很多退休老人独自居住，常常会感到孤独。为了帮助他们社交，有个英国小镇推出了“聊天长椅”，效果还不错。
The 'happy to chat' bench
by Luke Mintz
If you walk along the Victorian promenade（海边步行道） in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, you'll notice one bench that sticks out from the rest. Sitting 100 metres from the pier（栈桥） head is a bright yellow sign marking "The 'Happy to Chat' bench: sit here if you don't mind someone stopping to say hello."
Victorian /vɪkˈtɔːriən/ adj. 维多利亚时期的、维多利亚风格的（维多利亚时期指1837–1901年）
bench /bentʃ/ n. 长椅
stick out 突出、显眼
mark /mɑːk/ v. 标记
It was unveiled（推出） by police earlier this year in a bid to tackle loneliness among the elderly in the seaside town, where pensioners make up a third of the population. The scheme was picked up by CNN, and has spawned（大量生产） copycats（模仿者） around the country, as well as in locations as far away as Canada, Australia, United States, and Ukraine.
bid /bɪd/ n. 努力、尝试
tackle /ˈtæk(ə)l/ v. 着手应对
loneliness /ˈləʊnlinəs/ n. 孤单、孤独（由lonely加后缀-ness变成名词）
the elderly /ˈeld(ə)li/ 老年人
pensioner /ˈpenʃ(ə)nə(r)/ n. 领取养老金的人（由pension加上表示人的后缀-er）
make up 组成、构成
scheme /skiːm/ n. 方案、计划
pick up 获取（信息）
as well as = and also
Ukraine /juːˈkreɪn/ n. 乌克兰（东欧国家）
More than nine million people in the UK say they "often or always" feel lonely, according to the British Red Cross, and in 2013 then-health secretary Jeremy Hunt described loneliness among the elderly as "our national shame". With the problem so endemic（流行的）, can something as simple as a bench be effective to fix the problem?
then /ðen/ adj. 当时的
health secretary /ˈsekrət(ə)ri/ 卫生部长
effective /ɪˈfektɪv/ adj. 有效的（由effect加后缀-ive变成形容词）
That question led me to Burnham's promenade on a blustery（刮大风的） November morning, where I spent hours sitting on the country's first 'chatty bench' to see who, if anyone, would strike up a conversation.
chatty /ˈtʃæti/ adj. 健谈的、爱聊天的（由chat加后缀-y变成形容词）
strike up 开始（聊天）
After lunch, I got chatting to 67-year-old Ann Davies, who retired a few years ago from her job as manager of the Sue Ryder charity shop. She has lived alone since her divorce 13 years ago, and spends much of her time volunteering. Otherwise, she explains, she would be at serious risk of falling into the UK's 1.9 million older people who "often feel ignored or invisible", according to Age UK research.
divorce /dɪˈvɔːs/ n. 离婚
volunteer /ˌvɒlənˈtɪə(r)/ v. 做志愿者
risk /rɪsk/ n. 风险
ignore /ɪɡˈnɔː(r)/ v. 忽略、忽视
invisible /ɪnˈvɪzəb(ə)l/ adj. 不可见的（由visible加上表示否定的前缀in-）
"Once you get behind that door, you don't want to come out, and the longer it goes on, the more you don't want to," Ann says. "You almost get agoraphobic（对公共场所感到恐惧的）, and the outside seems very alien and scary. But it's not. The best thing is to volunteer. You've got to have a reason to go out."
alien /ˈeɪliən/ adj. 陌生的
Full of natural wit, it's very easy to warm to Ann after just a few minutes. She explains why she takes regular advantage of Burnham's chatty bench: "Even just somebody looking at it is enough – they say, 'Oh, this is a good idea, what's all that about then?' You start chatting about the bench, and it goes on from there. 'Are you on holiday? Do you come down every year?' It's just natural. Sometimes they're not even sitting on the bench, they just talk to you standing up."
wit /wɪt/ n. 才智、头脑
warm to someone 开始喜欢某人
take advantage of 利用
come down 来到（某个小地方）
As the afternoon wears on, and the gloomy（阴沉的） sky dims further, I call it a day and travel back to London with my spirits high. Perhaps there is hope for neighbourliness（邻里友善） after all.
wear on （时间）缓缓流逝
dim /dɪm/ v. 变暗
call it a day 结束一天的工作
spirits /ˈspɪrɪts/ n. 精神、情绪
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