評論
打印
Moderator: Hello, Ladies and Gentleman, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our keynote speaker for today's session, Dr. Howard Miller. (16) Dr. Miller, Professor of Sociology at Washington University, has written numerous articles and books on the issues facing older Americans in our graying society for the past 15 years. Dr. Miller.
Dr. Miller: Thank you for that introduction. Today, I'd like to preface my remarks with a story from my own life which I feel highlights the common concerns that bring us here together. Several years ago when my grandparents were well into their eighties, they were faced with the reality of no longer being able to adequately care for themselves. (17) My grandfather spoke of his greatest fear, that of leaving the only home they had known for the past 60 years. Fighting back the tears, he spoke proudly of the fact that he had built their home from the ground up, and that he had pounded every nail and laid every brick in the process. The prospect of having to sell their home and give up their independence, and move into a retirement home was an extremely painful experience for them. It was, in my grandfather's own words, like having a limb cut off. He exclaimed in a forceful manner that he felt he wasn't important anymore.
For them and some older Americans, (18) their so-called "golden years" are at times not so pleasant, for this period can mean the decline of not only one's health but the loss of identity and self-worth. In many societies, this self-identity is closely related with our social status, occupation, material possessions, or independence. Furthermore, we often live in societies that value what is "new" or in fashion, and our own usage of words in the English language is often a sign of bad news for older Americans. I mean how would your family react if you came home tonight exclaiming, "Hey, come to the living room and see the OLD black and white TV I brought!" Unfortunately, the word "old" calls to mind images of the need to replace or discard.
Now, many of the lectures given at this conference have focused on the issues of pension reform, medical care, and the development of public facilities for senior citizens. And while these are vital issues that must be addressed, (19) I'd like to focus my comments on an important issue that will affect the overall success of the other programs mentioned. This has to do with changing our perspectives on what it means to be a part of this group, and finding meaningful roles the elderly can play and should play in our societies.
First of all, I'd like to talk about...
16. What does the introduction say about Dr. Howard Miller's articles and books?
17. What is the greatest fear of Dr. Miller's grandfather?
18. What does Dr. Miller say the "golden years" can often mean?
19. What is the focus of Dr. Miller's speech?
女士們先生們，大家好。本期節(jié)目我很榮幸地請來了今天的主講嘉賓，霍華德·米勒博士。米勒博士是華盛頓大學的社會學教授。他在過去的15年里撰寫了許多的文章和書籍，討論了在我們這個老齡化社會中年邁的美國人所面臨的一些問題。米勒博士。
謝謝你剛才的介紹。在對發(fā)表我的評論之前，我想先講一個我自己生活中的故事。我認為這個故事凸顯出的一個普遍關注的問題，它也是我們大家今天聚在這里的原因。幾年前我的祖父母已經八十好幾，他們面臨的一個現實情況是自己已經沒有能力照顧自己。祖父說他最害怕的事情就是離開自己60年中唯一生活過的房子。強忍著淚水，祖父說道，他親手將自己現在的家平地造起，自己釘的每一顆釘子，砌的每一塊瓦。想到必須賣掉這所房子，放棄獨立生活，搬進一所養(yǎng)老院祖父感到十分痛苦。用祖父自己的話說，那就“像是接受截肢手術。”他深深地感嘆已經感覺不到自己的的重要性了。
對于他們以及一些年紀更大的美國人來說，所謂的“黃金年代”有時并不是那么令人愉悅，因為這段時期可能不僅意味著一個人身體狀況的惡化，而且還意味著身份和自尊的缺失。在很多國家，一個人的身份與他的社會地位、職業(yè)、物質財產以及獨立情況緊密聯系在一起。而且，我們生存的社會往往重視“新潮的”或者“時尚的”。有時甚至我們使用的一些詞匯對于一些年長的美國人來說都是一個不安的信號。比如，如果今天晚上回家對家人說，“嘿，來客廳看我?guī)Щ貋淼呐f式的黑白電視！”很不幸，“舊式”這個詞使人聯想到的是應該被替代或者丟棄。
這次會議上其他的演講都將重點放在了針對老年人的養(yǎng)老制度的改革、醫(yī)療保健、以及發(fā)展公共設施上面。盡管這些都是至關重要的需要被解決的問題，但是我的評論將圍繞一個會影響上述其他項目整體成敗的重要問題展開。這涉及改變我們對于‘何為群體一部分’的認識，還涉及找到在我們這個社會里老年人所能扮演和應該扮演的有意義的角色”。
首先，我想談的是……
問題16 主持人介紹霍華德·米勒博士的文章和書籍時說了什么？
問題17 米勒博士祖父最害怕的是什么？
問題18 米勒博士說“黃金時代”通常意味著什么？
問題19 米勒博士演講的重點內容是什么？
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