Class Presentation: Should the Voting Age Be Sixteen?

Okay, everyone, let's settle down, please.

好了，各位同學，安靜一下。

Maya's up first today. Maya, whenever you're ready!

今天 Maya 第一個上台。Maya，準備好就開始吧！

Um, thanks, Mr. Brooks. Okay... here goes.

呃，謝謝 Brooks 老師。好……開始囉。

So, today I'm going to talk about the voting age.

那麼，今天我要談的是投票年齡。

Here's my question: should sixteen-year-olds be allowed to vote?

我的問題是：16歲的人應該可以投票嗎？

Wait, seriously? Like, in real elections?

等等，真的假的？是真正的選舉喔？

Yes, really! And it's not as crazy as it sounds.

對，真的！而且沒有聽起來那麼誇張。

Austria lowered its voting age to sixteen back in 2007.

奧地利早在2007年就把投票年齡降到16歲。

And in Brazil, sixteen-year-olds can vote if they want to.

在巴西，16歲的人如果想投票也可以投。

Let me start with my first argument.

我先講第一個論點。

At sixteen, lots of us have part-time jobs and pay taxes.

16歲時，我們很多人已經在打工，也在繳稅。

So why don't we get a say in how that money is spent?

那為什麼我們對這些錢怎麼花沒有發言權呢？

In Scotland, sixteen-year-olds can now vote in local elections.

在蘇格蘭，16歲的人現在可以在地方選舉中投票。

And guess what? Lots of them actually turned up to vote!

你們猜怎樣？他們很多人真的跑去投票了！

Some studies suggest people who vote young keep voting for life.

有些研究指出，年輕時就投票的人往往一輩子都會持續投票。

Okay, but honestly? Most people our age don't follow the news.

好啦，但說真的？我們這個年紀的人大多不看新聞。

Ha, my cousin thinks the Senate is a kind of pasta.

哈，我表弟還以為參議院是一種義大利麵咧。

Ha! Okay, fair point, but adults get things wrong too.

哈！好啦，有道理，但大人也會搞錯啊。

Plenty of grown-ups never read the news either.

很多大人也從來不看新聞。

Hmm... yeah, I guess that's true.

嗯……對啦，好像也是。

To be fair, there are good arguments against it, too.

公平來說，反對的論點也很有道理。

Some people worry that teenagers would just copy their parents.

有些人擔心青少年只會跟著父母投。

Others say we're too easily influenced by social media.

也有人說我們太容易被社群媒體影響。

Honestly, I think those concerns deserve to be taken seriously.

老實說，我覺得這些顧慮值得認真看待。

So, here's my conclusion.

那麼，這是我的結論。

If we can work and pay taxes, we deserve a voice.

既然我們能工作、能繳稅，就應該有發言權。

But schools should teach us how elections work first.

但學校應該先教我們選舉是怎麼運作的。

Okay, that's it! Does anyone have any questions?

好，就這樣！大家有什麼問題嗎？

Wow, Maya, that was really well done!

哇，Maya，講得真好！

I loved how you showed both sides of the argument.

我很喜歡你把正反兩面都講到了。

Next time, though, try not to read from your notes so much.

不過下次盡量不要一直看筆記。

Oh, I'm sorry! I was so nervous at the start.

啊，抱歉！我一開始太緊張了。

Seriously? You didn't look nervous at all!

真的假的？你看起來一點都不緊張啊！

Alright, everyone, let's give her a big round of applause!

好，大家給她熱烈的掌聲！