考研英语时文阅读

2014黄涛时文阅读(十二)

这是一篇与2013考研英语(一)真题试卷阅读理解Text 4有着类似主题的时文，希望大家认真阅读理解，积累相关背景知识。

It may have taken the Supreme Court just an hour to wrap up its discussion of illegal immigration this week, but America’s politicians, it seems, cannot get enough of the subject. It will be several months before the court rules on the case in question, which concerns a state law in Arizona, but Democratic leaders in the Senate are already planning a vote to overturn its decision if the law is upheld. That vote would presumably fail, thanks to Republican opposition, but it would allow the Democrats to keep the subject in the news. Democrats are also attacking Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, for supporting the law. Mr Romney, meanwhile, has dismissed the whole fuss as an effort to distract Hispanic voters from Mr Obama’s failings as steward of the economy. The outcome of the presidential race, both sides acknowledge, could conceivably hinge on whether it is the state of the economy or laws like Ari zona’s that stir more indignation among Hispanics.

最高法院本周对于非法移民的讨论也许只持续了一个小时，但是美国的政客们看上去从未停止在非法移民这个问题上大做文章。最高法院裁决这个涉及到亚利桑那州州法律的案子还将花上几个月, 但是参议院中民主党的领袖已经在计划, 一旦最高法院判亚利桑那州州法律有效, 就发动一场投票来推翻这一决议。由于参议院中共和党的反对, 这一投票多半会失败, 但民主党却能把这一话题保留在公众视野中。民主党也批评米特·罗姆尼, 因为这位预定的共和党总统竞选人支持这一法律。同时, 罗姆尼认为这整场闹剧只不过是民主党人想借此来分散西班牙裔选民的注意力, 让他们忽视奥巴马总统作为经济守门人的失职。民主共和两党都承认, 经济状态和激起西班牙裔美国人愤慨的亚利桑那州法律, 都可能影响总统大选的结果。

Arizona’s bill, passed in 2010, seeks to discourage illegal immigration by making it a crime under state as well as federal law and by instructing state authorities to be on the lookout for illegal immigrants. Civil-liberties groups worry that this will lead to harassment of anyone with brown skin, even though the law expressly prohibits such “profiling”. There is no easy w ay for the authorities to judge an individual’s immigration status, argue opponents, so many citizens will be subjected to unwarranted checks.

亚利桑那州这一法案于2010年通过,旨在让州法律和联邦法律把非法移民认定为犯罪行为, 并引导州政府密切搜寻非法移民者, 以此来打击非法移民活动。公民自由组织担忧这将给那些古铜色肤色的人带来困扰, 尽管法案中明令禁止"按肤色下定论"。反对者称, 官方鉴定个人的移民身份从来就不是一件容易的事, 所以许多美国公民被迫接受未经批准的检查。

That prospect seemed to concern several justices during the oral arguments on the law before the Supreme Court. Stephen Breyer, for example, fretted about the

possible fate under the law of a jo gger carrying only a driver’s license from New Mexico, a state that borders Arizona and used to issue licenses to illegal immigrants. But the solicitor-general said he was not challenging the law on the grounds that it would discriminate against Latinos. Instead he argued that the law pre-empts the federal government’s power to set immigration policy. Its defenders retort that it aims only to help the federal government fulfill its obligations on immigration, and that only an administration that was deliberately neglecting them could find fault with it.

这件事的可能性, 令几位法官对庭上的案子有所忧虑, 他们有过几番辩论。比如, 根据这项法律, 史蒂芬·拜耳就担心某位从新墨西哥州过来, 身上只带驾照的慢跑者的命运,

因为新墨西哥州毗邻亚利桑那州, 而且曾经给非法移民发放过驾照。但是副检察长则说道, 他反对这项法律并不是基于该法律会歧视拉美裔美国人这一点。相反，他说这项法律夺取了联邦政府制定移民政策的权力。它的辩护者们则反驳, 这项法律只是为了帮助联邦政府履行制定移民政策的义务, 并且只有故意忽视他们的政府才会发现这项法律有问题。

The Supreme Court’s verdict will determine the fate not just of Arizona’s law, but of similar measures in five other states. As successive presidents have promised but failed to tackle the question of America’s 10m-odd illegal immigrants, frustration at the federal government’s inertia has grown, especially among conservative voters. Republican-controlled legislatures in several states have attempted to take matters into their own hands. The need for a crackdown on illegal immigration seems to have become an article of faith among Republican primary voters. The presidential bid of Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, came to grief partly because he had signed a law allowing certain undocumented students to pay the same rates as other state residents at public universities.

最高法院的判决不仅将决定亚利桑那州这一法律的命运, 还将影响其他五个州采取的

类似措施的命运。接连几任总统都承诺解决这一困扰美国超过1000万非法移民的问题, 但都失败了, 因此人们对政府惰性的失望情绪日渐增长, 特别是在保守派的选民中。共和党掌握的几个州的立法机关已经试着处理这件事情。取缔非法移民很有必要, 这似乎在共和党初选选民中成了一种信条。里克·佩里这位德克萨斯州州长的总统竞选之路最终失败, 或许有一部分原因是因为他曾经签署了一项法律, 这项法律允许某些没有正式身份的学生和

本州学生用一样的比例支付公立大学的学费。

Even as the debate about illegal immigration has become shriller, the phenomenon itself has declined. The recession has helped to stem the flow of job-seekers across America’s souther n border. Despite more vigorous policing, the number of people caught trying to cross has declined markedly. This week the Pew Hispanic Centre, a research institute, released a report arguing that Mexicans, who once accounted for most of the illegal influx, are now leaving the country in greater numbers than they are entering it.

尽管对非法移民本身的争论日渐激化, 这种现象本身却在减少。美国经济衰退, 阻止了一大批想跨过美国南方边境来找工作的人。尽管监管越来越严密, 被当场抓住试图穿越国境的人的数量却显著下降。本周一家研究机构, 皮尤西裔研究中心发布了一份报告, 称过去墨西哥人占据了非法移民者中的大多数, 而现在他们离开美国的人数比进入美国的还要多。

Nonetheless Mr Romney cheerfully joined in the denunciation of Mr Perry for his breach of party doctrine. By the same token, when Newt Gingrich, another candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, suggested that illegal immigrants of good character and long standing should be allowed to stay, Mr Romney attacked him too. He argues that life should be made so difficult for illegal immigrants that they will choose, in a horrible phrase, to “self-deport”. Democrats hope that all this will dent Mr Romney’s pros pects among Hispanic voters, many of whom see Republican fulminations against illegal immigration as stony-hearted, if not racist. In a survey conducted last year on behalf of the Pew Hispanic Centre, two-thirds of Hispanic registered voters said they favored the Democrats. Just 20% identified themselves as Republican. In March a Fox News Latino poll found that, in a

head-to-head match-up, Mr Romney would carry just 14% of the Hispanic vote. Earlier polls had found Mr Romney doing better than that, but still considerably worse than the 31% John McCain managed to amass, even while losing in 2008, or the whopping 40% George W. Bush posted in 2004.

尽管罗姆尼兴高采烈得加入到指责佩里的队伍中去, 称佩里违反了共和党的原则, 出

于同样的原因, 罗姆尼也抨击纽特·金里奇, 金里奇也是共和党总统候选提名人之一, 他

曾建议当局应该允许那些遵纪守法居住已久的非法移民留在美国。罗姆尼宣称应该让那些非法移民的日子不好过, 然后用一个可怕的短语来说, 他们就会选择"自我驱逐出境"。民主党希望这一切会抹去西班牙裔美国选民对罗姆尼的希望, 这些人中大多数认为共和党对非

法移民的态度可谓铁石心肠,就快赶上民族主义者了。在一项由皮尤西裔研究中心主导的调查显示, 已登记的西班牙裔美国选民中, 有2/3的人更青睐民主党。只有20%的人认为自己是共和党。三月份福克斯新闻频道对拉丁美洲裔美国人进行的民调显示, 一对一竞选的情况下, 罗姆尼只能拿到西班牙裔选民手中14%的选票。先前的民调显示罗姆尼的表现会比这一数字好一些,但是仍然比起麦凯恩努力获得的31%支持率要差的多, 尽管后者2008年失败了, 更别提小布什2004年获得的40%的极高支持率了。

Hispanics made up 16% of the population in 2010, according to that year’s census. They are a fast-growing group, although a relatively large proportion of them are below voting age and even those eligible to vote are less assiduous about it than Anglos are. But they account for over 20% of the population in several swing states, including Colorado, Florida, Nevada and New Mexico. Democrats hope to make Arizona a swing state this year, thanks both to the 30% Hispanic share of the local population and to the acrimony inspired by the state’s immigration law. A recent poll put Mr Obama within two points of Mr Romney in the state, which has been a Republican stronghold recently-not le ast because of Mr McCain’s candidacy in 2008.

根据2010年的美国人口统计,西班牙裔美国人占美国总人口的16%。这群人人口增长速度很快, 尽管他们当中相对较大比例的人的年龄低于投票年龄, 甚至当中有投票权的人, 对

投票这件事也不如非拉丁裔白人那么积极。但在一些选情摇摆不定的州里, 他们占据了超过总人口数的20%, 这些州包括科罗拉多州, 佛罗里达州, 内华达州和新墨西哥州。民主党希望今年把亚利桑那州变成一个摇摆州, 因为这里西班牙裔美国人占本地人口的30%, 同时这里西班牙裔人对本州的移民法律极其不满。最近的一项民调显示, 奥巴马在亚利桑那州的支持率只落后罗姆尼不到2%, 很大程度上因为麦凯恩2008年竞选总统, 这里直到最近都曾是

共和党的坚垒。

The Romney campaign argues that immigration is not the only point of contention for Hispanic voters. Latinos suffer higher unemployment than the national average, and are more likely to be poor. Their incomes are still lower, on average, than when Mr Obama came into office. Even for Mexican-Americans, who make up nearly two-thirds of America’s Hispanic population and seem particularly suspicious of Mr Romney, immigration reform may matter less than jobs or schools.

罗姆尼竞选团队称移民问题并不是西班牙裔选民的唯一争论点。拉丁美洲裔美国人的失业率一直高于全国水平, 而且也更贫穷。他们的平均收入, 比奥巴马刚掌权的时候还要低。即使是占据了西班牙裔美国人2/3总人口的墨西哥裔美国人, 似乎对于罗姆尼也有所怀疑,因为就业和教育比起移民政策改革更为重要。

Republicans have long tried to find common cause with Latino voters. They point out that, in some respects, Hispanics seem natural conservatives: religious,

hard-working and with close family ties. There is even talk that Mr Romney might bolster his standing among Latinos by picking one as a running-mate-Marco Rubio, a senator from Florida, say, or Susana Martinez, the governor of New Mexico.

共和党一直都在尝试找到和拉丁美洲裔选民的共同目标。他们指出, 在某些方面, 西班牙裔人看上去是天然的保守党: 他们虔诚、勤奋、关心家庭，甚至有这样一种说法, 罗姆尼可能在拉丁美洲裔人里面挑选一位竞选拍档, 想以此来在拉美裔选民中站稳脚跟, 这位拍档可能是佛罗里达州的参议员马可·卢比奥, 也可能是新墨西哥州州长苏珊娜·马丁内斯。 Since the immigration debate has such a nativist tone, however, Democrats are doubtful that Republicans can win over many Hispanic voters. “You can’t do it when at a very baseline level you make American citizens feel unwelcome in their own country,” says Joaquin Castro, a Democratic state representative from San Antonio, Texas. It will not help that in the middle of the campaign the Supreme Court will draw attention once again to the Republicans’ obstreperousness on the issue by ruling on the Arizona law.

因为关于移民问题的争论已带上了非常严重的本土主义色彩, 民主党非常怀疑共和党能争取到许多拉丁裔选民的支持。德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥市的民主党州众议员杰奎因·卡斯特罗说道, "当你让美国公民觉得在自己的国家里不受欢迎, 你已经触及到他们的底线, 这就无法争取他们的选票了"。当选举进行到一半时, 最高法院将对本案宣判, 到时目光将再次聚集在喋喋不休的共和党人上, 这对他们的选情并无帮助。