美国国家公共电台 NPR--The unemployment for young people in China hits a record high in May

The unemployment for young people in China hits a record high in May

Transcript¹

The latest figures show that the unemployment rate for young people, ages 16 to 24, rose to 20.8%. That is more then one in five without a job. What's behind the issue?

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

China has an unemployment problem. The latest figures were published today and they weren't great. Overall, unemployment for May was 5.2%. But for young Chinese, those in the 16 to 24 age range, unemployment hit a record 20.8%. NPR's John Ruwitch investigates why that number is so high.

JOHN RUWITCH, BYLINE²: The Lama temple in Beijing is a labyrinth³ of shrines⁴ and courtyards filled with incense⁵, smoke and people. In one corner, there's a room where a monk⁶ chants prayers and rings a bell.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

RUWITCH: Visitors in batches⁷ of a couple dozen at a time rotate through for a few minutes each. Inside, they hold aloft bracelets⁸ of prayer beads⁹ to get blessed. A lot of the visitors these days are like Rachel Gao and Jose Qiu, who've come from Shanghai.

JOSE QIU: (Through interpreter) We are graduating soon, and we need to find jobs. We're doing this to have a little - how do I say it?

RACHEL GAO: (Through interpreter) Paying money to have someone watch over us.

RUWITCH: Gao and Qiu are graduate students at a top university in Shanghai, studying economics and math. They're in Beijing for an internship¹⁰. And they took half a day off to come to the Lama Temple.

GAO: (Through interpreter) We're considered people with pretty good educations, and we face really heavy employment pressure. So I can't imagine what the pressure is like for undergrads or people from not-so-great schools.

RUWITCH: The pressure is bad. Six months after the government ended strict COVID controls, the economy is still struggling to bounce back. The private sector¹¹ is hobbled by unfavorable policies. And uncertainty¹² about the future is widespread.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

RUWITCH: Young people have been flocking to the Lama Temple from around the country, lining¹³ up for hours to buy prayer beads here, hoping the charmed bracelets can boost their job prospects¹⁴.

GAO: (Through interpreter) Whether you believe in it or not, it's worth a try, right?

WANG DAN: This is definitely an unemployment crisis for Chinese youth.

RUWITCH: Wang Dan is chief economist¹⁵ for China at Hang Seng Bank in Shanghai.

WANG: A lot of the companies in big cities - and they're trying to do restructuring this year. So they don't try to even hire the fresh graduates.

RUWITCH: There are expected to be a record 11.6 million fresh graduates this year, many bringing high expectations to the job market. So the authorities are trying to temper that, encouraging them to think outside the box. In Guangdong province, for instance, the local government wants young people to go into the countryside for work. And state media have been promoting a catchphrase from China's leader, Xi Jinping.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Non-English language spoken).

RUWITCH: (Non-English language spoken) - meaning, seek out your own hardship.

(CROSSTALK)

RUWITCH: For 25-year-old Alex Luo, just landing a job has been a hardship of its own. Luo studied design in college but can't find work in the field. When we meet her at a job fair in Shanghai, she says she's already sent out a few hundred resumes.

ALEX LUO: (Through interpreter) I did hear back from some. But then you talk about salary and benefits and working hours, right? And it often doesn't fit.

RUWITCH: Most of the companies here are looking for sales people. Luo says she'd be fine with that, even though it doesn't have anything to do with what she studied. And that kind of mismatch highlights a potential problem for policymakers, says Jin Keyu, an associate professor at the London School of Economics.

JIN KEYU: You have master's students lining up in cigarette factories or becoming nannies in order to be employed. So that leaves a significant portion of the population and their families quite disgruntled.

RUWITCH: And that, Jin says, could make it harder for the government to address some of China's thorniest¹⁶ long-term challenges.

JIN: Unless their expectations are filled, they're not going to get married, which is a big problem, you know? They might not want to have kids because of the anxiety and the insecurity and the uncertainty. So it leads to a host of present pressing problems.

RUWITCH: More and more college graduates are punting, applying for graduate programs to delay reality a little bit. Back at the Lama Temple in Beijing, Jose Qiu just shakes his head.

QIU: (Through interpreter) In our school, there were more grad students who entered this year than undergrads. So it feels like there's no advantage to getting a graduate degree. The only thing you can do is suck it up and keep on trying.

RUWITCH: And maybe pick up some prayer beads, too.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

RUWITCH: John Ruwitch, NPR News, Beijing.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。

4 shrines   

圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。
• Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。

5 incense   

v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气

参考例句：

• This proposal will incense conservation campaigners.这项提议会激怒环保人士。
• In summer,they usually burn some coil incense to keep away the mosquitoes.夏天他们通常点香驱蚊。

6 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

7 batches   

一批( batch的名词复数 )； 一炉； （食物、药物等的）一批生产的量； 成批作业

参考例句：

• The prisoners were led out in batches and shot. 这些囚犯被分批带出去枪毙了。
• The stainless drum may be used to make larger batches. 不锈钢转数设备可用来加工批量大的料。

8 bracelets   

n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The lamplight struck a gleam from her bracelets. 她的手镯在灯光的照射下闪闪发亮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On display are earrings, necklaces and bracelets made from jade, amber and amethyst. 展出的有用玉石、琥珀和紫水晶做的耳环、项链和手镯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

10 internship   

n.实习医师，实习医师期

参考例句：

• an internship at a television station 在电视台的实习期
• a summer internship with a small stipend 薪水微薄的暑期实习

11 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

12 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

13 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

14 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

15 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

16 thorniest   

adj.多刺的( thorny的最高级 )；有刺的；棘手的；多障碍的

参考例句：

• Paradoxically, the thorniest outstanding issue involves Bolivia. 而荒谬可笑的是，最棘手的国家要事却牵涉到了玻利维亚。 来自互联网