Against a backdrop of drastic changes in economy and population structure, younger Americans are drawing a new 21st-century road map to success, a latest poll has found.

backdrop  n. 背景

poll  n. 民意调查，民意测验

against a backdrop of  在……背景下

population structure  人口结构

draw a road map to success  绘制一幅成功路线图

一项最新民调显示，在经济和人口结构急剧变化的背景下，美国年轻人正在绘制新的21世纪成功路线图。

Across generational lines, Americans continue to prize many of the same traditional milestones of a successful life, including getting married, having children, owning a home, and retiring in their sixties. But while young and old mostly agree on what constitutes the finish line of a fulfilling life, they offer strikingly different paths for reaching it.

generational line  代际线

prize  v. 珍视，高度重视

milestone  n. 重大事件，里程碑

constitute  v. 构成

finish line  终点线

fulfilling  a. 令人满意的

strikingly  ad. 惹人注目地；醒目地

跨越几代人的界限，美国人继续珍视许多成功人生的传统里程碑，包括结婚、生子、拥有房子和60多岁退休。但是，尽管年轻人和老年人对什么才是充实生活的终点线意见一致，但他们提供了截然不同的到达终点的道路。

Young people who are still getting started in life were more likely than older adults to prioritize personal fulfillment in their work, to believe they will advance their careers most by regularly changing jobs, to favor communities with more public services and a faster pace of life, to agree that couples should be financially secure before getting married or having children, and to maintain that children are best served by two parents working outside the home, the survey found.

start  v. 开始生活，开始立业

prioritize  v. 按优先顺序列出；确定（事项、问题等）的优先顺序；优先考虑（处理）

personal fulfillment  个人满足感

advance  v. 前进，推进；（使）进展

pace of life  生活节奏

financially secure  有经济保障

maintain  v. 主张；坚持认为

serve  v. 为……提供服务；满足……的需要

与老年人相比，刚开始生活的年轻人更有可能在工作中优先考虑个人成就感，相信他们会通过定期更换工作来提升自己的职业生涯，更倾向于公共服务