6.26
TEXT 64
Testament of youth
青春作證（陳繼龍編譯）
Sep 21st 2006
From The Economist print edition
Political parties start talking to an elusive constituency
?
MOST marketing operations pay close attention to what young people are buying and thinking. Not Britain's political parties, however, for the simple reason that the under-30s are unlikely to go anywhere near a p______① booth. In 1964, 11% of those aged 18 to 24 claimed not to vote, according to the British Election Study. At the general election last year that figure rose to 55%. （1）A report this week by Reform, a think-tank, suggests that this reticence[1] is costing them dearly. Changes in government policy, it argues, have turned being young into a terrible bore.
大多數經營機構都密切關注年輕人的所購所想，然而英國各政黨對年輕人卻不感興趣，原因很簡單，那就是在投票站附近不可能見到30歲以下的年輕人。據《英國選舉研究》稱，1964年，有11％年齡介于18至24歲之間的年輕人聲稱不會去投票。去年大選時這一數字已升至55％。一家名為“改革”的研究機構本周發布的一項報告表明，年輕人正在為這種漠不關心的態度付出昂貴的代價。報告指出，政府的政策變革已經讓他們開始感到做一個年輕人真是沒勁透了。
?
（2）There are already two powerful economic forces working against the so-called “IPOD generation” that are beyond the government's control. First, the ageing of the population is fast increasing the ratio of people in r_______② to those of working age. So the young can look forward to handing over a rising proportion of their pay to support the oldies in their decline. Second, the cost of buying a house in places where people want to live has shot up beyond the reach of the young. In 1995 24% of all first-time homebuyers were under 25; today, less than 15% are, according to the Halifax, a bank.
不服政府管束的所謂的“IPOD一代”目前已然受制于兩種巨大的經濟壓力。首先，人口的老化正迅速提高退休人口與在崗人口的比率，因此為了維持老年人的晚年生活，年輕人支出比例升高指日可待。其次，在人們都希望居住的區域購買房屋的價格飛速躥升，年輕人已經難以企及。Halifax銀行稱，1995年首次置業者中有24％在25歲以下，而如今卻不到15％。
?
This much is uncontroversial. But the report also argues that the Labour government has made life worse for young people, in three ways. First, increased spending on health care has tended to benefit the old, who use the NHS[2] more than the young. Second, tilting the tax and benefit system towards people with children has transferred money from the young to the middle-aged. Third, higher t_______③ fees are landing university graduates with hefty debts. （3）And the future doesn't look much better: the government's proposed pension reforms, along with the decline of defined-benefit company-pension schemes, make grim reading for the under-30s too.
這些都是毋庸置疑的。不過該報告也指出，讓年輕人生活變得更糟的是工黨政府，理由有三：首先，增大的醫療投入傾向于惠及使用國民醫療服務較年輕人多的老年人。其次，將稅收與福利制度向有子女的人傾斜使得年輕人的錢轉向中年人群。第三，高昂的學費使大學畢業生背上了沉重的債務。而且，未來似乎也沒有好轉的跡象——由于政府擬進行養老金改革，加之固定給付式養老金計劃即將取消，30歲以下的人將面臨嚴峻的形勢。
?
“These changes ought to have brought about a re-examination of the burden of taxation on this age group,” says Nick Bosanquet of Imperial College London, one of the authors of the report. He reckons that, after paying various taxmen and lenders, graduates take home only around half of their salaries. The average for all salaried workers is about three-fifths.
該報告作者之一、倫敦帝國學院的尼克·博桑基特說：“在進行這些變革的同時，應該重新審視一下年輕人所背負的納稅負擔。”他估算，大學畢業生在繳納了各種各樣的稅款和貸款后，能夠帶回家的工資就只剩下一半左右，而就所有拿工資的工人而言，這一平均數字大約是五分之三。
?
Are things really that bad? When examined in a freeze-frame[3], being young does not look much fun financially. But welfare states are meant to transfer resources from the vigorous to the f_______④. Some benefits are merely deferred: today's 25-year-olds will have babies and hip[4] replacements one day. （4）And although people in their 20s and 30s tend to be heavily indebted this passes when they sink into their 40s and 50s, says Richard Disney of Nottingham University.
情況真的如此糟糕么？靜止地看，年輕人在經濟狀況上是高興不起來的，但福利制度本身就意味著“鋤強扶弱”，而且有些福利只不過是延期到來而已——今天25歲的人總有一天會生兒育女，并且將被新的弄潮兒所取代。此外，諾丁漢大學的理查德·迪斯尼說，雖然人們在二、三十歲的時候重債在身，但到了四、五十歲時，這些債務終將成為過去。
?
Even so, the feeling that young people are being s_______⑤ presents a political opportunity for the opposition parties. David Willetts, the Conservative shadow education secretary, said in a speech last year that （5）the young “could be forgiven for believing that the way in which economic and social policy is now conducted is little less than a conspiracy by the middle-aged” against them. The Liberal Democrat commission on tax policy worried in August about inter-generational unfairness too.
話雖如此，認為年輕人遭到了壓榨的這種情結還是讓反對黨在政治上有隙可乘。保守黨影子內閣教育大臣大衛·威萊茨在去年的一次演講中說，年輕人“認為現行的經濟與社會政策無異于是中年人對他們所策劃的一場陰謀”，這“是可以諒解的”。今年8月，自由民主黨稅收政策委員會也對兩代人之間的不公平表示了擔憂。
?
There will be more of such talk. For the Tories[5], it offers a way to discuss reducing spending without sounding as if they are merely the mouthpiece[6] of the wealthy. It gives Lib Dem leaders a way to argue activists out of promising to out-spend Labour. And it might even persuade some of those gloomy 25-year-olds to vote.
諸如此類的言論定會不絕于耳。對于保守黨而言，它可以讓人們就削減財政支出展開討論，而不會讓人覺得自己無非是有錢人的傳聲筒而已。至于自由民主黨，它的領導人則因此找到了一個勸阻激進分子在支出上與勞工黨攀比的由頭。而且，這樣也可能會說服那些抑郁的年輕人投上一票。
?
?[QUIZ]
1. 根據上下文和英文釋義，補全單詞：
①p_______（n. when people vote in a political election）
②r_______（n. the period after you have stopped work）
③t________（n. the money you pay for being taught）
④f________（adj. a weak physical condition because of illness）
⑤s________（v. to strictly limit the amount of money that is available to a company or organization）
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2. 英譯漢（將劃線部分英文翻譯成中文）：
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[NOTES](LONGMAN)
1. reticent adj. unwilling to talk about what you feel or what you know [= reserved]閉口不談的，保持緘默的? reticence n.
2. NHS National Health Service （英國）國民醫療服務制度
3. freeze-frame n. when you stop the action on a video at one particular place定格，停幀，凝鏡
4. hip adj. doing things or done according to the latest fashion [= cool]趕潮流的，新潮的，時髦的
5. Tory （英國）保守黨黨員
6. mouthpiece n. a person, newspaper etc that expresses the opinions of a government or a political organization 代言人，傳聲筒
?
[KEY TO QUIZ]
1. ①polling 投票選舉
?②retirement 退休
③tuition 學費
? ④fragile 軟弱的，虛弱的（注意比較frail，feeble）
⑤squeezed 壓榨，使經濟困難
2.（見譯文，僅供參考，歡迎指正）
?
?
?
?
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===================
TEXT 64
Testament of youth
青春作證（陳繼龍編譯）
Sep 21st 2006
From The Economist print edition
Political parties start talking to an elusive constituency
?
MOST marketing operations pay close attention to what young people are buying and thinking. Not Britain's political parties, however, for the simple reason that the under-30s are unlikely to go anywhere near apolling booth. In 1964, 11% of those aged 18 to 24 claimed not to vote, according to the British Election Study. At the general election last year that figure rose to 55%. （1）A report this week by Reform, a think-tank, suggests that this reticence[1] is costing them dearly. Changes in government policy, it argues, have turned being young into a terrible bore.
大多數經營機構都密切關注年輕人的所購所想，然而英國各政黨對年輕人卻不感興趣，原因很簡單，那就是在投票站附近不可能見到30歲以下的年輕人。據《英國選舉研究》稱，1964年，有11％年齡介于18至24歲之間的年輕人聲稱不會去投票。去年大選時這一數字已升至55％。一家名為“改革”的研究機構本周發布的一項報告表明，年輕人正在為這種漠不關心的態度付出昂貴的代價。報告指出，政府的政策變革已經讓他們開始感到做一個年輕人真是沒勁透了。
?
（2）There are already two powerful economic forces working against the so-called “IPOD generation” that are beyond the government's control. First, the ageing of the population is fast increasing the ratio of people in retirement to those of working age. So the young can look forward to handing over a rising proportion of their pay to support the oldies in their decline. Second, the cost of buying a house in places where people want to live has shot up beyond the reach of the young. In 1995 24% of all first-time homebuyers were under 25; today, less than 15% are, according to the Halifax, a bank.
不服政府管束的所謂的“IPOD一代”目前已然受制于兩種巨大的經濟壓力。首先，人口的老化正迅速提高退休人口與在崗人口的比率，因此為了維持老年人的晚年生活，年輕人支出比例升高指日可待。其次，在人們都希望居住的區域購買房屋的價格飛速躥升，年輕人已經難以企及。Halifax銀行稱，1995年首次置業者中有24％在25歲以下，而如今卻不到15％。
?
This much is uncontroversial. But the report also argues that the Labour government has made life worse for young people, in three ways. First, increased spending on health care has tended to benefit the old, who use the NHS[2] more than the young. Second, tilting the tax and benefit system towards people with children has transferred money from the young to the middle-aged. Third, higher tuition fees are landing university graduates with hefty debts. （3）And the future doesn't look much better: the government's proposed pension reforms, along with the decline of defined-benefit company-pension schemes, make grim reading for the under-30s too.
這些都是毋庸置疑的。不過該報告也指出，讓年輕人生活變得更糟的是工黨政府，理由有三：首先，增大的醫療投入傾向于惠及使用國民醫療服務較年輕人多的老年人。其次，將稅收與福利制度向有子女的人傾斜使得年輕人的錢轉向中年人群。第三，高昂的學費使大學畢業生背上了沉重的債務。而且，未來似乎也沒有好轉的跡象——由于政府擬進行養老金改革，加之固定給付式養老金計劃即將取消，30歲以下的人將面臨嚴峻的形勢。
?
“These changes ought to have brought about a re-examination of the burden of taxation on this age group,” says Nick Bosanquet of Imperial College London, one of the authors of the report. He reckons that, after paying various taxmen and lenders, graduates take home only around half of their salaries. The average for all salaried workers is about three-fifths.
該報告作者之一、倫敦帝國學院的尼克·博桑基特說：“在進行這些變革的同時，應該重新審視一下年輕人所背負的納稅負擔。”他估算，大學畢業生在繳納了各種各樣的稅款和貸款后，能夠帶回家的工資就只剩下一半左右，而就所有拿工資的工人而言，這一平均數字大約是五分之三。
?
Are things really that bad? When examined in a freeze-frame[3], being young does not look much fun financially. But welfare states are meant to transfer resources from the vigorous to the fragile. Some benefits are merely deferred: today's 25-year-olds will have babies and hip[4] replacements one day. （4）And although people in their 20s and 30s tend to be heavily indebted this passes when they sink into their 40s and 50s, says Richard Disney of Nottingham University.
情況真的如此糟糕么？靜止地看，年輕人在經濟狀況上是高興不起來的，但福利制度本身就意味著“鋤強扶弱”，而且有些福利只不過是延期到來而已——今天25歲的人總有一天會生兒育女，并且將被新的弄潮兒所取代。此外，諾丁漢大學的理查德·迪斯尼說，雖然人們在二、三十歲的時候重債在身，但到了四、五十歲時，這些債務終將成為過去。
?
Even so, the feeling that young people are being squeezed presents a political opportunity for the opposition parties. David Willetts, the Conservative shadow education secretary, said in a speech last year that （5）the young “could be forgiven for believing that the way in which economic and social policy is now conducted is little less than a conspiracy by the middle-aged” against them. The Liberal Democrat commission on tax policy worried in August about inter-generational unfairness too.
話雖如此，認為年輕人遭到了壓榨的這種情結還是讓反對黨在政治上有隙可乘。保守黨影子內閣教育大臣大衛·威萊茨在去年的一次演講中說，年輕人“認為現行的經濟與社會政策無異于是中年人對他們所策劃的一場陰謀”，這“是可以諒解的”。今年8月，自由民主黨稅收政策委員會也對兩代人之間的不公平表示了擔憂。
?
There will be more of such talk. For the Tories[5], it offers a way to discuss reducing spending without sounding as if they are merely the mouthpiece[6] of the wealthy. It gives Lib Dem leaders a way to argue activists out of promising to out-spend Labour. And it might even persuade some of those gloomy 25-year-olds to vote.
諸如此類的言論定會不絕于耳。對于保守黨而言，它可以讓人們就削減財政支出展開討論，而不會讓人覺得自己無非是有錢人的傳聲筒而已。至于自由民主黨，它的領導人則因此找到了一個勸阻激進分子在支出上與勞工黨攀比的由頭。而且，這樣也可能會說服那些抑郁的年輕人投上一票。
?
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pension
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https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/definedbenefitpensionplan.asp
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2011/may/26/premier-league-opta-statistics
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https://www.milliondollarjourney.com/defined-benefit-pension-vs-defined-contribution-pension.htm
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tories_(British_political_party)
links that explain some concepts unknown
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轉載于:https://www.cnblogs.com/wanghui626/p/9227639.html
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