经济学人：你的钱与你的人生|双语精读

Finance 金融

Your money and your life 你的钱与你的人生

As lives get longer, financial models will have to change

寿命越来越长，金融模型不得不变

IN 1965 ANDRÉ-FRANÇOIS RAFFRAY, a 47-year-old lawyer in southern France, made the deal of a lifetime. Charmed by an apartment in Arles, he persuaded the widow living there that if he paid her 2,500 francs (then about $500) a month until she died, she would leave it to him in her will. Since she was already 90, it seemed like a safe bet . Thirty years later Mr Raffray was dead and the widow, Jeanne Louise Calment, was still going strong. When she eventually passed away at 122, having become the world’s oldest person, the Raffray family had paid her more than twice the value of the house.

• 作者在第一段中讲述了一个极端个案，引出后文的观点—— 低估一个人能活多久可能要付出高昂的代价 ( Underestimating how long someone will live can be costly) 。

• make the deal of a lifetime 做出了一辈子的交易，在文中 of a lifetime 就是字面的意思，而 sth of a lifetime 还有一个引申义：一生最 … 的，千载难逢的，终身难遇的，比如 ◇ It is the chance of a lifetime. 这是一个千载难逢的机会。

• will n. [C] a legal document that says who you want your money and property to be given to after you die 遗嘱

• a good/safe bet 指“稳妥的做法，保险的做法” (an action or situation that is likely to be successful or does not involve much risk) ◇ If you're looking for long-term growth, the government's own saving certificates are a pretty good bet. 如果你希望长期增值，政府的储蓄券是比较保险的。
  
  

Underestimating how long someone will live can be costly , as overgenerous governments and indebted private pension schemes have been discovering. They are struggling to meet promises made in easier times. Public pensions are still the main source of income for the over-65s across the OECD , but there are big differences between countries (see chart). In both America and Britain public provision replaces around 40% of previous earnings, but in some European countries it can be 80% or more. Where it makes up a big share of total pension income, as in Italy, Portugal and Greece, a shrinking workforce will increasingly struggle to finance a bulging group of pensioners .

• costly 既可以指花太多钱的，太昂贵的 (expensive) ，也可以指代价高的，损失大的 (something that is costly causes a lot of problems or trouble) ，比如刘强东的丑闻会带来严重的损失，我们可以说 Richard Liu’s scandal can be rather costly.

[小结] 表示“昂贵 ” 的词语

high used about prices, rents, or charges 高的〔用于形容价钱、租金或收费〕

fancy used about restaurants, cars, or clothes that look expensive 昂贵的〔用于形容看上去昂贵的餐馆、汽车或衣服〕

posh used about hotels, restaurants, or cars that look expensive and are used by rich or high-class people 豪华的〔用于形容有钱人或上流人士使用的酒店、餐馆或汽车〕

cost a lot/bomb (informal) to be very expensive 十分昂贵的

be out of sb's price range to be more than someone can afford to pay 贵得让某人买不起

be a rip-off (informal) to be much too expensive, so that you feel you have been cheated 要价高得离谱，敲竹杠

exorbitant exorbitant prices are much too high 价格过高的

• meet promises 兑现承诺 keep/fulfill promises 也可以指兑现承诺

• the OECD abbr. the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development a group of rich countries who work together to develop trade and economic growth 经济合作与发展组织(发达国家致力于发展贸易和经济增长的组织) the OECD 在经济学人中出现频率很 高，比如: ◇ Even in the mostly rich countries of the OECD about 30% of teenagers fail to reach proficiency in at least one of these subjects . 即使在大 多为富裕国家的经合组织成员国中，也有大约 30% 的青少年未能熟练掌握其中至少一门科目。 ◇ Online learning requires some IT literacy, yet one in four adults in the OECD has no or limited experience of computers. 在线学习需要一些基本的计算机知 识，然而在经合组织国家里，四分之一的成年人没有或只有有限的计算机知识。 [外刊高频]

• A makes up a big share of B. A 占据了 B 的大部分。如果想说最大的一部分，可以用更地道的 the lion's share of sth 来表达，比如 ◇ The firm has captured the lion's share of the UK market. 这家公司已经占有了英国最大的市场份额。

• a shrinking workforce 不断萎缩的劳动力 [写作推荐]

• finance v. to provide money, especially a lot of money, to pay for something 为 … 提供资金 =fund ◇ The concerts are financed by the Arts Council. 音乐会由艺术总会出资举办。 [熟词僻义]

• bulging 指不断激增的， a bulging group of pensioners 即日益膨胀的退休群体，与前面 a shrinking workforce 形成对比，所以翻译时也要体现出 bulging 和 shrinking 的对立。

• pensioner 指领取养老金、退休金的人，也可以说 an old-age pensioner 简称为 OAP

• A shrinking workforce will increasingly struggle to finance a bulging group of pensioners. 这句话可以直接背下来用在老龄化话题的作文中。
  
  

Private pension schemes, which supplement state provision, have been shifting from defined-benefit plans, where workers are promised a fixed amount of income in retirement, to defined-contribution plans, where workers themselves take on the risk. Such schemes are good for employers but tricky for individuals, who become personally responsible for ensuring they do not outlive their savings. The new stage of life now emerging between work and old age adds a further complication. To accommodate these changes, the financial industry needs an overhaul.

• supplement [ˈsʌplɪmənt]v. to add something, especially to what you earn or eat, in order to increase it to an acceptable level 补充，增补，增加 [熟词僻义]

• shift from A to B 从 A 转变为 B

• defined benefit 是一个术语，指固定福利金，固定收益，加上连字符变成形容词， defined-benefit plans 即固定收益计划。如果不知道这个术语也没有关系，《经济学人》非常贴心，对于读者可能不太熟悉的术语、专业名词一般都会给出解释，比如文中就用一个非限制性定语从句解释了 defined-benefit plans 是什么： where workers are promised a fixed amount of income in retirement 保证员工退休后获得固定收入的固定收益计划。同样的 defined contribution 指固定供款，固定缴费 defined-contribution plans 指固定缴费计划，后文也有定语从句进行说明： where workers themselves take on the risk. 员工自行承担风险的固定缴费计划。

• take on the risk 承担风险 take on sth 指“承担，接受”，后面一般跟重大责任、艰巨的任务、风险等等，比如上一篇精读文章中滴滴的道歉信提到“在这悲伤的时刻，我们唯一能做的，就是带领团队去面对痛苦，承担责任 …” 原文给出的翻译便是 The only thing we can do at this moment of pain is to face the pain and take on our responsibility . [写作推荐]