考研英語(yǔ)閱讀練習(xí)：《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》選讀

　　摘要：大家都知道，《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》中的文章一直很受考研英語(yǔ)出題人喜歡，頻頻出現(xiàn)在歷年的考研英語(yǔ)閱讀理解試題中。所以，各位考研的小伙伴們可以提早看看經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)中的文章。

　　Social change

　　社會(huì)的改變

　　The weaker sex

　　弱男子

　　Blue-collar men in rich countries are in trouble. Theymust learn to adapt

　　在發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家的藍(lán)領(lǐng)男性群體正處于困境中，他們必須學(xué)會(huì)適應(yīng)。

　　AT FIRST glance the patriarchy appears to be thriving. More than 90% of presidents andprime ministers are male, as are nearly all big corporate bosses. Men dominate finance,technology, films, sports, music and even stand-up comedy. In much of the world they stillenjoysocial and legal privileges simply because they have a Y chromosome. So it might seemodd to worry about the plight of men.

　　父系社會(huì)現(xiàn)在咋一看似乎正興盛。超過(guò)90%的國(guó)家總統(tǒng)總理，和幾乎所有大型公司的大boss都是男性。男性統(tǒng)治著經(jīng)濟(jì)，科技，企業(yè)，體育，音樂(lè)，甚至連說(shuō)相聲的都基本是男的。在大多數(shù)國(guó)家里男人僅僅因?yàn)閾碛幸粭lY染色體便享有在社會(huì)和法律上的特權(quán)，這樣看來(lái)，擔(dān)心男性的“悲催命運(yùn)”般的困境似乎是在杞人憂天。

　　Yet there is plenty of cause for concern. Men cluster at the bottom as well as the top. They arefar more likely than women to be jailed, estranged from their children, or to kill themselves.They earn fewer university degrees than women. Boys in the developed world are 50% morelikely to flunk basic maths, reading and science entirely.

　　但有卻又大量的原由讓人不得不擔(dān)心。男性群體從渣男到精英男，他們?cè)诒魂P(guān)進(jìn)監(jiān)獄啊，被他們的孩子疏遠(yuǎn)嫌棄啊，或者自殺率啊都遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)大于女性，卻在取得更多的大學(xué)學(xué)位上敗給了女性。在發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家中，有50%左右的男孩會(huì)在基礎(chǔ)數(shù)學(xué)，閱讀和科學(xué)學(xué)科上掛掉。

　　One group in particular is suffering. Poorly educated men in rich countries have had difficultycoping with the enormous changes in the labour market and the home over the past half-century. As technology and trade have devalued brawn, less-educated men have struggled tofind a role in the workplace. Women, on the other hand, are surging into expanding sectorssuch as health care and education, helped by their superior skills. As education has becomemore important, boys have also fallen behind girls in school (except at the very top). Men wholose jobs in manufacturing often never work again. And men without work find it hard to attracta permanent mate. The result, for low-skilled men, is a poisonous combination of no job, nofamily and no prospects.

　　在男性群體中又有一類人尤其遭罪。在過(guò)去的半個(gè)世紀(jì)里，發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家里的受教育程度低的男性已經(jīng)非常難應(yīng)對(duì)發(fā)生了巨變的勞工市場(chǎng)和家庭?，F(xiàn)代技術(shù)革新和貿(mào)易已經(jīng)使原先的靠勞力形式的肌肉男的價(jià)值直線下降，缺少教育的男性，不得不在職場(chǎng)中苦苦掙扎，才能博得一席之地。相反的，女性卻依靠著自身出眾的技能，在像醫(yī)療衛(wèi)生和教育這樣的領(lǐng)域里大放異彩。教育已經(jīng)變成更重要的事情，而男孩卻學(xué)校里被女孩甩在了身后(尖端領(lǐng)域?qū)W科除外)。從工廠失業(yè)的男性常從此不再去工作。而沒有工作的男性會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)去吸引永久的伴侶是件非常難的事。由此導(dǎo)致低技術(shù)的男性被無(wú)工作，無(wú)家庭，無(wú)前景的“三無(wú)”劇毒環(huán)環(huán)圍住。

　　From nuclear families to fissile ones

　　從核心家庭到易碎家庭

　　Those on the political left tend to focus on economics. Shrinking job opportunities for men,they say, are entrenching poverty and destroying families. In America pay for men with only ahigh-school certificate fell by 21% in real terms between 1979 and 2013; for women with similarqualifications it rose by 3%. Around a fifth of working-age American men with only a high-school diploma have no job.

　　支持左翼 的人傾向于專注于經(jīng)濟(jì)，他們認(rèn)為減少男性工作的機(jī)會(huì)會(huì)加劇貧窮，并，并摧毀家庭。在美國(guó)，只有高中學(xué)歷的男性的實(shí)際收入，從1979年到2013年減低了21%，而同等學(xué)歷的女性，在此期間的實(shí)際收入?yún)s提高了3%。約有5分之一的只有高中學(xué)歷的處在工作適齡的男性，處在失業(yè)中。

　　Those on the right worry about the collapse of the family. The vast majority of women wouldprefer to have a partner who does his bit both financially and domestically. But they wouldrather do without one than team up with a layabout, which may be all that is on offer: Americanmen without jobs spend only half as much time on housework and caring for others as dowomen in the same situation, and much more time watching television.

　　支持右翼的人擔(dān)心著家庭的崩潰。絕大多數(shù)的女性傾向于和愿兼顧家里財(cái)政收入職能和家務(wù)勞動(dòng)職能的男性成為兩口子。她們寧愿單身也不愿隨便和一個(gè)游手好閑的盧瑟勉強(qiáng)過(guò)一輩子，而這是有依據(jù)的：美國(guó)失業(yè)男性僅僅只付出同等條件下失業(yè)女性的一半的時(shí)間來(lái)做家務(wù)事和照顧彼此的生活，這些男人會(huì)花更多的時(shí)間來(lái)看電視。

　　Hence the unravelling of working-class families. The two-parent family, still the norm among theelite, is vanishing among the poor. In rich countries the proportion of births outside marriagehas trebled since 1980, to 33%. In some areas where traditional manufacturing has collapsed,it has reached 70% or more. Children raised in broken homes learn less at school, are morelikely to drop out and earn less later on than children from intact ones. They are also not verygood at forming stable families of their own.

　　因此工人階級(jí)的家庭變的更易解體。雙親家庭這種形式還是精英階層的標(biāo)配，而這種家庭形式卻在窮人中正在消失。在發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家，非婚生子占新生兒的比重比1980年高出了3倍，已經(jīng)達(dá)到了33%。而在一些傳統(tǒng)制造業(yè)崩壞的地區(qū)，這一比例達(dá)到70%甚至更高。生活在破碎家庭里的孩子比起一般家庭的孩子而言，在學(xué)校里會(huì)學(xué)的更少，更可能輟學(xué)和收入較低。同時(shí)，因?yàn)椴簧朴谔幚砑彝?wèn)題，他們自己日后的家庭也趨于不穩(wěn)定(簡(jiǎn)言之單親家庭的孩子長(zhǎng)大后更易于組成新的單親家庭)。

　　These two sides often talk past each other. But their explanations are not contradictory: botheconomics and social change are to blame, and the two causes reinforce each other.Moreover, these problems are likely to get worse. Technology will disrupt more industries,creating benefits for society but rendering workers who fail to update their skills redundant.The OECD, a think-tank, predicts that the absolute number of single-parent households willcontinue to rise in nearly all rich countries. Boys who grow up without fathers are more likely tohave trouble forming lasting relationships, creating a cycle of male dysfunction.

　　這兩種政治傾向的討論話題往往會(huì)相互交叉重疊。但二者的觀點(diǎn)卻并不矛盾：經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況和社會(huì)這二者的變革都是造成此類現(xiàn)狀的原因，而這二者還互為因果，形成惡性循環(huán)。此外，這些問(wèn)題可能變得更糟?？萍紝⑼呓飧嗟男袠I(yè)，為社會(huì)創(chuàng)造更多的價(jià)值，但也將使更多的無(wú)法升級(jí)自身技能的勞動(dòng)者失業(yè)。 經(jīng)濟(jì)合作與發(fā)展組織里的一個(gè)諸葛天團(tuán)預(yù)測(cè)單親家庭的比例定會(huì)繼續(xù)在所有發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家中上升。在沒有父性角色的家庭長(zhǎng)大的男孩，將更可能不能處理好長(zhǎng)久關(guān)系(如夫妻關(guān)系)以至于形成新的單親家庭，由此形成一個(gè)男性功能紊亂的死循環(huán)。

　　Tinker, tailor, soldier, hairdresser

　　鍋匠，裁縫，士兵和美發(fā)師

　　What can be done? Part of the solution lies in a change in cultural attitudes. Over the pastgeneration, middle-class men have learned that they need to help with child care, and havechanged their behaviour. Working-class men need to catch up. Women have learned that theycan be surgeons and physicists without losing their femininity. Men need to understand thattraditional manual jobs are not coming back, and that they can be nurses or hairdresserswithout losing their masculinity.

　　那么問(wèn)題來(lái)了，我們能做什么呢?其一在于改變文化態(tài)度。在過(guò)去的一代，中產(chǎn)階層的男士知曉了他們需要幫忙照看小孩，并由此改變了他們的行為。工人階層的男士們需要加緊腳步趕上來(lái)了。女士知曉了她們可以成為外科醫(yī)師和物理學(xué)家而不失其女性魅力。男人們需要明白傳統(tǒng)的體力工作一去不復(fù)返，他們可以成為護(hù)士或美發(fā)師而不失其男性霸氣側(cè)漏之美。

　　Policymakers also need to lend a hand, because foolish laws are making the problem worse.America reduces the supply of marriageable men by locking up millions of young males for non-violent offences and then making it hard for them to find work when they get out (in Georgia,for example, felons are barred from feeding pigs, fighting fires or working in funeral homes). Anumber of rich countries discourage poor people from marrying or cohabiting by cutting theirbenefits if they do.

　　政府決策人也需搭把手，因?yàn)橛薮赖姆顣?huì)令問(wèn)題變得更糟。美國(guó)減少了對(duì)被關(guān)押的以百萬(wàn)數(shù)計(jì)的非暴力犯罪的處于適婚年齡的年輕男子的支持，并在他們出獄后找工作這種事上還要制絆腳石造(以喬治亞州為例，罪犯被禁止從事養(yǎng)豬，救火或在殯葬館工作)。在一些發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家，為了阻止窮人結(jié)婚或者同居這一目的，通過(guò)如果他們這么干的話就砍掉他們的福利這種手段來(lái)達(dá)到。

　　Even more important than scrapping foolish policies is retooling the educational system, whichwas designed in an age when most men worked with their muscles. Politicians need to recognisethat boys'underachievement is a serious problem, and set about fixing it. Some sensiblepolicies that are good for everybody are particularly good for boys. Early-childhood educationprovides boys with more structure and a better chance of developing verbal and social skills.Countries with successful vocational systems such as Germany have done a better job thanAnglo-Saxon countries of motivating non-academic boys and guiding them into jobs, butpolicymakers need to reinvent vocational education for an age when trainees are more likely toget jobs in hospitals than factories.

　　不過(guò)比起廢棄愚蠢的政策，改革設(shè)計(jì)于大多數(shù)男人都是用肌肉(而非腦)工作的年代的教育系統(tǒng)顯得更為重要。政治家門應(yīng)該意識(shí)到男孩們的學(xué)習(xí)成績(jī)不良師一個(gè)很嚴(yán)峻的問(wèn)題，并應(yīng)立足于改善之。一些明智的政策是為每個(gè)人都好，特別是對(duì)男孩。早期兒童教育會(huì)提供男孩們更系統(tǒng)并更能更好的發(fā)展他們的口語(yǔ)能力和社會(huì)技能。有著成功的職業(yè)教育系統(tǒng)的國(guó)家如德國(guó)，在鼓勵(lì)男孩去學(xué)術(shù)化，重職業(yè)化，并指導(dǎo)他們工作上，已經(jīng)做的比起盎格魯-撒克遜國(guó)家而言要好的多了。但政策制定者應(yīng)將恢復(fù)職業(yè)教育的重心放在使受訓(xùn)者更傾向于日后在醫(yī)院工作而不是在工廠工作這種時(shí)代要求上。

　　More generally, schools need to become more boy-friendly. They should recognise that boys liketo rush around more than girls do: it’s better to give them lots of organised sports andenergy-eating games than to dose them with Ritalin or tell them off for fidgeting. They need toprovide more male role models: employing more male teachers in primary schools will bothsupply boys with a male to whom they can relate and demonstrate that men can be teachersas well as firefighters.

　　更廣泛而言，學(xué)校需要變得更親男孩化一些。他們應(yīng)該意識(shí)到男孩比起女孩而言就是會(huì)更可能到處闖禍：比起給他們吃藥或告誡他們不要亂動(dòng)而言，最好還是提供給他們一些有組織的運(yùn)動(dòng)和耗費(fèi)精力的游戲。他們需要男性榜樣角色：在小學(xué)階段，雇傭更多的男性教師，這不但可以給男孩子提供他們可以認(rèn)同的男性角色，還可以為男人可以像成為消防員一樣的成為教師提供實(shí)證。

　　The growing equality of the sexes is one of the biggest achievements of the post-war era:people have greater opportunities than ever before to achieve their ambitions regardless oftheir gender. But some men have failed to cope with this new world. It is time to give them ahand.

　　男女越來(lái)越平等是戰(zhàn)后我們?nèi)〉玫闹卮蟪删椭唬罕绕鹨郧?，現(xiàn)今人們不論性別都可以擁有更好的機(jī)會(huì)去實(shí)現(xiàn)他們的夢(mèng)想。但是一些男士未能適應(yīng)這個(gè)新的世界，是時(shí)候?qū)λ麄兩斐鲈至恕?br />
　　【重點(diǎn)講解】

　　1、learn to 得知;學(xué)會(huì)

　　例句:Eventually, you'll learn to cry that on theinside.

　　終有一天，你會(huì)學(xué)會(huì)讓淚往心里流。

　　2、appear to 似乎;好像

　　例句:By all accounts, Rodger would appear to be afine fellow.

　　據(jù)說(shuō)，羅杰是個(gè)好小伙。

　　3、plenty of 許多;大量的

　　例句:There were plenty of servants to wait on her.

　　有很多仆人服侍她。

　　4、likely to 傾向于;可能要

　　例句:The fires are likely to permanently deforest the land.

　　這些火災(zāi)很可能會(huì)徹底毀掉這片土地上的森林。