【時(shí)事聚焦】由于全球人口平均預(yù)期壽命的不斷增長(zhǎng)和老齡化現(xiàn)象的加劇，各國(guó)都面臨養(yǎng)老金不足和社會(huì)保險(xiǎn)經(jīng)濟(jì)壓力過(guò)重的問(wèn)題。包括英國(guó)、德國(guó)、法國(guó)、美國(guó)在內(nèi)的眾多國(guó)家都不約而同地出臺(tái)了延遲法定退休年齡的措施，這一現(xiàn)象已經(jīng)成為世界流行的趨勢(shì)。同時(shí)，也因?yàn)閾p害了勞動(dòng)者權(quán)益，遭到了其國(guó)內(nèi)民眾的強(qiáng)烈反對(duì)：
EU urges governments to raise retirement age
(BRUSSELS) - European governments need to raise the retirement age because workers are living longer and their pension systems could implode, the European Commission said on Wednesday.
The European union 's executive arm formally launched a debate already raging in several EU countries that are planning unpopular measures to bring down huge public deficits and keep their pension systems afloat.
"The number of retired people in Europe compared to those financing their pensions is forecast to double by 2060 -- the current situation is simply not sustainable," said EU social affairs commissioner Laszlo Andor.
"The choice we face is poorer pensioners, higher pension contributions or more people working more and longer," Andor said at the official presentation of a "green paper" on pensions.
Weak growth, ballooning national debt and higher unemployment "have made it harder" to make good on pension promises and "more urgent" to reform them, the commission paper says.
In the past 50 years, life expectancy in the European union has risen by about five years and could increase by another seven years by 2060, the commission says.
At the moment there are four working-age people for every person over 65 in the 27-nation EU. That ratio will drop to two for every person over 65 by 2060, the commission says.
On average, Europeans retired at the age of 61.4 in 2008.
This compares to 65 years for workers in the United States and 70 years in Japan. In the 31-nation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the average retirement age for men is 63.5.
Andor denied "unfounded rumours" that he was calling for the retirement age to be raised to 70 in Europe.
John Monks, general secretary of the European Trade union Confederation, said the commission's proposal was "unrealistic".
"Where is the evidence that employers want to keep older workers in work?" Monks said in a statement.
"We know the life expectation is rising but see no evidence that a higher age of retirement would be matched by employers developing workplaces which encourage older workers to remain at work," he said.
我們來(lái)看看各國(guó)在這一問(wèn)題上的不同反應(yīng)：
Govt denies immediate plan for retirement age rise
BEIJING - China's human resources authorities are seeking to relieve growing public concerns over the government's reported consideration to lift the retirement age in response to a financial shortage facing the country's pension fund.
"China has no immediate plan to adjust the retirement age," an unidentified official of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) was quoted as saying on Thursday by People's Daily.
France retirement age protests turn violent
(PARIS) Protests against a proposed hike in retirement age by the French government took an increasingly radical turn with masked youths setting fires in cities across France yesterday.
UK retirement age challenge fails
In the UK, a worker can see their employment end at the age of 65 without any redundancy payment - even if they do not want to retire.
However the judge in the case said there was a compelling case for the compulsory retirement age to rise.
【熱點(diǎn)話(huà)題】今天想就老齡化導(dǎo)致的退休年齡問(wèn)題和大家聊聊寫(xiě)作。
前面這則新聞來(lái)源于ebusiness，報(bào)道源于歐盟出臺(tái)的一份報(bào)告，敦促歐洲各國(guó)提高退休年齡，以緩解退休金支付壓力。根據(jù)歐盟委員會(huì)預(yù)計(jì)，為了保持現(xiàn)有的退休金支付水平，至2060年，歐盟27個(gè)成員國(guó)必須將退休年齡提高至70歲。后面的幾則新聞則摘取了來(lái)自于中國(guó)﹑法國(guó)和英國(guó)政府及民眾對(duì)于提高退休年齡這一問(wèn)題的不同態(tài)度和行動(dòng)。一向關(guān)注“弱勢(shì)群體”和“熱點(diǎn)問(wèn)題”的雅思出題者，也在曾經(jīng)的題目中談及這方面的內(nèi)容，我們來(lái)看一下以下兩道題目：
1. In many countries, the proportion of older people is steadily increasing. Does this trend have more positive or negative effects on the society?
2. In some countries the average worker is obliged to retire at the age of 50, while in others people can work until they are 65 or 70. Meanwhile, we see some politicians enjoying power well into their eighties. Clearly, there is little agreement on an appropriate retirement age. Until what age do you think people should be encouraged to remain in paid employment?
一道題目是討論老齡化帶來(lái)的影響，眾所周知，這一現(xiàn)象給社會(huì)造成了沉重的經(jīng)濟(jì)壓力，在出生率低壽命較長(zhǎng)的西方國(guó)家，這一問(wèn)題導(dǎo)致的直接后果就是“是否要提高退休年齡”，因?yàn)檫@是解決養(yǎng)老金缺口最立竿見(jiàn)影的辦法。
另一道題目是關(guān)于退休年齡的討論，實(shí)際上，各國(guó)對(duì)于退休年齡的不同態(tài)度取決于自身利益，發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家民眾反對(duì)延遲退休，是因?yàn)閾?dān)心福利;而在中國(guó)，特別是體力勞動(dòng)者及低收入群體反對(duì)延遲退休，是因?yàn)閾?dān)心生計(jì)。
建議考生可以從這樣的一些現(xiàn)實(shí)問(wèn)題中去看待甚至分析題目，并給出相對(duì)全面的觀點(diǎn)。
【精彩片段】下面我們回到剛才的那則新聞?wù)?，關(guān)注其中對(duì)雅思寫(xiě)作此類(lèi)話(huà)題構(gòu)思及語(yǔ)言有幫助的精彩片段：
The choice we face is poorer pensioners, higher pension contributions or more people working more and longer.
這句話(huà)很好地回答了在老齡化的背景下人們將會(huì)面臨的問(wèn)題：靠養(yǎng)老金生活的人生活更為窘迫，養(yǎng)老金繳款更高，人們需要工作更多更長(zhǎng)。
We know the life expectation is rising but see no evidence that a higher age of retirement would be matched by employers developing workplaces which encourage older workers to remain at work.
人們都知道人均壽命在增長(zhǎng)，但沒(méi)有證據(jù)證明延遲退休年齡將適合那些準(zhǔn)備鼓勵(lì)上了年紀(jì)的勞動(dòng)者繼續(xù)留在工作崗位上的雇主。”
【高端詞匯】為大家整理了雅思寫(xiě)作中與話(huà)題相關(guān)的一些常用詞匯。
life expectancy 預(yù)期壽命
ageing 老齡化
fertility出生率
mortality 死亡率
senior citizen 老人
spend one’s remaining days happily 安度晚年
enjoy family union 享受一家團(tuán)聚的樂(lè)趣
live in solitude 孤獨(dú)地生活
financial difficulty 經(jīng)濟(jì)困難
unstable life without pension 沒(méi)有保險(xiǎn)金的不穩(wěn)定生活
nursing home 養(yǎng)老院
show filial obedience 表現(xiàn)出孝順
spiritual comfort 精神安慰
emotional support 精神支持
provision for the aged 養(yǎng)老
social security fund 社保基金