BBC Learning English - 6 Minute English: Why do people buy gold?

Episode 261015 / 15 Oct 2026

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核心介绍

项目	内容
节目	6 Minute English
集数	Episode 261015
发布日期	15 Oct 2026
级别	Intermediate (中级)
主持人	Georgie, Phil
时长	约 6 分钟
主题	黄金投资、避险资产、经济学、贵金属、词汇

中文简介

本期节目探讨黄金投资。Georgie 和 Phil 讨论黄金为何成为有价值的投资，为什么危机时人们购买黄金，以及专家 Suki Cooper 和 Catherine Schenk 的观点。核心词汇：asset、safe haven、out of thin air、alchemy、ethereal、a hankering for。

本周问题

How much gold has been extracted from the earth over its history?

a) over 50,000 tonnes b) over 100,000 tonnes c) over 200,000 tonnes ✅

答案：over 200,000 tonnes。

重点词汇表

单词/短语	英文释义	中文释义	来源语境
asset	something of financial value that can be sold for money	资产；有价值的东西	金是一种财务资产
safe haven	something or somewhere protected from harm or loss	避风港；安全避难所	金是避险资产，不与特定国家挂钩
out of thin air	from nothing or nowhere	凭空；毫无根据地	金不能凭空创造
alchemy	ancient study combining elements of chemistry and mysticism, which attempted to do impossible things like transforming ordinary metals into gold	炼金术；化石为金的技巧	古代炼金术想把普通金属变成金
ethereal	seemingly unreal	虚幻的；非物质的	现代世界很多东西是虚幻的
a hankering for	a strong desire for	渴望；非常想要	渴望传统价值、实在的东西

课文重点解析

1. 黄金为何有价值

Phil: 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. And people buy gold in times of crisis because it’s thought of as a safe investment.

Phil: 这是个好问题。尽管黄金不再是货币，但它仍然是一种资产（asset），即有价值的、可以出售的东西。人们在危机时购买黄金，因为它被认为是安全的投资。

Suki Cooper: 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.

Suki Cooper: 黄金是避风港（safe haven），因为它不与任何特定政府、经济体或市场挂钩，其中立性使其成为一种被视为长期价值存储的资产。

2. 黄金供应有限

Catherine Schenk: 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.

Catherine Schenk: 黄金不能凭空通过炼金术创造和制造，这控制了供应量，维持了黄金需求背后的底层价值。

Phil: And because we can’t just magically make more gold, when lots of people want to buy gold, the price increases.

Phil: 因为我们不能凭空魔法出更多黄金，所以当很多人想购买黄金时，价格就会上涨。

3. 现代世界与对实在之物的渴望

John Reade: So much of the world we live in now is ethereal. It’s… it’s virtual, it’s online, it disappears, whereas gold is something solid, something dependable and, you know, maybe something a little bit old fashioned. And maybe it’s a hankering for traditional values rather than what is super modern and super changeable.

John Reade: 我们所生活的现代世界很多东西都虚幻的（ethereal）——虚拟的、在线的、会消失的，而黄金是实在的、可靠的，也许有点老派。也许这是对传统价值的渴望（a hankering for），而不是对超现代、多变事物的追求。

批判性思考题

避险资产的逻辑：为什么危机时投资者转向黄金而不是其他资产？safe haven, store of value, geopolitical risk, crisis investing
货币与黄金：纸币可以随意印刷，黄金却供应有限。这种稀缺性如何支撑黄金的长期价值？fiat money, supply constraint, inflation hedge, gold standard
虚拟世界 vs 实物资产：在越来越数字化、虚拟的世界中（ethereal），人们为何仍渴望拥有实物黄金？tangible asset, digital vs physical, trust in institutions
炼金术的隐喻：现代金融是否也有自己的“炼金术”——试图凭空创造价值的行为？quantitative easing, financial engineering, speculative bubbles
传统价值的渴望：“a hankering for traditional values”在快速变化的时代意味着什么？nostalgia, stability, cultural change, investment psychology

完整对话记录

Transcript

Georgie: Hi Phil.

Phil: Hi Georgie. I’ve got a question for you. Do you own anything made of gold?

Georgie: 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.

Phil: OK. I don’t think I own anything made of gold. Beyond jewellery and other personal items, gold is bought and sold by investors and banks. The price of gold has always gone up and down, but in 2026 it reached its highest ever price. 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?

Phil: Let’s start with our quiz question, Georgie. Gold is a metal that’s extracted or dug up from under the ground in mines. But how much gold has been extracted from the earth? Is it:

a) over 50,000 tonnes,

b) over 100,000 tonnes, or

c) over 200,000 tonnes?

Georgie: Phil, I have absolutely no idea, but I’m going to go with c) 200,000 tonnes.

Phil: OK. Well, we’ll give you the answer at the end of the programme.

Georgie: OK Phil. So, we’ve been using gold for thousands of years, but why and how did it start?

Phil: Well, before money was paper or plastic or just numbers in your bank account, a lot of it was actually gold. And experts have discovered gold in coins that are thought to have been made in the 6th Century BC. 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.

Georgie: OK. But now our money isn’t literally made of gold, so why is gold valuable?

Phil: 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. And people buy gold in times of crisis because it’s thought of as a safe investment. Let’s listen to expert Suki Cooper explaining more to the BBC World Service.

Suki Cooper: 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.

Phil: 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.

Georgie: Yes, Suki explains that, unlike dollars or pounds for example, gold is not connected to a particular country. It’s neutral.

Phil: And Georgie, because we get gold from mines, there’s more or less a fixed amount. Unlike paper money, you can’t just print more, as Catherine Schenk, professor of economic and social history, explains.

Catherine Schenk: 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.

Georgie: Catherine explains that gold can’t be created out of thin air, an expression meaning making something from nothing.

Phil: As Catherine says, we don’t make gold through alchemy. Alchemy is an ancient kind of chemistry that attempted to do impossible things, like turn ordinary metals into gold. And because we can’t just magically make more gold, when lots of people want to buy gold, the price increases.

Georgie: OK. Understood. Now, Phil, at the start of this programme, you said that gold prices hit an all-time high in early 2026. So, what’s going on?

Phil: Well, we mentioned that the price of gold increases in times of crisis because government banks want to buy more of it. And there has been a series of world events that have made government banks want to buy more gold, for example the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and in politics too, for example the US imposing tariffs on international products. But since that peak in January, the price has dropped a bit.

Georgie: OK. And does the fall in the price of gold mean that people won’t want to invest in it in the future?

Phil: No. It’s likely that the price will go up again. Experts believe that gold will always be an attractive investment during uncertain times. Let’s hear from market strategist John Reade.

John Reade: So much of the world we live in now is ethereal. It’s… it’s virtual, it’s online, it disappears, whereas gold is something solid, something dependable and, you know, maybe something a little bit old fashioned. And maybe it’s a hankering for traditional values rather than what is super modern and super changeable.

Georgie: John says that much of the modern world is ethereal, meaning it doesn’t seem real.

Phil: And in this ethereal world, people have a hankering for something that’s solid and real, like gold. And the expression a hankering for means a strong desire for something.

Georgie: OK. Phil, I think it’s time for the answer to your quiz question.

Phil: OK. Well, I asked how much gold has been mined from the ground to date.

Georgie: I said 200,000 tonnes.

Phil: And that is the correct answer! OK. Let’s recap the vocabulary we learnt in this programme, starting with asset. And an asset is something of financial value that can be sold for money.

Georgie: A safe haven is something or somewhere protected from harm or loss.

Phil: To make something out of thin air is an expression meaning to make something from nothing.

Georgie: Alchemy is a kind of ancient chemistry that attempted to do impossible things, like making gold from ordinary metals.

Phil: If something is ethereal, it doesn’t seem real.

Georgie: And if you have a hankering for something, you have a strong desire for it.

Phil: Once again, our six minutes are up, and if you have a hankering for more practice, test what you’ve learned with the worksheet on our website. That’s bbclearningenglish.com.

Georgie: Thank you for joining us. Goodbye.

Phil: Goodbye!

网页设计建议（如需制作学习卡片/页面）

组件	设计建议
音频播放器	顶部固定播放条，支持倍速、下载、进度条、章节跳转
本周问题卡片	Quiz 卡片：三选一，点击显示答案（200,000 吨）+ 全球黄金开采量背景数据
词汇闪卡	6 个核心词汇：asset / safe haven / out of thin air / alchemy / ethereal / a hankering for — 正面英文释义，背面中文+例句+发音
黄金价格走势图	折线图：2026 年黄金价格走势，标注早年高点与随后回调
避险资产对比表	黄金 vs 美元/人民币 vs 比特币 vs 国债：在危机中的表现
专家观点卡片	Suki Cooper（避风港/资产）、Catherine Schenk（供应有限）、John Reade（实在 vs 虚幻）
概念图谱	节点：危机 → 避险需求 → 黄金购买 → 价格上涨 / 虚幻世界 → 对实在渴望 → 传统价值 → 黄金吸引力
Quiz 互动	场景匹配：“战争爆发，央行购金 → ___” (safe haven) / “央行印钞 → 黄金不能 ___” (out of thin air)
思考题区	可展开的 5 个批判性思考题，适合教学/自测/小组讨论
完整对话	双语对照模式，角色名高亮，支持逐句播放、生词点击查词
资源下载区	显眼按钮：📥 MP3 / 📄 Worksheet / 📄 Transcript / 🌐 BBC 原文页
导航链接	底部 “Previous / Next Episode” + “View All 6 Minute English Episodes”