原味人文风情

It's Your Future

用选票发声吧！这是属于你的未来

When I was 18, politics seemed boring. I didn't go and vote. I didn't pay attention. I didn't really care at what age people got their pension—that seemed ages away. I was just starting out. I really had no interest in what politics was about, but I should have. The young are most affected. Most 18 to 24s don't care who gets elected and I'm not surprised. I once felt that way too. Why vote for a system that doesn't represent you?

在我十八岁时，政治看起来很无趣。我不去投票。我漫不经心。我并不真的在意人们几岁拿到退休金－－那似乎是很久以后的事。我的人生才刚要开始。我真的对政治的内容没有兴趣，但我应该要有的。年轻人是最受影响的。多数 18 到 24 岁的青年不在意谁当选，我不讶异。我也曾那样觉得。为什么要投给一个不代表你的体制？

Middle-aged, middle-classed, old men in old buildings, too posh and too rich to care about the small things. From the same schools and same clubs to same suits and same tailors, to the same privileged upbringings with no experience of failures. When we see them answer questions, a chance they should be seizing, they forget about us and resort to playground teasing, like children, taking part in a food fight, wasting words that have power on a false appetite that lies, that only wants first prize, that cares less about its people and more what power buys.

中年、中产阶级、老旧建筑里的老人，太高尚又太有钱，所以关心不了那些枝微琐事。从相同学校和相同社团，到同款西装和同位裁缝师，同样一帆风顺、享尽特权的成长过程。在我们看到他们回答质询，一个他们应当把握的机会，他们却忘了我们，转而变成政坛游乐场内的嘲讽嬉闹，像小孩子一样，搅和在抢食大战里、浪费有实际力量的话语在不诚实的错误欲望上，只想得到第一的欲望、不太关心人民却比较关心权力能得到什么的欲望。

But the government works for you, and this can all be resolved if you stand up for what you believe in and do your part to get involved. There's strength in your numbers. You're not the minority. You only feel this way as you've been made a low priority by politicians who are chasing the vote. They won't try and please you if they think there's no hope, so prove them all wrong. Prove you have a voice! Do the unexpected and accept you have a choice and vote, but first find out the truth. Look at their policies and how they affect the youth.

但政府是为你做事的，这一切可以被解决，如果你为你的信念挺身而出，尽你的本份去参与。你们的数量是有力量的。你们并非弱势。你这样认为只是因为你被那些追逐选票的政客当成比较不重要的。如果他们觉得你不会投给他们，是不会来试着拜託你的，所以证明他们全错了。证明你是有声音的!做那个出乎意料的人，接受你拥有选择并去投票，但首先要查明真相。检视他们的政策和他们如何对年轻人造成影响。

This world is yours to inherit. It's more your future than theirs. Don't let your life be dictated by the old and billionaires. It's the young that pay tuition. It's the young that fight the wars. It's the young who need jobs, or could end up living outdoors. It's the young who adopt the planet. It's the young who clean up the mess. It's the young that care for the old. So why do the young vote less?

这个世界由你继承。这未来比起他们更是属于你的未来。别让你的生活被老人和亿万富翁支配。是年轻人在付学费。是年轻人在上战场。是年轻人需要工作，不然就可能会沦落街头。是年轻人要接收这星球。是年轻人要收拾善后。是年轻人要照顾老人。那为什么年轻人比较少投票呢？

You have a say that needs to be respected. People are dying for the right to have a leader that's elected. So register to vote, be a part of democracy. Doing nothing and complaining is outright hypocrisy. You don't have to be a whisper. Your voices are real. You can be the generation that gets a better deal. If you want to make a difference, you have to grow up. A country's fate is decided by those who show up.

你拥有一个需要尊重的决定权。人们为了争取选派领导者的权益卖命。所以去登记投票，成为民主的一部分吧。什么事都不做而抱怨是彻头彻尾的伪善。你不必当个小声说话的人。你们的声音是真实的。你可以成为得到更好待遇的世代。如果你想要做出改变，你必须长大。一个国家的命运，掌握在站出来的人手中。

重点内容讲解

1.pay attention 专心

例句：If you pay attention and listen instead of merely hearing the song, you can pick up the tune in no time.

如果你专心听，而不是只听歌词，很快就会学会调子了。

2.find out the truth 发现真实情况

例句：What if we were to find out the truth?

但如果我们要去找出真相，那会是一份怎样的真相呢？

3.clean up 打扫，整顿

例句：When I asked him to clean up the bedroom, he didn't listen and scattered his dirty clothes everywhere.

我让他打扫卧室，他不听，反而把脏衣服扔得到处都是。

4.be dying for 渴望

例句：The girls will be dying for us.

小妞们会爱死我们的。