【英语趣味课堂】合适的年龄-The Right Age

Matt: So what's the right age? There's a right age for everything, driving, smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol¹, voting, going to war, there's a right age for everything and it's different. It's vastly different among all the countries in the world and cultures in the world. What do you think's right? Let's make an easy example. For example driving, what's a good age for driving?

Kat: In Germany, the driving age is eighteen and I think that's a pretty appropriate age.

 

Matt: That's interesting because in Japan it's also eighteen and in the US actually you are allowed to start driving when you're fifteen with a learning² license³ as long as you have an adult in the car. I did that and I had fun driving but I can remember my mom screaming at me every five seconds to not do this, to not do that, just because driving can be pretty dangerous.

 

Kat: That is true, it can be pretty dangerous but from a European standpoint⁴ I always found the American situation rather backwards⁵. In America you are not allowed to drink alcohol till you're twenty one but you are allowed to drive when you are only sixteen years old. I found that quite interesting. In Germany you are allowed to drink alcohol when you're sixteen but you're not allowed to drive a car until you're eighteen. Which one do you think is better?

 

Matt: That's hard to say. I think that as far as alcohol goes, you should at least be able to get out of high school and get out of being able to get out of your parent's house at least at the age you can get out of your parent's house and make a living off of your own before you start drinking alcohol because you can make a lot of bad choices at that. With driving, I completely understand the German system where they allow you to drink and drinking and driving does not actually happen in Germany as often as it does in the US just because they are tired of drinking. They've already been drinking for a few years before they get their licence⁶ and drinking is nothing big. Whereas⁷ in the States you've been driving for a few years and that's absolutely nothing, there's nothing special to driving and then wow you get to drink all of a sudden. Yeah, but you still have to drive. Whereas in Germany that licence is so sacred that you're not going to have as many people drinking and driving. I think that's one benefit of doing it the German way but I still think that sixteen is too early to be drinking.

 

Kat: I believe sixteen is OK for starting to drink especially when you take into consideration that in the United States it's twenty one but still many people are drinking way before that.

 

Matt: That's true. In the States twenty one is ridiculous though at least in my opinion. You've got people that can vote when they're eighteen, they're legally adults when they're eighteen, they can go to war and die for their country when they're eighteen, but yet they're not allowed to have a single drink. I do find that to be weird⁸.

 

Kat: Yeah, twenty one is pretty late. I could agree with eighteen.

 

Matt: I don't know what the normal age is. It seems like in Europe it's much younger but I don't know what it is for the rest of Asia, but I do know that in Japan it's also twenty, so maybe twenty, twenty one isn't all that late of an age to allow drinking.

 

Kat: I think in Europe it's a cultural thing. People drink a lot of wine and beer and it's deeply ingrained in the culture so I think younger children or younger teenagers are allowed to drink because it just belongs to the meal.

 

Matt: That makes sense. What about voting?

 

Kat: Voting in Germany is eighteen. I think that's about the right age. At eighteen you are an adult and you can vote, drink and drive.

 

Matt: But what if you're drinking, driving and voting at the same time, that's not going to turn out to be very good.

 

Kat: That would be a problem.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

appropriate

 

I think that's a pretty appropriate age.

 

Appropriate is similar in meaning to suitable. Notice the following:

 

That was not an appropriate thing to say.

Do you think this gift is appropriate?

find ... backwards

 

I always found the American situation rather backwards.

 

Something we find backwards is the opposite of what we think. It is also used to talk about old style thinking. Notice the following:

 

They've got kind of a backwards justice system.

That seems backwards to me.

nothing big

 

They've already been drinking for a few years before they get their license and drinking is nothing big.

 

The term 'nothing big' means not serious. Notice the following:

 

His absence was nothing big.

Sure, it's a problem, but nothing big.

ingrained

 

People drink a lot of wine and beer and it's deeply ingrained in the culture

 

Something that is ingrained is a deep belief that is not likely to change. Notice the following:

 

Religion is deeply ingrained in their culture.

Distrust of foreigners is ingrained in their culture.

turn out

 

That's not going to turn out to be very good.

 

We use the term 'turn out' to talk about the result of an action or situation. Notice the following:

 

It turned out really well.

I hope it turns out better than the last project.

1 alcohol   

n.酒精，乙醇；含酒精的饮料

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors.法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。
• The alcohol is industrial.这些酒精是供工业用的。

2 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

3 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

4 standpoint   

n.立场，观点

参考例句：

• We should look at this from a historical standpoint.我们应从历史的观点看待这事。
• From my standpoint,this thing is just ridiculous.依我看来，这件事简直荒唐。

5 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

6 licence   

n.证书；许可证，执照；v.许可；批准

参考例句：

• The restaurant applied for a licence to sell wine.那家餐厅申请售酒许可证。
• He hadn't paid his television licence fee.他尚未缴纳电视机使用许可费。

7 whereas   

conj.而，却，反之

参考例句：

• They want a house,whereas we would rather live in a flat.他们想要一座房子，而我们宁愿住在一套房间里。
• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。

8 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。