时代周刊:美国经济复苏的不平等问题(1)

America's unequal economic recovery

美国经济复苏的不平等问题

By Alana Abramson and Abby Vesoulis

文/阿兰娜·艾布拉姆森，艾比·维苏里斯

It was the eve of their oct.2 wedding when Brittany Riley and Peter Golembiewski read the news.

10月2日婚礼在即，布列塔尼·莱利和彼得·戈伦比夫斯基却看到了这样一则新闻。

The Payroll¹ Support Program that Congress passed in March to keep airline workers like them employed during the pandemic had expired.

国会3月份通过的，旨在帮助他们这样的航空公司员工在大流行期间保持就业状态的薪资支持计划到期了。

Golembiewski was furloughed, losing his salary and health care.

戈伦比夫斯基被停职了，工资和医保也没了。

Riley voluntarily accepted a furlough, forgoing² a paycheck to keep her health care.

莱利主动接受了停职安排，放弃了维持自己医保的工资单。

As they started to figure out how they could afford rent on their Denver home and food for their three kids,

就在他们开始盘算如何支付丹佛的房租和三个孩子的食物时，

the couple's anxiety gave way to anger—at Congress, for failing to deliver more economic relief,

这对夫妇逐渐由焦虑变得愤怒了——对国会的愤怒，因为国会未能提供更多的经济救济，

and at officials like President Donald Trump³, for bragging⁴ about the nation's comeback while their industry goes up in flames.

以及对特朗普总统这样的官员的愤怒，因为他们总是吹嘘着美国经济的复苏，而他们的行业却已陷入火海。

"We kept everyone connected and everyone safe, and we tried to do our part as frontline employees," says Riley.

“我们让大家保持了联系，确保了每个人的安全，我们努力做好一线员工的本职工作，”莱利说道。

"Now we're just forgotten."

“现在却被过河拆桥了。”

The newlyweds' predicament embodies⁵ what economists⁶ have decried⁷ as a fundamental failure of Washington's economic recovery strategy:

这对新婚夫妇的困境其实体现了一个被经济学家谴责为华盛顿经济复苏战略的根本性失败的问题：

it has disproportionately helped the rich, amplifying⁸ the nation's existing wealth gap.

这一战略造福的主要是富人阶级，进一步拉大了贫富差距。

While workers like Riley and Golembiewski have lost their jobs,

尽管莱利和戈伦比夫斯基这样的员工失去了工作，

the stock market continued to perform well, benefiting those who had enough assets before the pandemic to invest.

股市的表现却依然良好，大流行之前有盈余资产投资的人群又赚了一笔。

While American billionaires saw their wealth skyrocket by $282 billion from mid-March to mid-April,

从3月中旬到4月中旬，美国富豪阶级的财富飙升了2820亿美元，

according to the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive think tank, more than 22 million Americans lost their jobs during the same time.

进步智库政策研究所的数据显示，然而，同一时期，还有逾2200万美国人失去了工作。

Nearly six months later, the picture remains⁹ dismal¹⁰.

近六个月过去了，形势依然惨淡。

Though the unemployment rate decreased by half a percent from August to September,

尽管八月到九月失业率下降了0.5%，

there are still 11 million fewer jobs than there were in February, as of the September jobs report.

截至9月就业报告出炉，就业岗位仍比2月份少了1100万个。

That's a bigger drop than at the bottom of the Great Recession, and the losses largely fall along racial and gender¹¹ lines.

这一降幅已经超过了大衰退最严重的时期，而且，这一损失跟种族和性别因素一致。

Whereas 7% of white Americans reported being jobless in September,

9月份的就业报告中，美国白人的失业率为7%，

10% of Hispanic Americans and 12% of Black Americans found themselves unemployed¹².

西班牙裔的失业率为10%，而黑人的失业率达到了12%。

1 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

2 forgoing   

v.没有也行，放弃( forgo的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Everything, in short, is produced at the expense of forgoing something else. 总之，每一种东西的生产，都得以牺牲放弃某些其他东西为代价。 来自互联网
• These aren't the only ones forgoing the morning repast, of course. 当然，他们并不是放弃早餐的唯一几个。 来自互联网

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 bragging   

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的现在分词 )；大话

参考例句：

• He's always bragging about his prowess as a cricketer. 他总是吹嘘自己板球水平高超。 来自辞典例句
• Now you're bragging, darling. You know you don't need to brag. 这就是夸口，亲爱的。你明知道你不必吹。 来自辞典例句

5 embodies   

v.表现( embody的第三人称单数 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This document embodies the concern of the government for the deformity. 这个文件体现了政府对残疾人的关怀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 decried   

v.公开反对，谴责( decry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The measures were decried as useless. 这些措施受到指责，说是不起作用。
• The old poet decried the mediocrity of today's writing. 老诗人抨击了现代文体的平庸无奇。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 amplifying   

放大，扩大( amplify的现在分词 )； 增强； 详述

参考例句：

• Often they use borrowed funds, amplifying their gains and losses. 他们通常会用借贷的资金交易，从而放大收益或损失。
• An amplifying type (or analog) device, as opposed to digital device. 放大器类（或模拟）器件，相对于数字器件而言的。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

11 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。

12 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。