2017考研英语《经济学人》阅读：美国堕胎问题

　　考研英语阅读百分之八十都出自一些英美报刊杂志The Economist ( 《经济学家》 ), Times( 《时代周刊》等等，所以考生平时做阅读训练的时候可以多看看这些文章，新东方在线也会分享一些出自这些杂志的中英文双语阅读，大家可以看看。下面是关于美国堕胎问题的一篇文章，大家读读看。

2017考研英语《经济学人》阅读：美国堕胎问题

　　Leaders Abortion in America Back in court

　　社论精粹 美国堕胎问题 重返公堂

　　It may poison the 2016 election, but the SupremeCourt should strike down Texas's restrictiveabortion law

　　堕胎问题的争论或许会阻碍2016年大选，但最高法院应该驳回德州的限制堕胎法案

　　AS if next year's presidential election were not shaping up to be contentious enough, theSupreme Court has picked 2016 to issue its most consequential ruling on abortion in 20years.

　　美国明年总统大选的争议似乎还不够，最高法院也来凑凑热闹，竟决定在2016年对堕胎问题做出20年来最重要的裁决。

　　This will add fresh impetus to a cultural battle that has raged, unresolved, on America'snational stage for almost half a century.

　　此举将为堕胎与反堕胎的论战注入新动力，这场文化道德斗争在美国国家政治舞台上活跃了将近半个世纪，愈演愈烈，至今仍悬而未决。

　　That is regrettable.

　　斗争虽令人遗憾，

　　It is also necessary.

　　但也是必要的。

　　At issue is whether a law passed by the Texas legislature called HB2 is constitutional.

　　现在问题的争议点在于德克萨斯州议会通过的一项名为HB2的法案是否符合宪法。

　　The state has piled regulations on abortion clinics with the aim (so far rather successful) ofclosing them down.

　　德州政府针对堕胎诊所颁布了大量政策条规，目的就在于整垮它们(目前战绩相当不错)。

　　The number of such clinics in the state has dropped from 41 in 2012 to 18 at the last count.

　　最新数据显示，德州的堕胎诊所数量由2012年的41间逐渐减至18间。

　　If the court rules next year that HB2 is constitutional, that number will shrink further.

　　如果明年最高法院判定HB2符合宪法条陈，那么诊所的数量将进一步锐减。

　　Other states keen to restrict legal access to abortion would follow suit.

　　其他热衷对堕胎实施法律约束的州将效仿此举。

　　Already there are four that have only one clinic for the whole state, making the legaltermination of a pregnancy a right that exists in theory but not in practice.

　　现在美国已经有四个州全州只有一个堕胎诊所，使得合法终止妊娠这一权利只空于理论，却无实践。

　　A clear majority of Americans have, for decades, told pollsters that abortion should be legal inmost cases.

　　数十年来，绝大多数美国人告诉民意调查者们，在大多数情况下堕胎应该是合法的。

　　More recently, a narrower majority has emerged for outlawing abortion after 20 weeks, withsome exceptions.

　　近来，微弱多数人认为20周以后堕胎违法，特殊情况除外。

　　That position—access to abortion that is legal and unrestricted until late in the secondtrimester, with some restrictions thereafter—is not unlike the compromise reached in othercountries.

　　妊娠中期前堕胎是合法的，不受任何限制的，之后堕胎则有法律约束，这与其他国家在堕胎问题上的折中点是类似的。

　　In more secular Britain abortion is banned after 24 weeks, with exceptions in cases where tocontinue the pregnancy would threaten the life of the mother, or where the child is likely to beseverely disabled.

　　英国更开化，规定怀孕24周以后禁止堕胎，除非继续妊娠会危及母亲生命或胎儿很可能会重度残疾。

　　The Supreme Court itself has already endorsed limitsafter 24 weeks, the point at which a fetus isconsidered to be viable outside the womb, putting itsquarely alongside public opinion.

　　最高法院本身已赞同怀孕24周后禁止堕胎，因为此时胎儿在子宫外可存活。最高法院的态度正好与近来的民意一致。

　　The best way forward would be to pass legislationto this effect.

　　要达到该目的，如今最好的办法就是立法。

　　But there is no chance of that, because the two sides are farther apart than ever, with somepro-choice groups arguing that abortion is an absolute right that cannot be restricted underany circumstances, and their pro-life opponents retorting that all abortions are acts of murder.

　　但这几乎不可能，因为重选择与重生命双方在堕胎问题上的分歧比以往更大。重选择的一方认为堕胎是一种绝对权利，在任何情况下都不能被限制;而重生命的一方则反驳，认为所有的堕胎都是谋杀行为。

　　The shift to the extremes has been most noticeable among Republicans.

　　走极端这种问题在共和党内最为明显。

　　Marco Rubio, who currently looks a good bet to win his party's presidential nomination, is infavour of any law that promises to reduce the number of abortions, even one withoutexclusions for rape or incest.

　　目前最有可能赢得共和党总统提名的马克罗·鲁比奥，支持任何承诺能减少堕胎数量的法律，即使那份法案没有排除强奸和乱伦。

　　In the past four years state legislatures have put in place 231 restrictions on abortions—morethan in the whole of the previous decade.

　　在过去的四年里，州议会已实施了231项限制堕胎的规定，比过去十年加起来的都多。

　　Bill of rights

　　权利法案

　　To make abortion safe, legal and rare remains a good aim for America's laws.

　　使堕胎的安全化、合法化及减少堕胎仍是美国法律追求的目标。

　　But closing legal abortion clinics does nothing for safety, whatever the proponents of theTexan law claim.

　　不管德州堕胎法的支持者怎么说，关闭合法的堕胎诊所对堕胎的安全性没有任何帮助。

　　If such restrictions are adopted more widely, abortion will, in practice, become illegal in manyplaces, leading to the return of dangerous, clandestine procedures.

　　如果更多地区采用这些限制条例，那么堕胎实际上在很多地方将不合法，而那些危险隐秘的堕胎程序将回归，

　　It will not necessarily become rarer.

　　堕胎不一定会更少。

　　Whatever the law, abortions will be carried out.

　　不管法律怎么限制，堕胎总会存在。

　　The appeals court which upheld HB2 earlier this year acknowledged as much when it wrote thatTexans who wanted an abortion could in future drive to New Mexico.

　　今年年初，支持HB2的上诉法院指出，想要堕胎的德州人未来可以开车到新墨西哥州进行，这样的论调也承认了法律限制堕胎的有限作用。

　　Factors other than its legality are more important in lowering the abortion rate.

　　相比堕胎的合法性，其他因素对降低堕胎率的作用更为重大。

　　Between 2002 and 2011—just before some states began to pile on restrictions—America'sabortion rate dropped by 14%, largely because the rate of teenage pregnancy fell.

　　2002年至2011年间，即一些州出台堕胎限制条令之前，美国的堕胎率下降14%，这主要是因为少女怀孕率降低了。

　　That nine unelected justices can do a better job of reflecting what America, in aggregate,favours than thousands of elected politicians in Washington or state capitols—as they did whenruling for gay marriage—is a painful indictment of American politics.

　　总的来说，与华盛顿或州议会选举出的数千名政客相较，最高法院那9名未经选举的法官似乎更能理解与反映美国所推崇的文化。正如在裁决同性婚姻问题时他们的做法一般。那是对美国政治活动的控诉，

　　It is nevertheless true.

　　尽管有点痛苦，却是真的。

　　Despite the reaction it will provoke, the court should strike down HB2.

　　不管会引发什么连锁反应，最高法院都应该驳回HB2。翻译：叶露 校对 戴秀平

　　1.allow to 允许

　　例句:The wallets allow users to buy and sell bitcoinsas well as spend them.

　　用户可以利用这样的钱包来购买、出售比特币，或者用比特币消费。

　　2.more than 超过

　　例句:He had notched up more than 25 victories worldwide.

　　他已赢得了超过25次国际级别赛事的胜利。

　　3.take off 取下

　　例句:Please get ready to warm up and take off.

　　准备发动和起飞。

　　4.learn to 学习

　　例句:Through pattern recognition, they can take complexity and learn to simplify it.

　　通过模式识别，他们能了解复杂性，学会简化它。

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