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Fame is something I have a bit of personal experience with. As a journalist I’ve interviewed more 1）celebrities than I can count， getting all kinds of 2）insights about their lives 3）in the process. But what I mean is that I have some experience with fame. As in， I was the star of my fifth-grade play， and the show was a huge success. And the next day at school， things felt sort of…different. People knew my name. The cool sixth-grade girls said hi to me during 4）recess. The boy I had a 5）crush on spoke to me. I had 6）unintentionally become famous. And it was great.
In the years since， our culture’s 7）obsession with celebrity （or， rather， with becoming a celebrity） has grown faster than Justin Bieber’s mustache. “I would honestly love to be famous，”says 15-year-old Katie from Maryland. “I watch movies and shows every day wondering， when will it be my turn to do that？”
But it wasn’t always like this. Here’s a quick time line： 20 years ago， stars were a much more 8）rarefied bunch. Then came a new generation， and with them a young 9）socialite named Paris Hilton. Paris， who was known for being wealthy but wasn’t truly famous， made the 10）notorious tape， which found its way to the Internet. All of a sudden， everyone in America knew her name. From there， she starred on a TV show with then best friend Nicole Richie and， well， you know the rest of the story.
Paris 11）epitomized the concept of being famous for being famous， making many young people think that large-scale popularity may not be so hard to come by after all. Around that same time， 12）tabloid magazine editors had an idea： Why not print pictures of celebrities doing everyday things， like pumping their gas or going to Starbucks or leaving the gym？ The concept of “stars are just like us” was born， as was an entirely new way of thinking about fame. If stars are just like us， can’t we be just like stars？
Nowadays we seem to think so. According to Yalda T. Uhls， Ph.D.， senior researcher at the UCLA Children’s Digital Media Center， Los Angeles， “Our focus groups have shown that young people are 13）aspiring to fame more than anything else.” 20-year-old Michelle， from California， is one of the many. “I’ve always wanted to be famous， since I was a little girl，” she says. In a survey of 14-to-18-yearolds by The Washington Post， the Kaiser Family Foundation， and Harvard University， 31% of teens went beyond just wanting to be famous and admitted they think it’s likely they’ll be famous someday. Living solely for others’ 14）validation is， as we know， a dangerous path. When your 15）self-esteem depends on how much the world loves you， or retweets your 16）quips， or likes your Instagrams注， or views your vlog， you’re at its mercy. And once the attention fades， you’ll be left feeling empty—or worse， if there’s no attention at all， you’ll feel like a complete failure. Jean M. Twenge， Ph.D.， coauthor of The 17）Narcissism 18）Epidemic， points out that dreaming of being on the covers of magazines simply isn’t beneficial to our 19）mental health. “The desire to be famous is connected to unhappiness，”she says. “Research has shown that people who value money， fame， and image are more likely to be anxious and depressed.”
So I’m just going to come out and say it： Stop fantasizing about being the next Katy Perry！ Do you know how many Katy Perrys there are in the world？ Just one. The odds are way against you， and let’s face it： If you were a celebrity， you wouldn’t be able to go to a beach without the 20）paparazzi taking pictures of your 21）cellulite. If you wanted to go outside without makeup you’d be ripped apart in the press， and if you made a totally human mistake you’d be practically 22）put on trial.
This brings me back to my fifth-grade 23）brush with stardom. A few days after my 24）triumphant 25）debut， the fame began to 26）backfire. Those sixth-grade girls who said hi to me？ One of them started a 27）rumor that I’d only gotten the part because my mom was the 28）choreographer. And it turned out that my crush had spoken to me just to get close to my friend and costar Susannah. As my celebrity started to 29）dwindle， and 30）random kids stopped inviting me to sit with them at lunch， I realized that I actually preferred being 31）anonymous. Things were so much easier without all the extra attention. So， yes， the upsides to fame are pretty 32）alluring—the 33）couture dresses， the VIP treatment， the money. But for now I’ll take my regular life and its surely happier ending. You should too.
我对名气有一点亲身体验。作为一名记者，我访问过的名人多不胜数，并在采访的过程中了解到他们生活的各种内幕。然而，我的意思是我本人曾经和名气这东西有过交集。例如，我是五年级那场戏剧表演的明星，而且那场表演大获成功。第二天我回到学校，感觉一切有点……不同了。大家都知道我的名字；六年级那些很酷的女生在休息时间跟我打招呼；我暗恋的男生和我说话。我一不小心就出名了，感觉真不赖。
近年来，我们对名人（或者更确切地说是成为名人）的迷恋有增无减，增长的速度比贾斯汀·比伯的胡子还快。“说实话，我很希望出名，”15岁、来自（美国）马里兰州的凯蒂说道。“每天我看着电影和电视剧就在想，什么时候轮到我呢？”
但以前不是这样的。以下是简单的时间线：20年前，明星还是比较“珍稀”的一个群体。然后新一代人出现了，他们当中有一个年轻的社交名流，名叫帕丽斯·希尔顿。希尔顿只是因为有钱而为人所知，但不是真正意义上的有名，然后她拍了那段臭名昭著的录像，录像随后在网络流传。突然间，全美国的人都知道了她的名字。自那以后，她和当时的闺蜜妮可·里奇出演了一档电视节目，接下来的事情你也知道了。 帕丽斯是“为出名而出名”这个概念的代表，她令很多年轻人以为要做到广受欢迎也许并不是那么难。大约在同一时期，八卦杂志的编辑萌生了这样一个主意：为什么不刊登一些名人日常生活的照片呢？例如（给汽车）加汽油、去星巴克或离开健身室之类的。“明星就和我们一样”这个概念由此而生，随之而来的还有一种对待名气的全新思考方式。如果明星和我们一样，我们不也可以像明星那样吗？
现在，我们似乎都认同这种观点。根据加州大学洛杉矶分校儿童数字媒体中心高级研究员耶尔达·T. 乌尔斯博士的说法，“我们研究的那些焦点小组显示，年轻人对名气的渴求胜过一切。”20岁、来自（美国）加利福尼亚州的米歇尔就是其中的一个。“从小时候开始，我就一直希望出名，”她说。由《华盛顿邮报》、凯泽家庭基金会和哈佛大学联合组织的一项针对14到18岁人士的调查显示，31%的青少年不仅仅只是想出名，还承认他们认为自己终有一天会出名。
众所周知，只为得到别人的认可而活是一条危险的道路。当你的自尊建立在其他人有多喜欢你、转发了多少你的俏皮话、有多喜欢你的“Instagram”，或者怎样看待你的视频播客，你就受它摆布了。一旦别人的关注消退，你就会感到空虚——更糟的是，如果完全得不到别人的关注，你会觉得自己一败涂地。《自恋是种流行病》的合著者杰恩·M. 特文格博士指出，一心想着出现在杂志封面不利于我们的精神健康。“想出名的欲望会带来苦恼，”她说。“研究表明，注重金钱、名利和形象的人更容易感到焦虑和压抑。”
所以我要站出来说：不要再幻想成为下一个凯蒂·佩里了！你知道这世界上有多少个凯蒂·佩里吗？只有一个。你成功的机会很小。面对事实吧：如果你是一个名人，你到沙滩总会有狗仔队在拍你的脂肪团；要是你想不化妆就出门，媒体就会把你踩得体无完肤；如果你犯了一个正常人的错误，你就会被推出去受审。
这让我回想起我五年级那段短暂的出名经历。初演大获成功之后，我的名气开始出现反效果。那些跟我打招呼的六年级女生？其中一个造谣，说我拿到角色完全是因为我妈妈是舞蹈指导；而我暗恋的那个人跟我说话，原来只是为了接近我的朋友和合演者苏珊娜。随着我的名气逐步下滑，不认识的同学也不再邀请我和他们一起吃午饭了——我意识到，其实我宁愿从来没有出名。没有这些额外的关注时，事情会更为简单。是的，名气带来的好处相当诱人——高级礼服、贵宾待遇和金钱。但目前，我只想要自己的普通生活和那个必定更美好的结局。你也应该这样。
语法小知识
odds
名词odds以复数形式出现（注意不要和形容词odd混淆），表示“可能性、机会”的意思。如：
She may pass but the odds are she will fail.（她也许会及格，但很可能不及格。）
Against all the odds he recovered from his illness.（非常出人意料，他的病竟然好了。）
另外，odds也可以表示打赌时的可能性或赔率。如：
The odds are ten to one that her horse will win.（她的马赢的几率是十比一。）
In the years since， our culture’s 7）obsession with celebrity （or， rather， with becoming a celebrity） has grown faster than Justin Bieber’s mustache. “I would honestly love to be famous，”says 15-year-old Katie from Maryland. “I watch movies and shows every day wondering， when will it be my turn to do that？”
But it wasn’t always like this. Here’s a quick time line： 20 years ago， stars were a much more 8）rarefied bunch. Then came a new generation， and with them a young 9）socialite named Paris Hilton. Paris， who was known for being wealthy but wasn’t truly famous， made the 10）notorious tape， which found its way to the Internet. All of a sudden， everyone in America knew her name. From there， she starred on a TV show with then best friend Nicole Richie and， well， you know the rest of the story.
Paris 11）epitomized the concept of being famous for being famous， making many young people think that large-scale popularity may not be so hard to come by after all. Around that same time， 12）tabloid magazine editors had an idea： Why not print pictures of celebrities doing everyday things， like pumping their gas or going to Starbucks or leaving the gym？ The concept of “stars are just like us” was born， as was an entirely new way of thinking about fame. If stars are just like us， can’t we be just like stars？
Nowadays we seem to think so. According to Yalda T. Uhls， Ph.D.， senior researcher at the UCLA Children’s Digital Media Center， Los Angeles， “Our focus groups have shown that young people are 13）aspiring to fame more than anything else.” 20-year-old Michelle， from California， is one of the many. “I’ve always wanted to be famous， since I was a little girl，” she says. In a survey of 14-to-18-yearolds by The Washington Post， the Kaiser Family Foundation， and Harvard University， 31% of teens went beyond just wanting to be famous and admitted they think it’s likely they’ll be famous someday. Living solely for others’ 14）validation is， as we know， a dangerous path. When your 15）self-esteem depends on how much the world loves you， or retweets your 16）quips， or likes your Instagrams注， or views your vlog， you’re at its mercy. And once the attention fades， you’ll be left feeling empty—or worse， if there’s no attention at all， you’ll feel like a complete failure. Jean M. Twenge， Ph.D.， coauthor of The 17）Narcissism 18）Epidemic， points out that dreaming of being on the covers of magazines simply isn’t beneficial to our 19）mental health. “The desire to be famous is connected to unhappiness，”she says. “Research has shown that people who value money， fame， and image are more likely to be anxious and depressed.”
So I’m just going to come out and say it： Stop fantasizing about being the next Katy Perry！ Do you know how many Katy Perrys there are in the world？ Just one. The odds are way against you， and let’s face it： If you were a celebrity， you wouldn’t be able to go to a beach without the 20）paparazzi taking pictures of your 21）cellulite. If you wanted to go outside without makeup you’d be ripped apart in the press， and if you made a totally human mistake you’d be practically 22）put on trial.
This brings me back to my fifth-grade 23）brush with stardom. A few days after my 24）triumphant 25）debut， the fame began to 26）backfire. Those sixth-grade girls who said hi to me？ One of them started a 27）rumor that I’d only gotten the part because my mom was the 28）choreographer. And it turned out that my crush had spoken to me just to get close to my friend and costar Susannah. As my celebrity started to 29）dwindle， and 30）random kids stopped inviting me to sit with them at lunch， I realized that I actually preferred being 31）anonymous. Things were so much easier without all the extra attention. So， yes， the upsides to fame are pretty 32）alluring—the 33）couture dresses， the VIP treatment， the money. But for now I’ll take my regular life and its surely happier ending. You should too.
我对名气有一点亲身体验。作为一名记者，我访问过的名人多不胜数，并在采访的过程中了解到他们生活的各种内幕。然而，我的意思是我本人曾经和名气这东西有过交集。例如，我是五年级那场戏剧表演的明星，而且那场表演大获成功。第二天我回到学校，感觉一切有点……不同了。大家都知道我的名字；六年级那些很酷的女生在休息时间跟我打招呼；我暗恋的男生和我说话。我一不小心就出名了，感觉真不赖。
近年来，我们对名人（或者更确切地说是成为名人）的迷恋有增无减，增长的速度比贾斯汀·比伯的胡子还快。“说实话，我很希望出名，”15岁、来自（美国）马里兰州的凯蒂说道。“每天我看着电影和电视剧就在想，什么时候轮到我呢？”
但以前不是这样的。以下是简单的时间线：20年前，明星还是比较“珍稀”的一个群体。然后新一代人出现了，他们当中有一个年轻的社交名流，名叫帕丽斯·希尔顿。希尔顿只是因为有钱而为人所知，但不是真正意义上的有名，然后她拍了那段臭名昭著的录像，录像随后在网络流传。突然间，全美国的人都知道了她的名字。自那以后，她和当时的闺蜜妮可·里奇出演了一档电视节目，接下来的事情你也知道了。 帕丽斯是“为出名而出名”这个概念的代表，她令很多年轻人以为要做到广受欢迎也许并不是那么难。大约在同一时期，八卦杂志的编辑萌生了这样一个主意：为什么不刊登一些名人日常生活的照片呢？例如（给汽车）加汽油、去星巴克或离开健身室之类的。“明星就和我们一样”这个概念由此而生，随之而来的还有一种对待名气的全新思考方式。如果明星和我们一样，我们不也可以像明星那样吗？
现在，我们似乎都认同这种观点。根据加州大学洛杉矶分校儿童数字媒体中心高级研究员耶尔达·T. 乌尔斯博士的说法，“我们研究的那些焦点小组显示，年轻人对名气的渴求胜过一切。”20岁、来自（美国）加利福尼亚州的米歇尔就是其中的一个。“从小时候开始，我就一直希望出名，”她说。由《华盛顿邮报》、凯泽家庭基金会和哈佛大学联合组织的一项针对14到18岁人士的调查显示，31%的青少年不仅仅只是想出名，还承认他们认为自己终有一天会出名。
众所周知，只为得到别人的认可而活是一条危险的道路。当你的自尊建立在其他人有多喜欢你、转发了多少你的俏皮话、有多喜欢你的“Instagram”，或者怎样看待你的视频播客，你就受它摆布了。一旦别人的关注消退，你就会感到空虚——更糟的是，如果完全得不到别人的关注，你会觉得自己一败涂地。《自恋是种流行病》的合著者杰恩·M. 特文格博士指出，一心想着出现在杂志封面不利于我们的精神健康。“想出名的欲望会带来苦恼，”她说。“研究表明，注重金钱、名利和形象的人更容易感到焦虑和压抑。”
所以我要站出来说：不要再幻想成为下一个凯蒂·佩里了！你知道这世界上有多少个凯蒂·佩里吗？只有一个。你成功的机会很小。面对事实吧：如果你是一个名人，你到沙滩总会有狗仔队在拍你的脂肪团；要是你想不化妆就出门，媒体就会把你踩得体无完肤；如果你犯了一个正常人的错误，你就会被推出去受审。
这让我回想起我五年级那段短暂的出名经历。初演大获成功之后，我的名气开始出现反效果。那些跟我打招呼的六年级女生？其中一个造谣，说我拿到角色完全是因为我妈妈是舞蹈指导；而我暗恋的那个人跟我说话，原来只是为了接近我的朋友和合演者苏珊娜。随着我的名气逐步下滑，不认识的同学也不再邀请我和他们一起吃午饭了——我意识到，其实我宁愿从来没有出名。没有这些额外的关注时，事情会更为简单。是的，名气带来的好处相当诱人——高级礼服、贵宾待遇和金钱。但目前，我只想要自己的普通生活和那个必定更美好的结局。你也应该这样。
语法小知识
odds
名词odds以复数形式出现（注意不要和形容词odd混淆），表示“可能性、机会”的意思。如：
She may pass but the odds are she will fail.（她也许会及格，但很可能不及格。）
Against all the odds he recovered from his illness.（非常出人意料，他的病竟然好了。）
另外，odds也可以表示打赌时的可能性或赔率。如：
The odds are ten to one that her horse will win.（她的马赢的几率是十比一。）