2012年北外高翻试题（包括复语）及参考译文

Fifteen years ago at the Fourth World Conference on Women. Governments pledged to advance equality, development and peace for all women everywhere. The landmark Beijing Declaration has had a deep and wide-ranging impact. It has guided policymaking and inspired new national laws. It has sent a clear message to women and girls around the world that equality and opportunity are their inalienable rights.

There are many examples of progress, thanks in large part to the resolute efforts of civil society organizations. A growing number of countries have legislation that
supports sexual and reproductive health and promotes gender equality. 

Nonetheless, much work remains. Maternal mortality remains unacceptably high, too few women have access to family planning, and violence against women remains
a cause for global shame. In particular, sexual violence during conflict is endemic. 

One key lesson of the past decade and a half is the importance of addressing broader discrimination and injustice. Gender stereotyping and discrimination  remain common in all cultures and communities. Early and forced marriage. sexual abuse and trafficking of young women and girls are disturbingly prevalent and, in some areas, on the rise. Whether looking through the lens of poverty. or in times of disaster, we see that women still bear the greatest burden.

Central Bankers: Stop Dithering. Do Something.

Both the American economy and the global economy are facing a familiar foe: policy defeatism. Throughout modern economic history, whether in Western Europe in the 1920s. in the United States in the 1930s, or in Japan in the 1990s, every major financial crisis has been followed by premature abandonment - if not reversal - of the stimulus policies that are necessary for sustained recovery. Sadly: the world appears to be repeating this mistake.

The right thing to do right now is for the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank to engage in further monetary stimulus. Having lowered short-term interest rates, they should buy (or in the case of the Fed, resume buying) significant quantities of government securities to help push down long-term interest rates and encourage investment.

As many have observed. we need to rebalance the economy from imports to exports, from private consumption to savings, from tax breaks to infrastructure rebuilding and from the financial sector to everything else. The process of rebalancing will require movement of capital from older industries and activities to newer ones -that is, investment. Moreover, a lot of what was termed "investment" during the boom years was misallocated - wasted - capital. so many productive projects were ignored.

But investment has been held back because of uncertainty over the economy's future prospects. And the ability to attract investors is being limited by the giant burden of private-sector debt, In other words, a financing problem is inhibiting the restructuring of our economy. Alleviating generalized financing problems and low
investor confidence is precisely what monetary stimulus does. 

Some claim that monetary easing will impede restructuring. But this makes no sense. For all the talk that monetary austerity promotes the "creative destruction" necessary for the economy to recover. it does not work that way.

We need to make full effort to develop social undertakings. Education will remain a priority to steadily raise the level of literacy of the society as a whole. Home spun and forward looking innovation will be boosted to facilitate cutting age changes in key areas and serve further national development. The system and policies aiming at fostering innovation will be improved to pave the way for major breakthroughs in scientific and technologic discoveries. Share of R&D spending in GDP will increase to 2.2% with more effective schemes to commercialize the research outputs. Human capital development will be strengthened to form a vast supply of brain power to help achieve China's modernization program. Cultural reforms will be promoted to explore unchartered territories and meet the public's growing demand for recreational and artistic fulfillment.

I know a Chinese student who came to the United States on a summer exchange program. She told me about the things she found hard to understand about the American family where she had her home stay'. The couple were both lawyers and had four children, all boys but in various stages of schooling from primary to senior high. They had a large house, a yacht and a private jet. Despite the trappings of great wealth, their lifestyle was surprisingly straightforward. For example, the parents went on vacation once. Before their departure, they left in the freezer four equal portions of food for the kids and assigned them specific house chores, mowing the lawn, scrubbing the pool and sprucing up the kitchen or the bathroom. The older boys who found their rations insufficient would have to trade with their younger siblings who could use their surplus supply as bargaining chips to reduce their share of the burden to keep the house proper and clean. I actually think this is a typical American family, but certainly not in the financial sense for its material possessions went way beyond an average household. It is typical because of the underlying social values it represents.

Print books may be under siege from the rise of e-books. but they have a tenacious hold on a particular group: children and toddlers. Their parents are insisting this next generation of readers spend their early years with old-fashioned books. This is the case even with parents who themselves are die-hard downloaders of books onto Kindles, iPads, laptops and phones. They freely acknowledge their digital double standard, saying they want their children to be surrounded by print books. to experience turning physical pages as they learn about shapes, colors and animals. Parents also say they- like cuddling up with their child and a book, and fear that a shiny gadget might get all the attention. Also, if little Joey is going to spit up, a book may be easier to clean than a tablet computer.

As the adult book world turns digital at a faster rate than publishers expected, sales of e-books for titles aimed at children under 8 have barely budged. They represent Jess than 5 percent of total annual sales of children's books, several publishers estimated, compared with more than 25 percent in some categories of adult books. Many print books are also bought as gifts, since the delights of an Amazon gift card are lost on most 6-year-olds.

Like most creatures on earth. humans come equipped with a circadian clock, a roughly 24-hour internal timer that keeps our sleep patterns in sync with our planet At least until genetics. age and our personal habits get in the way. Even though the average adult needs eight hours of sleep per night, there are "short-sleepers," who need far less. and morning people, who, research shows. often come from families of other morning people. Then there's the rest of us. who rely on alarm clocks.

For those who fantasize about greeting the dawn. there is hope. Sleep experts say that with a little discipline (well actually, a lot of discipline), most people can reset their circadian clocks. But it's not as simple as forcing yourself to go to bed earlier (you can't make a wide-awake brain sleep). It requires inducing a sort of jet lag without leaving your time zone. And sticking it out until your body clock resets itself. And then not resetting it again.

To start, move up your wake-up time by 20 minutes a day. If you regularly rise at 8 a.m., but really want to get moving at 6 a.m., set the alarm for 7:40 on Monday. The next day, set it for 7:20 and so on. Then, after you wake up, don't linger in bed. Hit yourself with light. In theory, you'll gradually get sleepy about 20 minutes earlier each night, and you can facilitate the transition by avoiding extra light exposure from computers or televisions as you near bedtime.

But recalibrating your inner clock requires more commitment than many people care to give. For some. it's almost impossible. Very early risers and longtime night owls have a hard time ever changing. Night-shift workers also struggle because they don't get the environmental and social cues that help adjust the circadian clock.

The causes of inequality are many and varied, and may be broadly grouped into three factors. The first is social condition or family background. In China, for example, someone born and bred in the city usually earns a higher income and enjoys better social services. The second is aptitude. The cleverer or stronger ones usually earn more and enjoy better conditions than the lesser endowed. The final one is ambition and diligence. All things being equal, someone who aims higher and works harder often earns more.

Since 1750, the world has seen four industrial revolutions. The first one took place in Britain; and China missed the boat. The second one occurred in the latter half of the 19th century; and China missed the boat. The third one was driven by the revolution in communication technology in the second half of the 20th Century. This time, Chinese leaders realized that it was a historic moment of change, and China caught the wave.

The 21st century is receiving the Fourth Industrial Revolution-the Green Revolution, symbolized by this global move to reduce emission. This time, we hope that China can be the innovator, the leader and driver running head-to-head with the U.S., Europe and Japan. To achieve this, China has to accomplish two things transition from a high carbon economy to a low carbon economy; second, participation in global governance. i.e., to shift its focus from national governance to regional and global governance.