一毛不拔 Penny pinching!

Hello I’m Rob and this is 6 Minute English. With me today is Finn. Hello Finn.
大家好，欢迎收听本期BBC六分钟英语。我是Rob，这是我的搭档Finn。你好，Finn。
Hello Rob.
你好，Rob。
Today we’re discussing money.
今天我们要讨论一下钱。
Money – a subject close to my heart. But we’re not talking about big money are we?
钱？这可是我最关心的话题。但今天谈论的，不是大笔钱吧？
No, we’re talking about the humble penny. The Canadian penny, to be more precise. It’s going to be withdrawn from circulation because production costs have exceeded its monetary value.
不是，是小钱，就便士而已。更确切地说，是加拿大便士。由于生产成本超出了货币价值，它马上就要停止流通了。
So there’s not much time left to ‘spend a penny’!
这么说来，花“一分钱上公共厕所”的日子剩不多了。
That’s a very good penny idiom and I’m sure there are plenty more we’ll mention in today’s programme.
呵呵，这个成语很好，我敢肯定今天的节目中还会提到很多有关便士的成语。
Yes – but of course the penny is not the proper name for this small Canadian coin – its official name is the cent. So do we have any cent idioms today?
没错，但准确来说加拿大硬币并不叫做便士，它的官方名称是分。所以今天有关于一分钱的成语吗？
We don’t but, as always, I do have a question to ask you.
没有，但像往常一样，我要问你一个问题。
OK.
好啊。
Right, on the theme of money of course, and in which country would you use the Tambala coin? Is it: a) Malawi b) Madagascar c) Myanmar?
恩，当然以钱为主题。问题是这样的：你会在哪个国家使用坦巴拉呢？是马拉维，马达加斯加还是缅甸呢？
I don’t know the answer, so I’m going to say it sounds like an African country. Let’s say Malawi.
我还真不知道答案。不过听起来像是非洲国家的。所以我选马拉维。
Malawi. Well, I’ll let you know the answer at the end of the programme. But let’s get back to the news the Canadian penny – or cent - is being withdrawn from circulation.
马拉维，好的，节目最后我们会揭晓答案。再来看看今天的新闻，加拿大便士（或加拿大一分钱硬币）正在退出流通。
The Royal Canadian Mint will no longer distribute the coin to financial institutions around the country, but it will remain legal tender.
加拿大皇家铸币厂也不会再向金融机构分发硬币，但它仍是法定货币。
Legal tender – that means shops can still accept the coin as payment for things. But it’s slowly going to disappear because places like banks will not be given any new ones. So why is this?
既然是法定货币，那么人们依旧可以在各家商店使用它。可由于银行等地不再获得新货币，所以它将慢慢消失。那么为什么会这样呢？
Well, I suppose the coin does not have much value – and personally, I find having loads of small coins in my pocket quite annoying.
我觉得是硬币没多大价值。我个人认为兜里揣几个硬币挺烦人的。
That’s true, although all those pennies can add up to a lot of money, so I like to save them in a big jar. People do say that if you take care of the pennies, the pounds will take care of themselves!
没错，但要是把那些硬币放在一起，也可以攒很多钱呢，所以我喜欢把硬币放在大储蓄罐里。有人说过管好小开销，大钱自然来。
Well in Canada, at least, there will be fewer pennies to collect, it might be nickels instead. Nickels are worth five cents each.That’s because the government has advised shop owners to round out prices to the nearest nickel for cash transactions. That means to increase or round up, or decrease or round down to the nearest nickel.
但加拿大却没有多少便士可收集，相反镍币倒是多一些。一镍币价值五美分。那是因为政府建议店主把价格凑到最近镍币，以方便现金交易。换句话说，就是提高或降低商品价格以凑到最近的镍币。
Canada is not alone in withdrawing small coins. Other countries, such as New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden, no longer use the penny. And here in the UK, some people think the penny is just a waste of space.
加拿大并不是唯一撤回小硬币的国家。新西兰、澳大利亚、荷兰、芬兰及瑞典等其他国家也不再使用便士。而在英国，有些人认为便士只是在浪费空间。
Peter Nichols is a coin dealer; would he miss the British penny if it was withdrawn?
Peter Nichols是一名钱币商。如果英国便士被撤回了，那么他会想念么？
Not at all, I don’t even count them in the till. When the section gets too full I put them in the charity box, that’s more where it comes from now, yeah.
一点不会，我甚至都不数钱柜中有多少便士。等装满了我就把它们放在慈善箱里，所以慈善箱里的便士比钱柜里还多。
So he wouldn’t miss them. The pennies he gets now go in to a box where money is collected for charity. They are basically a nuisance – they just get in the way.
Peter Nichols说不会想念便士。他把自己的硬币投到了慈善箱里。硬币基本上就是个麻烦，所以人们才这样处理它。
Of course the other problem with these small coins is how much they cost to make. They are not cost-effective. In Canada, it costs 1.6 cents to make a 1 cent coin. So that means it costs the economy a pretty penny.
当然，这些小硬币还引发了另一个问题：生产成本。制造硬币根本不划算。在加拿大，制造1美分硬币需要成本1.6美分，也就是说生产硬币要花费一大笔钱。
A pretty penny! That means a large sum of money. Yes, the Canadian economy makes a loss of 11 million Canadian dollars every year by making these coins.That’s a big loss from a small coin. But back in the UK, some people are fond of this humble coin. They want to look after the penny.
一大笔钱，也就是很多钱。的确，加拿大每年都会因制造硬币而损失1100万加元。那可是很大的损失。但英国人很喜欢硬币，他们希望攒小钱。
Could we say they are ‘penny pinchers’ Rob? That’s what we call people who are careful with how they spend their money. It means that they count every penny!
那可以说他们是小气鬼Rob吗？换句话说他们是很在意如何花钱的人，每一分钱都要斤斤计较。
Definitely not me and it isn’t Phil Mussel, who is a numismatist – that’s someone who collects and studies coins…
我可不是小气鬼，Phil Mussel也不是。他是收集并研究硬币的人，即钱币学家。
I think it would be a great shame if we got rid of the penny. It’s one of those iconic coins of Britain. We’ve had the coin since 780, and we’ve had it ever since. In fact up until the fourteenth century, it was the only coin in circulation.
我认为远离便士是很耻辱的事情。因为它是英国的标志性硬币之一，自780年硬币流通，便士就一直存在。直到十四世纪，它还是唯一流通的硬币。
So Phil Mussel is nostalgic about the British penny. He calls it an iconic coin – it represents or is a symbol of British currency.
这么说来，Phil Mussel很怀念英国便士。他说便士是标志性硬币，即英国货币的象征。
By getting rid of the penny altogether, there is fear that it could create inflation.
如果完全除去便士，那么可能会造成通货膨胀。
Phil Mussel fears that if it happened in the UK, prices would only go up. He says that is inevitable – it will happen.
Phil Mussel担心假如此事在英国发生，那么价格只会上涨。他说这是不可避免的事情，一定会发生。
Well that would make our wallets and pockets a lot lighter!
要是这样，我们的钱包和口袋就轻巧多了。
Our wallets hang on. Ah, I get it. The penny is dropped, I see what you mean!
钱包轻巧？啊，我明白了，你是指便士被撤回了。
Very good. Well here is something that is inevitable, the answer to this week’s question. Earlier, I asked you in which country would you use the Tambala coin?
恩，不错嘛。现在我们来做点不可避免的事情，看看本周问题的答案。我刚刚问过，你会在哪个国家使用坦巴拉？
Well I said a) Malawi. Was I right?
我当时选的马拉维。对吗？
Finn, you were absolutely right. The Tambala coin is legal tender in Malawi 100 Tambalas make one Kwacha. OK, it’s almost time to go but before we do, Finn could you remind us of some of the words we have heard today.
恭喜你Finn，完全正确。坦巴拉是马拉维的法定硬币，100坦巴拉等于1瓦查。好了，节目也快结束了。Finn，你能带我们回忆下今天听到的词汇吗？
Ah, today. Yes. We heard: humble, circulation, legal tender, to round out, up or down, a nuisance, a pretty penny, numismatist, iconic, inflation, and inevitable.
没问题。今天我们听到了以下词汇：humble（卑微的，小的）、circulation（流通）、legal tender（法定货币）、to round out（完成）、up or down（上涨或下跌）、a nuisance（令人讨厌的人或事）、a pretty penny（一大笔钱）、numismatist（钱币学家）、iconic（标志性的）、inflation（通话膨胀）、inevitable（不可避免的）。
Thanks. Well, that’s all we have time for today. Please join us again soon for Six Minute English from bbclearningenglish.com.
谢谢你，以上就是本期节目的全部内容。欢迎大家登录bbclearningenglish.com收听我们BBC六分钟英语。