2020年考研英语一阅读 Text 3 原文翻译及答案解析

Progressives often support diversity mandates as a path to equality and a way to level the playing field. But all too often such policies are an insincere form of virtue-signaling that benefits only the most privileged and does little to help average people.

进步派人士常将多样性配额视为实现平等和营造公平竞争环境的途径。但此类政策往往沦为一种不真诚的道德表态，仅惠及最特权群体，对普通民众助益甚微。

A pair of bills sponsored by Massachusetts state Senator Jason Lewis and House Speaker Pro Tempore Patricia Haddad, to ensure "gender parity" on boards and commissions, provide a case in point.

由马萨诸塞州参议员杰森·刘易斯和众议院临时议长帕特里夏·哈达德提出的两项法案，旨在确保董事会和委员会中实现“性别平衡”，这便是一个典型案例。

Haddad and Lewis are concerned that more than half the state-government boards are less than 40 percent female. In order to ensure that elite women have more such opportunities, they have proposed imposing government quotas. If the bills become law, state boards and commissions will be required to set aside 50 percent of board seats for women by 2022.

哈达德与刘易斯担忧该州超过半数的政府董事会女性比例低于40%。为确保精英女性获得更多此类机会，他们提议强制推行政府配额。若法案生效，州级董事会和委员会须在2022年前将50%的席位预留给女性。

The bills are similar to a measure recently adopted in Califomia, which last year became the first state to require gender quotas for private companies. In signing the measure, California Governor Jerry Brown admitted that the law, which expressly classifies people on the basis of sex, is probably unconstitutional.

这些法案与加州近期通过的法案相似——该州去年成为首个要求私营企业设置性别配额的州。加州州长杰里·布朗在签署法案时承认，这项明确基于性别进行分类的法律可能违宪。

The US Supreme Court frowns on sex-based classifications unless they are designed to address an "important" policy interest, Because the California law applies to all boards, even where there is no history of prior discrimination, courts are likely to rule that the law violates the constitutional guarantee of "equal protection".

美国最高法院反对基于性别的分类，除非其旨在解决“重要”的政策利益。由于加州法律适用于所有董事会（即使此前无歧视史），法院很可能裁定该法违反宪法的“平等保护”条款。

But are such government mandates even necessary? Female participation on corporate boards may not currently mirror the percentage of women in the general population, but so what?

但这类政府配额真有必要吗？企业董事会中女性比例当前或许未能反映女性在总人口中的占比，但这又有什么关系呢？

The number of women on corporate boards has been steadily increasing without government interference. According to a study by Catalyst, between 2010 and 2015 the share of women on the boards of global corporations increased by 54 percent.

在无需政府干预的情况下，企业董事会中的女性数量一直稳步增长。根据Catalyst的研究，2010至2015年间，全球企业董事会中女性占比增长了54%。

Requiring companies to make gender the primary qualification for board membership will inevitably lead to less experienced private sector boards. That is exactly what happened when Norway adopted a nationwide corporate gender quota.

要求企业将性别作为董事会成员的首要资质，必然导致私营部门董事会资历浅薄。挪威在全国推行企业性别配额时正是如此。

Writing in The New Republic, Alice Lee notes that increasing the number of opportunities for board membership without increasing the pool of qualified women to serve on such boards has led to a "golden skirt" phenomenon, where the same elite women scoop up multiple seats on a variety of boards.

爱丽丝·李在《新共和》撰文指出，在未扩大合格女性候选人池的情况下增加董事会席位机会，导致了“金裙现象”——同一群精英女性包揽多家董事会的多个席位。

Next time somebody pushes corporate quotas as a way to promote gender equity, remember that such policies are largely self-serving measures that make their sponsors feelgood but do little to help average women.

下次若有人鼓吹企业配额是促进性别平等的手段，请记住这类政策本质上多是自利举措，让提案者自我感觉良好，却对普通女性鲜有助益。