【英语语言学习】德国的养老问题

 RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

 

A recent U.N. study gave Germany high rating for the quality of life enjoyed by its senior citizens. Even so, many Germans spend their final days in Eastern European countries, where elder care is less expensive. That practice has some asking whether it's wrong to send loved ones far away to save money.

 

NPR's Berlin correspondent Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson filed this report from Poland.

 

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Foreign language spoken)

 

SORAYA SARHADDI NELSON, BYLINE¹: A handful of German and Polish residents at this nursing home in the mountain town of Slarska Poreba play a Scrabble-like game using blocks with large letters.

 

The seniors are tended to by Polish workers who offer a steady supply of smiles, hugs and encouragement.

 

LEONARDO TEGLS: (Foreign language spoken)

 

NELSON: Leonardo Tegls says such personal attention makes this nursing home called Sun House special. The 87-year-old Dutch-born immigrant to Germany says he first learned about the Polish nursing home from a TV ad.

 

He says he had become too frail² live on his own, but his German stepdaughter didn't have enough room to take him in. So Tegls moved 500 miles from Moenchengladbach across the border to Sun House, where he pays a third of what he would spend in Germany.

 

TEGLS: (Foreign language spoken)

 

NELSON: He says he's disappointed more of the staff here doesn't speak German. But he loves his private room, with windows overlooking the vibrant³ fall foliage⁴, even if it is too far away for his family and friends to visit.

 

Tegls is one of 10 German seniors at Sun House, a number that is expected to double in the coming months.

 

Helping⁵ Germans find elder care in Poland is Guenther Stobrawe. He and his Polish-born wife have advised more than a hundred families since opening their business in April.

 

GUENTHER STOBRAWE: (Foreign language spoken)

 

NELSON: Stobawe takes a call from a German senior interested in moving to Sun House, which used to be a German hospital during World War I. He tells NPR it's not just the two-thirds lower costs, but better care that draws Germans to Poland.

 

STOBRAWE: (Through translator) Most are seeking an alternative to expensive and impersonal⁶ treatment in Germany. There are not enough nurses to provide adequate care to the elderly.

 

NELSON: That shortage is expected to increase as Germany's population ages. By 2050, almost a third of Germans will be 65 years or older.

 

Better care is why one German woman NPR interviewed says she pulled her mother out of a nursing home down the street and moved her to a Polish one 350 miles away. The German government cut off the 94-year-old woman's pension for leaving the country.

 

Her daughter, who asked that she and her mom not be identified, says she is planning to tell officials her mother has moved back to Germany to restore the monthly payments.

 

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Foreign language spoken)

 

NELSON: But she says no matter what, she won't bring her back to a German nursing home. She says at the last one, workers fed her mother a steady dose of sedatives⁷ that kept her asleep most of the time. The daughter adds that's not the case in Poland, where her mother is happy and more active. Sun House's director is Helena Grab.

 

HELEN GRAB: (Through translator) Our treatment isn't different from what is offered in Germany. But what German relatives of the patients tell us is that it's much more warm-hearted. We treat them in a friendly and hands-on manner. We knock on the door before we go into their rooms. This approach appeals to our patients' loved ones.

 

NELSON: But many other Germans are uncomfortable with the exodus⁸ of their senior citizens. A March survey by pollster TNS Emnid found that more than four of every five Germans rejected the notion of their elderly spending their final years in Poland or nearby Slovakia, another country where seniors are moving to.

 

The influential⁹ German newspaper, Suedeutsche Zeitung, sarcastically¹⁰ called the trend gerontologic colonialism, and featured a cartoon of older Germans rolling eastward¹¹ on walkers, in wheelchairs and in hospital beds.

 

KLAUS PAWLETKO: (Foreign language spoken)

 

NELSON: Klaus Pawletko, who heads the Berlin-based association Friends of the Elderly, blames the transplant of German seniors into cheaper facilities abroad on relatives seeking to protect their inheritance. He says sending older Germans to a foreign country makes them feel cast off.

 

Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, in Slarska Poreba, Poland.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

3 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

4 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 impersonal   

adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的

参考例句：

• Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远，没有人情味。
• His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。

7 sedatives   

n.镇静药，镇静剂( sedative的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A wide variety of mild sedatives and tranquilizers have become available. 现在有许多种镇静剂和安定剂。 来自辞典例句
• Since July 1967 there has been a restriction on the prescribing of sedatives in Australia. 自从1967年7月起，澳大利亚的镇静药处方受到限制。 来自辞典例句

8 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

9 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

10 sarcastically   

adv.挖苦地，讽刺地

参考例句：

• 'What a surprise!' Caroline murmured sarcastically.“太神奇了!”卡罗琳轻声挖苦道。
• Pierce mocked her and bowed sarcastically. 皮尔斯嘲笑她，讽刺地鞠了一躬。

11 eastward   

adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部

参考例句：

• The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
• The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去，他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。