2005年11月三級筆譯實務真題

The Gap between Rich and Poor Widened in U.S. Capital

Washington D.C. ranks first among the 40 cities with the widest gap between the poor and the rich, according to a recent report released by the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute on July 22nd. The top 20 percent of households in D.C. have an average yearly income of $186,830, 31 times that of the bottom 20 percent, which earns only $6,126 per year. The income gap is also big in Atlanta and Miami, but the difference is not as pronounced.

The report also indicates that the widening gap occurred mainly during the 1990s. Over the last decade, the average income of the top 20 percent of households has grown 36 percent, while the average income of the bottom 20 percent has only risen 3 percent.

"I believe the concentration of the middle- to high-income families in the D.C. area will continue, therefore, the income gap between rich and poor will be hard to bridge," David Garrison told the Washington Observer. Garrison is a senior researcher with the Brookings Institution, specializing in the study of the social and economic policies in the greater Washington D.C. area.

The report attributed the persistent income gap in Washington to the area's special job opportunities, which attract high-income households. Especially since the federal government is based in Washington D.C., Government agencies and other government related businesses such as lobbying firms and government contractors constantly offer high-paying jobs, which contribute to the trend of increasing high-income households in the D.C. area. For example, a single young professional working in a law firm in D.C. can earn as much as $100,000 in his or her first year out of law school.

Section 2 Chinese-English Translation (漢譯英) (40 points)

25 年來，中國堅定不移地推進改革開放，社會主義市場經濟體制初步建立，開放型經濟已經形成，社會生產力和綜合國力不斷增強，各項社會事業(yè)全面發(fā)展，人民生活總體上實現(xiàn)了由溫飽到小康的歷史性跨越。從1978年至2003年的25年間，中國經濟年均增長9.4%。25年前，中國年國內生產總值為1473億美元，去年已達到14000多億美元。25年前，中國年進出口貿易總額為206億美元，去年已達到8512億美元。25年前，中國外匯儲備為1.67億美元，去年已達到4033億美元。目前，中國經濟總量居世界第六，進出口貿易總額居世界第四。中國之所以能夠發(fā)生這樣巨大的變化，最關鍵的原因是我們始終堅持走中國特色社會主義道路，始終堅持改革開放，激發(fā)了全體人民的積極性、主動性、創(chuàng)造性。

中國雖然取得了很大的發(fā)展成就，但中國人口多，底子薄，生產力不發(fā)達，發(fā)展很不平衡，生態(tài)環(huán)境、自然資源與經濟社會發(fā)展的矛盾比較突出。雖然中國人均國內生產總值已經突破1000美元，但仍排在世界一百位以后。中國要實現(xiàn)現(xiàn)代化，使全體人民都過上富裕生活，還需要進行長期不懈的艱苦奮斗。

我們已經明確了本世紀頭20年的奮斗目標，這就是全面建設惠及十幾億人口的更高水平的小康社會，到2020年實現(xiàn)國內生產總值比2000年翻兩番，達到4萬億美元，人均國內生產總值達到3000美元，使經濟更加發(fā)展、民主更加健全、科教更加進步、文化更加繁榮、社會更加和諧、人民生活更加殷實。

Section 1 英譯漢 (60分)

美國首都貧富不均情況加重

美國首都獨立研究機構華盛頓特區(qū)財政政策研究院(DC Fiscal Policy Institute)于7月22日公布的一份其最新的研究報告顯示，華盛頓特區(qū)的貧富差距居全美40個大都會區(qū)之冠，20%最富有的家庭其年收入高達$186,830美元，是 20%最貧窮家庭年收入(僅$6,126美元)的31倍。雖然亞大蘭大和邁阿密兩市的貧富差距與華盛頓相當，但其貧富不均的情況卻不如華盛頓明顯。

報告指出，華盛頓特區(qū)貧富差距逐漸加大主要是發(fā)生在90年代。在過去十年中，20%最富有的家庭其年收入增長了36倍，而20%最貧窮家庭的年收入僅僅增加了3倍。

“我認為中高收入家庭過分集中在特區(qū)的情況仍然會持續(xù)下去，在未來十年內貧富鴻溝恐怕難以拉近，”布魯金斯學院(Brookigns Institution)專攻大華盛頓地區(qū)經濟和社會形勢的高級研究員大衛(wèi)·蓋立森(Daivd Garrison)對《華盛頓觀察》周刊說道。

這份報告將華盛頓特區(qū)的貧富鴻溝歸咎于當?shù)靥厥獾墓ぷ鳈C會。而這些工作往往會吸引高收入家庭搬到此地。特別是華盛頓也是美國聯(lián)邦政府的所在地，而聯(lián)邦政府和與政府相關的行業(yè)，如院外游說團體和政府合約承包商等等，不斷提供高薪工作，也使得華府的高收入家庭有不斷增加的趨勢。舉例來說，一個單身的年輕專業(yè)人士從法學院畢業(yè)后，在華府的律師事務所服務第一年的年收入可高達$100,000美元。

“此外，華盛頓特區(qū)也提供高品質的住宅(high-quality housing)，這也是為什么高薪家庭選擇在華府居住的主因之一，”蓋立森分析道，“而一般中低收入家庭，在有余力的情況下，為了孩子能夠上較好的學校而選擇搬離華盛頓特區(qū)，移至分布于馬里蘭州和弗吉尼亞州的住宅區(qū)。”

“在高收入家庭不斷遷移到特區(qū)、中低階層的家庭移出，而最貧窮的家庭又面臨無處，也無力可搬的窘境時，就造成我們現(xiàn)在看到的，貧富懸殊的華盛頓特區(qū)，”蓋立森對《華盛頓觀察》周刊說到。

蓋立森此處所指的華盛頓特區(qū)指的是約有56萬人口的都市(District of Columbia)本身，不包括整個華盛頓大都會區(qū)(Greater Washington Metro Area)，“整個華盛頓大都會區(qū)人口高達500萬人，但低收入戶卻只往華盛頓特區(qū)集中，”他特別解釋道。

“不論我們如何努力吸引商家到華盛頓特區(qū)投資，華府有一部分的低收入家庭就是無法從中受惠，沒有辦法得到特區(qū)獨特的高薪工作機會。”華盛頓市長辦公室發(fā)言人托尼·布拉克(Tony Bullock)說，“貧富差距的背后許多復雜的原因，是不能在一夕之間就改變的。”他言談間頗有對特區(qū)的貧富懸殊無可奈何之嘆。

蓋立森則認為，特區(qū)政府的確應該吸引高收入家庭到特區(qū)居住，因為這樣能夠帶來更多稅收，對市政建設有積極作用。“但同時，特區(qū)政府也應該重視窮人的權益，設立好的學校、提供健全的社會福利等等，這些市政措施都能有效地改善特區(qū)嚴重的貧富不均狀況。”

但蓋立森對未來貧富差距是否真能拉近不是十分樂觀，他尤其對這波經濟復蘇是不是能幫助到窮人保持懷疑的態(tài)度：“布什的減稅方案雖然帶動了美國這波經濟復蘇，有工作的人和富人的確享受到不少好處，但對窮人的幫助雖然不能說是完全沒有，也只能說是不如富人的獲益高，”蓋立森分析道，“美國一般的工薪族(working class)，也就是那些做初級工作、拿最低工資、老老實實繳稅的人，實在沒有從布什的減稅案得到太大益處。”

蓋立森總結說：“美國許多城市并沒有享受到美國經濟好轉所帶來的積極價值，但華盛頓特區(qū)一直以來受到聯(lián)邦政府的庇佑，它貧富懸殊的情況仍然如此嚴重，確實值得深入的研究和檢討。”

Section 2 漢譯英(40分)

Over the past 25 years, China has been firmly pressing ahead with the implementation of the reform program and the initiative of opening up to the outside world. With the establishment of a preliminary socialist market economy, and the nation’s economy attaining an outward-oriented perspective, the productive forces and the comprehensive national competence have been on the rising curve constantly. And various social undertakings have been developing in full swing. The living standard of the Chinese people as a whole has undergone a historical leap from a subsistence level to the level of moderate prosperity.

In the 25 years between 1978 and 2003, the annual growth rate of China's economy was running at an average of 9.4 percent, with its GDP jumping from 147.3 billion US dollars to over 1.4 trillion US dollars.

25 years ago, China’s foreign trade value and foreign exchange reserves each stood at 20.6 billion and 167 million in US dollars, but last year they shot up to 851.2 billion US dollars and 403.3 billion US dollars respectively. China has now become the sixth largest economy and the fourth largest trader in the world.

The tremendous changes in China are attributed to the fact that we have adhered to the path of building socialism with Chinese characteristics and persevered in our reform and opening endeavors, which brought into full play the Chinese people's initiative, enthusiasm and creativeness.

Though China has scored impressive achievements in its development, we must not lose sight of our problems: overpopulation, a weak economic foundation, underdeveloped productivity, highly uneven development, and the fairly sharp contradictions between the country's ecological environment and natural resources on the one hand and its economic and social development on the other.

China's per capita GDP, though reaching the record high of 1,000 US dollars last year, still ranks well behind the 100th place in the world. To realize China's modernization program and offer all the Chinese people a prosperous life there is yet an uphill battle to fight.

We have already set our vision for the first 20 years of this century, which involves the building of a moderately prosperous society of a higher standard in an all-round way for the benefit of well over one billion Chinese people. By 2020 the GDP will be quadrupled from the figure of 2000 to 4 trillion US dollars, with the per capita level averaging at 3,000 US dollars. By then the nation will be immersed in an ambience of greater social harmony with an improved quality of life for the people, featuring a more developed economy, more sound democracy, more thriving culture and more advanced science and education.