英译汉部分

The Gap Between Rich and Poor Widened in U.S. Capital

Washington D.C. ranks first among the 40 cities with the widest gap between the poor and the rich, according to a recent report released by the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute on July 22nd. The top 20 percent of households in D.C. have an average yearly income of $186,830, 31 times that of the bottom 20 percent, which earns only $6,126 per year. The income gap is also big in Atlanta and Miami, but the difference is not as pronounced.

The report also indicates that the widening gap occurred mainly during the 1990s. Over the last decade, the average income of the top 20 percent of households has grown 36 percent, while the average income of the bottom 20 percent has only risen 3 percent.

"I believe the concentration of the middle- to high-income families in the D.C. area will continue, therefore, the income gap between rich and poor will be hard to bridge," David Garrison told the Washington Observer. Garrison is a senior researcher with the Brookings Institution, specializing in the study of the social and economic policies in the greater Washington D.C. area.

The report attributed the persistent income gap in Washington to the area's special job opportunities, which attract high-income households. Especially since the federal government is based in Washington D.C., Government agencies and other government related businesses such as lobbying firms and government contractors constantly offer high-paying jobs, which contribute to the trend of increasing high-income households in the D.C. area. For example, a single young professional working in a law firm in D.C. can earn as much as $100,000 in his or her first year out of law school.

"In addition, high-quality housing available in Washington D.C. is one of the main reasons why high-income families choose to live here, while middle and low-income families, if they can afford it, choose to move out of Washington D.C. to the Virginia and Maryland suburbs so that their kids can go to better schools," stated Garrison.

"As rich families continue to move into D.C. and middle and low-income families are moving out, the poorest families are left with nowhere to move, or cannot afford to move. This creates the situation we face now: a huge income gap between the rich and poor."

The Washington D.C. area to which Garrison refers is the District of Columbia city itself, not including the greater Washington metro area. "The greater Washington metro area has a large population of about 5 million, but the low-income households are often concentrated in D.C. proper," Garrison explained.

Tony Blalock, the spokesperson for Mayor Anthony Williams, said resignedly, "No matter what we seem to do to bring investment into the District, a certain population is not able to access the unique employment opportunities there. The gap between the rich and poor is the product of complex forces, and won't be fixed overnight."

Garrison believes that the D.C. government should attract high-income families. By doing so, the District's tax base can grow, which in turn can help improve D.C.'s infrastructure. "But in the meantime, the District government should also take into consideration the rights of the poor, set up good schools for them, and provide sound social welfare. All these measures can alleviate the dire situation caused by income disparity. "

Garrison, however, is not optimistic about the possibility of closing the gap between the rich and poor. He is particularly doubtful that current economic progress will be able to help out the poor. "Bush's tax-cut plan did bring about this wave of economic recovery, and the working professionals and rich did benefit from it. It is unfair to say that the plan did not help the poor at all… it just didn't benefit them as much as it did the rich, " Garrison said. "The working class in America, those who do the simplest work, get paid the least, and dutifully pay their taxes, has not benefited from Bush's tax-cut plan much."

Garrison concludes, "A lot of cities in America did not enjoy the positive impact of the economic recovery. Washington D.C., on the other hand, has always been sheltered by the federal government. The wide gap between rich and poor in the District, therefore, deserves more in-depth study and exploration."

英译汉参考答案

美国首都贫富不均情况加重

美国首都独立研究机构华盛顿特区财政政策研究院（DC Fiscal Policy Institute）于7月22日公布的一份其最新的研究报告显示，华盛顿特区的贫富差距居全美40个大都会区之冠，20%最富有的家庭其年收入高达$186,830美元，是20%最贫穷家庭年收入（仅$6,126美元）的31倍。虽然亚大兰大和迈阿密两市的贫富差距与华盛顿相当，但其贫富不均的情况却不如华盛顿明显。

报告指出，华盛顿特区贫富差距逐渐加大主要是发生在90年代。在过去十年中，20%最富有的家庭其年收入增长了36倍，而20%最贫穷家庭的年收入仅仅增加了3倍。

“我认为中高收入家庭过分集中在特区的情况仍然会持续下去，在未来十年内贫富鸿沟恐怕难以拉近，”布鲁金斯学院（Brookigns Institution）专攻大华盛顿地区经济和社会形势的高级研究员大卫·盖立森（Daivd Garrison）对《华盛顿观察》周刊说道。

这份报告将华盛顿特区的贫富鸿沟归咎于当地特殊的工作机会。而这些工作往往会吸引高收入家庭搬到此地。特别是华盛顿也是美国联邦政府的所在地，而联邦政府和与政府相关的行业，如院外游说团体和政府合约承包商等等，不断提供高薪工作，也使得华府的高收入家庭有不断增加的趋势。举例来说，一个单身的年轻专业人士从法学院毕业后，在华府的律师事务所服务第一年的年收入可高达$100,000美元。

“此外，华盛顿特区也提供高品质的住宅（high-quality housing），这也是为什么高薪家庭选择在华府居住的主因之一，”盖立森分析道，“而一般中低收入家庭，在有余力的情况下，为了孩子能够上较好的学校而选择搬离华盛顿特区，移至分布于马里兰州和弗吉尼亚州的住宅区。”

“在高收入家庭不断迁移到特区、中低阶层的家庭移出，而最贫穷的家庭又面临无处，也无力可搬的窘境时，就造成我们现在看到的，贫富悬殊的华盛顿特区，”盖立森对《华盛顿观察》周刊说到。

盖立森此处所指的华盛顿特区指的是约有56万人口的都市（District of Columbia）本身，不包括整个华盛顿大都会区（Greater Washington Metro Area），“整个华盛顿大都会区人口高达500万人，但低收入户却只往华盛顿特区集中，”他特别解释道。

“不论我们如何努力吸引商家到华盛顿特区投资，华府有一部分的低收入家庭就是无法从中受惠，没有办法得到特区独特的高薪工作机会。” 华盛顿市长办公室发言人托尼·布拉克（Tony Bullock）说，“贫富差距的背后许多复杂的原因，是不能在一夕之间就改变的。”他言谈间颇有对特区的贫富悬殊无可奈何之叹。

盖立森则认为，特区政府的确应该吸引高收入家庭到特区居住，因为这样能够带来更多税收，对市政建设有积极作用。“但同时，特区政府也应该重视穷人的权益，设立好的学校、提供健全的社会福利等等，这些市政措施都能有效地改善特区严重的贫富不均状况。”

但盖立森对未来贫富差距是否真能拉近不是十分乐观，他尤其对这波经济复苏是不是能帮助到穷人保持怀疑的态度：“布什的减税方案虽然带动了美国这波经济复苏，有工作的人和富人的确享受到不少好处，但对穷人的帮助虽然不能说是完全没有，也只能说是不如富人的获益高，”盖立森分析道，“美国一般的工薪族（working class），也就是那些做初级工作、拿最低工资、老老实实缴税的人，实在没有从布什的减税案得到太大益处。”

盖立森总结说：“美国许多城市并没有享受到美国经济好转所带来的积极价值，但华盛顿特区一直以来受到联邦政府的庇佑，它贫富悬殊的情况仍然如此严重，确实值得深入的研究和检讨。”

实务汉译英和参考答案

２５年来，中国坚定不移地推进改革开放，社会主义市场经济体制初步建立，开放型经济已经形成，社会生产力和综合国力不断增强，各项社会事业全面发展，人民生活总体上实现了由温饱到小康的历史性跨越。从１９７８年至２００３年的２５年间，中国经济年均增长９．４％。２５年前，中国年国内生产总值为１４７３亿美元，去年已达到１４０００多亿美元。２５年前，中国年进出口贸易总额为２０６亿美元，去年已达到８５１２亿美元。２５年前，中国外汇储备为１．６７亿美元，去年已达到４０３３亿美元。目前，中国经济总量居世界第六，进出口贸易总额居世界第四。中国之所以能够发生这样巨大的变化，最关键的原因是我们始终坚持走中国特色社会主义道路，始终坚持改革开放，激发了全体人民的积极性、主动性、创造性。

中国虽然取得了很大的发展成就，但中国人口多，底子薄，生产力不发达，发展很不平衡，生态环境、自然资源与经济社会发展的矛盾比较突出。虽然中国人均国内生产总值已经突破１０００美元，但仍排在世界一百位以后。中国要实现现代化，使全体人民都过上富裕生活，还需要进行长期不懈的艰苦奋斗。

我们已经明确了本世纪头２０年的奋斗目标，这就是全面建设惠及十几亿人口的更高水平的小康社会，到２０２０年实现国内生产总值比２０００年翻两番，达到４万亿美元，人均国内生产总值达到３０００美元，使经济更加发展、民主更加健全、科教更加进步、文化更加繁荣、社会更加和谐、人民生活更加殷实。

参考译文

Over the past 25 years, China has been firmly pressing ahead with the implementation of the reform program and the initiative of opening up to the outside world. With the establishment of a preliminary socialist market economy, and the nation’s economy attaining an outward-oriented perspective, the productive forces and the comprehensive national competence have been on the rising curve constantly. And various social undertakings have been developing in full swing. The living standard of the Chinese people as a whole has undergone a historical leap from a subsistence level to the level of moderate prosperity.

In the 25 years between 1978 and 2003, the annual growth rate of China's economy was running at an average of 9.4 percent, with its GDP jumping from 147.3 billion US dollars to over 1.4 trillion US dollars.

25 years ago, China’s foreign trade value and foreign exchange reserves each stood at 20.6 billion and 167 million in US dollars, but last year they shot up to 851.2 billion US dollars and 403.3 billion US dollars respectively.

China has now become the sixth largest economy and the fourth largest trader in the world.

The tremendous changes in China are attributed to the fact that we have adhered to the path of building socialism with Chinese characteristics and persevered in our reform and opening endeavors, which brought into full play the Chinese people's initiative, enthusiasm and creativeness.

Though China has scored impressive achievements in its development, we must not lose sight of our problems: overpopulation, a weak economic foundation, underdeveloped productivity, highly uneven development, and the fairly sharp contradictions between the country's ecological environment and natural resources on the one hand and its economic and social development on the other.

China's per capita GDP, though reaching the record high of 1,000 US dollars last year, still ranks well behind the 100th place in the world.

To realize China's modernization program and offer all the Chinese people a prosperous life there is yet an uphill battle to fight.

We have already set our vision for the first 20 years of this century, which involves the building of a moderately prosperous society of a higher standard in an all-round way for the benefit of well over one billion Chinese people. By 2020 the GDP will be quadrupled from the figure of 2000 to 4 trillion US dollars, with the per capita level averaging at 3,000 US dollars. By then the nation will be immersed in an ambience of greater social harmony with an improved quality of life for the people, featuring a more developed economy, more sound democracy, more thriving culture and more advanced science and education.