2015年考研英语二阅读 Text 4 原文翻译及答案解析

Many people talked of the 288,000 new jobs the Labor Department reported for June, along with the drop in the unemployment rate to 6.1 percent, as good news. And they were right. For now it appears the economy is creating jobs at a decent pace. We still have a long way to go to get back to full employment, but at least we are now finally moving forward at a faster pace.

许多人将劳工部报告的六月新增28.8万个就业岗位，以及失业率下降至6.1%，视为好消息。他们是对的。目前看来，经济正在以相当的速度创造就业。我们还有很长的路要走才能恢复到充分就业，但至少我们现在终于在以更快的速度前进。

However, there is another important part of the jobs picture that was largely overlooked. There was a big jump in the number of people who report voluntarily working part-time. This figure is now 830,000（4.4 percent）above its year ago level.

然而，就业形势中另一个重要部分在很大程度上被忽视了。自愿从事兼职工作的人数大幅增加。这一数字目前比一年前高出83万（4.4%）。

Before explaining the connection to the Obamacare, it is worth making an important distinction. Many people who work part-time jobs actually want full-time jobs. They take part-time work because this is all they can get. An increase in involuntary part-time work is evidence of weakness in the labor market and it means that many people will be having a very hard time making ends meet.

在解释与奥巴马医改的关联之前，有必要做一个重要区分。许多从事兼职工作的人实际上想要全职工作。他们接受兼职工作是因为只能得到这样的工作。非自愿兼职工作的增加表明劳动力市场疲软，这意味着许多人将难以维持生计。

There was an increase in involuntary part-time in June, but the general direction has been down. Involuntary part-time employment is still far higher than before the recession, but it is down by 640,000 (7.9 percent) from its year ago level.

六月份非自愿兼职工作有所增加，但总体趋势是下降的。非自愿兼职就业仍然远高于经济衰退前的水平，但比一年前下降了64万（7.9%）。

We know the difference between voluntary and involuntary part-time employment because people tell us. The survey used by the Labor Department asks people if they worked less than 35 hours in the reference week. If the answer is “yes,” they are classified as working part-time. The survey then asks whether they worked less than 35 hours in that week because they wanted to work less than full time or because they had no choice. They are only classified as voluntary part-time workers if they tell the survey taker they chose to work less than 35 hours a week.

我们知道自愿和非自愿兼职就业之间的区别，因为人们告诉我们。劳工部使用的调查会询问人们是否在参考周内工作少于35小时。如果答案是“是”，他们就被归类为兼职工作。然后调查会问他们那周工作少于35小时是因为他们想工作少于全职时间，还是因为他们别无选择。只有当他们告诉调查员他们选择每周工作少于35小时时，他们才被归类为自愿兼职工作者。

The issue of voluntary part-time relates to Obamacare because one of the main purposes was to allow people to get insurance outside of employment. For many people, especially those with serious health conditions or family members with serious health conditions, before Obamacare the only way to get insurance was through a job that provided health insurance.

自愿兼职的问题与奥巴马医改有关，因为其主要目的之一是让人们能在就业之外获得保险。对于许多人，特别是那些有严重健康问题或家庭成员有严重健康问题的人，在奥巴马医改之前，获得保险的唯一途径是通过一份提供健康保险的工作。

However, Obamacare has allowed more than 12 million people to either get insurance through Medicaid or the exchanges. These are people who may previously have felt the need to get a full-time job that provided insurance in order to cover themselves and their families. With Obamacare there is no longer a link between employment and insurance.

然而，奥巴马医改已使超过1200万人通过医疗补助或交易所获得保险。这些人之前可能觉得需要一份提供保险的全职工作来覆盖自己和家人。有了奥巴马医改，就业和保险之间的联系不再存在。