An ageless question: When is someone "old"?
一个永恒的问题：人什么时候变“老”？
What does "old" really mean these days? This isn't an idle question — not only does the definition of "old" have an outsized impact on how we feel about ourselves (not to mention how others view us) it also matters to policymakers determining how to plan for aging populations.
如今“老”到底是什么意思？这并不是一个没有意义的问题；“老”的定义不但对我们的自我感觉产生巨大的影响（更不用提别人对我们的看法），它对决策者为老龄化人口进行计划也很重要。
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The United Nations historically has defined older persons as people 60 years or over (sometimes 65). It didn't matter whether you lived in the United States, China or Senegal, even though life expectancy is drastically different in each of those countries. Everyone became old at 60.
联合国历来将老年人定义为 60 岁或以上的人（有时是 65 岁）。不管你生活在美国、中国还是塞内加尔，这个定义都保持不变，即使这些国家的预期寿命截然不同。每个人都在 60 岁时“变老”了。
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Demographers Sergei Scherbov and Warren Sanderson, who study aging, are evangelists about overturning the one-size-fits-all-across-the-globe definition of old. Instead, they talk about "prospective age", which looks to the future. Everyone with the same prospective age has the same expected remaining years of life.
研究老龄化的人口统计学家谢尔盖·谢尔波夫和沃伦·桑德森大力提倡推翻全球对老龄的“一刀切”式定义。相反，他们提出的是展望未来的“前瞻年龄”。前瞻年龄相同的人，预期寿命也相同。
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Scherbov explained that young and old are relative notions, and their common reference point is life expectancy. It makes sense that "old" would vary between nations, especially between more- and less-developed countries, with differences in education, mortality rates, access to health care and life expectancy.
谢尔波夫解释说，年轻与年老是相对的概念，他们的共同参照标准是预期寿命。在不同的国家，尤其是发达国家与欠发达国家之间，人们的教育程度、死亡率、获得医疗服务的机会和预期寿命都不同，对“老”的概念自然不同。
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But who is "old" also varies — widely — between individuals. The point, says Scherbov, is that personal age is dependent on our “characteristics” — cognitive abilities, disability, health history and even education levels. Those with more education tend not to smoke, exercise more frequently, have better diets and have regular checkups — and, therefore, live longer, meaning their old-age threshold comes later, says Scherbov.
而在不同的人之间，“老”的定义也相差甚远。谢尔波夫说，关键在于个人年龄取决于我们的“特点”——包括认知能力、残疾、健康史、甚至是教育程度。那些教育程度更高的人往往不吸烟、锻炼更频繁、饮食更健康并有定期体检，因此他们会活得更长，老龄的起始点会来得更晚。
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主编：Jenny
品控：宇轩
审核：Lucky
重点词汇
ageless
/ˈeɪdʒləs/
adj. 永恒的；青春永驻的，永不显老的
相关词汇：age
词根词缀：-less（没有）
例句：We often praise celebrities for their ageless appearance.
例句：The origin of the universe is an ageless topic in science.
idle
/ˈaɪdl/
adj. 无目的的；无意义的
近义词：lazy
搭配短语：an idle youth
词义辨析
idle，lazy
idle 通常指“空闲的，无事可干的”，可以表达中立的态度，不含责备的意味，而 lazy 我指“懒惰的，甚至好逸恶劳的”，带有谴责的口气。
outsized
/ˈaʊtsaɪzd/
adj. 特大型的；特大的
相关词汇：size（大小；尺码）
词根词缀：out-（超越）
英文释义：much larger than usual
同义词：outsize
Senegal
/ˌsenɪˈɡɔːl/
n. 塞内加尔（西非国家）
life expectancy
（尤指人的）预期寿命
相关词汇：expect
近义词：life span
drastically
/ˈdræstɪkli/
adv. 剧烈地
近义词：extremely
例句：The ending was drastically different from what we'd expected.
demographer
/dɪˈmɑːɡrəfər/
n. 人口统计学家
相关词汇：demography
evangelist
/ɪˈvændʒəlɪst/
n. （基督教）布道者；大力提倡者
搭配短语：an evangelist of low-carb diets
overturn
/ˌoʊvərˈtɜːrn/
v. 推翻，撤销（判决等）
例句：The results overturned previous research.
one-size-fits-all
/ˌwʌn saɪz fɪts ˈɔːl/
adj. （意图）各方面都顾及的；通用的
英文释义：suitable for everyone or every purpose
reference point
参照标准
相关词汇：reference（参考）
mortality
/mɔːrˈtæləti/
n. 死亡数量，死亡率
checkup
/ˈtʃek ʌp/
n. 体检，健康检查
近义词：examination
搭配短语：annual checkups
threshold
/ˈθreʃhoʊld/
n. 起点
英文释义：the level or point at which you start to experience something, or at which something starts to happen
搭配短语：on the threshold of sth.
例句：She was on the threshold of a dazzling career.
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