http://s15/small/001lsS96zy6MBbRMGbI2e&6901 更新于2015-01-06" TITLE="2014年Text 1 更新于2015-01-06" />

 

1---In order to “change lives for the better” and reduce “dependency,” George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the “upfront work search” scheme. Only if the jobless arrive at the jobcentre with a CV, register for online job search, and start looking for work will they be eligible for benefit and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly. What could be more reasonable?

1---为了“改善生活”，减少“依赖”，英国财政部长George Osborne提出了“先期寻找工作”方案。只有当失业者携简历到就业中心，注册网上求职，并开始找工作，他们才有资格领取失业金。此外，他们还应该要每周上报一次（求职进展），而不是两周。还有什么能比这一方案更为合理的呢？

注：【超纲词upfront】  adj.  1. ~ (about sth) not trying to hide what you think or do 诚实直率的 Synonym: HONEST, FRANK 例：He's been upfront about his intentions since the beginning.

2. 先期，提前（付钱）[only before noun] paid in advance, before other payments are made: 例：There will be an upfront fee of 4%.

【超纲词CV】 = record of a person's education and employment (Latin curriculum vitae) 履历（源自拉丁文curriculum vitae）

 

2---More apparent reasonableness followed. There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseeker’s allowance. “Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on.” he claimed. “We’re doing these things because we know they help people stay off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster” Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the better, complete with “reforms” to an obviously indulgent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work, and subsidises laziness. What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for “fundamental fairness” —— protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits.

2---还有更多显然合理的理由。现在，求职者将要等待七天才能拿到津贴。该财政部长声称“（失业）最初的那几天应该花在找工作上，而不是（为了失业金）去进行失业登记”。“我们现在这么做，是因为我们知道这些做法能帮助人们远离救济金，并帮助那些依靠救济金生活的人更快地找到工作。”帮助？真的吗？第一次听的时候，会让人觉得他可是一位心系社会的部长啊，他致力于使人们的生活变得更美好，还要对一个明显具有纵容性的体制进行“改革”，因为该体制对新近失业者找工作的努力程度要求太低，并且助长了（失业者的）惰性。我们认为， 是他对“基本公正”的热忱才促使他要保护纳税者，控制开支，并保证只有那些最需要资助的申请人得到救济金。

注：apparent [əˈpærənt]            a.           1. 表面上的  2. 明显的

1. [作定语] seeming; unreal 表面上的; 假的: Her apparent indifference made him even more nervous. 她表面上若无其事反而使他更加紧张. * Their affluence is more apparent than real, ie They are not as rich as they seem to be. 他们的富有是虚有其表（并非像看上去的那麽阔）.

2. [作表语] clearly seen or understood; obvious 清楚易见或易懂; 明显; 显然: Certain problems were apparent from the outset. 有些问题从一开始就是显而易见的. * It became apparent that she was going to die. 很明显她快要死了. * Their motives, as will soon become apparent (ie as you will soon see), are completely selfish. 他们的动机很快就能看出, 完全是自私自利.

 

3---Losing a job is hurting: you don’t skip down to the jobcentre with a song in your heart, delighted at the prospect of doubling your income from the generous state. It is financially terrifying, psychologically embarrassing and you know that support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you are now excluded from the work environment that offers purpose and structure in your life. Worse, the crucial income to feed yourself and your family and pay the bills has disappeared. Ask anyone newly unemployed what they want and the answer is always: a job.

3---失业是件令人难过的事情：你不会心里唱着歌蹦蹦跳跳地去就业中心，开心地指望能从慷慨的政府那里获得双倍收入。失业在财政上让人恐慌，在心理上让人尴尬，而且你知道失业津贴少得可怜，也极难获得。现在没单位要你，你被排除在为你提供生活目标和结构的工作环境之外。更糟糕的是，用来养活你自己和家人，以及支付账单的主要收入也没有了。问任何一个新失业的人，他们想要什么，答案总是：一份工作。

 

4---But in Osborneland, your first instinct is to fall into dependency —— permanent dependency if you can get it —— supported by a state only too ready to indulge your falsehood. It is as though 20 years of ever-tougher reforms of the job search and benefit administration system never happened. The principle of British welfare is no longer that you can insure yourself against the risk of unemployment and receive unconditional payments if the disaster happens.Even the very phrase “jobseeker’s allowance” is about redefining the unemployed as a “jobseeker” who had no fundamental right to a benefit he or she has earned through making national insurance contributions. Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited “allowance,” conditional on actively seeking a job; no entitlement and no insurance, at £71.70 a week, one of the least generous in the EU.

4---但在Osborne看来，你的第一本能反应是要去依赖 —— 如果可以的话，你想永远依赖 —— 依赖一个随时愿意纵容你撒谎的国家。他的这种看法让人觉得20多年来有关求职和失业金管理制度日益严格的改革好像从来没有发生过似shi的。英国的福利原则不再是确保你能够免受失业的风险，也不再是在灾难发生时能得到无条件资助。就连“求职者津贴”这一称谓也是要将失业者重新定义为“求职者”，这样一来，这些求职者就失去了 领取他们在缴纳了国民保险税后可以得到救济金的这项基本权利。 取而代之的是，申请救助的人收到的只是一份带有时间限制的、欧盟中最吝啬的每周71.7英镑的“补贴”，（要得到该补贴的）前提条件是必须积极找工作而且（期间）没有任何权利和保险。李剑考研阅读

 

注：

一、Osborneland不是指地盘

二、第二句话的It是指代第一句Osborne的看法，所以翻译为他的这种看法。

三、contribution 本质是分担额，但其实是税收。

例句：The benefit is not contingent on National Insurance Contributions.

这种补贴并不是由国民保险分担额决定的。

The planned increase in National Insurance contributions is nothing more than a tax on jobs and it should be abandoned immediately.

提高国民保险税计划的作用仅仅是增加一个新的就业税，应马上放弃。

 

21. George Osborne’s scheme was intended to__________

[A]provide the unemployed with easier access to benefits.

[B]encourage jobseekers’ active engagement in job seeking.

[C]motivate the unemployed to report voluntarily.

[D]guarantee jobseekers’ legitimate right to benefits.

 

22. The phrase “to sign on” (Line 3,Para.2) most probably means__________

[A]to check on the availability of jobs at the jobcentre.

[B]to accept the government’s restrictions on the allowance.

[C]to register for an allowance from the government.

[D]to attend a governmental job-training program.

 

23. What promoted the chancellor to develop his scheme?

[A] A desire to secure a better life for all.

[B] An eagerness to protect the unemployed.

[C] An urge to be generous to the claimants.

[D] A passion to ensure fairness for taxpayers.

 

24. According to Paragraph 3, being unemployed makes one feel__________

[A]uneasy.                    [B]enraged.                  [C]insulted.                         [D]guilty.

 

25.To which of the following would the author most probably agree?

[A]The British welfare system indulges jobseekers’ laziness.

[B]Osborne’s reforms will reduce the risk of unemployment.

[C]The jobseekers’ allowance has met their actual needs.

[D]Unemployment benefits should not be made conditional.