智慧人生篇章 第37期:社会救助

 　　Yesterday the Health Secretary announced his social care reform plan. The reforms have been adopted from an earlier commission which grappled with the soaring cost of residential¹ care. While the State is considering the cost of care for a growing over-80s population, government is proposing a fixed² lifetime contribution from those with assets. After a year of consultation³, plans still seem hazy⁴, but contributions could later be deducted⁵ from property sales after the person dies. Every year 40,000 people are forced to sell their homes in order to pay for their care. These colossal⁶ issues, which frustrates⁷ governments and terrify the old, may also ambush⁸ the financial future of the unsuspecting young.

　　昨天，卫生部长宣布了他的社会保障改革计划。社会服务业成本激增，试图克服此趋势的早期委员会采取了改革。正当年过80的人口日益增多时，国家在考虑给这些人予以补贴费用，然而政府却打算从拥有资产的老人扣除一笔固定的终身费用。经过一年的协商，计划似乎还是令人感到迷茫，但当人死后，捐款能在死后的物业销售中扣除。每年有四万人被迫卖掉自己的房子来支付他们的社会服务费。这四万人巨大的数字，使政府担忧，令老人害怕，甚至还可能潜伏在未来的经济上，突袭毫无防备的年轻人。

　　I have to confess that these discussions leave me personally agitated⁹. Having become eligible¹⁰ for a senior rail card recently they're a bit close to home. And I'm wondering what I can now say to my children when they make playful innuendos¹¹ about inheriting the family home "when we're gone."It's not hard, it's hard not to feel like a future fiscal¹² problem loitering in the present, a burden rather than a blessing¹³. In this kind of environment, it's hard to read biblical statements about the veneration¹⁴ of old age with any kind of assurance.

　　我必须承认这些讨论令我非常地焦虑不安。最近，我已经有资格拿到老年人卡。当我的孩子含沙射影戏谑着说“我们去世时”可以继承房子的时候，我无言以对。不难发现，这是一个徘徊在当前的未来财政问题，与其说这是一种保佑，还不如说是一种负担。在这种环境下，很难去理解圣经中以任何形式来保证关于尊敬老人的陈述。

　　But in an ancient world without welfare and pension plans, it's easier to see why the currency of respect for the old was so vital to the political eco-system and why God himself became involved in providing assurances for Israel's senior citizens. "Even to old age I am he; even to your advanced age I myself will support you" said the prophet Isaiah. "I myself have made you, I myself will carry you". No vague promises here though, because everything about belonging to this covenant¹⁵ God meant a religious and cultural obligation to look out for the vulnerable and feeble. Care for the elderly was about attitudes even more than money.

　　但在远古时候，虽然没有福利救济金和慈善计划，却很容易能看到为什么现在尊重老人的想法对政治生态系统如此地重要，为什么上帝也被卷入为以色列老年人提供保障的计划。“直到你年老，我仍是一样；直到你白头，我依然扶持你。”预言家艾赛亚说道，“我既然如此做了，我必要提携你，扶持你，拯救你。”虽然这里没有模糊的承诺，因为所有关于盟约之神的事情，都意味着宗教和文化的职责是照顾弱势群体。对老人的照顾更多的是态度，而不是金钱。

　　Britain has 1.5 million people over 85. In the next decade, care of the elderly will account for 45% of some council spending. In economic terms, aging is a growing service industry in which the present and future old will need professional care and respect as much as money. But if we are to achieve this, we will also need what the old reformer William Wilberforce called, 'a reformation of manners' as much as a reformation in our economic structures.

　　英国有150万人85岁以上。在未来的十年里，照顾老人的费用将占委员会开支的45%。从经济方面来看，人口老龄化给服务业带来了日益增长的趋势，但不论是现在还是未来，老年人更需要专业的照顾和尊重，而不仅仅是金钱。但如果我们要达到这个目标，我们也需要老改革家威廉·威尔伯福斯所说的”形式改革“，而不仅仅是经济结构的改革。

1 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

2 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。

3 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

4 hazy   

adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的

参考例句：

• We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
• I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。

5 deducted   

v.扣除，减去( deduct的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cost of your uniform will be deducted from your wages. 制服费将从你的工资中扣除。
• The cost of the breakages will be deducted from your pay. 损坏东西的费用将从你的工资中扣除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

7 frustrates   

v.使不成功( frustrate的第三人称单数 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• What frustrates him is that there's too little money to spend on the project. 使他懊恼的是，可用于这个项目的资金太少。
• His trouble is that he frustrates much easily. 他的毛病是很容易泄气。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

9 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

10 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

11 innuendos   

n.影射的话( innuendo的名词复数 )；讽刺的话；含沙射影；暗讽

参考例句：

• Miss Moneypenny:Some day, you will have to make good on your innuendos. 彭妮：有朝一日，你会报偿你的暗示。 来自互联网
• Don't spread gossip, rumor, innuendos, unkindness, malicious words or physical anger. 不要散布谣言、闲话。 来自互联网

12 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

13 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

14 veneration   

n.尊敬，崇拜

参考例句：

• I acquired lasting respect for tradition and veneration for the past.我开始对传统和历史产生了持久的敬慕。
• My father venerated General Eisenhower.我父亲十分敬仰艾森豪威尔将军。

15 covenant   

n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约

参考例句：

• They refused to covenant with my father for the property.他们不愿与我父亲订立财产契约。
• The money was given to us by deed of covenant.这笔钱是根据契约书付给我们的。