【BBC六分钟 12.22】Does your age affect your political views?|people|political|views|萨姆

Does your age affect your political views?

年龄会影响你的政见吗？

Hello. This is 6 Minute English, I'm Neil.

大家好，这里是六分钟英语，我是尼尔。

And I'm Sam.

我是萨姆。

Sam, do you remember the first time you voted?

萨姆，你还记得你第一次投票吗？

No I don’t, but I remember being very keen to do it. It would have been the first election after my 18th birthday.

不，不记得了，但我记得我非常想去投票。它会是我18岁生日后的第一次选举。

So, over the many, many, many years since then …

所以，从那以后的许多许多年里......

… eh, not so much with the ‘manys’ if you don’t mind Neil!

额，别介意，尼尔，没有那么多的“许多”！

In the very, very few years since then …

在那之后的几年里......

That’s more like it!

这才像话！

In the years since then, have your political views changed very much?

在那之后的几年，你的政治观点有很大改变吗？

I think my political views are a lot better informed now. I think the decisions I make are based on a better understanding of the political situation – but I still generally agree with the same things I did when I was younger, I think.

我认为我的政治观点现在更明智。我认为我所做的决定是基于对政治形势的更好的理解——但我仍然大体上同意我年轻时所做的事情。

There is a belief that as we get older we become more right-wing in our political views and opinions. Is this true and if so, why? We’ll be finding out a little bit more about this, but first a question. What was the first UK general election in which 18-year-olds could vote?

有一种观点认为，随着年龄的增长，我们在政治观点上变得更右翼一些。这是真的吗？如果是那样的话，那是为什么？我们会找到更多关于这个主题的内容，但首先有一个问题。英国首次18岁的年轻人可以投票的大选是在什么时候？

A: 1929

B: 1950, or

C: 1970

So, what do you reckon then Sam?

那么，萨姆，你怎么认为？

Well, they were all before my time. I’m going to say 1950 – that sounds about right – it was the decade in which teenagers were invented, after all!

嗯，它们都在我所处的时代之前。我选1950年——听起来是对的——毕竟那是青少年出现的年代。

OK. Well, I will reveal the answer later in the programme. James Tilley is a professor of politics at the University of Oxford. He appeared recently on BBC Radio 4’s programme Analysis and was asked why, if it is true, do we become more right-wing as we get older. What does he think?

好的，好吧，我将在稍后的节目中揭晓答案。詹姆斯·蒂利是牛津大学政治学教授。他最近做客BBC广播4频道的Analysis节目并被问道，如果这是真的，为什么随着年龄的增长，我们会变得更右翼。他是怎么认为的呢？

The question that age affects our political views is a tricky one. I think probably the most plausible explanation is that people just generally become a bit more resistant to change as they get older and I think also that they also tend to perhaps, become less idealistic.

年龄影响我们政治观点的这个问题是一个棘手的问题。我认为可能最合理的解释是，随着年龄的增长，人们通常会变得更抗拒改变。我认为他们也可能变得不那么理想主义。

So, what reasons does he give?

所以他给出了什么理由？

Well, he talks about what he thinks are the most plausible explanations. Plausible is an adjective which means something is believable; it’s reasonable and it makes sense.

好的，他谈到了他认为最合理的解释。“Plausible”是一个形容词，意思是某事是可信的；它是合理的，言之有理的。

And what are the plausible explanations?

什么是合理的解释呢？

Well, he says that generally, as we get older, we like to have more stability in our lives, we don’t like change, in fact we are resistant to change. That means we are against change. When we are younger we might like the idea of revolution, we might be very idealistic. This means, for example, we might think that we can and should change the world to make things better. This would cause big changes in the world which when we are older and more settled in our lives, do not seem like such a good idea.

好吧，他说通常随着年龄的增长，我们希望生活更加稳定，我们不喜欢改变，事实上，我们抗拒改变。那意味着我么反对改变。我们年轻的时候可能喜欢变革，我们可能非常理想主义。这意味着，例如，我们可能认为我们能够而且应该改变世界去使一切变得更好。这会造成世界发生巨大改变，当我们老了，生活安定下来时，这似乎不是一个好主意。

Let’s listen again.

让我们再听一遍。

Professor Tilley goes on to explain more about why being resistant to change might lead people to support more right-wing policies.

蒂利教授继续解释了更多关于为什么抗拒变革可能会导致人们更多地支持右翼政策。

So, if parties on the right represent a platform which is perhaps more favourable to the status quo, it’s perhaps more about pragmatism than it is about idealism, then that might be more attractive to older people than younger people.

所以，如果右翼党派代表的是一个可能更有利于现状的纲领，它可能更多的是实用主义，而不是理想主义，那么那可能对老年人的吸引力比对年轻人更大。

So, what is seen as the appeal of moving to the right?

所以倾向于右翼是什么呢？

Political parties have a particular set of policies. This is sometimes known as their platform. Professor Tilley says that if their platforms support the status quo, they might be more attractive to older people. The status quo is a Latin phrase we use in English to refer to the situation as it is now – that is, one that is not going to change. Traditionally it’s parties of the centre right that seem to be more supportive of the status quo.

党派有一套特定的政策。这有时被称为他们的纲领。蒂利教授说，如果他们的纲领支持现状，它们可能对老年人更有吸引力。“现状”是一个拉丁语短语，我们在英文中用来指现在的情况，也就是说，一个不会改变的情况。传统上似乎中右翼党派更支持现状。

So, as we get older he says our political views are less about idealism and more about pragmatism. Pragmatism is being practical and realistic about what can be achieved and how it can be achieved.

所以，他说随着我们年龄的增长，我们的政治观点更多的是实用主义而不是理想主义。实用主义是对可以实现的以及如何实现所持的实事求是的态度。

But of course this doesn’t apply to everyone and just because people seem to move more to the right as they get older doesn’t mean that they completely change their politics.

但当然这并不适用于所有人。仅仅因为人们随着年龄增长似乎越来越倾向于右翼并不意味着他们完全改变了自己的政治立场。

Let’s hear Professor Tilley again.

让我们再听一遍蒂利教授所说的。

Right, let’s get the answer to our question. What was the first UK general election in which 18-year-olds could vote?

好的，让我们揭晓问题的答案。英国首次18岁的年轻人可以投票的大选是在什么时候？

A: 1929

B: 1950, or

C: 1970

Sam, what did you say?

萨姆你选的是什么？

I thought it was 1950.

我认为是1950年。

Well, you’re wrong I’m afraid. The correct answer is1970. 18 year-olds have been allowed to vote in the UK since 1969 and the first general election after then was in 1970. So, a bit later than you thought, Sam, but congratulations to anyone who did get that right. OK, let’s remind ourselves of our vocabulary.

好吧，恐怕你答错了。正确答案是1970年。从1969年起英国允许18岁的年轻人投票，在那之后的第一次大选是在1970年。所以，比你认为的要晚一些，萨姆，但是恭喜那些答对的人。好了，让我们回忆一下我们的词汇。

Yes, first we had plausible. An adjective that means ‘believable and possible’.

是的，首先我么学了“plausible”。一个形容词，意思是“可信的和可能的”。

Being resistant to something means you are against it and don’t want it to happen.

抗拒某事意味着你反对它，不希望它发生。

If you are idealistic you have a clear and simple moral view of how things should be.

如果你是理想主义的，那么你对事情应该如何发展有一个清晰而简单的道德观。

This contrasts with one of our other words, pragmatism, this noun is the idea of being realistic and practical about what can be achieved.

这和我们的另一个单词“实用主义”形成了对比，这个名词是说对于可能实现的目标要实事求是。

A platform can describe the policies and ideas of a political party or politician. And thestatus quo is the unchanging situation as it is now.

“纲领”可以形容一个党派或政治家的政策和思想。“现状”是现在不变的状态。

OK, thank you Sam. That’s all from us in this programme. Do join us again and if you can’t wait you can find lots more from BBC Learning English online, on social media and on our app. Goodbye!

好的，谢谢你，萨姆。以上就是本期节目的全部内容。欢迎再次加入我们，如果等不及，你可以在BBC在线、社交媒体和应用程序上找到更多内容。再见!

Bye!

再见！

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