全球人口正在經(jīng)歷老齡化，這重要嗎？雖然人口老齡化意味著勞動(dòng)人口比重下降，老年人更依賴政府救濟(jì)，但這件事情也有積極的一面。有哪些辦法可以減輕人口老齡化的影響？本期 “隨身英語” 圍繞這一現(xiàn)象展開討論。

詞匯：age 年齡老化

There’s one thing for certain – we’re all getting older. And while the older amongst us may be?

no spring chickens?

any more, growing old?

gracefully

?is no bad thing. And with age comes?

wisdom

. However, as the world population?

ages

, will there be enough people to replace our younger selves? 有一件事是肯定的——我們都在變老。雖然我們中的老年人可能不再是年輕的年輕人，但優(yōu)雅地變老并不是一件壞事。隨著年齡的增長，智慧也隨之增長。然而，隨著世界人口老齡化，會(huì)有足夠的人來取代我們年輕時(shí)的自己嗎? A situation where there are more old people than young certainly has an effect on the world. A report by the Pew Research Center says that globally the number of people over 65 years old will triple by 2050, drastically altering some countries’?

demographic make-up

. 老年人多于年輕人的情況肯定會(huì)對(duì)世界產(chǎn)生影響。皮尤研究中心的一份報(bào)告稱，到2050年，全球65歲以上的人口數(shù)量將增加兩倍，這將極大地改變一些國家的人口構(gòu)成。 This growing and?

dependent?

population means that there is an increased demand for health and?

social care

. Governments will struggle to provide satisfactory?

pensions

, which are ultimately funded by taxes paid by the?

working population

. And long-term, a smaller population of economically-active people may be a problem for companies trying to recruit staff. 這種不斷增長和依賴的人口意味著對(duì)保健和社會(huì)護(hù)理的需求增加。政府將努力提供令人滿意的養(yǎng)老金，這些養(yǎng)老金最終由勞動(dòng)人口繳納的稅款提供。長期來看，從事經(jīng)濟(jì)活動(dòng)的人口減少可能會(huì)給那些試圖招聘員工的公司帶來問題。 Attitudes to an?

ageing population

?vary around the world. The Pew Research Center survey found that 87% of Japanese people were most concerned about it, while only 26% of people from the USA were. Here, immigration is helping to boost the younger workforce. Some countries thought?

the elderly

?should take care of themselves, while others thought it was the responsibility of the family. Many thought the government should be responsible. 世界各地對(duì)人口老齡化的態(tài)度各不相同。皮尤研究中心的調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，87%的日本人最關(guān)心這個(gè)問題，而只有26%的美國人關(guān)心這個(gè)問題。在這里，移民正在幫助增加年輕勞動(dòng)力。一些國家認(rèn)為老年人應(yīng)該照顧好自己，而另一些國家則認(rèn)為這是家庭的責(zé)任。許多人認(rèn)為政府應(yīng)該對(duì)此負(fù)責(zé)。 But?

old age

?shouldn’t just be seen negatively. Elderly people have knowledge and experience they can?

pass on

. Some have wealth which they can spend, helping the economy. And some help society by doing voluntary or charity work. Of course, solutions are needed to tackle the issue, and these include increasing the?

retirement age

, encouraging people to save for the future, persuading skilled and educated migrants to fill labour shortages, or even convincing people to have more children. 但不應(yīng)該只消極地看待老年。老年人擁有可以傳承的知識(shí)和經(jīng)驗(yàn)。一些人擁有可以用來消費(fèi)的財(cái)富，從而促進(jìn)經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展。還有一些人通過做志愿或慈善工作來幫助社會(huì)。當(dāng)然，解決這個(gè)問題需要解決方案，其中包括提高退休年齡，鼓勵(lì)人們?yōu)槲磥韮?chǔ)蓄，說服有技能和受過教育的移民填補(bǔ)勞動(dòng)力短缺，甚至說服人們多生孩子。 詞匯表 no spring chicken 不再年輕 gracefully 優(yōu)雅地，體面地 wisdom 智慧 age 變老，老齡化 demographic make-up 人口構(gòu)成 dependent 需要被贍養(yǎng)的，依賴他人生活的 social care 社會(huì)護(hù)理服務(wù) pension 養(yǎng)老金 working population 勞動(dòng)人口 ageing population 老齡化人口 the elderly 老人，上了年紀(jì)的人 old age 老齡，老年 pass on 傳授 retirement age 退休年齡

測驗(yàn)與練習(xí)

1.?閱讀課文并回答問題。

1. According to research, what will happen to the number of over 65-year-olds by 2050? 2. Who funds the pensions paid out by governments? 3.?Who do people think should take care of the elderly? 4. True or false?

?Skilled migrants can help overcome the problems of a shrinking workforce.

5. What can elderly people do with the experience and knowledge they have?

2.?選擇意思恰當(dāng)?shù)膯卧~或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. The professor was known for her experience and _______. pensions???????????wisdom???????????pass on??????????dependant 2. I’m planning for my _______ by saving money every month. old age????????????elderly????????????retirement age?????pass on 3. Although incredibly _______, my 90-year-old grandma has such a wonderful spirit. depending??????????dependable????????dependent????????depends 4. I’m going to _______ my knowledge of baking to my children. gracefully???????????wisdom???????????old age?????????????????????pass on 5. A special grocery delivery service has been set up to help the?_______ in the community. old age????????????elderly????????????pension???????????retirement age

答案

1.?閱讀課文并回答問題。

1. According to research, what will happen to the number of over 65-year-olds by 2050?

A report by the Pew Research Center says that globally, the number of people over 65 years old will triple by 2050.

2. Who funds the pensions paid out by governments?

Governments provide pensions which are ultimately funded by taxes paid by the working population.

3.?Who do people think should take care of the elderly?

It varies. Some think they should take care of themselves, while others believe it should be the family’s job. Many think it’s the government’s responsibility.

4. True or false??

Skilled migrants can help overcome the problems of a shrinking workforce.

True. Encouraging skilled and educated migrants can fill labour shortages.

5. What can elderly people do with the experience and knowledge they have?

Elderly people have knowledge and experience they can pass on.

2.?選擇意思恰當(dāng)?shù)膯卧~或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. The professor was known for her experience and?

wisdom

. 2. I’m planning for my?

old age

?by saving money every month. 3.?Although incredibly?

dependent

, my 90-year-old grandma has such a wonderful spirit. 4. I’m going to?

pass on

?my knowledge of baking to my children. 5.?A special grocery delivery service has been set up to help the?

elderly

?in the community. 文章來源BBC侵權(quán)刪。