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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
政府迫于压力不仅要为未来改革退休金制度，而且还要为纠正过去的不公正待遇做许多工作。有85，000人由于公司倒闭而失去他们全部或是部分的职业退休金，他们声称自己是被政府误导，才会相信其退休金是有保障的。
注释：
1.pension n. 养老金，退休金
2.occupational adj. 职业的
4.ombudsman n. 调查官员舞弊情况的政府官员
5.Financial Assistance Scheme 经济援助计划
9.shortfall n. 不足
10.inflation n. 通货膨胀，（物价）暴涨
Compensation for Lost Pensions
Well the government has been under pressure not just to reform pensions for the future but also to do more to put right past injustices5. It's been urged to do more to help 85,000 workers who've lost all or some of their occupational pensions because their firm went bust and, they claim, they were misled by the government into thinking their pensions were safe. Two months ago the Parliamentary Ombudsman issued a damning report saying governments should consider paying full compensation, but it was firmly rejected. It was a surprise then that the white paper did include some more money to help. The Financial Assistance Scheme or FAS will now also provide for people who've suffered and are up to 15 years away from their pension age. So people like former Allied6 Steel and Wire worker, Ray Lane, will qualify.
LANE: It does include me now because originally when it first started, it only covered people within 3 years from retirement7, and I believe I should get ￡7,000 to ￡8,000, which is good news for me. But overall it's not the be all and end all because initially there were some 85,000 people affected8 and the FAS scheme was set up to help those, but the money they put in to start with only helped a very small amount. So they've put this extra money in and it helps obviously more people, but it's not the final thing.
A'COURT: And that's why Andrew Parr from the Pensions Action Group told me they'd continue to fight until every worker was compensated9.
PARR: Well the announcement is certainly welcome, but it's still a long way short of what the Ombudsman recommended that we should have. She produced a scathing report and said that because the government had said that pensions were protected by law, everybody should get the pension that they were entitled to.
A'COURT: Now there is going to be a tiered system of financial help: you'll get 80% of your pension promise if you're within 7 years of retirement, 65% if you're 8 to 11 years away from retirement, and 50% if you're up to 15 years away. What's your reaction to that system?
PARR: Well if you're 15 years away from retirement, you are older than 50 probably. You're going to find it difficult to make a penny pension fund that's reasonable in 15 years at that age of life. And in addition, it does penalize some people who have got long service. We've got one member who has got 27 years service in his employment and he misses the 50% just by 3 months. He's not going to get anything despite the long service that he's had with this company.
A'COURT: So you don't fully10 accept the argument that if you've still got 15 years before you draw your pension, that's a reasonable amount of time to make up some of the shortfall?
PARR: You can make up some of the shortfall in 15 years, but you'll not get back to the pension that you thought you were going to get.
A'COURT: You're getting more money, more people are going to be helped under the scheme now, yet the terms aren't changing and that's what's concerning you also.
PARR: Yes, I mean the restrictions11 that are put on the FAS have not changed at all. There are still all the things that we object to - the fact that at best you only get 80% of your pension; it's payable12 from the state age, not from the scheme age. My scheme age of 62 - I am 62 at present so I should have retired13, but I've got to keep on working until I'm 65. There is very low capping at ￡12,000 a year, so if you had a pension entitlement even with the FAS of ￡15,000 a year, you are only going to get ￡12,000 a year. And there's no protection against inflation so that your pension will progressively get smaller and smaller and will halve14 over 20 years.
A'COURT: What would satisfy the Pensions Action Group members?
PARR: Following the Ombudsman's report. We just expect to get the pensions we were promised.
A'COURT: So the campaign and the protests continue?
PARR: The campaign definitely continues, the protesting definitely continues.
A'COURT: And what's your overall feeling about the other announcements of this week? The Pensions Secretary has said that in future pensions will be fairer, they'll be more clear, people will be able to have more trust in pensions from now on.
PARR: We had trust in what the government said to us and we were told that we were fools for believing it. The government said that what they'd published was something that you should just not particularly believe; it was only general guidance. How do we know that what the government is saying for the future is going to be true and is not just going to be another statement for general guidance that can be changed at the whim15 of some government in the future?
A'COURT: Andrew Parr of the Pensions Action Group. And there's lots more on pensions reform on the BBC online website.
丢失的退休金补偿
政府迫于压力不仅要为未来改革退休金制度，而且还要为纠正过去的不公正待遇做许多工作。有85，000人由于公司倒闭而失去他们全部或是部分的职业退休金，他们声称自己是被政府误导，才会相信其退休金是有保障的。帮助他们渡过难关是政府的当务之急。两个月前，议会特派调查员发出一份谴责政府的报告，认为政府应该考虑支付全额退休金，但这一提议却被坚决否定。令人惊讶的是，当时的白皮书的确有这样一个政策，政府将投入更多的资金来帮助工人。金融援助计划(FAS)目前也将为那些失去退休金并且距退休年龄还有15年的工人提供资助。这样的话，像以前的Allied钢铁公司工人雷· 来恩就有了享受资助的资格。
来恩：现在我的确在资助的范围内。因为最初实行的计划只包括离退休还有三年时间的工人。我想我能得到7000-8000英磅的资助，这对我来说是个好消息。然而这个计划毕竟不是面向所有工人，由于FAS最初计划要让85，000人受益其中--FAS就是为此而设立的，但事实上他们投入的启动资金只能帮助很少的一部分人，所以他们又投入这批额外资金，很显然，受益的工人明显增多。然而事情并没有就此打住。
A'COURT：这就是为什么"退休金行动组"的安德鲁·帕尔告诉我他们将继续斗争，直到每个工人都能得到补偿的原因。
帕尔：补助政策的确是人心所向，但要象特派员说的那样我们应该得到所有的补偿，这之间还有很长的路要走。她发布了一份尖锐的报告，声称因为政府有言在先，退休金制度是受法律保护的，因此每个由法律确定其具有资格的人都因该享有。
A'COURT：目前，一项金融帮助的退休体制即将出台：如果你在距退休年龄还有7年时退休，你将得到80%的退休金；如果是之前的8-11年时退休，你得到的将是65%；如果是15年，你得到的是50%。你对这样的制度会作何反应呢？
帕尔：假如在你离退休还有15年时，你可能已经50多岁了。你会发现在那时要在15年内合理地拿到退休金是很难的。此外，不能拿到全额退休金对那些工作了很多年但还未到退休年龄的人来说也是一种惩罚。我们中的一个人已经为他所在的公司服务了27年，仅仅在离退休还有3个月的时候离职，就失去了50%的退休金。除此之外，他将不再得到任何东西，尽管他为公司服务了那么多年。
A'COURT：那也就是说你不能完全接受这样的争论，就是说假若你还有15年才能领取全额退休金，而这一大段时间可以合理的弥补你的部分损失？
帕尔：15年之内，你可以弥补一部分损失，但你却拿不回你认为自己应该得到的那部分养老金了。
A'COURT：现在，你和许多人将在此项资助计划下得到更多的钱，尽管这项也和你休戚相关的计划并没有发生改变。
帕尔：是的，我的意思是说关于FAS计划的限制根本没有改变。还有些东西也是我们反对的--事实上你最多可以拿到80%的养老金；而这部分钱可以在法定退休年龄时拿到，而不是FAS计划规定的年龄。我的计划年龄是62岁--我现在已经62岁了，我本应该退休的，可我现在不得不继续工作到65岁。最高的退休金金额是很低的，每年只有12，000英磅，所以即使你享有每年从FAS获得15，000英磅资助的资格，你也只能得到12，000英磅。并且由于通货膨胀，并没有任何保护措施来防止你拿到的退休金日益贬值，直到20年后这些钱只相当于原来的一半。
A'COURT：那 "退休金行动组"的成员会对什么样的成果感到满意呢？
帕尔：那就是按照政府特派调查员的报告来操作。我们只是希望拿到政府向我们承诺过的退休金。
A'COURT：那样的话运动和抗议就不会继续了吗？
帕尔：运动和抗议肯定还是要继续的。
A'COURT：你对这周政府的其他声明整体感觉怎样？退休金部长已经表示退休金制度将来会更加公正明确，人们从现在开始可以更加信赖退休金制度。
帕尔：我们相信了政府的承诺却因此被愚弄。政府表示对他们公布的声明，大家不应该逐条相信；那只是一种普通的导向。那么我们如何知道政府对于未来所做的承诺是真是假呢？我们又如何知道那些政策只不过又是一个普通导向，而这个导向又随时可能因为某些政府官员的兴致而发生改变呢？
A'COURT：以上是"退休金行动组"安德鲁·帕尔的看法。更多退休金改革的动向请登陆BBC在线。
收听单词发音 |
1
bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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2
initially
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| adv.最初，开始 | |
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3
scathing
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| adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词) | |
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4
penalize
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| vt.对…处以刑罚，宣告…有罪；处罚 | |
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5
injustices
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| 不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉 | |
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6
allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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7
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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8
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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9
compensated
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| 补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款） | |
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10
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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11
restrictions
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| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
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12
payable
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| adj.可付的，应付的，有利益的 | |
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13
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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14
halve
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| vt.分成两半，平分；减少到一半 | |
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15
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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