美語情景對話 第1060期:Big Neighbor 重要鄰國

Mike: So Ana, I was wondering, are you familiar with the term inferiority complex?

邁克：安娜，我想知道，你熟悉自卑情結這個詞嗎？

Ana: Yes. I think I've heard it before.

安娜：熟悉。我以前聽到過。

Mike: Well, you know, sometimes when a person feels he is not quite as good as other people at something then he can feel inferior or not as good. But this is also true for countries sometimes. For example, if there's a very small country and it's next to a very big country, such as Portugal and Spain, would you say that's the case in your country?

邁克：你知道，有時一個人會感覺在某件事上他不如其他人做得好，他就會感到自卑，或是感覺自己不是太好。我想對國家來說也同樣如此。比如，如果一個非常小的國家有一個非常大的鄰國，就好像葡萄牙和西班牙的情況，你認爲你們國家的情況是這樣的嗎？

Ana: Yeah, that's interesting. I think that's definitely the case in our country. Spain is a big country and in terms of the economy, they have been doing a lot better than Portugal recently. And actually, we're starting to get a lot of products from Spain. So things that used to be produced nationally before, now are being imported from Spain.

安娜：對，這很有趣。我認爲這完全就是我們國家的情況。西班牙是一個大國，從經濟上來說，他們最近的表現比葡萄牙好很多。實際上，我們已經開始從西班牙進口大量產品。以前國產的一些產品，現在都要從西班牙進口。

Mike: I see.

邁克：我知道了。

Ana: And also in terms of other things like banks, a lot of our major banks in Portugal are Spanish now. And a lot of Portuguese students are moving to Spanish universities because the education is better there.

安娜：就銀行來說，現在葡萄牙境內的許多主要銀行都是西班牙銀行。還有許多葡萄牙學生選擇去西班牙大學學習，因爲西班牙的教育更好。

Mike: Really. But you have some very old universities and a very old tradition or academic tradition in Portugal as well then, do you?

邁克：真的嗎？可是葡萄牙也有歷史悠久的大學和學術傳統，對吧？

Ana: Yes, we do. And actually, our universities are full but I think the problem is that they're not growing enough, so there aren't enough places for Portuguese students in our universities. So many of them are moving to Spain. It's very interesting but also a little bit sad that we can't provide the education that these students need nowadays.

安娜：對，沒錯。實際上，葡萄牙的大學人滿爲患，我認爲問題是葡萄牙大學的增長速度不夠快，導致沒有太多地方供葡萄牙學生學習。所以，許多學生前往西班牙求學。這雖然很有趣，但同時也令人難過，因爲現在我們不能爲這些學生提供他們需要的教育。

Mike: I see. If you look at Portugal on the map, you can see it's much smaller than Spain. What about the population? How many people live in Portugal?

邁克：我明白了。在地圖上看的話，可以看到葡萄牙比西班牙小很多。葡萄牙有多少人口？有多少人生活在葡萄牙？

Ana: I think we have about eleven million people.

安娜：我想葡萄牙大概有1100萬人。

Mike: Eleven million people.

邁克：1100萬。

Ana: Yeah. So it's not very big. But actually, it might have changed in the last few years because so many Portuguese people are moving to other countries around the world. Since the credit crash and everything that's been happening with the economy, there haven't been a lot of jobs in Portugal.

安娜：對。人口不是很多。不過這是過去幾年所發生的改變，因爲有許多葡萄牙人搬到世界其他國家去生活了。在信貸危機和經濟崩潰以後，葡萄牙的工作機會變得非常少。

Mike: All right. I read a story in the newspaper of the – was it the minister of foreign affairs or the minister of the economy in Portugal advised young people, young Portuguese people to leave the country and find jobs elsewhere because there are no jobs for young Portuguese people. Is that true?

邁克：好。我在報紙上看過一篇報道，好像是葡萄牙的外交部長還是經濟部長建議葡萄牙年輕人離開葡萄牙，去其他地方找工作，因爲葡萄牙沒有工作提供給年輕人。這是真的嗎？

Ana: Yes. That was a big scandal actually because, yeah, the government recommended young Portuguese people to move to other countries when in fact we think that they should be creating jobs in Portugal for new people.

安娜：對。這實際上是一起大丑聞，因爲政府建議葡萄牙年輕人去其他國家生活，可實際上我們認爲葡萄牙應該創造新的工作崗位。

Mike: So people were quite angry. So how was that? What were the people's reactions?

邁克：所以人們非常憤怒。是這樣嗎？人們有何反應？

Ana: I think people were quite angry. It's a reality though. So many young people are moving overseas. But we understand that at this point, it's more of a survival instinct and we should go if we want to get a job.

安娜：我想人們的確非常生氣。可是這就是現實。所以許多年輕人搬到去國外生活。現在我們理解了，這是一種生存本能，如果我們想找到工作，那我們就得離開。

Mike: And then maybe – do young people who leave the country want to come back and work in Portugal again when the economy is better?

邁克：那在經濟好轉以後，離開的年輕人還想回到葡萄牙來工作嗎？

Ana: Yes, I think so. I think most people want to go back to Portugal but I think we might have to wait a few years before things are back on track.

安娜：想，我是這樣認爲的。我認爲大多數人都想回到葡萄牙來，可是讓一切都重回正軌，我們可能還需要幾年的時間。

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重點講解：
1. be familiar with 熟悉；熟知；
例句：I'm familiar with most popular office software.
我對幾乎所有通用的辦公軟件都很熟悉。
2. in terms of 在…方面；從…角度看；根據…來說；
例句：He pointed out that Asian companies seem to be leading the way in terms of the convergence of business with design.
他認爲亞洲企業似乎在設計與商業的融合方面做得更好。
3. in fact 事實上，其實；
例句：No doubt he was just trying to help, but in fact he just got in the way.
他多半隻是想幫忙，可事實上他只是幫倒忙。
4. on track 在正確的軌道上；
例句：It may take some time to get the British economy back on track.
要使英國經濟重新回到正軌可能需要一段時間。