【一起听英语】退休后的生活

 人们退休后会选择去做些什么？..

 

Dan: Hello and welcome to this week’s 6 Minute English. I’m Dan Walker Smith

and today Kate and I are talking about retirement¹.

Kate: Hello Dan. Yes, well retirement is the time of your life when you stop

working completely. And here in the UK this is usually in your 60s. You're no

longer earning a regular income from employment, so you collect a pension;

this is a sum of money paid by the state or a private company instead of your

salary.

Dan: So this week's question for you Kate is: What percentage of the UK's

population is over retirement age; that's over 65 for a man and over 60 for a

woman? Is it:

a) 12.5%

b) 18.5%

c) 22.5%

Kate: I'm afraid I've got absolutely no idea. But I have heard that our population is an

aging population, so I'm going to go for b, 18.5%.

Dan: OK, well we'll see if you're right at the end of the programme

Kate: Now in the UK men have to stop working when they're 65. And women retire

at the age of 60. It's what we call a compulsory² retirement age. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

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Dan: Compulsory means that you're forced to do something or that you don't have a

choice, so a compulsory retirement age is the age at which you stop working.

Kate: But with people living longer, there's increasing discussion over whether it's

right to have a compulsory retirement age.

Dan: Now here's the British journalist John Humphrys talking about how retirement

is changing as the population gets older. Listen out for the word compulsory,

and also the terms 'kick our heels' and 'hang around'. Can you explain what

these means Kate?

Kate: Sure, well to kick your heels means to wait impatiently. So if you have to wait

a long time for someone, you might say that you kick your heels while you do

it. And to hang around means to spend time somewhere, usually without

much purpose.

Let's have a listen to the first extract: what does the Equality and Human

Rights Commission say we should do about compulsory retirement?

Extract 1

Now we retire, kick our heels for years, maybe just hang around, and then we die. It's

very different from how it was, and now the government body, the Equality and Human

Rights Commission has said it's got to change. The notion of compulsory retirement

should be scrapped⁴.

Dan: OK, so because we're living longer, retired⁵ people have to kick their heels for

a lot longer. And the commission is suggesting that a fixed⁶ age for retirement

should be scrapped.

Kate: To scrap³ means to get rid of or cancel something. So if the commission wants

to scrap compulsory retirement, it wants to abandon the idea of forcing people

to stop work when they reach 60 or 65. Sounds like a good idea to me. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

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Dan: Here's Andrea Murray from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. She

says there are strong economic reasons to let people continue working after the

traditional retirement age. So how much money does she say would be

generated for the British economy by letting people work longer?

Extract 2

There would be a big boost to the economy; if we extended people's working lives by 18

months they calculate would add £15 billion in to the economy.

Kate: Well she said that letting people work for 18 months longer could generate up

to £15 billion. And she describes this as a big 'boost' to the economy. A boost

means to make something bigger or increase it. So, if she's right, £15 billion of

extra money would certainly be a boost to the economy.

Dan: Here's Andrea Murray again, talking about the health benefits of working

longer. What does she say is the main health advantage of retiring later?

Extract 3

At the moment people tend to drop off into retirement at 65, and we know that they

have greater job satisfaction and better health if they continue working and continue

being engaged.

Kate: OK, so she said that you have more job satisfaction if you continue working.

Job satisfaction is the phrase we use to describe how happy or content you are

with your job. So if your work gives you a purpose, then retiring early could

mean you have too much free time and you don't have enough to do.

So going back to job satisfaction Dan, do you think you have job satisfaction?

Dan: I'd say so. I'm pretty happy with my life as it is. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

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Kate: But think about in a few years' time and you're hitting 60/65, do you think

you'd like to carry on working?

Dan: I'd like to have to option to carry on working. I think that maybe I wouldn't

want to work every day, but I'd like to have the chance to come in every now

and again, and if I wanted to work, just to earn some money or keep myself

busy, that's what I could do.

Kate: Yup, that sounds like a very nice arrangement. But of course there are people

who look forward to retirement their entire working lives. They look forward

to a time when they can relax, play sport, and read books, and not have to get

up every morning and go to work. I can kind of understand that, can't you?

Dan: If you've worked hard, then you probably deserve it.

OK, we’re almost out of time, so let’s go over some of the vocabulary we’ve

come across today:

retirement

compulsory

pension

to kick your heels

to hang around

scrapped

a boost

job satisfaction

Dan: And of course there's just time for today's question. I asked you Kate what

percentage of the UK's population is over retirement age?

Kate: And I think I went for the middle one, b, 18.5%. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

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Dan: And you are right with 18.5%.

Kate: Yay! I'm always right these days.

Dan: You are. You're always right these days.

It's quite incredible though; we're getting a lot older as a population.

Apparently⁸ the number of people aged⁷ 65 and over in the UK is expected to

rise by 60% in the next 25 years.

And also, the number of people over 85 is predicted to double in 20 years and

treble – get three times as big – in the next 30.

 

Kate: Oh my goodness. That's quite worrying really. How are we going to look after

all these old people?

Dan: Well that's what people are trying to decide at the moment.

Kate: Yes, it's a difficult problem that's facing people all over the world, I think.

Dan: Well maybe that's something we can discuss in another programme.

But for now, thanks very much for listening from all of us here at BBC

Learning English, and goodbye!

Kate: Goodbye! 

1 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

2 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。

3 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

4 scrapped   

废弃(scrap的过去式与过去分词)； 打架

参考例句：

• This machine is so old that it will soon have to be scrapped. 这架机器太旧，快报废了。
• It had been thought that passport controls would be scrapped. 人们曾认为会放开护照管制。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

8 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。