The elderly are the next big growth market for Chinese tech firms 老年群体成为中国科技公司的下一个高增长市场

Soon after dinnertime, Xiangyang Park in central Shanghai transforms into a ballroom. Loudspeakers pump out old pop songs as elderly folk sway under the plane trees. A picture of geriatric nostalgia — until you meet Ms Shi and Mr Zhou, a couple in their 70s whose enthusiasm for the waltz is matched only by that for their smartphones. “I can go without food, but not without my smartphone,” Ms Shi confesses.
晚饭后不久，上海市中心的襄阳公园就会变成舞厅。音响里传出过去的流行金曲，老年人伴着音乐，在法国梧桐树下摇摆。这是一幅老者怀旧的画面，直到你见到施女士（音）和周先生（音）这对 70 多岁的夫妇——他们对智能手机的喜爱丝毫不亚于对华尔兹的热情。施女士承认：“我可以不吃饭，但不能没有智能手机。”

She and her husband remain unusual. Less than one in three Chinese over 50 reported owning a smartphone in 2016, the latest year for which the Pew Research Centre, a think-tank, has data, half the share in America.
她和丈夫仍然属于老年人中的少数。智库皮尤研究中心最新一年（2016 年）的数据显示，50 岁以上的中国人只有不到三分之一的人自称拥有智能手机，这个比例只有美国的一半。

Tech companies want to lure more Ms Shis and Mr Zhous online. To tech firms, the disconnectedness of China’s 250m-odd old, or 18% of the population, is an opportunity. Unlike the young, whose fragmentedattention is fought over by thousands of apps, retirees are up for grabs.

科技公司想吸引更多像施女士和周先生这样的人上网。对科技公司来说，中国约 2.5 亿的老龄人口（占总人口的 18%）大都不上网，恰恰代表着一个契机。跟年轻人不同——他们高度分散的注意力时刻被成千上万的应用程序争抢着——退休人口的注意力仍是一块大蛋糕。

And once on the internet, they splurge. In 2017 JD.com, a big e-commerce firm, found that they spent 2.3 times as much as the average user. Their typical deposit in Yu’E Bao, an online cash-management service controlled by Alibaba, a giant internet firm, is 7,000 yuan compared with 4,000 yuan across all ages.

而这些人一旦上网，就丝毫不会吝惜花钱。2017 年，大型电子商务公司京东发现，老年人的消费水平是用户平均水平的 2.3 倍。他们在余额宝（大型互联网公司阿里巴巴旗下的网上现金管理服务）的平均存款是 7,000 元，相比之下，所有年龄段的人均存款是 4,000 元。

The big generalists hope to lock the oldies in early. People over 55 are now WeChat’s fastest-growing cohort. Ele.me, a food-delivery service, is trialling meal and medicine deliveries for the elderly, and one-off help with things like changing light bulbs. With the over-60s’ share of the population expected to double to one-third by 2050, there is wisdom in this strategy.

互联网巨头们都希望尽早锁定老年用户。55 岁以上的人现在是微信增长最快的用户群体。外卖服务平台饿了么正在试验给老年人提供的送餐送药服务，以及诸如换灯泡之类的一次性帮助。考虑到 60 岁以上人口的比例预计将在 2050 年前翻番，达到总人口的三分之一，这一战略就颇为明智了。

重点词汇

ballroom/ˈbɔːlrʊm/n. 舞厅
相关词汇：ball（n. 舞会）
例句：The square transforms into a public ballroom at night.

pump out不停地播放
相关词汇：pump（n. 泵）
词性拓展：pump（v. 灌输；抽取）
搭配短语：pump up the tire
搭配短语：pump iron

sway/sweɪ/v. 摇摆，摆动；动摇
例句：The trees are swaying in the wind.
例句：Why are you so easily swayed?

geriatric/ˌdʒeriˈætrɪk/adj. 老年人的，老年的
搭配短语：a geriatric hospital
搭配短语：a geriatric patient
词性拓展：geriatrics （n. 老年医学）
相关词汇：pediatrics（n. 儿科）
相关词汇：pediatrician（n. 儿科医生）

nostalgia
/nɑːˈstældʒə, nəˈstældʒə/n. 对往事的怀念，怀旧，念旧
例句：Some people feel intense nostalgia for their schooldays.

be matched by比得上，敌得过
相关词汇：match（v. 比得上，敌得过）
例句：No one matches him at chess.
相关词汇：unmatched（adj. 无敌的）
例句：He is unmatched at chess.
词性拓展：match（n. 比赛）

confess
/kənˈfes/v. 坦白，承认
例句：He confessed that he had stolen from the company.

think-tank
/ˈθɪŋk tæŋk/
n. 智囊团；智库
相关词汇：think（思考，设想）
相关词汇：tank（水池）

lure
/lʊr/
v. 引诱，诱惑，诱导
例句：E-commerce apps often lure customers with various discounts.

disconnectedness
/ˌdɪskəˈnektɪdnəs/
n. 不上网
相关词汇：connected（adj. 连接到网络的）
词根词缀：dis-（否定）
词根词缀：-ness（名词）
-odd
/ɑːd/
adj./suffix.（尤用于可被10整除的数字后）大约，多一点
搭配短语：a 100-odd yuan T-shirt

fragmented
/fræɡˈmentɪd/
adj. 支离破碎的，分裂的
搭配短语：a fragmented family

fight over
争抢；为…争吵
例句：We should respect our differences, not fight over them.

up for grabs
人人都可以争取，供大家争取，提供给任何人
相关词汇：grab（n. 掠夺，争抢）
搭配短语：a land grab；a power grab
词性拓展：grab（v. 抢夺，抓住）
例句：Hundreds of prizes are up for grabs!

splurge
/splɜːrdʒ/
v. 乱花（钱），挥霍（尤指购买奢侈品）
例句：She splurged 2,500 dollars on this overcoat.

deposit
/dɪˈpɑːzɪt/
n.（尤指银行账户的）存款
搭配短语：make a deposit

generalist
/ˈdʒenrəlɪst/
n. 多面手，全才，通才
反义词：specialist（n. 专家）
相关词汇：general practitioner（全科医生）
例句：Specialists and generalists have different career paths.

lock sb. in
锁定
例句：Some phone contracts will lock customers in for a fixed period.

cohort
/ˈkoʊhɔːrt/
n. 有共同特点（通常指年龄）的一群人
搭配短语：post 90s cohort
搭配短语：the 1995 birth cohort

trial
/ˈtraɪəl/
v. 试验；试用
例句：The hospital will trial the new drug for several months.

one-off
/ˌwʌn ˈɔːf/
adj. 一次性的
英文释义：happening only once
搭配短语：one-off payment instead of annual fees