新奇事件簿 说英语会让你更贫穷

An economics¹ professor has said English speakers may be poorer because of English grammar. Dr Keith Chen of Yale University suggested that differences in the tenses of the world's languages may explain why people in some countries save more money than people in other countries. He told people at a presentation that the future tense in English could actually make people believe the future is not important now. He said English speakers might think the future is separate from the present, and that this may make people not think about their future. He explained this could stop people saving money for their retirement². He also suggested future tenses may make people smoke more and exercise less.

一位经济学教授表示，由于英语语法问题，说英语的人可能会更穷。耶鲁大学的Keith Chen博士认为，世界各地语言时态的不同或许能够解释为什么有些国家的人比其他国家的人更有钱。他在一次报告中告诉人们，英语中的将来时会让人们相信将来对现在来说并不重要。他表示，说英语的人或许会认为将来和现在是分开的，这可能会让人们不考虑将来。他解释说，这会让人们不为将来退休而储蓄。他还说，将来时可能会让人们抽烟更多，锻炼更少。

Professor Chen divided the grammar of countries into two – those with a "strong future-time reference³" and those with a weak reference. He explained: "If I wanted to explain to an English-speaking colleague why I can't attend a meeting later today, I could not say 'I go to a seminar'. English grammar would [require] me to say 'I will go, am going, or have to go to a seminar'". He contrasted this with "weak future-time reference" languages" that can express the same meaning without future words like "will". Chen says speakers of these languages are those who save more money. He believes this could be because they do not separate the present time and future in their grammar or in real life.

Chen教授将各个国家的语言分为两种——“着重提及将来的时间”以及不怎么提及将来。他解释说：“假如我要向一位说英语的同事解释为何我不能参加今天晚些时候的一个会议，我不会说我去参加一个研讨会。英语语法要求我说，我将要，我不得不去参加一个研讨会。”他把这一点与“提及将来时间比较弱化”的语言做对比，这种语言表达同样的意思时不会使用表示将来时态的词语“将要”。Chen表示，说这类语言的人更容易存钱。他相信这一点是因为在他们的语法和现实生活中都不把现在和将来分开。

1 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

2 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

3 reference   

n.提到，说到，暗示，查看，查阅

参考例句：

• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。
• I like to have my reference books within my reach.我喜欢把参考书放到伸手可取的地方。