老年人和年轻人的生活对比, 是托福的一个小话题。虽然“年轻人的生活”对正值青春年少的同学们来说不陌生，但是“老年人的生活"就触及到大部分同学的知识盲区了。
所以，今天要跟大家分享的素材就来自《经济学人》中的关于新科技是如何帮助老年人的生活的。素材内容也适用于，科技话题(科技方便人们生活)/ 政府话题（政府应该如何提升人们的生活医疗水平）
科技帮助老年人生活
许多老龄化人口庞大的国家正在兴建更多的养老院，芬兰却反其道而行，设法协助老人在自家生活更长的时间. 护士和护工往往每天家访很多次，帮助需要照顾的人用餐，洗浴，用药，或者只是来看看是否一切正常。
While many countries with bulging elderly populations are building new care homes, Finland is not planning to do so and, instead, is looking after people in their own homes for longer. Nurses and care workers drop in, often several times a day, to help with meals, bathing, medication, or just to check that everything is all right.
bulging. adj. 鼓起的；塞满的
drop in. v.顺道来访
help with +sth. 帮助(做)某事
科技具体好处：
1. 科技可以协助护理的工作。社工家访最常见的原因是检查老人有否遵医瞩服药。在老人家里配备一台配药机器人就可以做到这一点了。每台配药机器人可提供两周用量的多种药物，会按时提醒老人该吃药了，并递给他们正确的药物组合。
Technology can help care workers. The most common reason for a home visit by a social worker is to check that Grandma is taking her medicine. A pill-dispensing robot in her home can do that. Each holds a two-week supply of multiple drugs, chimes a reminder when it is time to take them and dispenses the right combination. The medication-related visits by nurses have been cut from 30 to just four a month.
chime. v. 敲响；用钟声报
dispense. v. 分发；配药
2. 科技可以缓解老年人的社交孤独。社交孤立对于老人来说是个大问题，因为这会加快认知能力和身体机能的衰退。为应对这个问题，赫尔辛基市政府为不便出门的老人举办虚拟聚会，其中包含益智问答、椅子锻炼课、唱歌、读书会以及由牧师主持的宗教讨论会等。
Technology can help the elderly by reducing their social isolation. Social isolation is a big problem for the elderly because it leads to faster cognitive and physical decline. To deal with that, Helsinki runs virtual get-togethers for its homebound elderly that include quizzes, chair exercise classes, sing-alongs, book clubs and a religious discussion led by a priest.
social isolation. n. 社交孤独
phsyical decline.身体机能衰退
virtual get-togethers. 虚拟聚会
homehound. adj. (因疾病/年老)被困家中
3.可以还可以帮助护工尽早发现问题。包括MariCareOy和Benete在内的当地科技公司已经开发出系统，利用运动传感器网络收集数据，显示个人在家中移动、上厕所或打开冰箱的频率。护理人员根据这类数据的汇总来确定优先家访的对象和要检查的事项。比如，打开冰箱次数减少显示患者记忆力衰退可能加重。
Technology also helps social workers to spot problems early. Local tech companies, including MariCare Oy and Benete, have developed systems that use a network of motion sensors to gather data on things like how much a person moves about, visits the bathroom or opens the fridge. Care workers use summarize of such data to prioritize whom to visit and what to check for. Not opening the fridge as much, for example, is a hint that memory problems may be getting worse.
spot. v. 看见;认出
sensor. n. 传感器
prioritize. v. 确定...的优先顺序
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