2015考研英语阅读英文原刊《经济学人》：同性婚姻 势不可挡

　　2015考研英语复习正是强化复习阶段，考研英语阅读在考研英语中占了40分，所以考研英语阅读是英语科目中重要的一项。新东方名师范猛老师曾建议过考研生需要坚持每天泛读10-15分钟的英文原刊。强烈推荐了杂志《经济学人》.杂志中的文章也是考研英语的主要材料来源.希望考研考生认真阅读，快速提高考研英语阅读水平。

　　Gay marriage

　　同性婚姻

　　The gay-marriage juggernaut rolls on

　　同性婚姻势不可挡

　　WHAT do Arkansas and Idaho have in common?Both have rural charm—Idaho's licence plateseven boast of its “Famous Potatoes”. Both vote Republican in presidential elections. And bothhave just legalised gay marriage.

　　美国阿肯色州和爱达荷州有什么相同之处?他们都拥有迷人的田园风光—爱达荷州的汽车牌照甚至还炫耀自己“有名的土豆”。他们都在总统大选中投了共和党人的票，而且都把同性婚姻合法化了。

　　In both states, the decision was made by a judge rather than voters, and could bereversed. But it is getting harder to see same-sex nuptials as an odd new custom confinedto coastal liberal bastions. If the new rules in Arkansas and Idaho stand, that would make it19 states plus Washington, DC that now recognise marriage equality. Over 70 lawsuits, innearly every state that does not yet allow gay marriage, are working their way through thecourts, encouraged by a Supreme-Court ruling last year striking down the federal Defence ofMarriage Act.

　　在这两个州，这个决定都是由法官下的，而不是选举人，而且决定可以被撤销。现在同性恋婚姻已经越来越难以被认为仅仅是局限在沿海自由堡垒的风俗了。如果阿肯色州和爱达荷州的新条例成立的话，这将会使十九个州包括华盛顿承认婚姻平等。如今共有超过七十起分布在几乎所有尚未允许同性婚姻的州的法律诉讼正在通过法庭努力，它们受到了去年最高法院裁决的鼓励，该裁决驳回了“联邦婚姻保护法案”—一项禁止联邦政府承认同性婚姻的法案。

　　It has all happened faster than campaigners dared to hope. In Arkansas, a stateconstitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage passed ten years ago with 75% ofthe vote. Social conservatives were elated, expecting the law to stand indefinitely. But onMay 9th Chris Piazza, a circuit judge in Pulaski County, ruled the ban unconstitutional.

　　事情变化如此之快，而这甚至超过了同性婚姻呼吁者的预期。在阿肯色州，一个禁止同性婚姻的州宪法修正案于十年前获得75%的选票通过。社会保守派人士对此欢欣鼓舞，期待该法案无限期有效。但在5月9号一名普瓦斯基郡的巡回法官克里斯·皮亚萨裁决这个禁令违宪。

　　Religious conservatives were shocked. Mike Huckabee, an ex-governor of Arkansas, called forJudge Piazza to be impeached. Jerry Cox, president of the Arkansas Family Council, said: “The marriage of one man to one woman has been a cornerstone of western civilisation forthousands of years... once people start redefining marriage, there seems to be no place tostop.”

　　宗教保守派都非常震惊。阿肯色州的一名前州政府官员麦克·赫卡比呼吁控告皮亚萨法官。阿肯色州家族委员会的主席杰里·考克斯说：“男人与女人之间的婚姻几千年来都是西方文明的基石…一旦人们开始重新给婚姻下定义，看起来就不会再停止了。”

　　Mr Piazza's ruling opened the door for all 75 counties in the state to issue marriage licencesto gay couples. Most county clerks opted not to, noting that the ruling, confusingly, failed toaddress another state law that banned issuing such licences. But some 450 same-sexcouples queued up in Pulaski and four other counties to get their precious pieces of paper. “We were hopeful that the law would be overturned some day, but we were completelystunned...that it came when it did,” says Barbara Hall, who married her long-time partneron May 12th in the courthouse rotunda. “We already had plans to marry in New York thissummer after a ceremony here in Little Rock, never imagining a day when we could marryhere.”

　　皮亚萨的裁决为该州75个郡打开了给同性情侣颁发婚姻许可证的大门。大部分郡书记官都选择了拒绝听从，指出该裁决令人困惑，未能处理其他禁止颁发此类婚姻许可证的州法律的问题。但有450对同性情侣在普瓦斯基和其它四个郡排队等候以获得那张宝贵的证书。“我们满怀希望，希望有一天州法律可以彻底改变，但是我们非常震惊…在这件事确实发生的时候，”芭芭拉·霍尔说，她于5月12号和她的长期伴侣在法院的圆形大厅中结婚了。“我们已经计划在小岩城的仪式之后就于今年夏天去纽约结婚，我们从未想过还能在这里结婚。”

　　词语解释

　　1.gay marriage 同性恋婚姻

　　About 40 u.s. states have laws banning gaymarriage.

　　美国约有40个州已经立法禁止同性恋婚姻。

　　The ruling puts walker at the forefront of the gaymarriage debate.

　　这项裁决将沃克摆在在同性婚姻辩论的最前端。

　　2.confine to 限于…之内

　　Confine to a small space, as for intensive work.

　　关在一个小的空间里，如为了进行高强度的工作。

　　To confine us to our current path.

　　把我们限制在现在的道路上。

　　3.dare to 敢于

　　The government should dare to be radical.

　　英国政府应该敢于变得激进起来。

　　Do you dare to be a dreamer?

　　你敢于成为一个有梦想的人吗?

　　4.call for 需要;要求

　　A few relatively infrequent situations also call for a semicolon.

　　有几个比较少见的的情况也要求使用分号。

　　Cuadrilla's lancashire plans call for hundreds of wells.

　　而cuadrilla的兰开夏郡计划需要几百口井。

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