2016考研英語(yǔ)：《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》選讀

　　摘要：《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》一直是考研閱讀的命題來(lái)源之一，平日里我們可以利用碎片時(shí)間稍加閱讀一些文章，領(lǐng)會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)類文章的寫作手法，適當(dāng)拓展自己的詞匯量，也是不錯(cuò)的選擇。

　　Spain's economy

　　西班牙經(jīng)濟(jì)

　　Iberian dawn

　　伊比利亞的黎明

　　The labour market is recovering at last. But it needs further reform.

　　勞動(dòng)市場(chǎng)最終還是復(fù)蘇了，但是其需要進(jìn)一步的改革。

　　THIS was the news the government had been waitingfor. “Spain's labour market has made a 180-degree turn,” crowed the prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, as the country announced the first annual rise in employment in six years. The numbers show that unpopular reforms to the malfunctioning labour market are starting to work. But there is plenty left to do.

　　這是政府翹首以待的消息。“西班牙的勞動(dòng)力市場(chǎng)已經(jīng)發(fā)生了180度的大轉(zhuǎn)彎”，當(dāng)西班牙政府宣布這是六年來(lái)西班牙首次就業(yè)增長(zhǎng)時(shí)，西班牙總理馬里亞諾·拉霍伊對(duì)此洋洋自得。這些數(shù)字表明那些不受失靈勞動(dòng)力市場(chǎng)待見(jiàn)的改革也已經(jīng)初見(jiàn)成效，但仍有許多東西亟待解決。

　　In the past year Spain has created 190,000 jobs. The unemployment rate, still one of the highest in the euro zone, fell from 26% to 24.5% (see chart), and the labour force stopped shrinking after six straight quarters of decline.

　　在過(guò)去的一年中西班牙國(guó)內(nèi)增加了19萬(wàn)個(gè)就業(yè)崗位。在歐元區(qū)位列前茅的失業(yè)率從之前的26%下降到24.5%，在連續(xù)六個(gè)季度的下降之后，勞動(dòng)力也停止了萎縮。

　　The labour reform in 2012 gave companies more flexibility to set wages and working conditions themselves rather than through sector-wide bargaining, and cut severance payments for unfair dismissals. Those changes, buttressed by a deal between unions and employers, tempered wage growth that had far outstripped gains in productivity. How much credit do they deserve for the upturn in employment?

　　2012年的勞動(dòng)改革給企業(yè)帶來(lái)了更多的靈活性以確保工資和工作條件自身的穩(wěn)定而不是通過(guò)全部門的談判并削減對(duì)不公平解雇所分發(fā)的遣散費(fèi)。這些變化是基于工會(huì)與雇主之間的交易，這種收入增長(zhǎng)的調(diào)節(jié)大大領(lǐng)先于生產(chǎn)率的加強(qiáng)。但是就業(yè)情況的好轉(zhuǎn)會(huì)為他們帶來(lái)多少信用呢?

　　The answer may determine the political fate of Mr Rajoy, who defied street protests to push reform through and faces a general election by the end of next year. The opposition Socialist Party claims that the number of unemployed has risen by more than 600,000 since Mr Rajoytook office in 2011, despite the reforms. Pedro Sanchez, the party's new secretary-general,promises to repeal them if it regains power.

　　這個(gè)答案或許會(huì)決定拉霍伊的政治命運(yùn)。拉霍伊抵制街頭抗議，強(qiáng)行推進(jìn)改革，而明年年底西班牙大選在即。在野的社會(huì)黨聲稱，盡管有改革，但是自從2011年拉霍伊先生上任以來(lái)，失業(yè)人數(shù)增加了至少60萬(wàn)。該黨派的新任秘書長(zhǎng)佩德羅·桑切斯承諾，如果該黨重新上臺(tái)，則會(huì)廢除一切不利的改革政策。

　　That would be a mistake. Other factors contributed to the jobs recovery, especially the“whatever it takes” pledge by the European Central Bank two years ago to save the euro. But reform played an important role, says Rafael Domenech, an economist at BBVA, a bank. Onepiece of evidence is that Spain is creating jobs at lower rates of GDP growth than before. Inprevious cycles, employment rose when growth hit 2%. This time the gain came during a year when GDP expanded by just 1.2%.

　　而這看起來(lái)會(huì)是一個(gè)錯(cuò)誤。其他的因素促成了就業(yè)復(fù)蘇，尤其是兩年前歐洲央行為了拯救歐元所作出的那個(gè)“不惜一切代價(jià)”的誓言發(fā)揮了極大的作用。然而在BBVA銀行的經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家拉斐爾·多梅內(nèi)克看來(lái)，拉霍伊的改革卻起到了至關(guān)重要的作用。支持這一說(shuō)法的證據(jù)之一是，西班牙國(guó)內(nèi)新增的就業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)所占國(guó)內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值的最低比重。在以前的經(jīng)濟(jì)周期中，當(dāng)經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)達(dá)到兩個(gè)百分點(diǎn)的時(shí)候就業(yè)才會(huì)增長(zhǎng)。而這一次在GDP僅僅增長(zhǎng)一個(gè)百分點(diǎn)的時(shí)候就業(yè)就已經(jīng)增長(zhǎng)了。

　　To make a serious dent in unemployment, however, Spain will need to be more ambitious.Without further changes, the jobless rate will not dip below 20% until 2019, according to the IMF. The structural unemployment rate—the level reached when the economy is working at capacity—is 18%, triple that of America.

　　然而，為了大力降低失業(yè)率，西班牙需要再加一把勁。據(jù)國(guó)際貨幣基金組織稱，如果沒(méi)有其他變革，直至2019年失業(yè)率也不會(huì)降低至百分之二十之下。而西班牙的結(jié)構(gòu)性失業(yè)-即勞動(dòng)力對(duì)經(jīng)濟(jì)變動(dòng)的適應(yīng)水平-已經(jīng)達(dá)到百分之十八，是美國(guó)的三倍。

　　One problem is that many small companies (with ten workers or fewer) have not benefited from greater flexibility. That is because the process of opting out of sector-wide agreements can be cumbersome. Such opt-outs could be made easier.

　　一個(gè)問(wèn)題是，有許多小企業(yè)(只有十個(gè)員工甚至更少)并沒(méi)有從更大的靈活性中收益。這是因?yàn)檫x擇退出的全部門協(xié)議的過(guò)程會(huì)十分復(fù)雜。而事實(shí)上這一過(guò)程能變得更容易。

　　Another is that nearly a quarter of workers are still on temporary contracts. This is damaging,because they are much less productive than those with permanent jobs and employers do not invest in them. One way to encourage firms to hire permanent workers would be to cut severance payments to the levels of other European countries.

　　另外一個(gè)問(wèn)題是，近四分之一的工人仍然簽著臨時(shí)合同。這對(duì)就業(yè)穩(wěn)定是毀滅性的的打擊。因?yàn)楸绕鹉切┯泄潭üぷ鞯娜藖?lái)說(shuō)，這些臨時(shí)工的效率更低，并且雇主也不愿意為這些臨時(shí)工投資。相對(duì)于其它歐洲國(guó)家而言，而某種鼓勵(lì)企業(yè)雇傭長(zhǎng)工的做法會(huì)降低遣散費(fèi)的水平。

　　Nor has much been done for the 3.5m people who have been jobless for more than a year, says Marcel Jansen of Madrid's Autónoma University. Many are poorly educated: Spain has one of thehighest school drop-out rates in the OECD. Those with qualifications often find that they are not the ones employers want.

　　據(jù)馬德里自治大學(xué)的馬塞爾·楊森成，至少350萬(wàn)人失業(yè)超過(guò)一年，并且其中的很多人都沒(méi)受過(guò)多少教育：西班牙是OECD中輟學(xué)率最高的國(guó)家之一。而那些有學(xué)歷的人常常發(fā)現(xiàn)他們并不是雇主想要雇傭的人。

　　The answers, says Mr Jansen, include spending more on retraining and overhauling state-run employment offices, which do a poor job of matching workers' skills with local employers' needs.The government has tightened rules for people receiving unemployment benefit to encourage them to look for work or to take training courses. But they need to be effectively enforced.

　　詹森先生說(shuō)，解決這些問(wèn)題的辦法要包括花費(fèi)更多進(jìn)行業(yè)務(wù)培訓(xùn)，并且還要整頓國(guó)營(yíng)就業(yè)辦公室，因?yàn)閲?guó)營(yíng)辦公室在引導(dǎo)工人習(xí)得雇主所需技能方面做得并不好。政府已經(jīng)用法規(guī)對(duì)那些領(lǐng)取失業(yè)津貼的人們進(jìn)行束縛，并鼓勵(lì)他們找工作或者參加培訓(xùn)課程。但是這些政策得有效執(zhí)行才行。

　　The government could lower the cost of hiring workers by cutting social-security contributions, which are high by European standards. A rise in value-added tax could pay forth at. Others advocate lowering the minimum wage for unskilled workers.

　　政府可以通過(guò)削弱社會(huì)保障金來(lái)降低雇傭工人的費(fèi)用，因?yàn)檫@個(gè)社保金水平的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是根據(jù)歐盟標(biāo)準(zhǔn)所制定的。增值稅的上漲會(huì)為此買單。而也有一些人主張用降低非技術(shù)工人的最低工資的方式來(lái)降低成本。

　　Mr Rajoy says he will not let up on reform until Spain's unemployment plague becomes merely a “sad” episode in history. He has started talks with unions and employers on a package of job-friendly measures, to be hammered out after the summer break. But with elections looming, few expect it to be bold.

　　拉霍伊表示，除非西班牙的大規(guī)模失業(yè)造就歷史上絕無(wú)僅有的一個(gè)“絕望”時(shí)代，否則他不會(huì)減緩改革的腳步與力度。拉霍伊已經(jīng)開(kāi)始與工會(huì)和雇主就就業(yè)友好型措施的一攬子計(jì)劃進(jìn)行談判，其結(jié)果將在夏休后一錘定音。但是隨著西班牙大選的臨近，幾乎沒(méi)有人希望這個(gè)改革可以莽撞繼續(xù)下去。

　　1、at last 最后；終于；最終

　　例句：At last Andrew gave them a crumb of information.

　　最后，安德魯向他們透露了一點(diǎn)信息。

　　2、start to 開(kāi)始

　　例句：There has been a busy start to polling intoday's local elections.

　　今天地方選舉的投票一開(kāi)始就人頭攢動(dòng)。

　　3、working condition 工作情況；工作狀況

　　例句：Remove all hoses and restore valve to original working condition.

　　拆卸所有軟管，并將閥門恢復(fù)到原先的工作狀態(tài)。

　　4、deserve for 應(yīng)得

　　例句：You deserve for mastering this ability.

　　精通這項(xiàng)能力，你們值得高度贊揚(yáng)。