Why gold is so valuable ⏲️ 6 Minute English · BBC Learning English
本期6分钟英语视频探讨黄金成为重要投资品的原因，分析其作为避险资产的价值。适合练习财经话题听力，学习金融、资产、投资等场景的英语表达。
Hi Phil.
嗨，Phil。
Hi Georgie.
嗨，乔治！
I've got a question for you.
我有个问题想问你。
Do you own anything made of gold?
你有任何黄金制品吗？
Well, at the moment I'm wearing a lot of gold-coloured jewellery, but I'm not sure exactly how much of it is made of gold.
嗯，我现在戴了很多金色首饰，但我不太确定其中有多少是纯金做的。
OK.
好的。
I don't think I own anything made of gold.
我觉得我没有任何黄金制品。
Beyond jewellery and other personal items, gold is bought and sold by investors and banks.
除了珠宝和其他个人物品，黄金也被投资者和银行买卖。
The price of gold has always gone up and down, but in 2026 it reached its highest ever price.
黄金价格一直有涨有跌，但在2026年达到了历史最高价。
In this episode of 6 Minute English, we'll be talking about how gold became a valuable investment and asking the question, why do people buy gold?
在本期《六分钟英语》中，我们将讨论黄金如何成为有价值的投资，并探讨一个问题：人们为什么购买黄金？
Let's start with our quiz question, Georgie.
我们先从测试题开始吧，Georgie。
Gold is a metal that's extracted or dug up from under the ground in mines.
黄金是一种从地下矿山中开采或挖掘出来的金属。
But how much gold has been extracted from the earth?
但地球上已经开采了多少黄金呢？
Is it: a) over 50,000 tonnes, b) over 100,000 tonnes, or c) over 200,000 tonnes?
是：a) 超过5万吨，b) 超过10万吨，还是 c) 超过20万吨？
Phil, I have absolutely no idea, but I'm going to go with c) 200,000 tonnes.
Phil，我完全没概念，但我猜是 c) 20万吨。
OK.
好的。
Well, we'll give you the answer at the end of the programme.
我们会在节目最后告诉你答案。
OK Phil.
好的，菲尔。
So, we've been using gold for thousands of years, but why and how did it start?
那么，我们使用黄金已有数千年历史，但它是如何开始的？为什么？
Well, before money was paper or plastic or just numbers in your bank account, a lot of it was actually gold.
嗯，在货币还是纸张、塑料或只是银行账户里的数字之前，很多货币实际上就是黄金。
And experts have discovered gold in coins that are thought to have been made in the 6th Century BC.
专家们在据信制作于公元前6世纪的金币中发现了黄金。
So, gold coins were made and they were used because the metal was much easier to carry and trade than things like cattle or timber.
所以，金币被制造出来并使用，因为这种金属比牛或木材等物品更容易携带和交易。
OK.
好的。
But now our money isn't literally made of gold, so why is gold valuable?
但现在我们的钱并不是直接用黄金做的，那黄金为什么还有价值呢？
It's a good question, but even though it isn't money, gold is still a financial asset, and an asset is something valuable that could be sold for money.
这是个好问题，尽管黄金不是货币，但它仍然是一种金融资产，而资产就是可以出售换钱的有价值的东西。
And people buy gold in times of crisis because it's thought of as a safe investment.
人们在危机时期购买黄金，因为它被视为一种安全的投资。
Let's listen to expert Suki Cooper explaining more to the BBC World Service.
我们来听听专家Suki Cooper向BBC国际频道做的进一步解释。
Gold is a safe haven because it's not connected to one particular government or one particular economy or one particular market, so the fact that it's neutral means it's an asset that's perceived to be a store of value over a longer term.
黄金是避风港，因为它不与任何一个特定政府、特定经济体或特定市场挂钩，所以它的中立性意味着它被视为一种长期保值资产。
Suki describes gold as a safe haven, and a safe haven means something or somewhere that's protected from harm or danger, or in financial terms, from a fall in value.
Suki将黄金描述为避风港，避风港指的是免受伤害或危险的人或地方，或者在金融术语中，指价值不会下跌。
Yes, Suki explains that, unlike dollars or pounds for example, gold is not connected to a particular country.
是的，Suki解释说，与美元或英镑不同，黄金不与特定国家挂钩。
It's neutral.
它是中立的。
And Georgie, because we get gold from mines, there's more or less a fixed amount.
Georgie，因为黄金是从矿山开采的，所以总量基本是固定的。
Unlike paper money, you can't just print more, as Catherine Schenk, professor of economic and social history, explains.
不像纸币，你不能随意增印，正如经济与社会史教授Catherine Schenk所解释的。
It can't be created and fabricated out of thin air through alchemy, and so this, sort of, controls the supply and sustains an underlying value behind the demand for gold.
它不能通过炼金术凭空创造和制造，因此这在某种程度上控制了供应，并维持了黄金需求背后的基本价值。
Catherine explains that gold can't be created out of thin air, an expression meaning making something from nothing.
Catherine解释说黄金不能凭空创造，这个表达意思是从无到有地制造某物。
As Catherine says, we don't make gold through alchemy.
正如Catherine所说，我们不是通过炼金术来制造黄金的。
Alchemy is an ancient kind of chemistry that attempted to do impossible things, like turn ordinary metals into gold.
炼金术是一种古老的化学，试图做到不可能的事情，比如将普通金属变成黄金。
And because we can't just magically make more gold, when lots of people want to buy gold, the price increases.
因为我们不能神奇地变出更多黄金，所以当很多人想购买黄金时，价格就会上涨。
OK.
好的。
Understood.
明白了。