新奇事件簿 女性受经济衰退冲击最严重

It is hardly surprising news, but a new report shows that girls and women are those hit hardest by the global recession. The study is from the organizations Plan International, which is working to reduce child poverty, and the Overseas Development Institute - the UK's leading independent think tank on international development and humanitarian¹ issues. They state that: "The world is failing girls and women." The report's author Nigel Chapman said: "Girls are the largest marginalised group in the world." Mr Chapman added: "Much of the problem lies with 'entrenched² gender³ inequality'." Chapman found that a worsening economy results in females of all ages having to work harder and suffering more domestic abuse.

这个消息不足为奇，但是一份新的报告显示，女孩和妇女是受全球经济衰退影响最严重的人群。这项研究来自致力于缓解儿童贫困的国际计划组织和英国领先的关于国际发展和人权问题的独立智库海外发展研究所。他们表示：“这个世界辜负了女孩和妇女。”该报告作者Nigel Chapman表示：“女孩是世界上被边缘化的最大群体。”Chapman补充说：“问题很大程度上在于根深蒂固的性别歧视。”Chapman发现，不断恶化的经济导致所有年龄段的女性必须更加努力工作，也导致她们遭遇更多家庭暴力。

Mr Chapman's report highlights a tragic⁴ increase in mortality rates for female infants. He told the BBC: "The proportion of baby girls who died when the economy shrank rose five times faster than the proportion of baby boys who died….Hence, a 1% fall in economic output increases infant mortality by 7.4 deaths per 1,000 girls against 1.5 for boys." He paints an equally bleak⁵ picture for girls not being able to complete their education. He reports that the global recession saw a fall in primary school completion for girls of 29% compared to 22% for boys. "Girls get sucked into domestic chores," he said. "Once they stop going to school it's very hard to get back into the rhythm of things."

Chapman的报告指出一个悲惨的事实，女婴死亡率有所增加。他告诉BBC：“经济紧缩时，女婴死亡率比男婴死亡率增长速度快五倍。因此，经济总量每下降1%，女婴夭折率每1000名就增加7.4名，而男婴夭折率每1000名增加1.5名。 ”他为女孩们描绘了一幅不能完成学业的相当凄惨的画面。他报告称，全球衰退导致女孩小学毕业率下降了29%，男孩小学毕业率下降了22%。“女孩们家务缠身。一旦她们辍学，就很难回到正常的轨道。”

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

3 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。

4 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

5 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。