South Korea Leads List of Life Expectancy Gains

A new study predicts that South Korean women will be the first group in the world to have an average lifespan of more than 90 years.
一项新的研究预测，韩国女性将是世界上第一个平均寿命超过90的群体。

Researchers at Imperial College London and the World Health Organization studied the lifespans of people in 35 industrialized countries.Their findings suggest that by 2030 people will be living longer.It also says the gap between men and women could start to close in most countries.
伦敦帝国理工学院和世界卫生组织的研究人员研究了35个工业化国家的人均寿命。他们的研究结果表明，到2030年，人们的寿命将会延长。在大多数国家，男性和女性之间的寿命差距可能将不复存在。

Women are predicted to live longer lives than men in all countries.Behind South Korean women, women in France, Japan, Spain and Switzerland are expected, on average, to live to age 88.
预计在所有国家，女性的寿命都比男性长。位于韩国女性之后的法国，日本，西班牙和瑞士的女性平均寿命是88岁。

The life expectancy of South Korean men is expected to increase, but only to about age 84.In Australia, Switzerland, Canada and the Netherlands, men also are expected to live to about 84 on average.
预计韩国男性的预期寿命将增加，但大约只有84岁。在澳大利亚，瑞士，加拿大和荷兰，男性平均寿命约为84岁。

According to the study, the increase in life expectancy in South Korea was caused by decreases in deaths from infections and long-term diseases in children and adults.The study says gains in life expectancy are a result of economic improvements in South Korea.
根据研究，韩国预期寿命增加，原因是因感染和长期疾病导致的儿童、成年人死亡数量在减少。研究表明，预期寿命的增长是韩国经济改善的结果。

These gains have led to improved youth nutrition, increased access to primary and secondary health care,and the development of new medical technologies.South Koreans also have a lower body-mass index and blood pressure than people in most western countries, and lower smoking in women.
这些成果改善了青年人的营养，增加了初级和二级卫生保健的机会，开发了新的医疗技术。韩国人的体重系数和血压低于大多数西方国家，女性的吸烟率也较低。

While women and men in South Korea led the study,Americans continued to have one of the lower life expectancies among developed countries.
韩国的女性和男性在这项研究中占领先地位，但在发达国家中，美国却仍拥有较短的预期寿命。

Macedonia had the lowest life expectancy for women at nearly 78 years, and Serbia for men at about 73 years.
马其顿女性的预期寿命最短，近78年，塞尔维亚男性约为73岁。

Men and women in the U.S. are predicted to have life expectancies of 80 and 83 years, about the same as Mexico and Croatia.
美国的男性和女性预期寿命为80和83岁，与墨西哥和克罗地亚大致相同。

The writers of the study said life expectancy increases were smaller partly because of a lack of universal health care in the United States.The study also said problems such as relatively high child and maternal mortality rates,and high rates of homicide and obesity were to blame.
该研究的作者说，预期寿命的增长较小，部分原因是美国缺乏普遍的卫生保健。该研究还指出，原因还存在于儿童和产妇死亡率相对较高，凶杀率和肥胖率也很高。

Scientists once thought that a life expectancy beyond 90 years was impossible.However gains in medicine, combined with improved social programs, are helping people live longer lives.
科学家曾经认为90岁以上的预期寿命是不可能的。然而，医学的进步和改善的社会计划，正在帮助人们拥有更长的生命。

These improvements are also happening in countries where people already live a long time,according to the study’s lead researcher, Majid Ezzati of Imperial College London.
这些改善也发生在人们已经生活了很长时间的国家。该项研究的的首席研究员，伦敦帝国学院的Majid Ezzati说。

“I can imagine that there is a limit, but we are still very far from it,” he said.Ezzati estimated that people would eventually survive on average to at least 110 or 120 years.
“我知道，这有一个极限，但我们离它还是十分遥远的，”Ezzati估计，人类最终将能平均生活至少110或120年。

The study says that obesity, tobacco use and harmful alcohol use are the leading causes of death in adults.However, having an effective health care system is important for a country to improve life expectancy. The survey noted the good effects of having universal health-care coverage.
研究表明，肥胖，吸烟和有害饮酒是成年人死亡的主要原因。然而，拥有一个有效的保健系统对于国家提高预期寿命来说很重要。研究提到拥有全民医疗保险的好处。

The study said that, with longer life expectancy, there will also be new pressures on health and social services.The number of people needing long-term care in their old age will increase, which will put stress on available facilities giving this care.The study suggests that either more facilities will need to be built, or health care may need to be provided at home.
研究报告指出，人们寿命较长，对卫生服务和社会服务也将产生新的压力。需要长期护理的老年人人数将增加，这会给提供这种护理的现有设施增加压力。研究建议，或者建设更多的设施，或者在家里提供医疗保健。

There will also be additional pressure on pensions and social security.These are programs that provide money to people after they retire from work.
这也会给养老金和社会保障增加附加压力。这些都是在人们退休后为人们提供金钱保障的计划。

With people living longer, they will require more pension or social security payments than earlier generations.The study suggests that either the retirement age will need to be increased or plans will need to put in place to transition workers to retirement at a later age.
随着人类寿命变长，将需要比前几代人更多的养老金或社会保障支出。研究表示，或者延迟退休年龄，或者实施相应计划，使人们有所转变，晚几年再退休。

I’m Phil Dierking.
我是Phil Dierking。