2016考研英語最新時文精讀：關于最低工資的討論

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本文推薦的2016考研英語最新時文精讀來自2015年7月《Principles of Economics》，一場關于最低工資(minimum wages)的討論，文章認為“爭取越來越高的最低工資標準”這種趨勢是非常危險的，原因何在?通讀這篇文章，讓我們來一探究竟。

市場存在一條基本的運作定律——“價漲需跌”(when prices rise, demand falls)。時下最低工資的大幅上漲是一場押上了人們未來的賭博。Big rises in minimum wages are a gamble with people's futures.

Modest minimum wages do not seem to sap demand for labour. Truckloads of studies, from both America and Europe, show that at low levels—below 50% of median full-time income, with a lower rate for young people—minimum wages do not destroy many jobs. 適度的最低工資似乎不會消弱勞動力需求。來自美國和歐洲的大量研究表明，在處于低水平時——比全職工作收入中位數低50%，且對年輕人的比率更低——最低工資不會毀掉大量的工作。

By moving towards sharply higher minimum wages, policymakers are accelerating into a fog. Little is known about the long-run effects of modest minimum wages. And nobody knows what big rises will do, at any time horizon. It is reckless to assume that because low minimum wages have seemed harmless, much larger ones must be, too. 通過轉向大幅提高最低工資，決策者正在加速進入一片未知領域。適度的最低工資的長期影響鮮為人知，而且也沒有人知道大幅提高最低工資會對將來做成什么影響。因為低水平的最低工資似乎無害就假設大幅上漲的最低工資必然也無害是魯莽的。

One danger is that a high minimum wage will push some workers out of the labour force for good. A building worker who loses his job in a recession can expect to find a new one when the economy picks up. A cashier with few skills who, following the introduction of a high minimum wage, becomes permanently more expensive than a self-service checkout machine will have no such luck. The British government's defence of its new policy—that a strong economy will generate enough jobs to replace those lost to a higher minimum wage—is disingenuous: the jobs are still lost. 一個危險是，高水平的最低工資將把有些工人永遠趕出勞動力市場。一位在衰退中失去工作的建筑工人能夠在經濟回暖時期望找到一份新工作。一位在高水平的最低工資引入后變得永遠比一臺自助收款機還要貴的低技能工人就不會有這樣的運氣。英國政府關于其新政策——強勁的經濟將產生足夠多的工作來取代因提高最低工資而失去的工作——的辯護是不真誠的：工作仍在流失。

An ever-higher minimum wage will encourage investment in the technology to replace them. Higher minimum wages will also affect workers in tradable sectors such as tourism and manufacturing, where they risk losing ground to foreign competitors. 不斷上漲的最低工資將鼓勵投資于科技，以便取代上述那些人。更高的最低工資還將影響旅游和制造業等存在著輸給外國競爭者風險的貿易部門的工人。

文章最后指出，提高最低工資是一種很差勁的與貧困作斗爭的方法。The irony is that minimum wages are a bad way to combat poverty. 根據測算，只有五分之一的收入福利流向貧困線之下的人群。英國最富有的10%家庭將從最低工資的上漲中獲得比最貧窮的10%家庭更多的好處。通過這篇文章的解讀，我們可以獲得一個明確的觀點，那就是一味地追求最低工資的提高也是有弊端的!有了這一背景知識的了解，再遇到此類文章則可以幫助我們更快的切中主題。小編提醒廣大考生，泛讀的學習也是非常有必要的，要把課余休息時間利用起來，多了解文化背景知識，這對我們考研英語復習大有裨益。祝大家夢想成真!