1.settle an old score (with sb)：清算旧账

The chemistry professor thereby settled an old score: 33 years before he won the award his employer, the University of Oxford, tried to make him retire before he wanted to. 

这位化学教授因此可以算一笔旧账了：在他获奖的33年前，他的雇主牛津大学(University of Oxford)试图让他退休，当时他本人还不愿退休。

To get vengeance on someone for a past wrong or grievance; 

to punish someone for causing one harm or misfortunein the past.

2. oft-told story 广为流传的故事（often told）

3.work ethic 职业道德

Prof Goodenough’s work ethic demonstrates what is wrong with the oft-told story in rich countries about the young shouldering an ever greater burden as they support an ageing population. 

古迪纳夫的职业道德证明，富裕国家常说的故事——为了支撑日益老龄化的人口，年轻人背负着越来越大的负担——存在错误。

4.dependency ratio 抚养比

Social scientists have traditionally used a “dependency ratio” comparing the number of those between the ages of 15 and 64 to everyone else in order to assess the sustainability of welfare states. 

传统上，社会科学家使用“抚养比”来评估福利国家的可持续性。抚养比，是其他年龄段人数与15岁至64岁年龄段人数之比。

5.trim v. 修剪；切除（不规则或不需要的部分）；削减（开支费用等）；（使）（身体某一部分）结实；修饰；调整（船帆）利用风力；调整负载以调整（船、飞机的）平衡；（使）飞机配平；见风使舵；（非正式）（在钱财方面）欺骗（某人）

n. 点缀物；汽车装饰；修剪；（电影剪辑后的）废片；良好的状态（或情况）；（飞机）配平；（船在水中的）水平位势

adj. 整齐的；身材苗条的

Working lives have been trimmed at the lower end too. 

同时，较低年龄段的人踏入职业生涯的时间变晚了。

6.put out (sb) to grass:（因年老等） 被辞退，遭解雇;

to make someone stop work permanently because they are too old

The always somewhat arbitrary 15-64 age band should be put out to grass. 

应该放弃总是有些随意的15至64岁的工作年龄定义。

7.working life age band  工作年限

附录全文

97岁诺奖得主的启示：“工作年龄”该重新定义了丨双语阅读

原创： 我是小F FT每日英语 今天

FT社评：97岁的高龄诺奖得主约翰•古迪纳夫的故事体现出，我们应该使用能够反映社会变化的工作年龄定义。

Photo credit: Getty Images

全文共711个词。

At the age of 97, John Goodenough this week became the oldest person ever to win a Nobel Prize. The chemistry professor thereby settled an old score: 33 years before he won the award his employer, the University of Oxford, tried to make him retire before he wanted to. He “fled”, in his words, to Texas where he has spent the entire intervening period happily working — often at weekends.

97岁的约翰•古迪纳夫(John Goodenough，见文首照片)成为有史以来最高龄的诺贝尔奖(Nobel Prize)获得者。这位化学教授因此可以算一笔旧账了：在他获奖的33年前，他的雇主牛津大学(University of Oxford)试图让他退休，当时他本人还不愿退休。用他的话说，他“逃亡”到德克萨斯州，在那里的整个时期愉快地工作着——通常是在周末。

Prof Goodenough’s work ethic demonstrates what is wrong with the oft-told story in rich countries about the young shouldering an ever greater burden as they support an ageing population. Those like the professor who might once have been pensioned off by their mid-sixties are now working longer themselves. The young, meanwhile, do not go off to earn as early as they once did, and spend far longer studying.

古迪纳夫的职业道德证明，富裕国家常说的故事——为了支撑日益老龄化的人口，年轻人背负着越来越大的负担——存在错误。那些像古迪纳夫一样，原本可能在65岁左右退休的人，现在正在工作更长的时间。同时，年轻人并没有像以前那样早早就挣钱，而是花更长的时间学习。

Social scientists have traditionally used a “dependency ratio” comparing the number of those between the ages of 15 and 64 to everyone else in order to assess the sustainability of welfare states. Those of “working age” must support those who cannot work. A high dependency ratio means fewer people are funding healthcare, education and social security programmes.

传统上，社会科学家使用“抚养比”来评估福利国家的可持续性。抚养比，是其他年龄段人数与15岁至64岁年龄段人数之比。“工作年龄”的人必须支持那些不能工作的人。高抚养比意味着资助医疗保健、教育和社会保障计划的人更少。

Photo credit: Getty Images

This vision of the workforce, dating from the creation of welfare states in the early 20th century, is out of date. Advances in medicine mean many people can, and choose to, work far longer than the age of 65. Others, especially the low paid, who have not accumulated private pension rights, have been forced to continue working as state pension ages have increased.

这种对劳动力的看法可追溯到20世纪初福利国家建立的时期，但如今这种看法已经过时了。医学的进步意味着许多人可以，并且也选择工作到65岁以后很久。其他人（尤其是没有积累私人养老金权利的低收入者）随着领取国家养老金的年龄延迟，被迫继续工作。

As globalisation and automation have reduced the number of manufacturing jobs in rich countries, workers in the west have been able to keep going for longer. Physical labour wore out the bodies of factory workers and miners, but accountants and call centre operators face different kinds of stress.

随着全球化和自动化减少了富裕国家的制造业工作机会，西方的劳动者能够继续工作更长的时间。体力劳动使工厂工人和矿工的身体疲惫不堪，但会计师和呼叫中心操作员面临着不同的压力。

In the US, where overall participation in the labour force has been declining since the financial crisis, those above the age of 65 are more likely to be in work now than before 2008. This pattern is the same across rich countries. A quarter of New Zealanders over the age of 65 are in the labour force, compared with about 15 per cent a decade ago; 18 per cent of Swedes above 65 are now in the labour market, compared with 12 per cent in 2008.

自金融危机以来，美国的总体劳动参与率一直在下降。其中，与2008年之前相比，现在65岁以上的人更有可能还在工作。许多富裕国家的情况都是如此。在65岁以上的新西兰人中，有四分之一还在职场中，而10年前的这一比例约占15%；65岁以上的瑞典人现在有18%还在劳动力市场，而2008年的该比例为12%。

Photo credit: Getty Images

Working lives have been trimmed at the lower end too. In most western societies very few workers today begin their careers at 16. Most of these countries have compulsory education until at least 18. In the UK, half of school leavers now attend university and many take gap years, meaning their careers often start closer to 22 than 16. Participation rates for 15 to 19-year-olds in Denmark have fallen by about 10 percentage points while in Ireland they are down by 20 percentage points.

同时，较低年龄段的人踏入职业生涯的时间变晚了。在大多数西方社会中，如今很少有人在16岁开始工作。这些国家中的大多数人至少在18岁之前都在接受义务教育。在英国，现在一半的中学毕业生上了大学，还有许多人在毕业后选择度过间隔年，这意味着他们的职业生涯通常从22岁左右而不是16岁左右开始。丹麦15岁至19岁的劳动力参与率下降了约10个百分点，而爱尔兰的这一比例下降了20个百分点。

All of these changes render the traditional definition of “ working age” redundant. The always somewhat arbitrary 15-64 age band should be put out to grass. Instead, demographers should use a version that reflects the new milestones in the developed world.

所有这些变化使“工作年龄”的传统定义变得多余。应该放弃总是有些随意的15至64岁的工作年龄定义。相反，人口统计学家应使用能反映发达国家新里程碑的定义。

Such a redefinition, however, would only change slightly the picture of ageing societies: UN projections forecast that the traditional dependency ratio in rich countries will reach 72 per cent by 2050, compared with 51 per cent in 2015. If the working life age band was redefined as 20-70, this would rise from 53 per cent now to 69 per cent.

但是，这样的重新定义只会稍微改变老龄化社会的面貌：联合国预测，以传统定义计算，到2050年富裕国家的抚养比将从2015年的51%上升至72%。如果将工作年龄重新定义为20至70岁，那么对应的数字为从53%上升至69%。

Photo credit: Getty Images

The University of Oxford still has a mandatory retirement age of 67, arguing that it needs to “refresh” the ranks of senior academics. Prof Goodenough — a pioneer of the lithium-ion battery — is a reminder that allowing them to recharge might be more appropriate.

目前，牛津大学的法定退休年龄仍为67岁，理由是它需要“更新”高级学者的队伍。锂离子电池的先驱古迪纳夫教授提醒我们，允许他们继续工作可能更合适。