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【文章来源】

《大西洋月刊》, 2017-2

链接：https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/02/immigrants-american-inventiveness/515928/

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【参考译文】

Immigrants have helped generate some of America’s most beloved inventions. Alexander Graham Bell, born in Scotland, helped develop the telephone. David Lindquist, a Swede, was the chief engineer at Otis, and pioneered the electric elevator.    

外来移民创造了一些最受美国人喜爱的发明。生于苏格兰的亚历山大·格拉汉姆·贝尔（Alexander Graham Bell）发明了电话。来自瑞典的大卫·林德奎斯特（David Lindquist）曾是奥的斯电梯公司的总工程师，是电梯的先驱者。   

Countries don’t only welcome immigrants because they are good inventors; the best argument for allowing people to migrate from places of conflict or economic malaise might be basic human decency — which is one reason there is so much uproar over President Trump’s executive order limiting immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries. But immigrants are also essential to America’s innovative spirit: Tech companies including Apple, Google, and Facebook filed an amicus* brief protesting that the ban “threatens companies’ ability to attract talent, business, and investment to the United States.”

许多国家欢迎移民的到来不仅是因为他们是伟大的发明家；愿意接受从争端四起、经济萎靡的地方迁移来的人，最大的原因是出于对人类基本尊严的考虑，这也是特朗普的行政命令会引起诸多骚乱的原因。该命令禁止接受来自七个以穆斯林为主的国家的移民。但是，外来移民对美国的创新精神至关重要：包括苹果（Apple）、谷歌（Google）、脸书（Facebook）等科技公司签署提出了一个法庭简报，抗议该禁令“威胁到公司为美国引进人才、业务和投资的能力。”

Immigrants have historically helped boost the ingenuity of some American regions and industries, according to a new paper by the University of Chicago economists Ufuk Akcigit and J, and Harvard Business School’s Tom Nichols. The authors looked at sectors with higher shares of foreign-born inventors between 1940 and 2000, and found that those areas produced more patents and inventions than those with a higher share of native-born inventors. Why count patents? Patents are associated with economic growth: In a separate paper, the authors find that the states with higher shares of patents filed experienced more economic growth than those that were less inventive.

芝加哥大学经济学家乌富克•阿克西吉特（Ufuk Akcigit）、约翰· 格雷格斯比（ohn Grisgsby）、与哈佛商学院的汤姆·尼古拉斯（Tom Nichols）三人合著的一篇论文提到，从历史上看，美国的一些地区和产业在移民的帮助下，发明创造能力激增。三位作者对1940年至2000年内拥有更多国外出生的移民发明家的领域进行研究，发现比起拥有更多本土出生发明家的领域，前者为美国贡献的专利和发明更多。为什么比较专利数？专利与经济增长密切联系：在另一篇论文发现，比起那些缺少创造力的州，拥有较多专利领域的州经济增长更多。

A reduction in the number of immigrants coming into the U.S., then, could affect U.S. growth. “Any lack of innovative capacity will lead to economic growth drying up,” Nichols said. “If a major source of innovation is immigrants, and that source stops, you would be worried about economic growth more generally.”

移居美国的人数下降，会影响美国的经济增长。尼古拉斯认为：“创新能力的缺失将会导致经济增长动力枯竭。如果创新的主要源动力来自移民，若缺少该动力，人们将会对经济发展持有普遍的担心。”

Many leaders, most notably President Trump, have worried about the American economy’s slowing growth numbers. Economists are trying to come up with an explanation for why the U.S.’s gross domestic product isn’t growing at a rate of 3 percent, as it did in the past. Allowing in more immigrants is probably not the answer; the U.S. is now accepting more high-skilled immigrants than it did in the past. But that could change, too, and not just because of the recent ban: Trump has spoken about revamping the H-1B visa program, which allocates visas to skilled foreigners, in a way that could allow in fewer immigrants. The administration doesn’t seem to be aware that any further reductions in immigration could have very real impacts on American innovation. And that could mean less, rather than more, growth, in the U.S. economy.  

美国许多领导人，尤其是特朗普，已经对美国经济放缓的增长数字感到担忧。经济学家试图解释美国国内生产总值增速为何未像往常一样达到3%。吸收更多移民并不是解决方法，美国当前吸收的高技能移民比以往更多。但这种形式也有可能发生改变，不只是因为最近的禁令：特朗普谈及对签发给高技能外国人的H-1B签证进行改革，以接受更少移民。美国政府似乎还未意识到，进一步减少移民可能会为美国的创造发明带来实际冲击，并且会导致美国经济较低的增长，而非较高的增长。

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1. David Lindquist is cited as an example to

[A] show the popularity of inventors in the U.S. （）

[B] exemplify some of America’s inventions. （）

[C] assess the achievements of immigrants. （）

[D] illustrate the contribution by immigrants. （）

 

2. We learn from Paragraph 2 that President Trump’s executive order

[A] incurred criticism. （）

[B] aroused curiosity. （）

[C] provoked outcry. （）

[D] received acclaim. （）

 

3. A major difference between foreign-born inventors and native-born inventors is that

[A] the former contribute more to economic growth. （）

[B] the former are more organized and disciplined. （）

[C] the latter receive more patents for their inventions. （）

[D] the latter take a lead in innovative capacity. （）

 

4. The word “revamping” (Para. 5) is closest in meaning to

[A] sticking with. （）

[B] fixing up. （）

[C] stemming from. （）

[D] taking over. （）

 

5. Despite its efforts, the Trump administration still

[A] dismisses GDP as irrelevant. （）

[B] loses faith in high-skilled immigrants. （）

[C] sets a high age threshold for inventors. （）

[D] fails to realize the real problem. （）

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【试题分析通解】

1. 应选［D］。考查考生把握句间段间关系的能力。

David Lindquist is cited as an example to	文中以David Lindquist为例，目的是
[A] show the popularity of inventors in the U.S.	[A] 说明在美国发明人大受欢迎。
[B] exemplify some of America’s inventions.	[B] 举例说明某些美国的发明。
[C] assess the achievements of immigrants.	[C] 评估外来移民的成就。
[D] illustrate the contribution by immigrants.	[D] 说明移民的贡献。

【思考角度】（1）据专有名词David Lindquist提示，出处定位在第1段。本题看似询问这位发明人的个人信息，实则询问文章的中心主旨。（2）纵观全文，文章中心表达的是：移民对创造性、经济的作用了贡献。据此，选项[D]最佳。

【干扰选项】选项[A]的失误在于“popularity”，“受欢迎”不是本文中心。选项[B]本身是正确的，但不是作者举例的目的所在。选项[C]显然不正确，它是文章没有谈论的内容。

 

2. 应选［C］。考查考生把握重要细节信息的能力。

We learn from Paragraph 2 that President Trump’s executive order	我们从第2段可知，特朗普总统的行政命令
[A] incurred criticism.	[A] 招致了批评。
[B] aroused curiosity.	[B] 引起了好奇。
[C] provoked outcry.	[C] 引起了抗议。
[D] received acclaim.	[D] 受到欢迎。

【思考角度】（1）题干明示出处定位在第2段。该段由两个长句构成。（2）据文意，人们欢迎移民不仅是移民善于发明（第2段：good inventors），而且接受移民也有尊严和体面的考虑（第2段：decency），因此特朗普的禁令引起骚动（第2段：uproar）。（3）此外，科技公司对禁令也提出了抗议（第2段：protesting）。选项[C]是原文“uproar”和“protest”的转述。

【干扰选项】选项[A]的感情色彩是对的，但它不如[C]贴近文意。选项[D]是相反的判断。选项[B]表述过于模糊，不如[C]精准。

 

3. 应选［A］。考查考生把握重要细节信息的能力。

A major difference between foreign-born inventors and native-born inventors is that	在国外出生的发明人和本国出生的发明人之间的主要区别是
[A] the former contribute more to economic growth.	[A] 前者对经济增长的贡献更大。
[B] the former are more organized and disciplined.	[B] 前者组织性和纪律性更强。
[C] the latter receive more patents for their inventions.	[C] 后者由于其发明得到了更多专利。
[D] the latter take a lead in innovative capacity.	[D] 后者在创造能力上一路领先。

【思考角度】（1）据题目顺序，本题出处可定位在第3段，该段话题涉及到国外出身的发明人对美国经济的贡献。尤其是长句的The authors looked at sectors with higher shares of foreign-born inventors between 1940 and 2000, and found that those areas produced more patents and inventions than those with a higher share of native-born inventors理解。（2）据文意，外国出生的发明人创造更多的专利（第3段：more patents, inventions），而下文说“专利和经济有关”（第3段:associated with economic growth）。那么，据此的推测便是[A]的内容。（3）此外，作者在对比两类发明人（国外出生与本国出生）时，比较的焦点是：发明、专利、经济贡献。

【干扰选项】选项[B]中的组织性和纪律性的字眼在文中没有出现。选项[C]错误，很显然，拥有更多专利的是前者。选项[D]失误，其一、原文只讨论专利多寡，未讨论谁领先；其二、创造能力强的应属于前者。

 

4. 应选［B］。考查考生在语境中推测词义的能力。

The word “revamping” (Para. 5) is closest in meaning to	与单词“revamping”（第5段）意思最为接近的是
[A] sticking with.	[A] 坚持；继续。
[B] fixing up.	[B] 修理；改进。
[C] stemming from.	[C] 起源于。
[D] taking over.	[D] 接管。

【思考角度】（1）题干明示出处在第5段。（2）从微观构词分析，前缀“re”表达“再次”。该词的字面含义为“给......换新面；修改”，往往具有消极色彩（如：为了掩饰缺点而做的修改）。（3）从原文句子内容看，But that could change, too, and not just because of the recent ban: Trump has spoken about revamping the H-1B visa program, which allocates visas to skilled foreigners, in a way that could allow in fewer immigrants。情况会所有改变。特朗普已经谈到了“修改”签证计划。选项[B]表达了此意。

【干扰选项】选项[A]正好做出相反的判断，不是坚持不变，而是修正。选项[D]代入，句子是通顺的，但缺乏上下文合理的照应，[D]不是“revamp”的本义。选项[C]若代入，语法不通顺而且上下文意义和不合理。

 

5. 应选［D］。考查考生把握重要细节信息的能力。。

Despite its efforts, the Trump administration still	特朗普政府尽管很努力，但是仍然
[A] dismisses GDP as irrelevant.	[A] 把GDP视为无关紧要的东西。
[B] loses faith in high-skilled immigrants.	[B] 对高技能的移民失去信心。
[C] sets a high age threshold for inventors.	[C] 给发明人树立了年龄门槛。
[D] fails to realize the real problem.	[D] 未能认知到真正的问题。

【思考角度】（1）据题目顺序，本题出处可定位在全文最后一段。题干中的“efforts”指的就是上一个题目中有关“特朗普修正签证计划”（第5段：revamping the H-1B visa program）的内容。（2）那么下文内容便是本题答案所在，即The administration doesn’t seem to be aware that any further reductions in immigration could have very real impacts on American innovation. And that could mean less, rather than more, growth, in the U.S. economy。（3）选项[D]中“fails to realize”对应于上文句子中的“not, aware”；而“the real problem”是“移民减少对美国创新的真正影响（impacts）的”概括。而这个问题（移民的贡献）也是本文的重要话题。

【干扰选项】选项[A]与原文含义不符，原文内容是“经济学家试图解释美国国内生产总值增速缓慢”的原因。选项[C]为无中生有，原文谈论的限制条件是“技能”，而非“年龄”。

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