中国延迟退休年龄,外媒评论扎心了

教育   2024-09-20 16:38   英国  

前些年一直吹风的延迟退休年龄政策终究还是落地了。

上周五消息一出,主流外媒都第一时间发出了报道。我选了《华尔街日报》的一些段落,带大家读一读。



外刊原文


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China has for years had one of the lowest retirement ages among major economies. Men started life’s next chapter at age 60, while women did so as early as 50.

China’s next generation will have to work for longer.

To address looming pension-system shortfalls and economic strains, Chinese lawmakers on Friday moved to gradually raise the statutory retirement age to 63 for men and 55 for blue-collar women. The retirement age for other women will increase to 58 from 55.

The long-awaited plan will affect most working people in China, but none of it will happen fast.

Over the next 15 years, retirement benchmarks will be delayed a few months each year according to a complicated schedule that varies for different groups. In short, the younger workers are, the longer they will be expected to work.

Chinese officials have long telegraphed that the country needs to raise retirement ages unchanged since the 1950s, but the news nonetheless came as a blow to many Chinese.



外刊精读


#01

China has for years had one of the lowest retirement ages among major economies. Men started life’s next chapter at age 60, while women did so as early as 50.

多年来,中国一直是主要经济体中退休年龄最低的国家之一。男性60岁退休,女性早在50岁就会退休。


China’s next generation will have to work for longer.
但中国的下一代将不得不工作更长时间。


  • economy 这里为可数名词,指「经济体」。major economies 即「主要经济体」,指的是那些对全球经济有重大影响的国家或经济体,比如中国、美国、欧盟等等。
  • as early as … 指「早在...」,强调时间比预期早。
    比如《彭博社周刊》一篇关于双减政策的文章有这样一句话:
    Preparations begin many years before, in some cases as early as pre-school, as parents try to give their children every possible edge.
    高考备战一般要持续几年,甚至有家为了让孩子赢在起跑线上,从学前班就开始准备。
  • chapter 本义是「章节」,还常比喻人生或历史的「篇章,时期」。
    这里
    started life’s next chapter进入人生下一个篇章,也就是指「退休」,避免重复使用retire这个词。
  • while 这里是表示对比,可以译作「而,但是,却」,用于说明两者的不同。
    再举一句电影《恋恋笔记本》里的经典台词:

    It was an improbable romance. He was a country boy. She was from the city. She had the world at her feet, while he didn't have two dimes to rub together.
    我们在长难句班还总结过while的常见用法,分享给同学们看一看:



To address looming pension-system shortfalls and economic strains, Chinese lawmakers on Friday moved to gradually raise the statutory retirement age to 63 for men and 55 for blue-collar women. The retirement age for other women will increase to 58 from 55.
为解决迫在眉睫的...体系缺口,应对经济压力,中国…上周五采取行动,逐步将男性法定退休年龄提高到63岁,将蓝领女性的法定退休年龄提高到55岁。其他女性工作者退休年龄将从55岁提高到58岁。


  • address 这里可不是大家熟悉的「地址」的意思,而是作动词,指「处理,对付」,相当于try to deal with sth。读作 [əˈdres]。
    我们再来看个美剧里的例子:

    We are talking about ways to address conflicts with your peers, all right?
  • loom 是一个外刊高频小词,指问题、困难等「逼近,临近」(to appear important or threatening and likely to happen soon)
    比如经济危机正在逼近:
    An economic crisis is looming.
    媒体报道中常说的「凛冬将至」,就可以译为:A bitter winter looms.
    《经济学人》一篇关于亚洲劳动力短缺的文章也用到了这个词:

  • 关于 loom 还有一个高频搭配:

  • loom large 指「显得突出,变得严重」(If something looms large, it becomes very important and often causes worry)
    比如:
    Fear of failure
    loomed large in his mind.对失败的担忧沉重地压在他的心头。
    《经济学人》一篇关于TikTok的文章也用到了这个词:
    A threat of a ban in America, the short-video app’s largest market,
    looms large.这个短视频应用在它最大的市场美国面对被封禁的威胁。

  • pension 为可数名词,指「养老金」。the pension system 即「养老金体系」。领养老金的退休老人就叫作pensioners

  • shortfall [ˈʃɔːtfɔːl] 为可数名词,指「缺口,差额」
    pension-system shortfalls 便指「养老金体系的缺口」,也就是缴养老金的年轻人太少,领养老金的老年人太多,入不敷出。
  • fall short of sth 为动词短语,指「未达到,不足,未满(to be less than the amount or standard that is needed or that you want)

    I'll still fall short of you.
  • strain 作名词,不仅可指物理上的「拉力,压力」,还可表示抽象意义上的「压力,重担」。
    strain 作此义讲时,有两个高频搭配:
    come under strain 指「压力大,不堪重负」,相当于pressure, stress
    《卫报》一篇关于东京奥运会的文章也用到了这个词:
    With the non-stop increases in the number of severe cases, its medical system
    has come under strain.
    随着严重病例不断增加,医疗系统不堪重负。
    put / place strain on sb 表示「给带来巨大压力,使不堪重负」。
    我们先来看个美剧《浪子神探》里的例子:

    That is what put the strain on your relationship. 
    我们联系「环境话题」造个句:
    With the rise in income and living standards of the people, there has been an entry of private cars on the road round the world. It is putting strain on nonrenewable resources and leading to air pollution.
    随着人们收入和生活水平的提高,私家车开始在世界各地的道路上行驶。这对不可再生能源造成了巨大压力,并导致空气污染。


  • lawmaker 指「法律制定者」。近义词还有policymaker,指「政策制定者」。
  • move to do sth 指「采取行动做某事」。
    《金融时报》一篇关于爱彼迎的文章也用到了这个词:
    Airbnb is moving to prevent a shortfall in rental properties as global travel rebounds, rolling out a suite of new tools including AI-driven listing curation to encourage more hosts to advertise their properties on its site.
    随着全球旅游业复苏,爱彼迎正采取行动预防租赁房源短缺,它推出了一系列新工具,包括人工智能驱动的房源管理工具,以鼓励更多房东在其网站上推广自己的房源。
    顺便复习一下,
    move还可以作名词,指「行动,举措」。相当于action, measure, step。
    the move to do sth 指「...行动,...举措」。
    我们在中国停止跨国收养,外媒怎么看?刚学过:
    China’s move to curb international adoptions follows similar moves in countries around the world. 
    此前全球其他一些国家也已采取了类似举措。
  • raise 这里为动词,指「增加,提高」。
    所谓「延迟退休」实际上就是「提高法定退休年龄」,也就是:
     raise the statutory retirement age,各大外媒基本都用的这个表述。
    再来看个英剧《尝试》里的例子:

    Don't raise your voice. You'll scare him.
  • statutory [ˈstætʃətəri] 为形容词,指「法定的」。
    the statutory retirement age 便指「法定退休年龄」。



The long-awaited plan will affect most working people in China, but none of it will happen fast.
这项酝酿已久的计划将影响中国大多数劳动者,但变化不会很快发生。

Over the next 15 years, retirement benchmarks will be delayed a few months each year according to a complicated schedule that varies for different groups. In short, the younger workers are, the longer they will be expected to work.
在未来15年里,退休年龄基准将根据不同群体复杂的时间表每年推迟几个月。简而言之,现在年龄越小的人预计工作时间会越长。

  • long-awaited 是个合成的形容词,指「等待已久的,盼望已久的」。
    再举个例子,《经济学人》一篇关于日本的文章也用到了这个词:
    Rising prices and animal spirits give it a long-awaited opportunity
    价格上涨和“动物精神”给了它期待已久的机会。

  • benchmark 为可数名词,指「基准」。

  • vary 为不及物动词,sth varies 指「某事物各不相同,某事物有差异」。 
    文中
    vary for different groups 便指不同的群体,各不相同。
    《华尔街日报》一篇探讨不生孩子能省下多少钱的文章也用到了这个词:
    Reasons for choosing not to have children vary.
    至于为何不想生儿育女,人们的原因各不相同。

    我们再来看个美剧里的例子:


    The statistics vary widely.
    vary 这个小词,我们在《经济学人》里有哪些精妙又漂亮的写作小词?(16)详细讲过,同学们可以点击链接,再复习一下。

  • in short 指「总而言之,简单地说」。

  • the more..., the more ... 是个比较句型,指「越...,越...」。
    the younger workers are, the longer they will be expected to work 便指「越年轻的工作者,他们的工作时间预计会越长」。这句话真是扎心了。
    我们再来看几个例子:

    And the more we know before the depo, the easier it will be.
    The more he speaks, the more he reveals.



Chinese officials have long telegraphed that the country needs to raise retirement ages unchanged since the 1950s, but the news nonetheless came as a blow to many Chinese.


  • 🎈语法点睛:大家注意,单个形容词修饰名词时,一般放在名词前面。
    而形容词短语修饰名词时,一般放在名词后。
    比如:
    a famous woman 一位著名的女性
    a woman famous for her short stories 一位以短篇小说闻名的女性

  • 文中 unchanged since the 1950s 就是一个形容词短语作后置定语,修饰retirement ages,指「自20世纪50年代以来一直没有变过的//退休年龄」。
    我们可以把后置定语,改写成定语从句:
    the country ne
    eds to raise retirement ages unchanged since the 1950s
    = the country needs to raise retirement ages
    which are unchanged since the 1950s
    我们再来看一个例子:

    The world is full of lonely people afraid to make the first move. 
    这里 afraid to make the first move就是一个形容词短语作后置定语,修饰lonely people。我们可以将其改写为定语从句:
    The world is full of lonely people who are afraid to make the first move.

  • long 这里为副词,指「长久地,长期地」,相当于for a long time
    have long done sth 指「一直...」,是外刊里非常高频的搭配,老读者们一定遇见过。

  • telegraph 本来是「发电报」的意思,它还可以表示「流露,暴露」思想、动机 (to let people know what you intend to do without saying anything)
    举个例子:
    A tiny movement of her arm had telegraphed her intention to hit out.
    她手臂的一个小小的动作显示了她想要出手的意图。
    The commission 
    telegraphed its decision earlier this month by telling an official to prepare the order.
    本月早些时候,委员会命令一位官员准备起草指令,透露了其决定。

  • nonetheless 是「尽管如此」的意思。
    这个词几乎可以完美表达大家很喜欢说的「虽然但是」,含义和用法都很像,甚至还押了韵
    😄
    我们再来看几个例子:
    There was still a long way to go. Nonetheless, some progress had been made.
    路还很长,不过已经取得了一些进展。
    His face is serious but nonetheless very friendly.
    他一脸严肃,但还是非常友好。

  • come as a blow to sb 指「对某人来说一大打击」。

    come as 后面还可以跟其他名词,比如:come as a surprise to sb, come as a relief to sb 等等。
    比如某一天你发现你的同学早已早婚了,这时你就可以说:

    I didn't know that you are married. That really comes as a surprise!
    我不知道你结婚了。那真是令人感到惊讶!
    考研英语一2011年Text 1也考到了这个词组:
    One of the reasons why the appointment came as such a surprise, however, is that Gilbert is comparatively little known.
    然而,这项任命如此令人惊讶的原因之一是Gilbert是一位相对不出名的音乐家。

    So, this won't come as a shock, but still, all the same, I'm sorry.



The End


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