2011年12月四级考试刚刚结束,沪江部落网友竟从英国卫报网站挖出了完形填空的完整原文。网友惊呼:“这么难的题目太坑爹!” 以下是从卫报摘录的完型填空原文:

四级完形填空答案>>

翻译为沪江网原创翻译,转载请注明出处。

Skills shortage is getting worse, bosses warn

Employers fear they will be unable recruit students with the skills they need as the economic recovery kicks in, a new survey reveals.
一项新调查显示,随着经济复苏,企业主们却担心招不到真正有技术的毕业生。

Nearly half of organisations told researchers they were already struggling to find staff with skills in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem), while even more companies expect to experience shortages of employees with Stem skills in the next three years.
近半数的机构告诉研究者他们现在已经很困扰招不到具备理科、工科、机械和数学(统称STEM科目)技术的毕业生。而未来三 年以内,会有更多的公司面临STEM科目技术人才短缺的问题。

The Confederation of British Industry and the vocational qualifications body EDI surveyed 694 organisations across the public and private sectors, which together employ 2.4 million people.
英国工业联盟及职业资格证书数据机构调查了公共及私人领域的694家机构,总共雇佣人数达2400万人。

Half are concerned they will not be able to fill graduate posts in the coming years, while a third said they would not be able to recruit enough employees with the right A-level skills.
一半被调查机构担心明年无法招到足够的人填补毕业生岗位,三分之一的机构称他们招不到有正确技能的高三毕业生。(沪江小 编注:A-level是英国独有的一种教育阶段的名称,时间在大学前,相当于国内的高三或者预科。)

"As we move further into recovery and businesses plan for growth, the demand for people with high-quality skills and qualifications will intensify," said Richard Lambert, director general, CBI.
英国工业联盟局长理查德兰伯特(Richard Lambert)说:“随着经济的复苏、越来越多的商业计划投产,对高技术人才的要求也会更强烈。”

"In the future, people with qualifications in science and maths will be particularly sought after, and firms say it is already hard to find people with the right technical or engineering skills. The new government must make encouraging more young people to study science-related subjects a top priority."
将来,有理科和数学证书的人需求量会很大。很多公司已经表示具备好技术的科技和机械人才非常难找。新政府必须优先 考虑鼓励年轻人学习和科技相关的科目。

Two-thirds of respondents want the new government to do more to promote science and maths in schools, half said funding for Stem subjects in higher education should be protected, and 42% want capable pupils to study all three science subjects as separate GCSEs.
三分之二的被访者希望新政府做出更多措施来推广理科和数学科目在学校的发展。半数的受访者表示高等教育中应设立STEM科 目,而42%的人希望有能力的学生像学习职业资格教育证书那样分开学习全部三门科技相关科目。

Asked what their top priority was, the majority of respondents said they wanted the government to ensure all young people leave university and school with the skills they need to succeed at work.
当被问及各公司最优先考虑的事是什么时,大多数参与者说他们希望政府敦促学生在学校习得真正能帮助他们工作成功的技 巧。

Two thirds said the government should focus on basic literacy and numeracy, 42% wanted more high quality vocational options for students and 46% said raising overall education standards should be a priority.
三分之二的受访者表示政府应该强调基础的文学学习和数字学习,42%的人希望学生能有更多的职业选择,而46%的人 称总体提升整个教育水平才是关键。

The survey found that young people would improve their job prospects if they studied business studies, maths, English and physics or chemistry at A-level. The A-levels that employers rate least are psychology and sociology. And while many employers don't insist on a particular degree subject, a third prefer to hire those with a Stem-related subject.
调查同时发现,年轻人如果在高三阶段就学习过商业、数学、英文、物理或者化学,则更有可能拓展他们职业的选择面。企业 主认为最没有必要的科目是心理学和社会学。尽管很多企业主并不坚持要求雇员有大学学位证,但有三分之一的人更倾向于雇佣专业是和STEM科目相关的学 生。

Starting salaries for science and engineering graduates are among the highest, with only graduate managers and lawyers earning more in their first job. New engineering graduates earn on average £22,000 and new science graduates £21,000 – more than those entering finance, IT, sales or human resources. Graduate employement organisations said salaries needed to be higher still.
除了管理培训生和律师以外,理科和机械专业的学生第一份工作的起薪都是最高的。机械专业的毕业新生平均年薪在22000英 镑(合人民币约22万元),而理科毕业生则是21000英镑(合人民币约21万元)——比金融、IT、销售或人力资源行业都高。毕业手就业组织称,他们的 工资应该更高才对。

"We need to make the careers that require Stem backgrounds much more attractive," said Mike Hill, chief executive of Graduate Prospects. "How can engineering firms compete against the salaries on offer at law and city firms?"
毕业生计划的总执行长麦克希尔(Mike Hill)称:“我们应该把要求STEM相关专业背景的工作做得更具吸引力。不然机械行业公司能提供的工资怎么去和律师行业竞争呢?”

The research highlighted worries about the lack of progress in improving basic skills in the UK workforce. Half of employers expressed worries about employees' basic literacy and numeracy skills, while the biggest problem is with IT skills, where two-thirds reported concerns.
这份研究特别强调了一种担忧,即在英国的职业领域尤其缺乏对改进基础技巧的关注。半数雇主表达了对雇员基本文字技巧 和数字技巧的担忧,而对电脑技巧的担忧更甚:高达三分之二的雇主都如此表示。

Despite the downturn, 72% of employers plan to maintain or increase spending on training and only 28% plan to cut training budgets. In the past year, 18% of organisations have provided remedial literacy and numeracy training for school-leavers, and 22% remedial IT.
但尽管有这些不好的迹象,72%的雇主仍打算维持或增加培训经费,尽有28%的企业计划削减培训开支。在过去一年中,18%的组 织为毕业生提供了文字和数字相关的再培训,22%提供了电脑再培训。

卫报原链接>>

沪江将考后放出2011年12月六级答案及真题信息