37.對“女性保護法”的質疑
段落大意：女性保護法一直處於爭議中。反對者認為該保護法會阻礙女性要求同等權利的鬥爭，因為基於性別的保護法仍認為女性軟弱無助，從而限製了女性的就業選擇麵。
Protective legislation for women has been a controversial （有爭議的） issue ever since the beginning of the women’s rights movement. Opponents of protective legislation have argued that setting up special rules for women would inhibit （抑製） women’s struggle for equality with men. They have claimed that sex-based labor legislation upheld the stereotypes （刻板印象） of women as weak and defenseless, limited their options in employment, and reinforced the notion（觀念） that women belonged to the home.
38.當今女性的政治參與度
段落大意：當今女性的政治參與度有了大幅度提高，然而在政府決策中的作用仍受到限製。
In recent decades women around the world have made strides （取得進步） in political participation. By the 1980s women could vote virtually everywhere in the world, except for a few countries. As of mid-2005, when women in Kuwait（科威特） won suffrage （選舉權）, women could vote in all countries where men could vote except Saudi Arabia （沙特阿拉伯）. The right to vote usually included the right to run for （競選） elected office. In 2005.there were 12.female national leaders in the world, including 8.heads of state —3.monarchs（元首） and 5.Presidents—and 4.heads of government （prime ministers）. In 2005.women made up almost 16.percent of legislative（立法的） bodies worldwide, compared to 11.percent in 1999.and 9.percent in 1987. Despite these advancements, women’s role in governmental decision-making remains limited.
39.女性有限的權利
段落大意：女性仍未獲得與男性同等的權利，在決策層，女性所占的比例仍極低。
Many disparities （不一致） persist between women’s legal rights and their economic status. Women still haven’t achieved the equality with men in work. Women today constitute nearly 70.percent of the world’s poor, despite international efforts to compensate（酬勞） women and men equally in the workplace. While women made up about 32.percent of the world’s labor force in 1990, the percentage of women in decision-making positions was far lower. In 2002.women held only 15.7.percent of corporate executive （執行的） positions in the 500.largest companies in the United States, with an increase of 7.percent since 1995. In the mid-1990s women comprised（構成） only 1.percent of executives in the 1,000.largest corporations outside the United States.
40.女性的受教育權
段落大意：女性在受教育權上仍處於明顯的劣勢，但在一些國家或地區，受高等教育的女性在人數上有所增長。
Women remain at a distinct disadvantage in education as well. While primary school enrollment （招生） of girls now roughly equals that of boys, women constitute about two-thirds of the world’s one billion illiterate （不識字的） adults. Among more than 100.million children who drop out of school before completing the fourth grade, two-thirds are girls. On the other hand, women are entering colleges and universities in increasing numbers. In Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean （加勒比海地區）, more women than men enrolled in institutions of higher education during the 1990s.
41.女性選舉權
段落大意：女性選舉權指女性享有同男性同等的政治權利，如代表政府、投票選舉、掌控公共機構等，這一權利的獲得並非一帆風順，而是經過了長期的鬥爭。
Woman suffrage refers to the right of women to share on equal terms with men the political privileges afforded by representative government and, more particularly, to vote in elections and referendums（公民投票） and to hold public office. Equal political rights for women have been advocated since the start of feminist movement. Under the autocratic （獨裁的） forms of government that prevailed （流行） in ancient times and under the feudal regimes （封建製度） of the Middle Ages, however, suffrage was so restricted, even among men, that enfranchisement （選舉權的授予） of women never attained the status of a major political issue. Conditions warranted organized woman-suffrage movements only after suffrage had been won by large, formerly disfranchised（被剝奪選舉權的） groups of the male population as a consequence of the democratic revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries.
42.造成失業的四大原因 I：摩擦性失業
段落大意：經濟學家將失業分為以下四種：摩擦性失業、季節性失業、結構性失業和周期性失業。摩擦性失業指勞力供求間的不平衡，其數量取決於人們更換工作的頻率和找到新工作所需的時間。
Economists have described the causes of unemployment as frictional （摩擦性的）, seasonal, structural, and cyclical （循環的）.
Frictional unemployment arises when workers seeking jobs do not find them immediately. While looking for jobs, they are counted as unemployed. Friction in this case refers to the incongruity （不協調） between the demand for and supply of labor. The amount of frictional unemployment depends on the frequency with which workers change jobs and the time it takes to find new ones. Job changes occur frequently in the US. A January 1983.survey showed that more than 25.percent of all workers had been with their current employers for only one year or less. About a quarter of those unemployed at any particular time are employed one month later. This means that a considerable degree of unemployment in the US is frictional and lasts only a short time. This type of unemployment could be reduced somewhat by more efficient placement services. When workers are free to quit their jobs, however, some frictional unemployment will always be present.
43.造成失業的四大原因 II：季節性失業
段落大意：季節性失業發生在一些有季節特點的行業，也發生在大量畢業生找工作之際。
Seasonal unemployment occurs when industries have a slack （蕭條的） season, such as construction and other outdoor work in winter. It also becomes conspicuous （明顯的） at the end of the school year in June, when large numbers of students and graduates look for work. At its seasonal peak （January and February）, unemployment rate in the US between 1976.and 1986.was typically 20.percent higher than that at the seasonal low （October）.
44.造成失業的四大原因 III：結構性失業
段落大意：結構性失業源於雇主所需人才與求職者之間的不平衡，這一不平衡可能是由技術欠缺、地域或個性等因素造成的。
Structural unemployment arises from an imbalance between the kinds of workers wanted by employers and the kinds of workers looking for jobs. The imbalances may be caused by inadequacy in skills, location, or personal characteristics. Technological developments, for example, necessitate （使成為必需） new skills in many industries, leaving workers who fail to update their skills without a job. A plant （工廠） in a declining industry may close down or move to another area, making those employees who are unable or unwilling to move out of work . Workers with inadequate education or training and young workers with little or no experience may be unable to get jobs because employers believe that these employees would not be productive enough as to be worth paying the legal minimum wage or the rate agreed on with the union. On the other hand, even highly trained workers can be unemployed. This happened in the US in the early 1970s, for example, when the large numbers of new graduates with doctor degrees in physics and mathematics exceeded the number of jobs available in those fields. If employers practice illegal job discrimination against any group of people because of sex, race, religion, age, or national origin, a high unemployment rate for these workers could result even when jobs are plentiful. Structural unemployment shows up most prominently in some cities, some occupations or industries, for those with below-average educational attainments, and for some other groups in the labor force.
45.造成失業的四大原因 IV：周期性失業
段落大意：對勞動力需求的整體缺乏會導致周期性失業。經濟處於停滯狀態時，對商品和服務的需求會下降，導致失業。
Cyclical unemployment stems from a general lack of demand for labor. When business follows the downward trend, demand for goods and services drops; consequently, workers are laid off. During the 19th century, the US experienced depressions roughly every 20.years. A long and severe depression occurred in the 1890s, when unemployment rate reached about 18.percent of the civilian （平民的） labor force, and four less-severe depressions occurred in the first quarter of the 20th century. The most destructive depression in the US history happened in the 1930s, at the height of which, one worker in four was unemployed, and some remained out of work for years.
46.工業化國家的失業問題
段落大意：在工業化國家，由於失業保險和其他收入形式，失業的危害性得以減弱。
In industrialized countries, with unemployment insurance and other forms of income maintenance, unemployment does not cause as great a hardship as it once did. Measures to stabilize the economy have made economic downturns （低迷時期） briefer and less severe. Workers are still threatened by long periods of unemployment, however, while some bear a disproportionate（不成比例的） working burden. The problem of modern governments is how to benefit from the economic flexibility and the rising productivity while reducing the number of unemployed workers, keeping their spells （時間段） of joblessness short, maintaining their income, and helping them return to work with viable （維持生計的） skills.
47.政府解決失業問題的措施
段落大意：政府頒布一係列法律來複蘇經濟，減少失業。
The enactment （頒布） of various laws aimed at reviving business and industrial activity resulted in a substantial improvement in American economic conditions as well as a decline in unemployment. Soon after the outbreak （爆發） of World War II in September 1939, the US government launched a program for expanding and modernizing the national defense system. The program provided industry with a powerful stimulus （刺激）, and unemployment rapidly declined. After the US entered the war in December 1941, not only was the goal of full employment attained, but a shortage of labor substituted for the previous lack of available jobs.
48.技術進步與失業
段落大意：一些工人因擔心技術進步會增加失業率而反對自動化及其他一些節省勞力的技術。國家通過立法來解決技術進步與失業間的問題。
Fears that the introduction of automation （自動化） and other labor-saving technology would increase unemployment have led some workers to oppose such changes. Labor-saving methods, however, increase each worker’s output and make possible rising of worker’s income. In order to deal with the effects of technological change, the government passed several acts （法令）, such as the Manpower Training and Development Act （1962）, the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act （1973）, and the Job Training Partnership Act （1982）, to set up programs designed to train the unemployed with skills needed in seeking jobs.
49.失業與通貨膨脹
段落大意：失業與通貨膨脹之間的關係是一個重大的政策問題，其在理論上與現實中的關係並不總是一致。
A major policy issue is the relation between unemployment and inflation （通貨膨脹）. In theory, when high demand for labor coincides（同時發生） with low unemployment, employers find it difficult to hire qualified workers, which will cause wages to increase, push production costs and prices higher and thus contribute to inflation. On the other hand, when demand declines and unemployment increases, inflationary pressure on wages and production costs are relieved. However, the condition that both inflation and unemployment rates were high in the 1970s confounded（證明…有錯） this theory. The government adopted policies to control inflation that involved reducing demand in the economy with rising unemployment as a cost of lowering inflation.
50.通貨膨脹最初會帶來的影響
段落大意：通貨膨脹最初會增加商業利潤，吸引更多資金，促進利率上漲和個人消費增加。
Inflation initially increases business profits, as wages and other costs lag behind（落後於） price increases, leading to more capital investment and payments of dividends（紅利） and interest. Personal spending may increase because of the worry that it will cost more in the future if they don’t buy it now. Potential real estate （房地產） value appreciation （增值） may attract buyers. Domestic inflation may temporarily improve trade because the same volume of exports can be sold at higher prices. Government expenditure （開支） rises because many programs are explicitly （清楚地）, or informally, indexed（與生活指數掛鉤） to inflation rates to preserve the real value of government services and transfers （轉移） of income. Officials may also anticipate paying larger budgets with tax revenues from inflated incomes.
51.通貨膨脹的負麵影響
段落大意：通貨膨脹最終會阻礙正常的經濟活動，削弱消費者的購買力，造成股票和證券等貶值，阻礙住房建設等，甚至造成經濟的極不穩定。
Despite some temporary gains, inflation eventually disrupts normal economic activities. Interest rates rise in accordance with the anticipated pace of inflation, which increase business costs, discourage consumer spending, and depress the value of stocks and bonds （債券）. Higher mortgage （抵押） interest rates and rapidly escalating （逐步升高的） prices for homes discourage housing constructions. Inflation erodes（侵蝕） the real purchasing power with current incomes, which will result in reduced consumption, particularly if consumers are unable, or unwilling, to draw on （依賴） their savings or personal debts for support. Business investment suffers as overall economic activity declines, and profits are restricted as employees demand immediate relief from chronic inflation by invoking （援引） the automatic cost-of-living （生活成本） escalator clauses（自動調整條例）. Most raw materials and operating costs respond quickly to inflationary signals. Higher export prices eventually restrict foreign sales, creating deficits in trade and services and international currency-exchange problems. Inflation is a major element in the prevailing （主要的） pattern of booms and recessions （衰退） that cause unwanted price and employment distortions and widespread economic uncertainty.
52.通貨膨脹對個人的影響
段落大意：通貨膨脹對個人的影響取決於很多因素。固定收入人群，尤其是低收入人群會受到通貨膨脹的負麵影響；有靈活經濟能力的人則會從中獲益。
The impact of inflation on individuals depends on many variables（變量）. People with relatively fixed incomes, particularly those in low-income groups, suffer during accelerating inflation, while those with flexible economic power may adjust to or even benefit from inflation. Those dependent on assets with fixed nominal （名義上的） values, such as savings accounts, pensions, insurance policies, and long-term debts, suffer erosion of real wealth. Other assets with flexible values, such as real estate （房地產）, art, raw materials, and durable（持久性的） goods, may keep pace with or exceed the average inflation rate. Workers in the private sector （部門） strive for adjustments in wage contracts. Borrowers usually benefit while lenders suffer, because mortgage, personal, business, or government loans are paid with money whose value keeps depreciating over time and interest rates tend to lag behind the average rate of price increases. A pervasive （普遍的） “inflationary psychology”eventually dominates private and public economic decisions.
53.失業率與貧困
段落大意：發達國家的失業率也很高，高失業率導致高貧困率。
Even in developed countries, unemployment rates can be high, which can further lead to high level of poverty. Availability of employment also tends to fluctuate （波動）, creating periods of high joblessness. Countries such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, and Luxembourg have managed at times to keep unemployment as low as 2.percent. Unemployment figures during the 1990s in the United States and most of Europe, on the other hand, ranged from about 5.percent to more than 20.percent. In countries with high populations, unemployment rates of only a few percentage points mean that millions of working-age people cannot find work and earn adequate income. Since unemployment figures indicate the number of people who are eligible （合格的） to work and searching for jobs, such figures are not necessarily an accurate indicator of the number of people living in poverty. Some people may earn wages too low to provide for themselves and their families.
54.人口過剩與貧困
段落大意：人口過剩與貧困密切相關，人口過多，導致土地等資源稀缺，無法滿足所有人的需求，從而造成貧困。
Overpopulation, the situation of having large numbers of people with too few resources and too little space, is closely associated with poverty. It can result from high population density—the ratio （比率） of people to land area, usually expressed as numbers of persons per square kilometer or square mile—or from low amounts of resources, or from both. Excessively high population densities put stress on available resources. A given area of land can only support a certain number of people, and that number depends on how much food and other resources the land can provide. In countries where people live primarily by means of simple farming, gardening, herding（牧業）, hunting, and gathering, even large areas of land can support only small number of people because these labor-intensive subsistence （生計） activities produce only small amounts of food.