经济学人:变性学生 洗手间外的孤独与徘徊(2)

 　　One survey in 2014 found that a third of transgender children had skipped class because they feared discrimination.

　　2014年一项研究发现三分之一的跨性别儿童会逃课因为他们害怕被歧视。

　　Bullying² is a big problem, mainly by fellow pupils but sometimes by teachers, too.

　　校园霸凌事件也是一个大问题，他们会受到来自同学，有时甚至是老师的欺辱。

　　Susie Green, the chief executive of Mermaids³, says that around half of schools fail to help pupils when they come out as transgender.

　　美人鱼机构的行政主管苏西·格林说近半数学校无力帮助出柜的跨性别学生。

　　变性学生2.jpg

　　In some cases, teachers refuse to take actions as simple as accepting a new name.

　　在某些情况下，老师们甚至连接受一个新名字那样简单的事也不肯做。

　　In 2010 the Labour government passed an equality act that obliges public and private institutions not to discriminate⁴ against transgender people.

　　在2010年工党政府通过了平等法案，要求公共和私人机构不得歧视变性人。

　　That has led to some improvements.

　　法案的颁布使情势有了改善。

　　Uniforms increasingly have a unisex option.

　　越来越多的工作制服有了中性的选择。

　　New schools tend to be built with cubicle⁵ toilets and changing rooms, rather than communal⁶ ones split by gender¹.

　　新学校也一般修建隔断式卫生间和更衣室，而不是以往那种按照性别划分的公用设施。

　　Whereas America has national debates about toilet use, in Britain discontent rarely spreads beyond local parents.

　　尽管有关厕所的使用问题在美国引起全国性的讨论，但是在英国，除了当地家长，很少有人发牢骚。

　　Still, most schools face up to the issue only when one of their pupils comes out as transgender.

　　不过，大部分学校只在自己的学生作为变性人出柜时才会直面这样的问题。

　　Even when well-meaning, a rushed response can make things trickier⁷.

　　即使是出于善意，一个匆忙的回应也会使问题变得棘手。

　　Teachers are sometimes reluctant to discuss the subject for fear of saying the wrong thing (at St Paul's, pupils came up with a glossary⁸ to help) .

　　老师们有时不太愿意去讨论这个话题，为了避免说错话（在圣保罗，学生们想出用词汇表的方式来提供协助）。

　　Yet, say campaigners, most of the time teachers need only listen to what children want.

　　但是，活动家说，大部分时候老师只需要听听孩子们想要的是什么。

　　1.came up with 提出

　　例句:He came up with what seemed like a clever wheeze⁹.

　　他提出了一个看起来还不错的主意。

　　2.well-meaning 善意的；好心的

　　例句:Even well-meaning attempts at conservation can bring problems.

　　即使是出于善意想开展自然保护也可能会引来麻烦。

　　3.face up to 勇敢面对

　　例句:They argued with him, but he could not face up to reality.

　　他们和他辩论，但是他仍不能正视现实。

　　4.In some cases 在某些情况下

　　例句:In some cases, US industry has lost sight of customer needs in designing products

　　某些情况下，美国工业在产品设计上忽略了客户的需求。

1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 mermaids   

n.（传说中的）美人鱼( mermaid的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The high stern castle was a riot or carved gods, demons, knights, kings, warriors, mermaids, cherubs. 其尾部高耸的船楼上雕满了神仙、妖魔鬼怪、骑士、国王、勇士、美人鱼、天使。 来自辞典例句
• This is why mermaids should never come on land. 这就是为什么人鱼不应该上岸的原因。 来自电影对白

4 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

5 cubicle   

n.大房间中隔出的小室

参考例句：

• She studies in a cubicle in the school library.她在学校图书馆的小自习室里学习。
• A technical sergeant hunches in a cubicle.一位技术军士在一间小屋里弯腰坐着。

6 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

7 trickier   

adj.狡猾的( tricky的比较级 )；（形势、工作等）复杂的；机警的；微妙的

参考例句：

• This is the general rule, but some cases are trickier than others. 以上是一般规则，但某些案例会比别的案例更为棘手。 来自互联网
• The lower the numbers go, the trickier the problems get. 武器的数量越低，问题就越复杂。 来自互联网

8 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。

9 wheeze   

n.喘息声，气喘声；v.喘息着说

参考例句：

• The old man managed to wheeze out a few words.老人勉强地喘息着说出了几句话。
• He has a slight wheeze in his chest.他呼吸时胸部发出轻微的响声。