和兄弟姐妹打分。
Mmm. Some of the old research into the relationship between birth order and academic achievement has been proved to be accurate though.
然而，之前一些关于出生顺序和学业成绩之间关系的研究已经被证明是准确的。
Performances in intelligence tests decline slightly from the eldest child to his or her younger siblings.
从最年长的孩子到他或她的弟弟妹妹，智力测试的成绩略有下降。
This has been proved in lots of recent studies.
最近的许多研究都证明了这一点。
Yes. Although what many of them didn't take into consideration was family size.
是的。尽管他们中的许多人没有考虑到家庭规模。
The more siblings there are, the likelier the family is to have a low socio-economic status - which can also account for differences between siblings in academic performance.
兄弟姐妹越多，家庭的社会经济地位就越低，这也可以解释兄弟姐妹在学习成绩上的差异。
The oldest boy might be given more opportunities than his younger sisters, for example.
例如，年龄最大的男孩可能会比他的妹妹们得到更多的机会。
Exactly.
一点儿没错。
But the main reason for the marginally higher academic performance of oldest children is quite surprising, I think.
但我认为，年龄最大的孩子学习成绩略高的主要原因是相当令人惊讶的。
It's not only that they benefit intellectually from extra attention at a young age – which is what I would have expected.
这不仅是因为他们在很小的时候就从额外的关注中获得了智力上的优势——这是我所期望的。
It's that they benefit from being teachers for their younger siblings, by verbalising processes.
还因为他们通过言语过程成为弟弟妹妹的老师，从而从中受益。
Right, and this gives them status and confidence, which again contribute, in a small way, to better performance.
没错，这给了他们地位和信心，这也在一定程度上有助于他们有更好的表现。
So would you say sibling rivalry has been a useful thing for you?
那么，你认为兄弟姐妹之间的竞争对你来说是一件有用的事情吗？
I think so - my younger brother was incredibly annoying and we fought a lot but I think this has made me a stronger person.
我想是的，我的弟弟非常烦人，我们经常吵架，但我认为这让我变得更坚强了。
I know how to defend myself.
我知道如何保护自己。
We had some terrible arguments and I would have died rather than apologise to him - but we had to put up with each other and most of the time we co-existed amicably enough.
我们有过一些可怕的争吵，我宁愿死也不愿向他道歉，但我们不得不容忍彼此，大多数时候我们都很友好地相处。
Yes, my situation was pretty similar.
是的，我的情况很相似。
But I don't think having two older brothers made me any less selfish - I was never prepared to let my brothers use any of my stuff…
但我认为有两个哥哥让我变得很自私，我从不乐意让我的哥哥们用我的任何东西……
That's perfectly normal, whereas…
这很正常，然而……
