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@ 50321 人口老齡化
A 上午我在報紙上看到一篇聯合國人口司發表的最新研究報告，說現在世界人口已經逐步趨向老齡化。你說如果幾十年後世界上大多數都是老人，該是件多麼可怕的事情？
shàngwǔ wǒ zài bàozhǐ shàng kàndào yī piān liánhéguó rénkǒusī fābiǎo de zuìxīn yánjiū bàogào, shuō xiànzài shìjiè rénkǒu yǐjīng zhúbù qūxiàng lǎolínghuà. nǐ shuō rúguǒ jǐ shí nián hòu shìjiè shàng dàduōshù dōu shì lǎorén, gāi shì jiàn duōme kěpà de shìqing?
This morning I saw a report in the newspaper about the latest research publication by the UN Population Division. It said that the world's population is getting gradually older. Tell me, how scary would it be if after a few more decades, most of the Earth's population were old people?
B 別說得那麼恐怖。老人多點兒又怎麼啦？你可不能歧視老人。
bié shuō de nàme kǒngbù. lǎorén duō dianr3 yòu zěnme la? nǐ kě bùnéng qíshì lǎorén.
Don't make it seem so terrifying-- what's wrong with having some extra old people? You can't go looking down your nose on the elderly.
A 咳，你誤會我了。我不是在歧視老年人，可是人口的老齡化也的確會在一定程度上影響社會的發展。如果我們忽略這個問題的話，說不定真的會造成嚴重的後果。
hāi, nǐ wùhuì wǒ le. wǒ bù shì zài qíshì lǎoniánrén, kěshì rénkǒu de lǎolínghuà yě díquè huì zài yīdìng chéngdùshàng yǐngxiǎng shèhuì de fāzhǎn. rúguǒ wǒmen hūlǜe zhège wèntí dehuà, shuōbudìng zhēnde huì zàochéng yánzhòng de hòuguǒ.
Agh, you misunderstood me. I'm not looking down on old people. But the aging of the population definitely has a certain effect on social development. If we neglect this problem, it may really lead to some serious consequences.
B 不會吧？現在人們的生活質量變好了，身體也越來越健康。老人健康長壽是件多麼有福氣的事情啊，怎麼被你說得跟禍害似的？
bùhuì ba? xiànzài rénmen de shēnghuó zhìliàng biànhǎo le, shēntǐ yě yuèláiyuè jiànkāng. lǎorén jiànkāng chángshòu shì jiàn duōme yǒu fúqì de shìqing ā, zěnme bèi nǐ shuō de gēn huòhài shìde?
No way-- people's quality of life is better these days, and they're healthier all the time. It's wonderful that old people are living longer, healthier lives. How can you make it sound like a disaster?
A 老人能得到良好的照顧當然很好。可是如果社會發展跟不上，社會福利得不到保證，人們不能安居樂業，又有誰來照顧那些孤寡老人呢？如果老年人越來越多，不是會給社會帶來巨大壓力嗎？
lǎorén néng dédào liánghǎo de zhàogu dāngrán hěn hǎo. kěshì rúguǒ shèhuì fāzhǎn gēn bu shàng, shèhuì fúlì dé bu dào bǎozhèng, rénmen bùnéng ānjūlèyè, yòu yǒu shéi lái zhàogu nàxiē gūguǎ lǎorén ne? rúguǒ lǎoniánrén yuèláiyuèduō, bùshì huì gěi shèhuì dàilái jùdà yālì ma?
Of course it's great that the elderly can enjoy excellent care. But if social development can't keep up, there will be no guarantee of social welfare. People won't be able to live contentedly. And who will take care of those lonely old people? If there are more old people all the time, won't it put huge pressure on society?
B 我還是持有傳統的尊老思想，覺得即便老人們無法再繼續工作，他們的經驗和智慧也是我們堅實的後盾。無論有多大壓力，我都會善待老人。我不覺得老人會成為社會發展的阻礙力量。
wǒ hái shì chíyǒu chuántǒng de zūnlǎo sīxiǎng, juéde jíbiàn lǎorénmen wúfǎ zài jìxù gōngzuò, tāmen de jīngyàn hé zhìhuì yě shì wǒmen jiānshí de hòudùn. wúlùn yǒu duō dà yālì, wǒ dōuhuì shàndāi lǎorén. wǒ bù juéde lǎorén huì chéngwéi shèhuì fāzhǎn de zǔài lìliàng.
I still have the traditional respect for the elderly. I feel that even if the elderly aren't able to keep on working, their experience and wisdom give us substantial support. No matter how great the pressure, I will take good care of the elderly. I don't think that the elderly will become a force for obstructing social progress.
A 你的想法太主觀了。我不是說應該拋棄老人，我擔心的是“心有餘而力不足”。如果我們不重視人口老齡化的現象，當老人越來越多，能夠承擔社會大部分責任的年輕人卻越來越少，社會供養矛盾越來越突出，是不利於整個社會的發展的。
nǐ de xiǎngfǎ tài zhǔguān le. wǒ bù shì shuō yīnggāi pāoqì lǎorén, wǒ dānxīn de shì `` xīnyǒuyúérlìbùzú" . rúguǒ wǒmen bùzhòngshì rénkǒu lǎolínghuà de xiànxiàng, dàng lǎorén yuèláiyuèduō, nénggòu chéngdān shèhuì dàbù fēn zérèn de niánqīngrén què yuèláiyuèshǎo, shèhuì gōngyǎng máodùn yuèláiyuè tūchū, shì bùlì yú zhěnggè shèhuì de fāzhǎn de.
Your opinion is too subjective. I'm not saying we should toss the old people out. What I'm worried about is a situation where ``the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." If we don't take the aging of the population seriously, when there are more and more old people, and as the number of young people who can assume most of the responsibility for society is getting increasingly smaller, conflicts about parental support will become even more pronounced. It's not good for the development of the entire society.
B 你說的的確有道理，可是我覺得你過於擔心了。
nǐ shuō de díquè yǒu dàolǐ, kěshì wǒ juéde nǐ guòyú dānxīn le.
What you're saying is definitely reasonable, but I think you're worrying too much.
A 你是不知道現在人口發展的趨勢。現在特別是在很多發達國家，許多年輕人為了事業都選擇不要小孩，寧願享受二人世界。不難預見不久的將來，年輕人和老年人的比例將嚴重失調。
nǐ shì bù zhīdào xiànzài rénkǒu fāzhǎn de qūshì. xiànzài tèbiéshì zài hěn duō fādá guójiā, xǔduō niánqīngrén wéile shìyè dōu xuǎnzé bùyào xiǎohái, nìngyuàn xiǎngshòu èrrénshìjiè. bù nán yùjiàn bùjiǔ de jiānglái, niánqīngrén hé lǎoniánrén de bǐlì jiāng yánzhòng shītiáo.
You don't know about trends in modern population growth. These days, especially in developed countries, for the sake of their careers a lot of young people choose not to have children. They'd rather enjoy life as a couple. It's not hard to see that in the not-distant future, the ratio of young to old people will be seriously out of whack.
B 現在的確是有很多年輕人不想生孩子，不過這不是正好可以緩解目前人口增長過剩的現狀嗎？即便年輕人所佔比例逐漸減少，還不至於誇張到失調的地步吧？
xiànzài díquè shì yǒu hěn duō niánqīngrén bù xiǎng shēng háizi, bùguò zhè bù shì zhènghǎo kěyǐ huǎnjiě mùqián rénkǒu zēngzhǎng guòshèng de xiànzhuàng ma? jíbiàn niánqīngrén suǒ zhàn bǐlì zhújiàn jiǎnshǎo, huán bùzhì yú kuāzhāng dào shītiáo de dìbù ba?
It's definitely true that a lot of young people these days don't want children. But isn't this exactly the thing to relieve the current problem of excessive population growth? Even if the proportion of young people is lower, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's really out of whack, right?
A 我們要從長遠來看，不能只顧眼前。雖然人們的死亡率下降，平均壽命提高是件好事，但人口的發展一定要保持平衡才不會阻礙社會的發展。
wǒmen yào cóng chángyuǎn láikàn, bùnéng zhǐgù yǎnqián. suīrán rénmen de sǐwánglǜ xiàjiàng, píngjūn shòumìng tígāo shì jiàn hǎo shì, dàn rénkǒu de fāzhǎn yīdìng yào bǎochí pínghéng cái bùhuì zǔài shèhuì de fāzhǎn.
We need to take a long-term perspective. We can't just look at what's right in front of us. Although a decreasing rate of death and an increase in average live spans are good news, the only way to avoid obstruction of social growth is for the population to grow in a balanced way.
B 看來人口老齡化的問題也是不容忽視的，中國為了控制人口增長的“獨生子女政策”在若干年後也要相應地做做調整了。
kànlai rénkǒu lǎolínghuà de wèntí yě shì bùrónghūshì de, Zhōngguó wèile kòngzhì rénkǒu zēngzhǎng de `` dúshēngzǐnǚ zhèngcè" zài ruògān nián hòu yě yào xiāngyīng de zuòzuo tiáozhěng le.
It looks like the problem of an aging population can't be ignored. China's one-child policy, intended to control population growth, will need to be adjusted somewhat in the coming years.
Key Vocabulary
趨向 qūxiàng to incline to
歧視 qíshì to discriminate against
福氣 fúqì good fortune
安居樂業 ānjūlèyè live and work in peace and contentment
堅實 jiānshí firm
後盾 hòudùn background support
善待 shàndāi to treat well
阻礙 zǔài to block
趨勢 qūshì trend
失調 shītiáo imbalance
緩解 huǎnjiě to ease
過剩 guòshèng surplus
壽命 shòumìng life span
不容忽視 bùrónghūshì not to be ignored
Supplementary Vocabulary
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