原文譯文
*註：本文摘自11月29日CNN News
In Japan, more people died from suicide last month than from Covid in all of 2020. And women have been impacted most
日本10月自殺人數超新冠死亡人數，女性受影響更嚴重
1. The first time, she was just 22 years old with a full-time job in publishing that didn't pay enough to cover her rent and grocery bills in Tokyo. "I was really poor," said Kobayashi, who spent three daysunconsciousin hospital after the incident. Now 43, Kobayashi has written books on her mental health struggles and has a steady job at an NGO. But the coronavirus isbringing backthe stress she used to feel. "My salary was cut, and I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel," she said. "I constantly feel a sense of crisis that I might fall back into poverty."
小林第一次自殺的時候，只有22歲，那時候她在一家出版社工作，但是她的工資沒法支付她在東京的房租和日常開銷。小林在醫院昏迷了三天，她說：「我是真的窮。」如今，小林已經43歲了，她正在寫作一本關於精神掙扎的書，在一家非政府組織有一份穩定的工作。但是，由於疫情，她還是感到了壓力。她說，「我的工資少了，看不到希望。我經常有一種危機感，擔心自己會再次陷入貧困。」
2. Experts have warned that the pandemic could lead to a mental health crisis. Mass unemployment, social isolation, and anxiety aretaking their toll onpeople globally. In Japan, government statistics show suicide claimed more lives in October than Covid-19 has over the entire year to date. The monthly number of Japanese suicides rose to 2,153 in October, according to Japan's National Police Agency. As of Friday, Japan's total Covid-19 toll was 2,087, the health ministry said.
專家警告說，新冠疫情可能會導致精神健康危機。大規模失業、社交隔離和焦慮正對全球人民造成影響。在日本，政府統計數據顯示，十月份自殺死亡人數超過新冠全年死亡人數。根據日本國家警察廳的數據，10月份日本自殺人數升至2153人。日本衛生部稱，截至周五，日本新冠死亡人數為2,087人。
3. Japan is one of the few major economies to disclose timely suicide data -- the most recent national data for the US, for example, is from 2018. The Japanese data could give other countries insights into the impact of pandemic measures on mental health, and which groups are the mostvulnerable.
日本是少數幾個及時披露自殺數據的主要經濟體之一。美國最新全國自殺數據是2018年的。日本的數據可能會對其他國家深入探索疫情對謹慎健康的影響有所啟示，也會讓人們了解哪個群體是最易受影響的群體。
4. 「We didn't even have a lockdown, and the impact of Covid is veryminimalcompared to other countries ... but still we see this big increase in the number of suicides," said Michiko Ueda, anassociate professorat Waseda University in Tokyo, and an expert on suicides. 」That suggests other countries might see a similar or even bigger increase in the number of suicides in the future."
東京早稻田大學副教授、自殺問題專家上田美智子表示：「我們都沒有實施封鎖，和其他國家相比，新冠對日本的影響微乎其微，但是我們的自殺人數仍在大幅增加。這表明，其他國家的自殺人數可能也會出現大幅增長。」
Covid's toll on women
新冠對女性造成的傷害
5. Japan has long struggled with one of the highest suicide rates in the world, according to the World Health Organization. In 2016, Japan had a suicidemortalityrate of 18.5 per 100,000 people, second only to South Korea in the Western Pacific region.
根據世界衛生組織的數據，日本長期以來自殺率一直名列前茅。2016年，日本的自殺率為每10萬人18.5人，在西太平洋地區排名第二，僅次於韓國。
6. While the reasons for Japan's high suicide rate are complex, long working hours, school pressure, social isolation and a cultural stigma around mental health issues have all been cited as contributing factors. But for the 10 years leading up to 2019, the number of suicides had been decreasing in Japan, falling to about 20,000 last year, according to the health ministry -- the lowest number since the country's health authorities started keeping records in 1978.
雖然日本自殺率高的原因很複雜，但工作時間長、學校壓力、社交隔離以及對心理健康的文化汙名都是導致高自殺率的原因。但根據日本衛生部的數據，在2019年之前的10年裡，日本的自殺人數一直在減少，去年降至約2萬人，這是自1978年日本衛生部門開始記錄以來的最低水平。
7. The pandemic appears to havereversedthat trend, and the rise in suicides hasdisproportionatelyaffected women. Although they represent a smaller proportion of total suicides than men, the number of women taking their own lives is increasing. In October, suicides among women in Japan increased almost 83% compared to the same month the previous year. For comparison, male suicides rose almost 22% over the same time period.
疫情似乎扭轉了這一趨勢，自殺率的上升對女性的影響更大。儘管她們自殺人數低於低於男性，但女性自殺人數正在增加。10月份，日本女性自殺率比去年同期增加了近83%。相比之下，同期男性自殺率僅上升了近22%。
8. There are several potential reasons for this. Women make up a larger percentage of part-time workers in the hotel, food service and retail industries -- where layoffs have been deep. Kobayashi said many of her friends have been laid off. "Japan has been ignoring women," she said. "This is a society where the weakest people are cut off first when something bad happens."
有幾個潛在的原因。在酒店、餐飲服務和零售業，女性在兼職員工中所佔的比例更大，而這些行業的裁員情況一直很嚴重。小林說，她的很多朋友都被解僱了。她說，「日本一直忽視女性，這是一個最脆弱的人在壞事發生時最先被切斷聯繫的社會。」
9. In a global study of more than 10,000 people, conducted by non-profit international aid organization CARE, 27% of women reported increased challenges with mental health during the pandemic, compared to 10% of men.
CARE是一個非營利國際援助組織，在其一項對1萬多人進行的全球研究中，27%的女性稱疫情期間，她們在精神健康方面面臨的挑戰增加，而男性的比例為10%。
10. Compounding those worries about income, women have been dealing withskyrocketingunpaid care burdens, according to the study. For those who keep their jobs, when children are sent home from school or childcare centers, it often falls to mothers to take on those responsibilities, as well as their normal work duties.
根據這項研究，女性一直在應對突增的無償護理，這加劇了她們對收入的擔憂。對於那些還有工作的人來說，當孩子從託兒所和學校回家之後，照顧孩子的任務往往就落在母親身上，她們需要照顧孩子，還要工作。
Increased anxiety about the health and well-being of children has also put an extra burden on mothers during the pandemic.
在疫情期間，對兒童健康和福祉的焦慮也給母親們帶來了額外的負擔。
11. Akari, a 35-year-old who did not want to use her real name, said she sought professional help this year when herprematureson washospitalizedfor six weeks. "I was pretty much worried 24 hours," Akari said. "I didn't have any mental illness history before, but I could see myself really, really anxious all the time." Her feelings got worse as the pandemicintensified, and she worried her son would get Covid-19. "I felt there was no hope, I felt like I always thought about the worst-casescenario," she said.
35歲的Akari（化名）說，今年她早產的兒子住院六周時，她尋求幫助了。Akari說：「我幾乎24小時都在擔心。我之前沒有任何精神病史，但我能覺得自己一直非常非常焦慮。」隨著疫情的加劇，她的情況更加惡化，她擔心兒子會感染新冠肺炎。「我覺得沒有希望了，總是會想起最壞的情況，」她說。
"A Place for You"
你的一席之地
12. In March, Koki Ozora, a 21-year-old university student, started a 24-hour mental health hotline called Anata no Ibasho (A Place for You). He said the hotline, a nonprofit funded by private donations, receives an average of over 200 calls a day, and that the vast majority of callers are women." They lost their jobs, and they need to raise their kids, but they didn't have any money," Ozora said. "So, they attempted suicide."
今年3月，21歲的大學生Koki Ozora開通了一條24小時在線的精神健康熱線，叫做Anata no ibasho(A Place For You)。他說，這是私人資助的非營利性組織，他們平均每天會接到200多個電話，大部分都是女性打來的。Ozora 說「她們失業了，要養孩子，但是沒錢，所以她們想要自殺。」
13. Most of the calls come through the night -- from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. The nonprofit's 600 volunteers live around the world in different timezones and are awake to answer them. But there aren't enough volunteers to keep up with the volume of messages, Ozora said.
很多電話都是晚上打進來的，一般是從十點開始到凌晨四點。該組織有600名志願者，他們來自世界各地，來自不同時區，保持24小時在線接聽電話。但是Ozora說，人手還是不夠。
14. Theyprioritizethe texts that are most urgent -- looking for keywords such as suicide or sexual abuse. He said they respond to 60% of texts within five minutes, and volunteers spend an average of 40 minutes with each person.Anonymously, over online messaging, people share their deepest struggles. Unlike most mental health hotlines in Japan, which take requests over the phone, says many people -- especially the younger generation -- are more comfortable asking for help via text.
通過搜索自殺或者性虐待等關鍵詞，他們優先處理最緊急的留言。他說，他們會在5分鐘內回復這些留言，平均來看，每個諮詢者有40分鐘的時間。通過在線信息，人們匿名分享了他們的掙扎。Ozora表示, 與日本大多數通過電話接受諮詢的心理健康熱線不同，許多人--尤其是年輕一代--更願意通過簡訊尋求幫助。
15. In April, he said the most common messages were from mothers who were feeling stressed about raising their kids, with some confessing to thoughts of killing their own children. These days, he says messages from women about job losses and financial difficulties are common -- as well as domestic violence.
今年4月，他說，很多信息都是來自那些對撫養孩子感到壓力的母親，甚至有一些人承認有殺死自己孩子的想法。他說，這些天來，關於女性失業和經濟困難的信息很常見，家庭暴力信息也很多。
16. "I've been accepting messages, like 'I'm being raped by my father' or 'My husband tried to kill me,'" Ozora said. "Women send these kinds of texts almost every day. And it's increasing." He added that the spike in messages is because of the pandemic. Before, there were more places to "escape," like schools, offices or friend's homes.
Ozora說：「我收到很多信息，有的說，「我爸侵犯了我」，有的說，「我的丈夫想謀殺我。」女性幾乎每天都會發這樣的信息，而且這些信息數量還在增加。」他補充說，這些信息大量增加是由於新冠疫情。以前，女性有更多的地方可以逃離，她們可以去學校，去辦公室或者去朋友家，而今，她們都被困在了家裡。
精讀解析
篇章結構
P1—P2：上個月，日本自殺人數激增。
P3—P4：日本的自殺人數記錄為其他國家應對精神健康危機提供啟示。
P5—P11：新冠疫情對女性造成了巨大傷害：大量女性失業加劇了她們的焦慮。
P12—P16：非營利組織「你的一席之地」為女性提供幫助；大量女性的諮詢更是突顯當前女性的精神危機。
重點單詞
unconscious/ n'k n s/ adj. 失去知覺的；不知道的, 未察覺的；無意識地做出或說出的n. 潛意識
【例句】
I am not unconscious, but in some in-between state.
我並沒有不省人事，而是介於某種中間狀態。
bring back拿回來；使…恢復；使…回憶起來
【例句】
She went to Paris to bring back her errant son.
她到巴黎去把誤入歧途的兒子領回來。
take toll of抽取…的一部分；奪去；使遭受死亡
take a toll 產生負面影響；造成損失
take its toll 造成損失，造成傷亡
【例句】
The Cold War was now taking its toll on both superpowers.
冷戰現在正使兩個超級大國兩敗俱傷。
vulnerable/'v ln( )r b( )l/ adj. 易受傷的, 脆弱的, 敏感的
【例句】
The company is in an economically vulnerable position.
該公司目前經濟狀況不穩定。
minimal/'m n m( )l/ adj. 最小的; 極少的
【例句】
There is minimal mitotic activity, no atypia and no desmoplasia.
有很少的分裂象，無異型性及纖維組織增生。
associate professor副教授
mortality/m 't l t / n. 必死性；大量死亡；死亡率
【例句】
Poor hygiene led to high mortality among children.
衛生條件很差，道致了兒童的死亡率很高。
triple/'tr p( )l/ adj. 三倍的；三方的n. 三倍數；三個一組v. 增至三倍
【例句】
He received triple wages for all his extra work.
由於額外的工作他領取了三倍的工資。
reverse/r 'v s/ vt. & vi. (使)反轉; (使)顛倒; (使)翻轉；推翻, 取消；使倒退, 逆轉adj. 相反的, 顛倒的, 反向的n. 相反；錢幣的反面[背面]；失敗, 挫敗
【例句】
The driver bumped the kerb while reversing.
司機倒車時撞到了路邊石。
disproportionate/ d spr 'p ( )n t/ adj. 不相稱的, 不成比例的, 不均勻的
【例句】
The punishment was grossly disproportionate to the crime.
這種懲罰與罪行極不相稱。
skyrocket/ ska r k t/ vi. 突升, 猛漲
【例句】
The price of sugar has suddenly skyrocketed up.
糖價突然飛漲。
premature/'prem tj / adj. 過早的, 提前的, 未到期的；早產的
【例句】
She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs.
她早產， 肺部未發育健全。
hospitalize/'h sp t( )la z/ vt. 送…住院;使留醫
【例句】
He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments.
他把只有小病的患者也送進醫院。
intensify/ n'tens fa / vt. & vi. (使)增強, (使)加劇
【例句】
A clear atmosphere intensifies the blue of the sky.
純淨的空氣使天空變得更藍。
scenario/s 'nɑ r / n. 情節；劇本；方案
【例句】
This is an adaptation of a novel for the scenario.
這是由小說改編的電影劇本。
prioritize/prai ritaiz/ vt. 把…區分優先次序
【例句】
Unlike many of their predecessors, the new ministers must prioritize reform.
與他們的諸位前任不同的是，新一屆的部長們必須把改革放在首位。
anonymous/ 'n n m s/ adj. 無名的, 不具名的；匿名的
【例句】
The president is said to receive an anonymous letter yesterday.
聽說總裁昨天收到一封匿名信。
- THE END -
堅持就會有收穫！