朱伟老师题源报刊精读课第二课

第2篇-法律类（选自《华盛顿邮报》2012年7月）——P120
Attorney General Eric H.Holder Jr.on Tuesday vowed to be“aggressive”in challenging voting laws that restrict minority rights,using a speech in Texas to make his case on the same day a federal court was considering the legality of the state’s new voter ID legislation.
“Let me be clear:We will not allow political pretexts to disenfranchise American citizens of their most precious rights,”Holder said in the speech to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.“I can assure you that the Justice Department’s efforts to uphold and enforce voting rights will remain aggressive.”
Holder received a standing ovation as the Houston crowd chanted“Stand your ground!”and“Holder,Holder!”But the attorney general’s remarks drew sharp criticism from Republican lawmakers,who characterized the speech as a political tactic aimed at bolstering President Obama’s reelection prospects.
“It’s very telling that instead of making legal arguments in front of the court,the attorney general is making political speeches more than a thousand miles way,”said Lucy Nashed,a spokeswoman for Texas Gov.Rick Perry(R).
The controversy over voting rights is playing out against the backdrop of a growing national debate over the issue.A three-judge panel of the U.S.District Court in Washington is hearing arguments this week on the Texas’s voter ID law,which requires voters to show a photo ID before being allowed to cast their ballots.
The Justice Department in March blocked the Texas law,which was signed by Perry in May2011,contending that it would violate the1965Voting Rights Act and disproportionately harm Hispanic voters.
“Many of those without IDs would have to travel great distances to get them and
battleground state of Pennsylvania.Supporters of the measures—seven of which were signed by Republican governors and one by an independent—say they are needed to combat voter fraud.But critics say the new statutes could hurt turnout among minority voters and others,many of whom helped elect Obama in2008.
In his speech,Holder told the NAACP that the arc of American history has always moved toward expanding the electorate and that“we will simply not allow this era to be the beginning of the reversal of that historic progress.”
The NAACP has launched a campaign against the voter ID laws,and its president,
insult to the rule of law.”
On Tuesday,the second day of the federal trial,the judges heard arguments about the impetus behind the Texas law and how many voters might be disenfranchised by the ID requirement.Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Westfall has said that as many as
1.4million voters could be affected,but a University of Texas statistician testified that the number of voters without an ID was closer to about168,000.
The arguments are expected to continue through this week and are being heard by Rosemary Collyer,appointed in2002by President George W.Bush;David Tatel, appointed by President Bill Clinton in1994;and Robert Wilkins,appointed in2010by Obama.
【词语积累】
ID身份证件pretext n.假象
disenfranchise vt.剥夺(某人)的权利(尤指选举权)
ovation n.热烈欢迎bolster vt.提高panel n.合议庭
contend vt.主张disenfranchise vt.剥夺……的公民权
pre-clearance预检turnout n.出席者the arc of……的弧线electorate n.选区Selma and Montgomery times塞尔玛蒙哥马利时期代指1965年美国民权运动
be infringing on侵犯ineligible adj.不符合资格的felon n.重罪犯undemocratic adj.专横的impetus n.动力
【长难句解析】
【参考译文】
本周四，美国司法部长埃里克·霍尔德在得克萨斯州演讲中宣称，对于限制少数民族权利的选举法，他要采取“激进的”措施来挑战这部法律，希望能在当天受到联邦法院受理，考虑将美国新选举人身份合法化。

“我表明一下我的立场，我们绝对不允许任何人以任何政治的借口，剥夺美国公民宝贵权利。

”霍尔德在全国有色人种协进会的会议上所做的演讲中说道，“我可以向你们保证，美国司法部对于支持和执行投票权的态度将一如既往的积极进取”。

霍尔德表明立场后得到了休斯顿人们支持，市民们向他高呼：“坚持霍尔德！坚持霍尔德！”但是他也受到了共和立法人士尖锐批评，认为他的演讲目的不过是为奥巴马连任鼓吹助阵。

得克萨斯州里克·佩里政府的发言人露西·纳希德说到，“显然，司法部长应该做好本职在法院好好审理法案，而非大费周折千里迢迢去做这样一个政治演讲。

”
投票权争议在全国愈演愈烈。

本周，华盛顿美国地区法院由三名法官组成的合议庭就
此法案要求投票前需要出示自己带照片的身份证明（如身份证，驾照，护照等）后方可投票。

三月份时候司法部拒绝通过这部2011年5月由佩里签署的法案，原因在于司法部认为这部法案会违反1965年颁布的«投票权法案»，同时损坏拉丁裔选民权利。

很多没有身份证的人不得不千里迢迢去补办身份证，有些人为此办理相关手续还支付
了高额费用。

霍尔德周三在全国有色人种协进会的103次会议上谈道，他把这个法律类比成
“人头税”，即过往黑人时代南方各州以此剥夺黑人的权利。

在此法案下，德克萨斯州居民至少需要花费22美元（不包括出生证明复印费）获得身份证，而德克萨斯立法部否决了这部允许居民免费办证的法案。

1在奥巴马政府的领导期间，司法部向美国全国各州的新选民法案发起挑战，其中包括12月份在南加利福尼亚州，该州政府认为：选民身份验证法损害黑人选民权利。

由于得克萨斯州和南加利福尼亚州历史上曾出现选民歧视，因此这两个州必须要先接受司法部的“预
周二，即联邦审批的第二天，法官们在庭上听取了推行德州法案争论意见以及法案可能影响的选民数量。

司法部检察长伊丽莎白·韦斯特福尔预计，受影响选民数达到140万人，而得州大学研究人员称受影响人数接近16.8万。

这些争论预计要持续一周。

三位大法官，分别是2002年由布什总统任命的罗斯玛丽·考利尔、1994年由比尔·克林顿总统任命的大卫·塔特尔和2010年由奥巴马任命的罗伯特·威尔金斯对此事已有所听闻。

第3篇-环境保护（选自《今日美国》2010年5月）——P73
①The ernment is ordering energy giant BP to find less-toxic chemicals to break up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill amid evidence that the dispersants are not effective
oil slick by breaking the crude into tiny droplets that fall beneath the water’s surface.
However,research shows that much of the oil returns to the surface in as little as a few hours,said Merv Fingas,a Canadian researcher and a leading authority on the chemicals.
Dispersants are toxic,and when mixed with oil can become even more dangerous than either the dispersant or oil alone,according to Fingas and EPA data.
Oil treated with dispersants spreads through the water,more readily coming in contact withdelicate fish eggs and other fragile sea dwellers,said Peter Hodson,a specialist in fish toxicology who is director of the School of Environmental Studies at Queen’s University in Kingston,Canada.
“You’ve just added to the toxic cocktail that the ocean has to put up with,”said Silvia Earle,an oceanographer who is“explorer in residence”at the National Geographic Society.
BP will not be able to find an alternative dispersant that is not toxic,according to EPA records.All14of the approved dispersants listed on the agency’s website are toxic to marine life at levels of a few hundred parts per million or less.Tests on all but three of the14indicate they are more toxic after being mixed with oil.
The EPA also began posting test results of water where BP has released dispersants. So far,the“data does not indicate any significant effects on aquatic life,”the agency said.
BP issued a statement saying it had chosen to use Corexit9500because it was available in the large quantities needed to fight the spill,now a month old.The company said it would continue to use only government-approved products.
BP spokesman Scott Dean declined to comment on research showing that the dispersants do not perform as the company has claimed.John Schoen,a spokesman for Nalco,the company that makes Corexit9500,also declined to comment.Though
dispersants have been used for decades,it is difficult to determine their chemical makeup. The companies that make them keep their formulas secret,according to EPA data.
Several scientists said they were surprised that the EPA granted BP permission to use the dispersants on the Gulf floor because their use in deep water had never been tried before.“It’s sort of the act of a desperate man,”Hodson said.“You get the sense they are throwing everything they have at the problem without a lot of scientific backup.”
【词语积累】
BP abbr.英国石油公司(British Petroleum)dispersant n.分散剂
outweigh vt.比……更重要(be)touted as被吹捧为……
detergent n.清洁剂grease n.油脂
put up with忍受oceanographer n.海洋学者aquatic adj.水生的
makeup n.组成backup n.支持
【长难句解析】
落以达到清理水面浮油的目的。

然而，加拿大研究员，化学品领域的权威代表——梅尔夫·芬格丝表示，研究表明大部分被分解的石油会在几小时内返回水面。

据芬格丝的研究及环保署的数据表明，分散剂具有毒性，当其与石油混合后会产生更大的危害，此危害远大于分散剂或者泄露石油自身。

加拿大金斯顿皇后大学环境研究学院主任，鱼类毒理学研究专家——彼得·霍德森表示，清理原油的分散剂经水传播后，更易接触到脆弱的鱼卵及其他海洋生物。

西尔维娅·厄尔——海洋学家和美国国家地理协会驻校探险家，表示:“你加入的有毒混合物让海洋不得不忍受。

”
根据环保署的记录显示，英国石油公司无法找到可替换的无毒分散剂。

在该机构网站上，所列14种经批准可使用的分散剂中，在几百万分之一或更少的程度上，都有害于海洋生物。

在经测试后的14种分散剂中，有3种与石油混合后毒性更大。

环保署也开始公布该石油公司使用分散剂后的水性测验结果。

到目前为止，“数据并未显示对于水生生物有任何明显的影响，”该机构称。

英国石油公司发表声明，称它们已继续选择使用Corexit9500分散剂，因为该分散剂在应对大量石油泄漏上能产生有效作用，且投入使用已有1个月。

该公司表示，将继续使用政府认可的产品。

英石油公司发言人，斯科特·迪安，对分散剂并未如公司声称有效的研究一事拒绝回应或评论。

Nalco公司——负责生产Corexit9500分散剂，该公司发言人约翰·舍恩同样拒绝回应。

尽管分散剂已使用了数十年，仍旧难以确定其化学成分。

根据环保署数据显示，生产这些分散剂的公司都对其配方保密。

环保署允许英国石油公司在墨西哥湾海底使用分散剂，部分科学家对此表示惊讶，因为此前并未在深海区尝试过类似行为。

“这是一种绝望的行为，”霍德森表示，“给你一种错觉——他们对待此问题上倾其所有，却没有寻求更多科学上的支持。

”
第4篇-人口就业类（选自《经济学人》2014年3月）——P38
African businesses are reluctant employers.A given firm in Sub-Saharan Africa typically has24%fewer people on its books than equivalent firms elsewhere,according to a recent paper from the Centre for Global Development(CGD),a think tank based in Washington,DC.Given the links between employment and development,economists want to figure out the reasons for the shortfall.
The study calculates the missing jobs by crunching information on41,000formal businesses globally from a World Bank survey.The data capture only a sliver of what actually happens in Africa:nine in ten workers have an informal job.Shunned by the formal sector,workers turn to below-the-radar employment—toiling on family farms
or otherwise beyond the government’s reach.But a big informal sector makes it harder for Africa to reduce poverty,even when economic growth is strong.Increases in income on the production side of the economy translate weakly into higher wages for workers. Indeed the relationship between economic growth and poverty reduction is weaker in Africa than any other developing region.
Several factors explain African bosses’reluctance to take on new workers.One is that firms tend to be younger than elsewhere,but even older one shave fewer employees. More broadly,Africa’s bure were desperate to dodge the attentions of bureaucrats and thus avoided taking on new workers.
High unit labour costs are also culpable.Employing people in Africa should be cheap,given that many of its countries have rock-bottom income levels.Yet in half of
African countries labour siness climate discourages ernment officials in search of taxes and bribes tend to chase large firms,rather than small ones,says Vijaya Ramachandran of CGD,because they are considered more likely to cough up.The managers of Nigerien and Liberian firms with more than100employees spend14%
aid also contribute to higher real exchange rates because they result in upward pressure on prices for goods and services that are not traded internationally.)
Changing labour-market dynamics could exacerbate the job problem.Some250m people are expected to join the African workforce between2010and2050.In the short
term many will go into farming,which employs65%of the African labour force.The agricultural sector struggles to create enough jobs.In the1990s donors lost interest in using their aid dollars for agricultural investment.Shame:better farming techniques could bring unproductive land into use and help Africa shift into higher-value-added crops.
red tape n.繁文缛节unionisation n.工会化commodity-driven n.商品驱动
curb vt.抑制exacerbate vt.激化
stunted adj.发展受阻碍的
【长难句解析】
【参考译文】
非洲公司的老板不愿意过多雇佣员工。

根据一家总部位于华盛顿特区的智库，即全球发展中心，近期所做的一项调查显示，非洲撒哈拉以南地区的一家公司所登记的员工数量比其他公司的员工数量少24%。

考虑到就业与经济发展之间的联系，经济学家们想要找出产生这一差额的原因。

该项研究通过对全球参与世界银行调查的41000家正规企业的信息进行处理，计算出工作缺口的数量。

对于非洲的实际情况而言，该研究得出的数据仅仅是冰山一角，非洲有90%的劳动者从事的都是非正式工作。

到正规单位求职被拒之后，劳动者会转向其他非正规的就业岗位——在家庭农场辛苦劳作，或在不受政府管理范围的地方工作。

虽然非洲经济增长势头强劲，但规模如此庞大的非正规就业市场对于减少贫困更加不利。

非洲经济生产的增加难以转化为工人薪资待遇的提高。

与其他发展中地区相比，非洲经济增长与减少贫困之间的关系更加微弱。

非洲的老板不愿雇佣更多新员工，这一局面由诸多因素导致。

其一，与其他地区相比，
非洲的公司成立时间较短。

但即便是老公司，雇佣新员工的人数也较少。

更广泛地说，非洲的商业环境阻碍了公司应聘。

寻求税金和贿款的政府官员往往会盯着那些大公司而不是小公司，全球发展中心研究员维贾雅·拉马钱德兰表示，因为大公司更有可能付更多钱。

在尼日利亚和利比亚，公司规模在100名员工以上的经理要比小公司的经理多花40%的时间来应付政府官员。

南非的一项研究表明，南非的老板们不顾一切地躲避官员的注意，并为此避免招聘新员工。

到2020年，新技术的应用可以额外产生600万工作岗位。

但是，农业的进步可以解放劳动力，使其转而投入生产效率更高的领域——如果有工作岗位的话。

②非洲正在逐步推行结构改革，世界银行近期发布的报告显示，在全球商业监管取得最大成效的二十个经济体中，有九个来自非洲撒哈拉以南。

如果不进一步改善劳动力市场，非洲正规就业率的增长仍会停滞不前。