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13-A. Insurance
An insurance agent called me this morning. This particular agent wanted to discuss my automobile coverage, but the next agent to call might be interested in my life insurance program, my health insurance, or fire protection for my home and furniture. The American consumer often feels constantly disturbed by insurance agents. Many agents selling many different policies call us by phone and sometimes even come to our doors. These insurance agents are always friendly, well dressed, and eager to be of help.
Yet few Americans really enjoy visiting with these eager, helpful men and women. We are not happy when they call us; we are on guard when they visit our homes. They are never really our friends; at best, they are a necessary evil.
Three reasons why we are unwilling to discuss insurance can be suggested. First of all, insurance is expensive. A young father who purchases a fairly small life insurance policy agrees to pay a sum of $200 every year for 40 years - a total of $8,000. Many college students pay $800 to $1,000 per year for car insurance. In effect, they pay as much for the insurance as they do for the car itself. Health insurance that pays for modern medical miracles often costs Americans as much as $2,000 every year. Adequate insurance is expensive; it is a major item for most families.
Insurance also reminds us that we live in an unsafe world. We are human and we must face the possibilities of illness, injury, death, and financial loss. Our rational minds recognize the many unfortunate events that can occur, but in our hearts we hope that we might be spared. Serious injury or death is not a pleasant subject to discuss or even consider. We are afraid; we would rather talk about football or the weather or what we had for lunch.
Finally, insurance is a difficult, complex subject. No one understands it completely and only a few insurance professionals really feel comfortable in a discussion of automobile, life, and major medical coverages. We feel inadequate and try to hide our ignorance by avoiding discussions of insurance.
Yet these three reasons for not discussing insurance provide three excellent reasons why we should learn more about it. Insurance is expensive. In a lifetime, many of us spend as much on insurance as we do on the purchase of a home. If we are to spend our money intelligently, we need information about the products and services available. We don’t depend entirely on salespeople when we buy a car, a house, or a suit of clothes. Neither should we depend entirely on the agent when we buy insurance. We need a basic knowledge of insurance coverages if we are to be intelligent consumers.
The intelligent consumer looks problems in the face. Although accident, illness, and death are not pleasant subjects, each of us knows we face these possibilities. It is better that we plan for these situations by finding means to deal with them than to just hope that they will somehow go away.
Although insurance can be complex, its basic concepts are neither difficult nor impossible to learn. Quite the opposite. Insurance fundamentals can be understood by those willing to study them. Serious study provides knowledge. The study of insurance is an effective, proven method of dealing with the insurance ignorance faced by many American families.
【课文译文】
保险
今天早晨有一位保险代理人给我打电话。这位代理人想跟我谈谈我的汽车的保险事宜；但另一位保险代理人可能对我的人寿保险、健康保险或家庭和家具的防火保险感兴趣。美国的消 费者常常受到这些保险代理人的打扰。卖不同险种的保险代理人常给我们打电话甚至有时是 登门拜访。这些人总是和蔼可亲，衣冠楚楚，愿意提供帮助。
但是没有几个美国人真的喜欢这些渴望提供服务的男女保险代理人的来访。他们打电话来时 我们不高兴，他们来访时我们更是怀有戒心。他们永远不会是我们真正的朋友，他们至多是一种必不可少的痛苦。
我们不愿谈保险有三个理由。第一，保险费太贵。一位年轻的父亲买了一份相当小的人寿保险，同意每年付200美元保险费，连付40年——总数达8000美元。许多大学生每年要付800～1000美元的汽车保险费。事实上，他们为汽车所付的保险费和花在汽车本身上的费用一样多。美国人每年花在健康保险上的投资高达2000美元，这种健康保险主要是为支付现代医疗费用。全方位的保险是昂贵的，它是美国大多数家庭的主要消费。
保险也会提醒我们是生活在一个不安全的世界。我们是人，所以我们要面对各种可能发生的疾病、伤害、死亡和经济损失。理智告诉我们许多不幸事件会发生，但从内心里我们却希望得以幸免。严重伤害和死亡，不是令人愉快的话题，我们甚至不愿去想。我们都害怕谈，我们宁愿谈谈足球、天气或者午饭吃什么。
最后一点，保险是复杂难懂的。没人完全了解它，只有几个专业的保险人员在谈论汽车保险、人寿保险和主要的医疗保险时感到游刃有余。我们感到这方面知识的不足，并通过避免谈保险来掩饰我们的无知。
然而，这三个不愿谈保险的理由恰恰成为我们要了解保险的绝好理由。保险是昂贵的。一生中我们花在保险上的钱和花在买房上的钱一样多。如果我们想做聪明的消费者，就需要有现有产品和服务的信息。在买车、买房和买衣服时我们并不完全信赖推销员。在买保险时我们也不会完全相信保险代理人。如果我们想成为聪明的消费者，我们就需要了解各种保险的基本知识。
聪明的消费者能正视各种问题。尽管事故、疾病和死亡都不是令人高兴的话题，每个人都知道要面对这些可能发生的事件。我们做好准备，找出处理这些情况的办法比单单幻想这些灾难会远离我们要强得多。
尽管保险很复杂，但它的基本概念既不难懂，也不难学。事实恰好相反。保险的基本原理很容易被那些愿意学习保险的人所理解。认真地学习会增加你的保险知识。学习保险是一种有效的途径，可以解决许多美国家庭所面临的对保险无知的问题。