调查显示 六分之一的人宁愿早死?

 　　The general belief is we want to live for as long as we possibly can - maybe even reaching triple figures.

　　人们普遍认为自己想活得尽可能长久一些，甚至希望能够活到100岁以上。

　　Advances in medicine, science and technology are extending our life expectancy¹ every day.

　　医学、科学和科技的进步，每天都在延长我们的预期寿命。

　　But many are scared of the effects of ageing - with the thought of dementia striking terror into the hearts of most adults.

　　但是许多人对衰老带来的后果感到恐惧，大多数成年人一想到以后可能会痴呆就心生恐惧。

　　And a new study has discovered the fear of becoming old may actually outweigh² the fear of dying.

　　一项新的研究发现，衰老也许比死亡事实上更让人恐惧。

　　More than one in six people would prefer to die before they turn 80 - less than the average life expectancy, scientists found.

　　科学家发现，有六分之一的人更希望在八十岁前死去。这个年龄比平均预期寿命还要低。

　　调查显示 六分之一的人宁愿早死?

　　Hispanics have the highest preference for a shorter life while African-American people are more likely to want to live for 100 or more years, a new study suggests.

　　一项新的研究表明，拉美裔美国人最倾向于拥有一个较短暂的人生，而非裔美国人则更愿意活到100岁或更久。

　　But despite women living around five years longer than men, gender³ had no difference in how long people wanted to live for.

　　尽管女性的寿命一般比男性多五岁，但在想要活多久的问题上，男女的想法并无差异。

　　The study is one of the first to investigate how younger adults perceive and anticipate their own ageing.

　　这项研究最先调查了较年轻的成人对衰老的认识以及对老年生活的设想。

　　Researchers from the Columbia Aging Center quizzed 1,600 adults aged⁴ 18 to 64 in a telephone survey. They were on average 42 years old, half were women and 33 per cent were university graduates.

　　哥伦比亚老年化中心的研究人员们对1600名18岁到64岁的成年人进行了电话调研。他们的平均年龄为42岁，其中一半是女性，有33%是大学毕业生。

　　Professor Vegard Skirbekk, from the Columbia Aging Center said: 'We were particularly interested in whether how long people want to live would be related to their expectations about what their life in old age will be like.'

　　哥伦比亚老年化中心的韦加尔·希尔贝克教授说：“人们希望活多久和他们对老年生活的期望之间是否有关？我们对这一点尤其感兴趣。”

　　'For many, it seems that the fear of becoming old may outweigh the fear of dying.'

　　“对很多人来说，变老的恐惧超过了死亡的恐惧。”

　　The results confirmed those who had fewer positive expectations of growing old preferred to die earlier, before reaching average life expectancy.

　　研究结果证实，对老年生活没有太多积极预期的人更希望早点死去，不愿活到平均预期寿命。

　　And conversely, those who had fewer negative expectations of old age wanted their lives to go on for longer.

　　相反，对老年生活的负面预期较少的人们希望活得更久。

　　Joint⁵ author Dr Catherine Bowen said: 'Having rather bleak⁶ expectations of what life will be like in old age seems to undermine the desire to live up to and beyond current levels of average life expectancy.'

　　研究报告的共同作者凯瑟琳·鲍文博士表示：“对老年生活的悲观预期会削减想要活得长久以及超过当前平均预期寿命的渴望。”

　　'People who embrace the "better to die young" attitude may underestimate their ability to cope with negative age-related life experiences as well as to find new sources of well-being⁷ in old age.'

　　“抱有'宁愿早死'态度的人可能低估了自己处理衰老带来负面影响的能力，以及年老时找到新的保持健康的能力。”

1 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

2 outweigh   

vt.比...更重，...更重要

参考例句：

• The merits of your plan outweigh the defects.你制定的计划其优点胜过缺点。
• One's merits outweigh one's short-comings.功大于过。

3 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

4 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。

5 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

6 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

7 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。