英語趣味課堂：歐洲的經濟-The Economy for Europeans

Alex: So Maria, you've seen a lot of the stuff that's been happening recently in Europe and you know that things have not exactly gone very well. What do you think are the, what's the outlook for Denmark in the future? Do you think you guys will do well or...?

Maria: I don't think we'll do that well because I'm from a generation where we, like my generation, we had it very well. We had a very good, we could choose whatever job we wanted, we could still choose whatever education we wanted if we're smart enough at least. We get paid from the Government to study. I get a lot of money every month. I still do even though I am on exchange just to study so compared to other countries where it is a privilege to study, we just, if we feel like it we'll study and we might wait a little but now they're saying that we're this luxury generation, that we're not used to working hard and I can recognize that because I'm not used to working for anything.

So when we begin to struggle finding jobs because we have like a high rate of unemployment, especially for young people, people who graduate usually they wait. If you don't have a very specific education, doctors I think are OK, people like that, but if you have a humanistic education, you might have to wait more than a year to find a job. My sister's graduating now and she is like dying because she has a fear for that. When she graduates with her social European studies, she will have a very hard time finding anything. So I think the biggest problem is the personality of the Danish youth because we are not used to having to do anything and now we have to because the environment has changed in Europe.

I don't know economically because we still have a lot of like huge enterprises and we have a lot of, the way we're placed we have pretty good connections with America and we're in Europe. We have like the whole of Europe around us and of course we, as a part of Scandinavia, we have good connections with like we have some more than just connections with Sweden and Norway, we are like, I don't know, closer than we would have been for example Germany which actually Denmark is situated on Germany so we have the link to Germany but we're still closer to Sweden. So we will probably manage but we will have to change economically and this might be a problem that we're getting a socialist government at the moment. I think it's great because I love it that we have it this way but we might get in economic trouble, difficulties, so I am probably going to have a harder time than my parents. It's got to work, it's going to help that I'm studying business though because I can always just work in another country, Australia for example, but yeah I don't know, the future is vague.

Alex: Yeah.

重點詞匯：

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

outlook

What's the outlook for Denmark in the future?

The 'outlook' of something is a prediction about what will happen in the future. Notice the following:

That computer company has been through some tough times this year, but the outlook is good for the future.

We had a very serious meeting regarding the outlook of our magazine publications.

generation

I'm from a generation where we had it very well.

Your 'generation' includes all of the people who were born around the same time as you. Notice the following:

Kids from my brother's generation are very good with electronics.

Many women were housewives during my grandmother's generation.

privilege

Compared to other countries where it is privilege to study...

A 'privilege' is a right or benefit that not everyone gets to experience. Notice the following:

His parents keep reminding him that having a car is a privilege and he needs to keep it clean.

She grew up in a very privileged family.

struggle

People began to struggle finding jobs.

You 'struggle' with something that is difficult to achieve or complete. Notice the following:

I continued to struggle with math all year.

She struggled with being overweight for many years.

dying

My sister is like dying, because she has a fear that when she graduates, she won't be able to find a job.

When you are 'dying' about something, you are really anxious, nervous, frustrated or excited about it. Notice the following:

I'm so scared for my interview that I feel like I'm dying inside.

She is always dying to have the latest fashions.

enterprises

We still have a lot of big enterprises.

An enterprise can be a large organization or business. Notice the following:

He has been very successful and now has an important position at a big enterprise.

This computer company has gone from being a small company to a large enterprise in only 10 years.

vague

The future is vague.

If something is 'vague,' it is unclear or nonspecific. Notice the following:

I hate it when you give vague answers like that.

The directions about what to do next are kind of vague.