实战口语情景对话 第1060期:Big Neighbor 重要邻国

Mike: So Ana, I was wondering, are you familiar with the term inferiority complex?
迈克：安娜，我想知道，你熟悉自卑情结这个词吗？

Ana: Yes. I think I've heard it before.
安娜：熟悉。我以前听到过。

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?
迈克：你知道，有时一个人会感觉在某件事上他不如其他人做得好，他就会感到自卑，或是感觉自己不是太好。我想对国家来说也同样如此。比如，如果一个非常小的国家有一个非常大的邻国，就好像葡萄牙和西班牙的情况，你认为你们国家的情况是这样的吗？

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：对，这很有趣。我认为这完全就是我们国家的情况。西班牙是一个大国，从经济上来说，他们最近的表现比葡萄牙好很多。实际上，我们已经开始从西班牙进口大量产品。以前国产的一些产品，现在都要从西班牙进口。

Mike: I see.
迈克：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：就银行来说，现在葡萄牙境内的许多主要银行都是西班牙银行。还有许多葡萄牙学生选择去西班牙大学学习，因为西班牙的教育更好。

Mike: Really. But you have some very old universities and a very old tradition or academic tradition in Portugal as well then, do you?
迈克：真的吗？可是葡萄牙也有历史悠久的大学和学术传统，对吧？

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：对，没错。实际上，葡萄牙的大学人满为患，我认为问题是葡萄牙大学的增长速度不够快，导致没有太多地方供葡萄牙学生学习。所以，许多学生前往西班牙求学。这虽然很有趣，但同时也令人难过，因为现在我们不能为这些学生提供他们需要的教育。

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?
迈克：我明白了。在地图上看的话，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1100万人。

Mike: Eleven million people.
迈克：1100万。

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：对。人口不是很多。不过这是过去几年所发生的改变，因为有许多葡萄牙人搬到世界其他国家去生活了。在信贷危机和经济崩溃以后，葡萄牙的工作机会变得非常少。

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?
迈克：好。我在报纸上看过一篇报道，好像是葡萄牙的外交部长还是经济部长建议葡萄牙年轻人离开葡萄牙，去其他地方找工作，因为葡萄牙没有工作提供给年轻人。这是真的吗？

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：对。这实际上是一起大丑闻，因为政府建议葡萄牙年轻人去其他国家生活，可实际上我们认为葡萄牙应该创造新的工作岗位。

Mike: So people were quite angry. So how was that? What were the people's reactions?
迈克：所以人们非常愤怒。是这样吗？人们有何反应？

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：我想人们的确非常生气。可是这就是现实。所以许多年轻人搬到去国外生活。现在我们理解了，这是一种生存本能，如果我们想找到工作，那我们就得离开。

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?
迈克：那在经济好转以后，离开的年轻人还想回到葡萄牙来工作吗？

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，我是这样认为的。我认为大多数人都想回到葡萄牙来，可是让一切都重回正轨，我们可能还需要几年的时间。