《中英對照讀新聞》Italians are world's oldest first-time fathers 義大利人初為人父的年紀全球最老

◎魏國金

The average Italian man lives with his parents until he gets married, doesn't have his first child until he is 33 and hardly helps his wife around the house.

一般義大利男人在結婚之前會一直與父母同住，而且要到33歲才有第一個孩子，也難得協助妻子打理家庭。

The unflattering portrait is the result of a study by the national statistics institute, Istat. Istat found that the majority of men aged between 25 and 29 years old live with their parents and that 40 per cent of them still refuse to abandon the family nest when they are 30-34 years old. By contrast, the majority of English and French men have left home by the time they are 25.

這項不怎麼光彩的描述得自義大利國家統計研究院（Istat）的研究成果。Istat發現，25至29歲的男人大多數與父母同住，而且30至34歲的男人有40%仍拒絕離家自立。相較之下，大部分的英、法男人在25歲之前就離開家庭。

The "mummy's boy" attitude may help explain why Italian men, on average, become fathers at a much later age than any of their foreign counterparts - 33 compared to 31 in Finland, France or Spain.

這種「離不開媽咪的男孩」的態度或許有助於解釋為什麼義大利男人，平均而言遠比他國男人晚當爸爸：33歲，相較之下，芬蘭、法國或西班牙男人是在31歲成為人父。

Istat also found that those who marry at the age of 35 are 80 per cent less likely to want to become a father than those who marry at 25. Once fathers, Italian men devote an average of just 1 hour and 42 minutes to helping their wives with the family chores.

Istat也發現，那些在35歲結婚的人，有80%比那些25歲成婚的人不想升格當爸。一旦為人父，義大利男人平均只奉獻出1小時42分鐘來幫忙妻子處理家務雜事。

新聞辭典

by contrast：相對之下、對比起來。contrast名詞，對照、對比之意。in contrst to：與某物（人）成對比，如：His actions were in sharp contrast to his words.他的言行形成尖銳對比。

on（an, the） average：平均而言。I can read 20 pages an hour, on the average.我平均每小時可讀20頁。above（below） the average：一般水準以上（以下）。

devote to：奉獻於、專注於。He has devoted his whole life to the study of chemistry.他畢生致力於化學研究。

chore：雜事、討厭的事、苦差事。例如：Peeling bags of potatoes is really a chore.削一袋袋的馬鈴薯皮真是件苦差事。