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This is a download from BBC Learning English. To find out more, visit our website. 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. com.
本文来自BBC Learning English。如需获得更多内容请访问我们的网站。BBC Learning English. com 英语六分钟节目。
Neil: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English – the programme where we bring you an interesting topic and six items of vocabulary. I'm Neil.
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语。该节目向你呈现有趣的话题，以及六个实用的单词。我是尼尔。
Catherine: And I'm Catherine. Today we're taking a look into the lives of the super rich– and we're going to look at one of their favourite pastimes.
我是凯瑟琳。今天我们来看看超级富豪的生活——看看他们最喜欢的消遣方式之一。
Neil: The super rich are people with over $30 million US dollars of assets.
超级富豪是指那些资产过3000万美元的人。
Catherine: Assets are things we can own and sell – like property, boats and private planes.
资产是指我们所拥有的、可以用来买卖的东西，例如房产、船、私人飞机。
Neil: Expensive toys. First things first, let's do our question, Catherine. In which country is the percentage of super rich expected to grow fastest over the next 10 years? Is it a) China b) Brazil c) Vietnam?
昂贵的玩具。先说重要的，我们来看看今天的问题。在未来十年中，哪个国家的超级富豪比例增长最快？a)中国， b)巴西， c) 越南？
Catherine: I'm going to go for Vietnam. I think, that's an up and coming country and I think there is going to be a lot of growth in wealth in the future.
我选越南。我觉得越南是一个后起之秀，未来财富的增长会很快。
Neil: Ok, well we'll find out if you are right or wrong later. The number of super rich are expected to increase by 43% over the next decade.
好的，稍后我们再看你的回答是否正确。未来十年内超级富豪的数量预计会增加百分之四十三。
Catherine: Now, this doesn't mean income is rising at the same speed for everyone. You might remember a report last year which said the world's richest 62 individuals owned as much as the poorest 50% of people in the whole world.
但这并不意味着每个人的收入在以相同的速度增长。也许你还记得去年的一个报告：全球最富有的62人所拥有的财富等于50%最贫困人口所拥有的财富。
Neil: So, my question is – what on earth do people with so much money spend it on?
所以我的问题是，这些人这么有钱，他们怎么花啊？
Catherine: One academic in the UK has been researching just that. And her answer is …, Neil?
最近，英国的一位学者研究了这一问题。那她的研究结果是……？
Neil: Yachts! A yacht – a luxury boat used for pleasure. The ultimate status symbol – that is, an item which allows you to show off your wealth and position in society.
游艇！游艇是指用于消遣的奢华船只。游艇是地位的终极象征——能彰显你的财富和社会地位。
Catherine: Let's listen to Emma Spence from Cardiff University in the UK. What's so unusual about yachts?
我们来听听英国卡迪夫大学艾玛·斯彭思的解释。为什么游艇如此与众不同？
If you have an exclusive wine collection or art collection or even the purchase of a business jet– these are investable assets – something that you can retain value on or accrue value on. A business jet, a private jet, can cut costs – and make businesses more convenient by running faster, more comfortably than commercial airlines. So these purchases, they make good, sound business sense. Whereas a superyacht is essentially a black hole.
如果你有独家的藏酒或艺术收藏品，甚至是购买了一架商务机，这些都是可供投资的资产，可以保值或增值。商务机、私家飞机可以精简开支，比商业机更快、更舒适、更便于出差。所以这些东西具有商业意义 。然而超级游艇实际上是个黑洞。
Neil: Before we get to the yacht, Emma talked about certain assets like planes and wine that made business sense.
我们在谈游艇之前，艾玛提到了飞机、酒等具有商业意义的资产。
Catherine: Now, to make sense – is a phrase you'll be familiar with. So, if we say something makes business sense, it means it's good for business. But yachts are different.
make sense这个短语你会很熟悉。如果我们说某物具有商业意义，那就是说它对商业有利。但游艇不同。
Neil: Yachts, and especially what she calls superyachts, actually lose money. So much so, she calls a superyacht a black hole of wealth.
游艇，尤其是她所提到的超级游艇，实际上会让我们损失很多钱。游艇会耗费很多钱，所以艾玛称之为吸金黑洞。
Catherine: A black hole, in scientific terms, is a place where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape – not even light. So, in business terms, a black hole eats all your money!
黑洞在科学术语中是指重力非常强的地方，没有东西可以从黑洞里逃出，哪怕是光。在商业用语中，黑洞会吞噬你的金钱。
Neil: It's also used conversationally to mean a place where things go missing.
在平常的对话中，黑洞也可以表示经常丢东西的地方。
Catherine: These superyachts are big. The world's longest is 180m in length. And they require a professional crew. Which is how Emma began her study – she used to work on the yachts.
超级游艇非常大。世界上最长的游艇有180米长。游艇需要专业船员来操控。这也是艾玛开始其研究的原因，她曾经在游艇上工作。
Neil: She's now spent six years studying the world of superyachts and the super rich.
现在，她已花费了六年的时间来研究超级游艇以及超级富豪。
Catherine: So, what else did she learn?
那么，她还了解到了什么呢？
Neil: She says that in the world of the super rich – the size of your yacht shows your place in the pecking order.
她说在超级富豪的世界中，游艇的大小展示了你在社会等级中的地位。
Catherine: The pecking order means the social system from most powerful to least powerful.
pecking order（社会等级）是指从最有权势到最没权势的社会体系。
Neil: If you're higher up in the yachting pecking order, you get the best place in the harbour. Which is very important to yacht owners, apparently.
如果你的社会等级高，你就能在海港中把游艇放在最好的位置。显然，这对游艇的拥有者来说是非常重要的。
Catherine: Apparently, so. It's all about seeing and being seen. You could actually say that yachts are the ultimate form of conspicuous consumption. Now that's another great term – conspicuous means visible or noticeable and consumption means spending. So, the phrase conspicuous consumption refers to the kind of buying you do so that other people notice your money.
显然游艇只不过是用来炫耀的东西罢了。你可以说游艇是炫耀性消费的终极形式。又出现了一个好短语——conspicuous是指显而易见的，consumption是指消费。所以这个短语是指你买一样东西就是为了让别人注意到你很有钱。
Neil: Before we sail off into the sunset Catherine, how about we answer today's question.
在节目结束之前，我们公布今天问题的答案吧。
Catherine: I said that Vietnam is the country in which the percentage of super rich is expected to grow fastest over the next 10 years.
我说未来十年内越南超级富豪的比例增长最快。
Neil: Well, I'm very pleased to say that you were right. It was in fact Vietnam– according to the same report by Knight Frank – the population of ultra wealthy is expected to grow by a staggering 170% in the next decade.
恭喜你，你答对了。答案就是越南。据莱坊发布的报告，超级富豪的人数在未来十年内会增长百分之一百七。
Catherine: Now, how about we have another look at the wealth of vocabulary in this programme?
我们再来看看今天节目中提到的单词吧？
Neil: Very good. We started with assets – here it means things we can buy or sell. What are your assets?
好的。我们最开始提到了资产，是指我们可以买卖的东西。你的资产有什么呢？
Catherine: Oh, you know, my diamond rings, my bike, my laptop. I'm not like you though Neil, I don't live in an expensive mansion – that would be a real status symbol!
你知道的，我的钻石耳环、自行车和笔记本电脑。我不像你Neil，住在豪宅里，那可是地位的象征。
Neil: If only that were true, but it's a good example. A status symbol is a possession that shows off our wealth and our place in society.
如果你说的是真的就好了，不过，这个例子不错。地位的象征是指能展示你的财富以及你社会地位的东西。
Catherine: Yes, and we had the phrase to make business sense – in other words to be good for business. We could also say that a particular policy makes economic sense.
是的。我们还提到一个短语，make business sense，换句话说就是对商业有利。我们也可以说某项政策有益于经济发展。
Neil: Or I could say investing wisely makes financial sense. Not like yachts which are expensive to buy and run. In fact, they're a black hole for our money.
或者说明智地投资能积聚财富。不像游艇，价格高，用起来还费钱，实际上个吸金黑洞。
Catherine: Now, did you know our next phrase, pecking order, actually comes from chicken behaviour?
你知道我们下一个短语——pecking order实际上是源于鸡的行为吗？
Neil: And finally, the phrase conspicuous consumption. For example, you could say that dining at the finest restaurants wearing expensive clothes is conspicuous consumption.
最后，我们还提到了炫耀性消费。例如在最好的餐厅穿着昂贵的衣服用餐，这就是炫耀性消费。
Catherine: And to clear up two similar phrases: a status symbol refers to the object itself, like a luxury car; whereas conspicuous consumption refers to the act of spending money on things like expensive cars but you're spending money so that other people notice.
我们要弄清楚两个相似的短语：地位象征是指事物本身，例如一辆奢华的轿车，而炫耀性消费是指花钱的行为，例如购买昂贵的车，但是你花钱是为了引起别人的注意。
Neil: Do check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
欢迎大家在Facebook、Twitter、Instagram 和YouTube上收听我们的节目。
Both: Bye!
再见！
6 Minute English from the BBC.
BBC英语六分钟。
