美国最糟糕的身份证系统：英语精读讲义

Americans love their independence.

美国人热爱他们的独立。

A nation of pioneers living out from under the eye of government, 習語

这是一个由先驱者组成的国家，他们生活在政府的视线之外，

except for all the government.

除非涉及到所有政府部门。

As such, 表達脈絡

因此，

unlike many other countries,

与许多其他国家不同，

Americans don't have a national ID card

美国人没有国家身份证，

and even the idea of creating one is a political hot topic every election cycle. 短語搭配

甚至创建身份证的想法在每个选举周期都是一个政治热点话题。

The results are always the same.

结果总是一样的。

We don't need no ID card.

我们不需要身份证。

But suspiciously,

但令人怀疑的是，

US citizens do already have this,

美国公民其实已经有这个了，

a card with a unique number that many places will ask for to prove who you are.

一张带有一个唯一编号的卡片，很多地方都会要求你出示它来证明你的身份。

This is the Social Security card and number,

这就是社会安全卡和号码，

and it has become a quasi-ID stroke unique password to identify citizens, 用詞

并且它已经成为一种准身份证、识别公民的唯一密码，

though that was never its intended use.

尽管这从来不是它的预期用途。

For Americans,

对美国人来说，

keeping this number secret is super important

对这个号码保密超级重要，

because it's the key to the government and banks identifying you as you. 短語搭配

因为它是政府和银行确认你就是你的关键。

And losing control of it is the worst kind of identity theft that can happen.

失去对它的控制是可能发生的最糟糕的身份盗窃。

So how did Americans end up with a national ID number that isn't one 短語動詞

那么美国人是怎么落得一个名不副实的国家身份号码，

and a card terribly unfit to identify?

以及一张极其不适合用来证明身份的卡片的呢？

It all started in the Great Depression of long, long ago, 文化背景

这一切都始于很久很久以前的大萧条时期，

when the government created the Social Security program,

当时政府创建了社会安全计划（Social Security），

a kind of mandatory pension.

这是一种强制性的养老金。

Citizens would be required to pay in during their working lives 用詞

公民将被要求在工作期间缴纳，

and withdraw in their retirement,

并在退休时提取，

the idea being that even if past you didn't save for the sunset years of future you, 語法

其理念是，即使过去的你没有为未来的你的晚年存钱，

the eventually old current you would still have something to live on. 短語動詞

最终老去的现在的你，仍然有东西可以赖以为生。

Now, if you want to think of Social Security as a benefit the government provides

现在，无论你是把社会安全计划看作政府提供的一项福利，

or as a bank account that's yours is controversial,

还是你自己的银行账户，这都存在争议，

but either way this number was created to track what you put in 表達脈絡

但无论如何，创建这个号码是为了追踪你投入了多少，

and what you take out.

以及你提取了多少。

Now because this was just one government program related only to your working life,

现在，因为这只是一个只与你工作生涯相关的政府计划，

you only needed to apply for a Social Security card when you actually started working.

你只需要在真正开始工作时申请一张社会安全卡。

But over time,

但随着时间的推移，

that changed and the younger you are, 語法

这种情况发生了变化，你越年轻，

the more likely you've had one from the moment of your birth,

你就越有可能从出生那一刻起就拥有一张，

despite babies' worthlessness as child laborers.

尽管婴儿作为童工毫无价值。

So why?

那么为什么呢？

Well,

嗯，

it goes back to Americans having no national identity card with a national number, 短語動詞

这要追溯到美国人没有带有国家号码的国家身份证，

which makes it harder for institutions to keep track of people over their lives.

这使得机构更难在一生中追踪人们。

With hundreds of millions of citizens' names and birthdays aren't unique,

因为数以亿计的公民姓名和生日并不是唯一的，

people move,

人们会搬家，

people marry,

人们会结婚，

people change names.

人们会改名。

And if you're trying to keep track of everyone

如果你试图追踪所有人，

as say the United States tax department might want to do,

比如像美国税务部门想要做的那样，

it can be a real problem,

这可能是一个真正的问题，

particularly in the pre-computer days.

特别是在前计算机时代。

Hey, wait a minute.

嘿，等一下。

Look at this number just lying around,

看看这个现成的数字，

the tax department said.

税务部门说。

It's not supposed to be used as an ID number,

它不应该被用作身份号码，

said the Social Security department.

社会安全部门说。

There are security reasons you shouldn't-- yoink.

出于安全原因，你不应该——拿来吧你。

Thus the tax department piggybacked off of the work the Social Security department did, 習語

因此，税务部门顺风车式地利用了社会安全部门所做的工作，

assigning working adults a number,

给有工作的成年人分配一个号码，

which made tracking taxes easier,

这使得追踪税收变得更容易，

and they highly encouraged parents to get a Social Security number for their children

他们还大力鼓励父母为他们的孩子申请一个社会安全号码，

by tying it to a tax discount. 短語搭配

做法是将它与税收折扣挂钩。

Crazily, counting children for tax rebates used to run on the honor system. 短語搭配

疯狂的是，过去为了退税而计算孩子数量时，靠的是诚信系统。

The US tax department told people,

美国税务局告诉人们，

one, we will give you a discount on your taxes for each child you have,

第一，你每有一个孩子，我们就会在你的税上给你一个折扣，

and two, write down your number of children.

第二，写下你孩子的数量。

Please be honest, we don't have a way to check.

请诚实，我们没有办法核查。

Which was just asking, 表達脈絡

这简直就是要求，

nay, begging people to lie,

不，是求着人们撒谎，

which they did,

他们也确实这么做了，

birthing on paper millions of phantom children. 習語

在纸上生出了数百万个幻影儿童。

But after requiring each kid to have a Social Security account number

但在要求每个孩子都必须有一个社会安全账号，

connected to a birth certificate

并与出生证明相连，

before the parents could get the tax discount,

父母才能获得税收折扣之后，

all those phantoms faded away.

所有这些幻影都消失了。

This turned the Social Security number into a unique number

这把社会安全号码变成了一个独特的号码，

that all citizens had right from the start,

所有公民从一开始就有了，

and that made it easy for lots of other places

这使得许多其他地方很容易，

like banks and schools and companies and landlords

比如银行、学校、公司和房东，

to also piggyback on the number

也可以顺理成章地使用这个号码，

as an easy way to keep track of people

作为一种追踪人们的简单方法，

without having to come up with their own systems 短語動詞

而不需要提出自己的系统，

and to be able to exchange information about people between institutions.

并且能够在机构之间交换关于人们的信息。

This is super useful for institutions,

这对机构来说超级有用，

so the desire of Americans to not have a national identity card

所以美国人不想拥有国家身份证的愿望，

led somewhat inevitably to the nearest thing available 語法

多少有些不可避免地导致了现有的最接近的东西，

being used as a substitute,

被用作替代品，

which ended up being worse

结果反而更糟，

because the Social Security number was never designed to be used this way

因为社会安全号码从来就不是为了这种用法而设计的，

in the long, long ago,

在很久很久以前，

and you can tell because it has no security built into it.

你可以看出，因为它里面没有内置安全措施。

Okay, so there's this neat trick that most ID numbers use

好了，大多数身份号码都使用这个巧妙的技巧，

where they can check themselves to see if they're invalid.

它们可以自我检查，看看它们是否无效。

The simplest way is to have the last couple digits match the sum of the others.

最简单的方法是让最后几位数字与其余数字的总和相匹配。

All kinds of ID cards and barcodes do this

各种身份证和条形码都这么做，

because it makes it impossible to enter an incorrect number in a computer 語法

因为这使得在计算机中输入错误的号码变得不可能，

and makes it harder for fraudsters to guess valid numbers.

并使欺诈者更难猜出有效的号码。

This is why if you try to buy something online by guessing a credit card number,

这就是为什么如果你试图通过猜测信用卡号在网上买东西，

the website knows it's invalid before you even click buy.

网站甚至在你点击购买之前就知道它是无效的。

But because the Social Security number started life in the long, long ago,

但因为社会安全号码诞生在很久很久以前，

it's just a number with no self-checking security built in.

它只是一个数字，没有内置自我检查的安全功能。

Worse, if you were born pre-2011,

更糟糕的是，如果你出生在2011年以前，

it's not that hard to just guess most of the number.

猜出大部分号码并不难。

The first three digits are the state where the parents applied for the card

前三位数字是父母申请卡片的州，

and the last four digits just count up in order,

最后四位数字只是按顺序递增，

and the middle digits follow a regular pattern.

中间的数字遵循规律的模式。

So you can take your number,

所以你可以拿你的号码，

subtract one,

减去一，

and that's a valid number

这是一个有效的号码，

of someone who was probably born in the same hospital as you

属于可能和你同时，

around the same time.

在同一家医院出生的人。

Thus, a fraudster who knows your time and location of birth can probably get the first five digits

因此，一个知道你的出生时间和地点的欺诈者可能可以拿到前五位数字，

by just looking them up on a chart. 短語動詞

只需要在图表上查找。

Institutions ask for the last four digits as a code to identify you as you,

机构要求输入最后四位数字作为代码，来确认你就是你，

which means it's not that hard to put together your number 習語

这意味着把你的号码拼凑起来并不难，

from a security leak anywhere or just by connecting a few puzzle pieces.

可以从任何安全泄漏中，或者只是把几块拼图连接起来。

The physical card itself is no help either,

实体卡本身也没有任何帮助，

just a literal piece of cardboard,

这就是一块字面意义上的纸板，

depending on when it was issued,

取决于它签发的时间，

not even laminated.

甚至没有塑封。

The Social Security department used to print not to be used for identification on the cards

社会安全局曾经在卡片上印着“不可用于身份证明”，

as a futile attempt to stop institutions from asking for them as IDs 短語搭配

试图徒劳地阻止机构将它们作为身份证来要求，

because there's nothing identifying a person on the card,

因为卡上没有任何识别个人的信息，

but eventually they gave up and removed these words

但最终他们放弃了并删除了这些字眼，

because unlike passports or driver's licenses,

因为不像护照或驾驶执照，

you can assume all Americans will have this one card.

你可以假设所有美国人都会有这一张卡。

All this means your Social Security card and number probably have less security than your library card 語法

所有这一切意味着你的社会安全卡和号码可能比你的图书馆卡的安全性还低，

while being vastly more important.

虽然它的重要性要高得多。

So it fails at being a secure number, 表達脈絡

所以作为安全号码它是失败的，

it fails at being a good ID card,

作为一张好的身份证它也是失败的，

but at least it is universal,

但至少它是普遍的，

which is why people use it.

这就是人们使用它的原因。

Oh, hello asterisk, my old friend. 文化背景

噢，你好星号，我的老朋友。

No, of course not.

不，当然不是。

This program isn't actually universal.

这个计划实际上并不是普遍的。

Not everyone has a Social Security account number,

并不是每个人都有社会安全账号，

and not everyone pays into the program.

也不是每个人都在为这个计划缴费。

If you want to get out of paying, 短語動詞

如果你想不用付钱，

you'll just need to first never have received any Social Security benefits

你只需要首先从未接受过任何社会安全福利，

and give up your rights to getting any in the future,

并放弃你将来获得任何福利的权利，

which seems fair. 語氣意圖

这似乎很公平。

In addition,

此外，

you must also be a member of a religion opposed to the idea of Social Security,

你还必须是一个反对社会安全理念的宗教成员，

usually because it's a kind of insurance

通常是因为它是一种保险，

and insurance is a kind of gambling.

而保险是一种赌博。

That's harder,

这很难，

but you could always just start your own religion 語氣意圖

但你总是可以创立你自己的宗教，

if you were really serious about avoiding taxes.

如果你真的对逃税很认真的话。

But your new religion must also provide for its elderly and dependent members,

但你的新宗教也必须抚养它的长者和受抚养成员，

which means you have to recreate a Social Security program of sorts in your religion 用詞

这意味着你必须在你的宗教中重新建立某种社会安全计划，

while also being against Social Security.

同时又反对社会安全计划。

But if creating a contradictory religion doesn't daunt you,

但如果创建一个自相矛盾的宗教没有吓倒你，

lastly,

最后，

it must have existed continuously since 1950,

它必须从1950年起持续存在，

which is a giveaway that this exception was written

这是一个明显的信号，这个例外是写给，

pretty much exclusively for the Amish and Mennonites 文化背景

几乎完全是给阿米什人和门诺派教徒的，

and kills dead your plans 習語

这将彻底扼杀你的计划，

unless you're willing to undergo a serious change in lifestyle.

除非你愿意在生活方式上经历一次巨大的改变。

It doesn't stop there. 表達脈絡

事情并没有就此停止。

Keep digging and you'll find all sorts of other weird, weird exceptions,

继续挖掘，你会发现各种其他奇怪的，奇怪的例外，

including some railroad workers or firefighters

包括一些铁路工人或消防员，

or police or teachers,

或者警察或老师，

but only in Chicago.

但仅限在芝加哥。

Usually,

通常，

these are groups that in the long, long ago

这些群体是在很久很久以前，

were able to get out of the program at its creation date.

能够在计划创立之初退出的。

So nothing's ever straightforward.

所以没有什么是简单的。

And that's the deal with this Social Security card,

这就是这张社会安全卡的情况，

containing a national number for citizens that don't want one

包含了一个公民不想要的国家号码，

on an identification card that fails at identification,

在一张没法证明身份的身份证上，

given to all citizens except when it isn't, 表達脈絡

发给所有公民，除了不发的时候，

for a program that's universal except when it's not.

属于一个普遍的计划，除了不普遍的时候。