GRE閱讀需要了解的國(guó)外知識(shí)
GRE閱讀需要了解的國(guó)外知識(shí),我們來看看吧，下面小編就和大家分享，來欣賞一下吧。
GRE閱讀需要了解的國(guó)外知識(shí)
無論是科技類還是社科類的閱讀文章，國(guó)內(nèi)很多考生都十分苦惱為何就是不明白，其實(shí)造成這個(gè)的主要原因就是GRE閱讀中提及的國(guó)外文化背景考生并不是很了解。
像這種BT長(zhǎng)閱讀，說的好像是什么impressionist(印象派)和modernist(現(xiàn)實(shí)主義)的東東。由于對(duì)這方面毫無了解，所以讀這篇文章毫無感覺。我不是要大家去補(bǔ)習(xí)美國(guó)文化的知識(shí)，這工程量太大，尤其對(duì)10G的同學(xué)。
網(wǎng)上都說平時(shí)要多看什么economist什么的，試問有幾個(gè)人會(huì)真正為了GRE去看?我的建議就是，大家可以抽一點(diǎn)時(shí)間，利用相關(guān)資料(比如 wikipedia)，多去了解一下GRE社科類閱讀愛考的知識(shí)。以往年經(jīng)驗(yàn)來看，GRE社科類閱讀非常喜歡考黑人文學(xué)Black literature，黑人音樂Black music(尤其是Jazz)，婦女(包括婦女地位的改變，婦女文學(xué))，藝術(shù)類包括impressionist、modernist等。
另外，GRE考試閱讀務(wù)必多留意一下上述知識(shí)的代表人物!比如Ragtime就是Jazz的代表人物及一種風(fēng)格。并不是要求大家知道這個(gè)人物做了什么，只需要混個(gè)眼熟，考試的時(shí)候萬一碰到一大串人名，能對(duì)其中一兩個(gè)有點(diǎn)眼熟，能大概猜測(cè)出來是關(guān)于什么的就行!等到時(shí)候文章做得比較熟了，那時(shí)往往你自己也大概了解了社科類的閱讀喜歡考哪些領(lǐng)域了。
總之，GRE閱讀最重要的就是日常的積累和良好的閱讀習(xí)慣，不要為了考試而考試，如果平時(shí)養(yǎng)成看英文報(bào)、英文期刊的習(xí)慣，到時(shí)候考試中的閱讀題一定能拿高分。
Free exchange——For richer, for poorer
自由交流：貧富皆為
One way or another, America's government will end up bailing out Puerto Rico
無論如何，美洲政府都會(huì)出錢援助波多黎各
IN DECEMBER, as a winter chill descends on the continental United States, temperatures in Puerto Rico often reach 30°C. Palm trees sway alongside the Spanish colonial buildings in Old San Juan; the blue Atlantic stretches to the horizon. Yet the economic outlook for America's Caribbean dependency is anything but sunny. Its government owes $72 billion in debt, which it says it cannot repay. On December 1st the territory is supposed to make—and is almost certain to miss—a $354m debt payment. And that is just the first of a series of repayments that add up to $1.4 billion (or nearly 1.5% of GDP) due in December and January.
12月，美國(guó)大陸寒氣襲人，加勒比地區(qū)的屬地波多黎各卻是30°C。那兒的圣胡安老城留有西班牙殖民時(shí)期的建筑，街道兩旁的棕櫚樹來回?fù)u擺。還有蔚藍(lán)的大西洋，一眼望不到頭。可它的經(jīng)濟(jì)前景并不明朗。政府欠債720億美元，還還不了。12月1日應(yīng)當(dāng)還款3.54億美元，這肯定是做不到的。12月和1月要還款14億美元，而3.54億美元的還款僅是第一步。
Politicians in Washington are scrambling for a solution. The island's fiscal woes are in part the result of chronically bad budgeting. But they also stem from structural economic weakness. Bailing out Puerto Rico, which is self-governing but not a state, is not a popular option. Yet when any corner of America faces a deterioration in its long-run economic fortunes, the costs will end up being shared, one way or another.
此時(shí)，華盛頓的政要們正在尋找對(duì)策。波多黎各遭遇了財(cái)政災(zāi)難，既因?yàn)殚L(zhǎng)期以來預(yù)算糟糕，又因?yàn)榻Y(jié)構(gòu)性經(jīng)濟(jì)疲軟。這個(gè)島嶼雖然自治但未獨(dú)立。經(jīng)濟(jì)援助并不歡迎，但美洲只要有國(guó)家經(jīng)濟(jì)面臨下滑，人們就各種方法共同解決問題。
For decades Puerto Rico, which is poorer than the mainland, enjoyed a special tax status designed to encourage economic development. From 1976 the income of some manufacturers was exempt from both federal and local tax. Investment poured in, notably in pharmaceuticals. But in the 1990s the tax break fell victim to efforts to balance America's federal budget and was phased out. When it came to an end in 2006, the island sank into a deep and protracted depression. The economy has since shrunk by 14%. Employment is 12% below the peak of2006. As the economy has withered, obligations to creditors have loomed larger.
波多黎各比美國(guó)大陸窮。幾十年來，為鼓勵(lì)經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展，稅收狀況特殊。1976年以來，某些制造業(yè)免除了聯(lián)邦稅和地方稅。投資擁入，尤其是藥業(yè)。1990年代，人們努力平衡美洲聯(lián)邦財(cái)政，實(shí)行了減稅政策，結(jié)果失敗，并逐步停止。2006年廢止時(shí)，經(jīng)濟(jì)已經(jīng)陷入大蕭條，曠日持久。自此，經(jīng)濟(jì)縮減14%，就業(yè)率12%，低于2006的最好時(shí)期。經(jīng)濟(jì)萎縮，債權(quán)人負(fù)擔(dān)加重。
Many Puerto Ricans have not waited for a recovery. More than 200 move to the mainland everyday. Roughly 5m Americans of Puerto Rican descent live in the continental United States; 3.5mremain on the island. Its labor force has shrunk 11% since 2009.
波多黎各很多人都等不起復(fù)蘇。每天有200人流向美國(guó)大陸。將近有500萬波多黎各血統(tǒng)的美國(guó)人住在美國(guó)大陸;350萬人未走。2009年后，勞動(dòng)力縮減11%。
This migration to more prosperous places saps the Puerto Rican economy of potential, but it is precisely what economists think ought to happen when one region of a larger economy falls on hard times. At 5.7%, the unemployment rate in Detroit, a cash-strapped American city, is ten percentage points below the level of six years ago, when the car industry was in crisis. It would be much higher but for the shrinkage of Detroit's labour force, which has contracted by about 5% since 2009. Between 2000 and 2014 about 90,000 Detroiters, or 2% of the population, moved away. In much of America's industrial heartland, labour forces are shrinking. The migration of working-age adults away from struggling areas reduces joblessness. The country as a whole benefits as labour is drawn toward places that are on the up.
人口流向更加富庶的地區(qū)，破壞了本地經(jīng)濟(jì)的潛力。這就是大經(jīng)濟(jì)體中小區(qū)域落難時(shí)的情況，跟經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家想的一樣。美國(guó)城市底特律缺乏資金，失業(yè)率為5.7%，比6年前低10個(gè)百分點(diǎn)。但假如勞動(dòng)力不萎縮，失業(yè)率還會(huì)更高。2009年后，萎縮近5%。2000 至2014年間，底特律約有9萬人(總?cè)丝诘?%)出走。美洲很多工業(yè)中心城市，勞動(dòng)力都在縮減。適齡工作人口離開艱苦的地區(qū)，減輕了失業(yè)狀況?？傮w來看，波多黎各還是受益了，因?yàn)閯趧?dòng)力都流向了富庶的地區(qū)。
Migration reduces unemployment, but it cannot liberate struggling spots from accrued obligations—most notably pensions. Puerto Rico's biggest government-pension programme has sufficient funds to cover just 0.7% of future obligations. State pension pots are not in quite such bad shape, but massive liabilities still loom. In Illinois, where the labour force has shrunk by about 3% since 2007, pensions are just 39% funded. Puerto Rico will not be the last local government to run out of money.
人口外流可以減少失業(yè)，但不能解放那些艱苦的地區(qū)，因?yàn)槟抢飩_(tái)高筑，主要是養(yǎng)老金方面。波多黎各養(yǎng)老計(jì)劃是最大的項(xiàng)目，有充足的資金，未來可以負(fù)擔(dān)0.7%。波多黎各養(yǎng)老金體系并不差勁，但巨大的債務(wù)還是令人擔(dān)憂。2007年后，伊利諾斯州勞動(dòng)力縮減約3%，州出資的養(yǎng)老金只占39%。波多黎各不會(huì)成為把錢花光的最后一個(gè)地方政府。
Perhaps for that reason, many politicians are adamant that the federal government should never rescue insolvent localities. Detroit, for one, was left to write down its debts in bankruptcy court. Puerto Rico cannot do that. The law bars states and territories from declaring bankruptcy, in order to deter profligate behaviour. That makes little sense when redistribution among states is already enormous. Because America's tax system is proGREssive, rich states contribute much more per person to the Treasury than poor ones. Alabama and West Virginia routinely receive more than $2 in federal spending for each dollar they pay in federal tax; New York and California receive less than $0.70 on the dollar. Most of the redistribution comes in the form of programmes like Social Security (the national pension scheme) and Medicare (public health insurance for the elderly), for which average spending per person is not that different from one state to another.
可能由于此，很多政要都堅(jiān)定認(rèn)為，聯(lián)邦政府不能求助破產(chǎn)的地方政府。底特律就是例子，當(dāng)時(shí)底特律在破產(chǎn)法院記錄下了自己的債務(wù)。波多黎各不能這樣，因?yàn)榉梢?guī)定，州和屬地不能宣布破產(chǎn)，就是為了避免揮霍。這就是說不通了，因?yàn)槊绹?guó)各州之間分配差異巨大。較富裕的州上繳國(guó)庫(kù)，對(duì)個(gè)人的分配多于較貧窮的州。阿拉巴馬州和西弗吉尼亞州，每上繳聯(lián)邦稅收1美元，就會(huì)收到聯(lián)邦2美元多的返還。紐約和加利福尼亞返還卻不足0.7美元。重新分配多是以社會(huì)保障(國(guó)家養(yǎng)老金計(jì)劃)和醫(yī)保制度(老年人醫(yī)遼保險(xiǎn))的形式進(jìn)行，為的是對(duì)個(gè)人花費(fèi)州與州之間不能差異太大。
During the financial crisis these handouts to poorer regions became even more generous. The federal government stood behind all American banks and borrowed to finance infrastructure spending and increased unemployment benefits. It also took in less tax, offsetting some of the pain of the recession. Indeed, America's fiscal union is so good at absorbing shocks that it is often cited as a model for the more accident-prone euro zone.
金融危機(jī)期間，貧困地區(qū)的援助更加大方。聯(lián)邦政府支持所有的美國(guó)銀行，讓他們放款去資助基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施建設(shè)，增加失業(yè)救濟(jì)。同時(shí)，還減輕稅務(wù)，減輕因衰退產(chǎn)生的悲痛。其實(shí)，美國(guó)的財(cái)政同盟十分擅長(zhǎng)吸收沖擊，都被事故多發(fā)的歐元區(qū)引為典范。
In sickness and in health
無論生病還是健康
The administration of Barack Obama has released a sensible plan to repair Puerto Rico's finances. It would allow indebted government agencies, such as the island's power company, to declare bankruptcy, and would provide for a restructuring of other debts and pension obligations. The federal government would also oversee the territory's future public spending; as a sweetener, residents of the territory would gain full access to various anti-poverty schemes that are less generous there than on the mainland.
奧巴馬執(zhí)政后，實(shí)施了一項(xiàng)明智的舉措，來修補(bǔ)波多黎各的財(cái)務(wù)。政府欠債的各種單位，比如能源公司可以允許破產(chǎn);還可以重組其它債務(wù)和養(yǎng)老金債務(wù);聯(lián)邦政府將會(huì)負(fù)責(zé)本地區(qū)的公共開支。讓地區(qū)居民嘗到甜頭的是，他們可以充分享受各種扶貧政策，當(dāng)然錢比美國(guó)大陸的要少。
If Congress spurns this plan, Puerto Rico's government will be forced to raise taxes to crippling levels and slash spending to pay its bills. That would hit the island's residents, 40% of whom live below the poverty line, hard. It is difficult to imagine the federal government ignoring the humanitarian crisis that would probably follow. In addition, emigration to the mainland would presumably jump, initiating a vicious cycle whereby a shrinking tax base leads to rising taxes and curtailed services, prompting further emigration. As American citizens, the migrants will be eligible for public support of various kinds on the mainland. There is no question, in other words, that America will end up bearing much of the cost of Puerto Rico's past profligacy. The only question is how considered and efficient its assistance will be.
假如國(guó)會(huì)通過此項(xiàng)決計(jì)，波多黎各政府將會(huì)被迫提高稅收，減少支出，來償還債務(wù)。這將會(huì)嚴(yán)重傷害島內(nèi)居民，其中40%生活在貧困線以下。這也很難想象，聯(lián)邦政府會(huì)忽視隨之而來的人道主義危機(jī)。此外，移居美國(guó)大陸的人可能會(huì)更多，進(jìn)而開始惡性循環(huán)，因?yàn)槎惢s，導(dǎo)致稅收提高，服務(wù)縮減，又進(jìn)一步激發(fā)人口出走。波移民也是美國(guó)居民，在美國(guó)大陸有資格申請(qǐng)各種公共支持。換言之，毫無疑問，波多黎各曾經(jīng)肆意揮霍，最后需要美國(guó)共同承擔(dān)。問題的核心是援助的效率和成熟度。
GRE雙語(yǔ)閱讀：地鐵進(jìn)站扶梯靠右站是常識(shí)嗎
Subway passengers in some Chinese cities are not standing on the right side of escalators and sparing the left side for those to walk through.
中國(guó)一些城市的地鐵乘客在進(jìn)站的時(shí)候并沒有站在自動(dòng)扶梯的右邊、把左側(cè)留給那些走過的人。
An earlier report hit the Internet saying that Nanjing city in eastern China only requires subway passengers to stand firm and hold the handrail rather than to stand on the right side as it did formerly.
早先有一份報(bào)告在網(wǎng)上造成了轟動(dòng)，稱南京市只要求地鐵乘客站穩(wěn)并抓好扶手，而并沒有像以前那樣要求乘客一定要靠右站。
The Nanjing Subway Group explained on their Weibo account that it found 95 percent of escalators were seriously worn on the right side.
南京地鐵公司在其微博上解釋說，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)95%自動(dòng)扶梯的右側(cè)都嚴(yán)重磨損。
Shi Dajiang from the city’s public security bureau agreed that standing on the right side will speed up the abrasion of the escalator, shorten the service life and increase risk of breakdown.
來自南京市公安局的石大江(音)表示贊同，他說道靠右站會(huì)加劇自動(dòng)扶梯的磨損、縮減使用壽命、并且加大扶梯損壞的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。
Station staff also said the escalator step is 21 centimeters in height, six centimeters higher than the height of the public stairs. It is dangerous to walk on the operating escalators.
地鐵站工作人員也表示說，自動(dòng)扶梯每一層的高度為21厘米，比公共階梯要高6厘米。在運(yùn)行中的自動(dòng)扶梯上行走是非常危險(xiǎn)。
Guangzhou canceled the standard to stand on the right side of escalator about ten years ago. Ye Zichuan from the Guangzhou subway publicity department said they have investigated escalator accidents, finding that more than 90 percent of the accidents were caused by passengers walking through the escalator.
大約10年前廣州取消了自動(dòng)扶梯靠右站的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。廣州地鐵宣傳部門的葉子川(音)表示說他們對(duì)自動(dòng)扶梯事故進(jìn)行了調(diào)查，發(fā)現(xiàn)超過90%的事故是由于乘客在自動(dòng)扶梯上行走造成的。
But some netizens support the international standard to stand on the right side of the escalator, saying the standard is popular in many countries and there are few escalator accidents in those countries.
但是一些網(wǎng)民支持在自動(dòng)扶梯上靠右站的國(guó)際標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，稱許多國(guó)家都使用了這一標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，但是卻很少發(fā)生扶梯事故。
Other netizens argue that the international standard is not necessarily feasible in China. With the large population and the crowded rush hours in big cities, they say standing on the right side and allowing walk-through traffic on the left doesn’t fit in China.
而其他一些網(wǎng)民爭(zhēng)論說這一國(guó)際標(biāo)準(zhǔn)并不一定適用于中國(guó)。他們指出大城市在高峰時(shí)期會(huì)有大量的乘客通過，靠右站、使得左側(cè)可以讓人通過的做法并不適合中國(guó)。
GRE閱讀需要了解的國(guó)外知識(shí)相關(guān)文章：
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3.GRE寫作提升閱讀量和分析題庫(kù)是突破關(guān)鍵
