VOA慢速英語: 年輕一代損害了臺灣的競爭力？

Is Younger Generation Hurting Taiwan’s Competitiveness?
年輕人損害了臺灣的競爭力？
In October, a Taiwan negotiator to China warned that Taiwanese lacked what he called aggressiveness and an enterprising spirit. He warned against “being a sheep” -- following others -- in the face of fast-growing China.
十月，來大陸訪問的臺灣代表說：“臺灣人現(xiàn)在缺乏進(jìn)取心和創(chuàng)新精神。”他警告說：“面對中國大陸快速的發(fā)展不要成為一只跟隨別人腳步的盲從者。”
The rarely heard criticism by a public official points to growing concern in Taiwan that young people are more likely to prefer a safe job to starting their own business. This way of thinking is different from that of their parents and modern mainland Chinese.
在臺灣，過去很少聽到官員類似的批評，但是現(xiàn)在越來越關(guān)心這一問題：年輕人更喜歡一份安定的工作來開始自己的事業(yè)?，F(xiàn)在臺灣年輕人的想法與他們父輩以及大陸人的想法不同。
This preference for safe jobs threatens new business startups on the island. Officials say such businesses are important for Taiwan’s future as an exporter of goods from plastics to electronic products. Officials want Taiwanese to keep inventing and investing so they can remain competitive against other areas.
年輕人選擇安穩(wěn)的工作，直接威脅到島上新經(jīng)濟(jì)的起步。官員說新經(jīng)濟(jì)對臺灣地區(qū)來說，對于塑料和電子產(chǎn)品出口的未來經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展來說很重要。官員希望臺灣人能夠繼續(xù)創(chuàng)造、不斷投入時間、精力使臺灣地區(qū)保持競爭力。
Yang Lian–fu is a publisher of books on Taiwanese history. He says parents in Taiwan guide their adult children to look for safe jobs and schools, and provide little motivation.
楊連福是臺灣歷史書籍的出版商，他說臺灣的父母引導(dǎo)孩子尋找一份穩(wěn)定的工作、去競爭壓力小的學(xué)校讀書，這無益于激發(fā)他們的進(jìn)取心。
He says young Taiwanese people care most about the quality of life. He adds that this preference relates to history, and that modern parents want their children to lead a safe life after college.
他說臺灣的年輕人更關(guān)心生活的品質(zhì)，這一偏愛跟歷史有關(guān)，現(xiàn)代的家長希望孩子大學(xué)畢業(yè)后尋找一份穩(wěn)定的工作。
Yang Lian-fu calls Taiwan’s education system peaceful. He says there is no pressure for students who study hard.
楊連福稱臺灣的教育體制很安穩(wěn)，學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)沒有什么壓力。
But young people in mainland China are pushed harder to compete. The reason: their parents and schools. Tony Phoo is an economist in Taipei. He says Taiwan now risks being surpassed by China. China is already a less costly manufacturing base and a larger consumer market.
但是大陸的年輕人競爭很激烈。原因是他們的家長和學(xué)校。托尼·浦是臺北的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家。他說臺灣面臨著被祖國大陸超越的風(fēng)險。中國大陸已經(jīng)不在是個廉價的加工廠，擁有更大的消費市場。
"Mainland Chinese are catching up very fast. They are also getting increasingly competitive not just in terms of technology but also in terms of talent. Chinese have acquired a certain advantage by attracting offshore talent to the mainland China and in time they was acquiring Taiwanese technology through overseas acquisitions."
“大陸人追趕的速度很快，不僅僅在技術(shù)領(lǐng)域，在人才方面日具競爭力。通過吸引海外的人才到大陸，同時引進(jìn)臺灣以及海外的科技，中國大陸已經(jīng)獲得一些優(yōu)勢。”
World Bank reports show that Chinese high-technology exports have risen from five percent to 26 percent of exports since the 1990s. In Taiwan, the number of people taking the civil service test for first-time government jobs nearly doubled between 2002 and 2012. About half a percent of those who took the first exam last year were offered employment.
世界銀行報道稱中國高科技的進(jìn)口比例已經(jīng)從20世紀(jì)90年代的26%上升了5個百分點。2002年到2012年間，在臺灣參加政府部門的公務(wù)員考試的人數(shù)翻倍。其中有0.5%的人參加了去年我們的招聘工作考試。
Younger Taiwanese and their parents consider government jobs among the island's most secure.
臺灣的年輕人和他們的父母認(rèn)為政府工作是臺灣最有保障的工作。
Fear of risk has also appeared in Taiwan's prized high-tech industry. Jay Yang is deputy director with the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute in Taipei. He says younger people fear the costs of starting a business.
臺灣的高科技領(lǐng)域也出現(xiàn)了害怕風(fēng)險的擔(dān)憂。楊杰伊是臺北市場營銷和咨詢研究所的副所長。他說年輕人害怕開始創(chuàng)業(yè)的代價太高。
He says younger Taiwanese are not bad at inventing things. But he says there are fewer young people interested in launching businesses because of the risks they must take. He says most people work for large information technology companies.
他說臺灣的年輕人不善于發(fā)明創(chuàng)造，但是有一些年輕人對創(chuàng)業(yè)很感興趣，所以他們必須經(jīng)歷承擔(dān)這些冒險。他說大多數(shù)人選擇為大型的信息技術(shù)公司工作。
Jay Yang calls this a cultural problem and says people are conservative. He notes that starting a company could take years. He says one does not know in the beginning how long it will take to earn a profit.
楊杰伊稱這一問題是文化問題，說他們保守。他指出開公司需要好些年，人們不知道開公司后，多長時間才會有回報。
His group found that Taiwanese high-tech inventors were more interested in starting businesses around 2000 -- when Internet use was growing. It says there was a pullback as industry competition intensified.
他的團(tuán)隊發(fā)現(xiàn)臺灣高科技的創(chuàng)業(yè)人員大概在2000年的時候開始創(chuàng)業(yè)——當(dāng)時因特網(wǎng)的使用正在發(fā)展。隨著競爭的日益加劇，高科技領(lǐng)域創(chuàng)業(yè)出現(xiàn)回落。
I’m Marsha James.
我是瑪莎·詹姆斯。
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Words in this Story:
being a sheep - n., a person who follows or copies others, without thought
surpass - v., to be better or greater than (someone or something)
preference - n. an advantage that is given to some people or things and not to others