[E364]Pariahs
本文音频及原文摘自杂志The Economist《经济学人》2016年第9期，China版块。
Single parents
Single mothers have a tough time in China. So do their children
Feb 27th 2016 | BEIJING
AFTER more than three decades of often brutal[残忍的;野蛮的,不讲理的] interference by the government in citizens’ reproductive choices, it seemed something of[1] a breakthrough when, in October, it decided to allow all couples to have two children. Previously, many had been limited to just one. Last month there was a further concession: children born in violation of[2] the erstwhile rules would be given the registration document[3] that is needed for everything from getting a place at school to opening a bank account. For children born out of wedlock[4], however, the nightmare of bureaucratic[官僚的;政府的;武断的,专横的] non-recognition[不承认] persists. Attitudes to sex have been changing fast in China, but not the taboo[tə'buː][禁忌;禁止] surrounding extramarital births[5].
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注释
[1]有几分;或多或少有点儿;在某种意义上
[2]违反(违背)
[3]登记文件注册文件
[4]out of wedlock婚外 wedlock (n)婚姻;已婚状况
[5]婚外生育
生词
▷pariah [pə'raɪə]
a who is not by a , because he or she is not , or
为社会所抛弃者；受蔑视的人；不被信任者
▷concession [kən'seʃ(ə)n]
a to or (财产、土地等的)特许权；许可使用权
the to a in a 特许经营权；特许销售权
something which is or given up, often in to end a , or the of or giving this(常指为结束争端而作出的)认可，让与，让步，妥协Both in the made some concessions in yesterday's . 在昨天的谈判中，冲突双方都作了些让步。
▷erstwhile ['ɜːstwaɪl]
; 以前的，先前的；过去的
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The government imposes stringent penalties on the very few unmarried women brave enough to have children. Giving birth requires permission from family-planning authorities[1]. They will not give it without proof of marriage[2]. Violators usually have to pay the equivalent of several years’ working-class income[3].
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注释
[1]计划生育部门
[2]婚姻证明
[3](违法者需要)支付等同于工薪阶层好几年的收入的罚款
生词
▷stringent ['strɪn(d)ʒ(ə)nt]
having a very , or being 严重的；严格的，苛刻的The most stringent in the are there is the will to them.除非能够坚持严格执法，否则即使是世界上最严苛的法律也毫无用处。
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Then there is the problem of registering the child. Until last month it was impossible for many of those born in violation of family-planning rules[1] to get identity papers[2]. Now it is easier, as long as both parents can prove they are related to the child. But a mother who does not know who the baby’s father is, or who cannot convince the father to submit to a DNA test, is out of luck[3]. The child cannot be registered. Hence it cannot obtain other vital documents such as an identity card[4] (essential, not least[5], for travel on long-distance transport).
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注释
[1]计划生育政策
[2]生育证明
[3]be in/out of luck
to be / to have or do what you
能够／未能如愿，运气好／差"Do you have any ?" "You're in luck - there's one ."“你们这里有金枪鱼三明治吗？”“你的运气不错——还有一个。”
[4]身份证
[5]尤其;相当重要地
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To avoid such horrors, some unmarried women leave China in order to have their children. Their babies would then have foreign proof of birth, and a chance of growing up normally abroad.
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Xiao Min, a successful 36-year-old businesswoman who lives in Shanghai, decided to stay put[1]. Her relatives acquiesced to her decision two years ago to have a child even though she had not found a husband. “I’m lucky to have so much support and a career that allows me to hire a full-time nanny[2],” says Ms Xiao. “I do not want to hurry to find someone to marry just so I can have children.”
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注释
[1]呆在原地;留在原来的位置;保持不变
[2]全职保姆
生词
▷acquiesce [,ækwɪ'es]
to or to something, often 默认，默许；勉强同意Reluctantly, he acquiesced to/in the . 虽然很不情愿，他还是默认了这个计划。
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Ms Xiao is also lucky because she managed to persuade a friend to donate his sperm[精子] and enter into a sham marriage[1] with her. Armed with[=provided with] a marriage certificate[2], she had a baby daughter without paying a hefty fine[3], or “social maintenance fee[4]” in official language. (In July, when asked by reporters why single parents were punished this way, a senior family-planning official insisted the fines were needed to maintain “reproductive order”[5].)
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注释
[1]假结婚(fake marriage)
[2]结婚证书
[3]支付高昂罚款
[4]社会抚养费
[5]维持"生育秩序"
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Most women, however, try their best to avoid extramarital births altogether. Abortions[堕胎] are readily available. Those who do not want to terminate their pregnancies[1] are sometimes forced to do so by officials. Mei Fong, a former Beijing correspondent[通讯记者] of the Wall Street Journal who wrote a book about the one-child policy[2], says the cost of raising a child on one’s own is such that it is usually only rich people who try.
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注释
[1]终止妊娠
[2]独生子女政策
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“I want to make my parents happy and I want to have a baby,” says a 30-year-old woman in Beijing who works as a low-paid office assistant[1]. “But if I’m not married and can’t pay the fines, the child would become like a ghost, without legal standing[2]. How could I do that to my own child?”
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注释
[1]低收入办公室助理
[2]法律地位/法律角色
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以上言论不代表本人立场。
摘自《经济学人》杂志，仅外语学习之用。
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