US actress Billie Burke is reported to have said that "age is something that does not matter unless you are a cheese"．美国女演员比利·伯克曾经说过：“年龄对于名人来讲至关重要，对于其他人而言倒是无所谓。”
However， an analysis of attitudes to ageing in the UK has suggested that youth ends at the age of 45．然而，英国一项有关人们对于年龄所持态度的调查指出，青年年龄的上限为45岁。
Old age， according to respondents in several surveys， starts at 63 years of age－－leaving 18 years of middle age．调查还指出，老年的界限将从63岁开始，因此中间18年的时间被定义为中年时期。
The Department for Work and Pensions research studied the implications of age on equality and social cohesion．英国就业与退休保障部门就年龄对于社会平等与社会凝聚力所起的作用进行了分析与研究。
The study considered five national surveys conducted between 2004 and 2008， with more than 6，000 respondents in total．该研究针对从2004年至2008年间的五次全国性调查进行了分析，共有6000名受访者参与其中。
The findings showed that people’s consideration of age differed when referring to themselves．调查显示，每个人对年龄的态度和解释可能都不一样。
By their mid－30s， most respondents stopped describing themselves as young， and only by their mid－70s did they start calling themselves old．被访者表示从30多岁开始，明显感到自己不再年轻；而只有到了75岁左右，他们才接受自己已经年老的事实。
There was some good news for the older generation， with more people saying they were more comfortable with a boss aged over 70 than with somebody under 30 being in charge at work．对于年长者的好消息是，人们普遍表示，被一个70岁以上的老板管理远比称呼一个30岁以下的人为老板要让人感觉舒服得多。
But 26% of those asked said they had experienced ageism． This was not just the retired， but also those who were not working or who were not married．26%的被访者表示自己经历过老年歧视，这不仅仅局限于是否已退休，工作状况和婚姻状况同样是导致歧视的因素。
"Nearly a quarter of respondents believed that people over 70 take out more from the economy than they put in，" the report said．报告指出，大约有四分之一的被访者认为70岁以上的老人从社会经济体系中获取的远大于贡献的。
However， this was less of an issue for people living in Yorkshire and the Humber than anywhere else in the UK．不过，住在英国约克郡和亨伯河三角洲的老人较少会遇到这种歧视。
The analysis found that people in the south－east of England were more likely to have experienced ageism．分析还发现，居住在英格兰东南部的人们更容易遇到老年歧视的问题。
This could affect the young and the old， the report concluded， and it also found that there was relatively little mixing between the age groups．该报告做出结论：年龄上的歧视可能会影响青年人和老年人间的关系。而研究也发现，不同年龄群体之间的交错也相对较少。
With people delaying their acceptance of being "old" as they went through life， the authors argued that there was evidence of people delaying the preparation for later life．对于接受自己的“年老”，人们总是显得很被动。研究人员发现，随之而来的便是人们不愿及时为以后的生活做准备。
Separate research led by Amanda Griffiths， professor of occupational health psychology at the University of Nottingham， found that stress levels at work peaked at about 50 to 55 years old and decreased in the years approaching retirement．诺丁汉大学职业健康心理学的阿曼达·格里菲斯教授及她的研究团队发现，人们工作的压力于50至55岁之间达到顶峰，之后随着退休的临近而日趋衰退。 |