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1. Life insurance is not really bettingalthoughitcan be compared toit. You pay the money just in case.In thisday and age, wethink ofinsuranceas a natural thing.If we scrape afenderor injure ourselvesatwork, we know that there issomesort of paymentthatwe can get through insurance.Of course, we don't get it for nothing; we make paymentstothe companies. If wedon't use the insurance, the companies keep the money.
1、生命保险不是真正意义上的赌博，虽然它能与赌博相比较，你花了钱以防意外(just in case)。在今天和这个时代（in this day and age），我们认为保险是一件很自然的事(thaink of insurance as anatural thing)。如果我们划破了汽车的挡泥板或者在工作中伤到了自己，我们知道通过保险我们能获得（we can get throughinsurance）某种赔款。当然，我们不是无功受禄(for nothing 免费)，我们给保险公司付了钱。我们如果没有使用这项保险，保险公司就赚了这笔钱。
2."Insurance" is the termthatwe understand today. Some companiesare beginning to usethe term "assurance”. As a matter of fact, Charles Babbage,over one hundred years ago, felt that "assurance" was a betterterm. Apparentlyfew othersdid, because"insurance"has stayed withus until today.
2、“保险”是我们今天可以理解的一个词语。某些公司现在开始用“保证”这样的词语。事实上(as a matter of fact)，早在一百余年前(over one hundred years ago)，查尔斯先生就认为“保证”是一个更恰当的词语。显然（apparently）很少有别的人(few others)这样认为，因为“保险”这个词已经伴随我们至今(has stayed with us untiltoday)。
3. How old is insurance? Two hundred years? Athousand? Or is itas old asman? I supposethatwould depend upon what you mean. We might say that "insurance" waswith uswhileman was just beginning to develop civilization.One family or tribe might feelthatthey would be helpedif they helped to protect another familyor tribe. In this way, both groups gotwhat they needed-protectionfromenemies. Of course, you and I don't need that kind of protection today.
3、那么“保险”到底有多久的历史？两百年？一千年？或者和人类历史一样长远？我认为问题将取决于(depend upon)你的问题的本意到底是什么。我们可以说，在人类开始发展自己的文明时(while man was just beginning to developcivilization)，“保险”就与人类在一起了。一个家庭或者部落(tribe)去帮助了另外一些家族或部落不受侵袭，他们认为自己也会得到帮助。这样，两个集体都得到了他们所需要的东西(what they needed)：防御敌人(protection from enemies)。当然，今天你我都不再需要这种保护。
4. This system oftradingserviceswitheach otherhas been with us for quitea while. The idea of an old agepension is certainlyolder than you might think.Today you think ofsocial security orsome other system. Most peoplewhoretireare still able to receive moneythatthey have paidinto the systemduring theirworking days.The idea of areward for serviceslikethisis quite anold one. The trouble was that the reward was not always given to everyone, nor was it given tothose whodeserved it most (nor 引导的倒装句).
4、这个互相交易服务(trading services with each other)体系已经伴随我们相当一段时间(for quite a while)了。关于老年退休金理念的产生比你想象的要早得多(older than you might think)。今天，你想到社会保障系统或其它别的社会系统。大多数人退休后仍然能够拿到钱，这些钱是他们工作期间支付给社会保障系统的。像这样给服务以回报的理念（the idea of a reward for services like this）是很古老的。问题在于：回报并不总给每一个人，甚至不是给那些最应该得到回报的人（those who deserved it most）。
5. What happened when man began to move into thecities from the farms? He found that he couldno longersupport himselfby growing his own food. His children andrelatives might move away toanother city, andthere mightbe no way ofearning enough money. Perhapsbecauseofthis, the idea of social security and insurance developed. Nowinsurance companies arenearthe top of the list ofthe biggestbusinessin theUnited States.
5、当一个人从农村移居城市时会发生什么事？他发现，他用自己生产的食品(by growing his own food)养活自己的日子一去不复返。他的孩子和亲属可能搬往其它城市，但是那里可能没有办法赚到足够的钱。也许恰恰因为这些，社会安全和保险的思想发展了。如今，在美国，保险公司的名字正名列最大企业名单的榜首。
6. Some of the first commercial insurancecompanies began around 1580 inEngland. These companies weresome ofthe firsttoaccept payment forinsurance. Fire insurancebecamemore popularafter the fire in London in 1666.This wasone of the most terrible firesin history. It lasted for fivedays.London had to be rebuilt almostcompletely.No wonder that many peopledecided to try fire insurance after that.
6、1580年前后，英国第一批商业保险公司开始营业。这几家是最早接受为保险付费的公司中的一部分(some of the first toaccept payment for insurance)。1666年伦敦大火之后，火灾保险变得普及（became more popular）。伦敦大火是历史上最严重的火灾之一，它持续(last for)了五天。伦敦几乎需要全部重建。(London had to be rebuilt almost completely.)难怪(no wonder)很多人在其后决定试买火灾险。
7. We think today's insurance companies are large, butthere was also a pretty big companyabouttwo hundred years agoin England. The company still does business. Thename of the company is Lloyd's of London. It carried more than ￡600,000 of insurancebetween1793&1815.The England pound was then worthmany timeswhat it is worth today; so youcan seehow big Lloyd's was then.Of course, it didn't make moneyallthe time. For example, around 1795 the company paida claim of￡190,000.InAmerican money, that would benearly half a million dollars.
7、我们觉得今天的保险公司都很大，但在200年前的英国，也有一家相当大的保险公司。这家名叫伦敦劳埃德的保险公司至今仍在营业，1793到1815年间，该公司包括了60万英镑保险。当时英镑的价值是它今天价值的很多倍，你可以想象当时的劳埃德公司有多大。显然，它不可能所有时间都赚钱。例如，1795年，它支付给客户19万英镑保险金(a claim of ￡190,000： 19万英镑索赔金)。折算成美元，它差不多是五十万美金(nearly half a million dollars)。
8. Lloyd’s has become famousforsome of the unusualthingsit has insured. Forinstance Lloydhas insuredagainstthe birth of twins. Iftwinshad been born to the familyinsured,the companywould have had to paya certain amount of moneytothe parents. You can see inthis examplethatsome insurance is a littlelikegambling. There have also beenmany cases of famous performers or athleteswhohave insured themselvesagainstaccidents. Suppose a very good actor feared that his looks could be injured. If they were, he would not be able to make a living asan actor. Therefore, he might attempt to insure himselfagainstthat possibility.
8、劳埃德之所以出名，还因为它对一些非平常的事进行保险。例如它保险不生双胞胎。如果投险家庭生出双胞胎，保险公司将必须支付一定数量的钱给父母。（注意句子的时态变化！从句：过去完成时（被动语态），主句：将来完成时）在这个例子里，你能看到某些保险是有一点像赌博（like gambling）。还有些著名演员和运动员对他们在活动中的意外事故保险。假定一个非常好的演员害怕他的容貌受伤，如果事情发生了，他将不能作为演员赚钱生活。因此，他可能试图为防止这种可能性为自己投保。
9. Now there are companies that will insure peoplefordamagecausedby a sonic boom. A sonic boom is the loud crash and shakingthathappens when ajet plane goesfaster thanthe speedof sound. When this happens, a shock wave hits the earth and may breakwindows or cause ceilings to crack. If you're not near an airportusedby jets, you maynot need to worry about sonic booms,but some peopledo suffer damagein this way. They want to make surethatthey don't have topay all the repair bills themselves.
9、现在，有些保险公司将对声爆(a sonic boom)给人们造成的损害保险。声爆是当喷气式飞机超音速行驶时（when a jet plane goesfaster than the speed of sound）产生的巨大碰撞声和摇动声。当声爆发生时，冲击波(shock wave)击打地面，可能震碎窗户或造成顶棚破裂（cause ceilings to crack）。如果你不在靠近喷气机场的地方住，你不需要担心声爆，但是，某些人的确在这方面受到损害。他们希望得到保证，使自己不必付全部的修理费。
10.Fromprotectionagainstenemiestosocial securitytosonic booms, insurancehas come along way.
10、从保证不被敌人侵犯，到社会安全，到声爆，保险业走过了一条漫长的路。
