2012年考研英语二阅读 Text 4 原文翻译及答案解析

The great recession may be over, but this era of high joblessness is probably beginning. Before it ends, it will likely change the life course and character of a generation of young adults. And ultimately, it is likely to reshape our politics, our culture, and the character of our society for years.

大萧条可能已经结束，但这个高失业率时代可能才刚刚开始。在它结束之前，它可能会改变一代年轻人的生活轨迹和性格。最终，它可能会在未来的岁月里重塑我们的政治、文化和社会特性。

No one tries harder than the jobless to find silver linings in this national economic disaster. Many said that unemployment, while extremely painful, had improved them in some ways: they had become less materialistic and more financially prudent; they were more aware of the struggles of others. In limited respects, perhaps the recession will leave society better off. At the very least, it has awoken us from our national fever dream of easy riches and bigger houses, and put a necessary end to an era of reckless personal spending.

在这场国家经济灾难中，没有人比失业者更努力地寻找希望。许多人表示，虽然失业极其痛苦，但在某些方面却让他们得到了提升：他们变得不那么物质主义，更加注重财务审慎；他们更了解他人的挣扎。在有限的方面，或许这场衰退会让社会变得更好。至少，它让我们从对轻松致富和更大房子的狂热梦想中醒来，并终结了一个个人挥霍无度的时代。

But for the most part, these benefits seem thin, uncertain, and far off. In The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth, the economic historian Benjamin Friedman argues that both inside and outside the U.S., lengthy periods of economic stagnation or decline have almost always left society more mean spirited and less inclusive, and have usually stopped or reversed the advance of rights and freedoms. Anti-immigrant sentiment typically increases, as does conflict between races and classes.

但在大多数情况下，这些好处似乎微薄、不确定且遥远。在《经济增长的道德后果》一书中，经济历史学家本杰明·弗里德曼认为，无论是在美国国内还是国外，长时间的经济停滞或衰退几乎总是使社会变得更加刻薄、更不包容，并通常会停止或逆转权利与自由的进步。反移民情绪通常会增加，种族和阶级之间的冲突也是如此。

Income inequality usually falls during a recession, but it has not shrunk in this one. Indeed, this period of economic weakness may reinforce class divides, and decrease opportunities to cross them — especially for young people. The research of Till Von Wachter, the economist at Columbia University, suggests that not all people graduating into a recession see their life chances dimmed: those with degrees from elite universities catch up fairly quickly to where they otherwise would have been if they had graduated in better times; it is the masses beneath them that are left behind.

在衰退期间，收入不平等通常会下降，但在这次衰退中并未缩小。事实上，这段经济疲软时期可能会加剧阶级分化，并减少跨越阶级的机会——尤其是对年轻人。哥伦比亚大学经济学家蒂尔·冯·瓦赫特的研究表明，并非所有在衰退中毕业的人都会看到自己的生活机会黯淡：那些拥有精英大学学位的人能够相当快地赶上他们在更好时期毕业时本应达到的位置；被抛在后面的正是他们之下的大众。

In the Internet age, it is particularly easy to see the resentment that has always been hidden within American society. More difficult, in the moment, is discerning precisely how these lean times are affecting society's character. In many respects, the U.S. was more socially tolerant entering this recession than at any time in its history, and a variety of national polls on social conflict since then have shown mixed results. We will have to wait and see exactly how these hard times will reshape our social fabric. But they certainly will reshape it, and all the more so the longer they extend.

在互联网时代，尤其容易看到美国内部一直隐藏的怨恨情绪。更困难的是，在当下，准确辨别这些经济困难时期如何影响社会特性。在许多方面，美国进入这次衰退时比其历史上任何时候都更具社会包容性，而自那时以来关于社会冲突的各种全国民调显示结果不一。我们将不得不等待和观察这些困难时期将如何重塑我们的社会结构。但它们肯定会重塑，而且持续时间越长，影响越大。

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