2017考研英语拓展阅读：“探亲法”可以让你获得亲情吗

　　考研英语阅读能力提升需要不断地积累练习，通过多阅读来积累词汇，提升阅读速度，强化把握主旨能力。2017考研复习之初，时间相对充裕，新东方在线建议大家每天多做一些阅读，可娱乐也可增长见闻，还能提升能力。下面一篇文章是关于“探亲法”可以让你获得亲情吗。

2017考研英语拓展阅读：“探亲法”可以让你获得亲情吗

　　Two floors up, you emerge into a small room with a big hospital bed, and in it is Yao Jainguo’s mother in law. She’s in her early 80s. She’s been confined to this space for more than 20 years after a nasty fall.

　　二楼，一个窄间，姚江国(音)的岳母躺在一张大大的病号床上。她今年80多岁了。在一个烦人的秋后，她搬进了这里，自那以后已过了20多年。

　　Mr Yao and his wife care for her 24/7. One does the night shift, the other the day. They have help from a volunteer group who visit, and there is some government assistance too.

　　老姚和他的妻子日夜不停、轮流照顾这位老人，一个白天来，一个晚上来。经常还会有一个志愿者团队来拜访这位老人，老姚他们也得了不少帮助，当地政府也协助他们一起来赡养老人。

　　But it is them - and the porter they hire - that carry her down the steep stairs a few times a year for a trip somewhere nice in Shanghai.

　　但是还是要靠老姚他们(或者他们雇的人)来把老太太搬下楼来，一年里有那么几次到上海风光还不错的地方转转逛逛。

　　The Shanghai government fears that level of commitment is fading.

　　上海政府担心儿女们逐渐地不再赡养老人。

　　It fears the demise of the proud Chinese tradition of filial piety. It fears that a richer generation of children, whose lives are dominated more by their work, will be less inclined to look after their ageing parents.

　　他们担心令中国人引以为傲的传统孝道会逐渐消亡。他们担心更加富裕了的子孙一代将更加不愿意照顾他们年迈的父母，因为他们的生活都被工作所主导了。

　　Shanghai is a vast metropolis. Among its 24 million people is the highest proportion of pensioners of any city in China.

　　上海是一个超级大城市，拥有2400万人口。但与此同时，和全国其他城市相比，上海市领取退休金的老人的比例也最高。

　　Officials here think part of the answer is to force people to care.

　　一些上海政府官员认为，也许可以用强制子女探望父母的办法，来解决目前这一难题。

　　It’s introduced a punishment that strikes at the heart of every Chinese consumer - their credit score.

　　上海市政府引入了一项惩罚机制，直击中国消费者的内心--他们的信用评分。

　　It’s a tool the state uses to deal with a range of wrongdoing: even traffic offences can lead to a worsening credit score.

　　中国使用这一手段来处置一系列不法行为：甚至交通违法也会导致信用评分下降。

　　New rules implemented this month extend a 2013 law which gave elderly parents the right to sue their neglectful children in the courts. Shanghai now has the power to punish the worst offenders by downgrading their credit score.

　　2013年，上海市曾出台一项规定，允许父母起诉疏于探望的子女，而从本月开始实施的这项新规就是在2013年规定上的扩大。通过下调信用评分，上海现在有能力来处罚最恶劣的罪犯。

　　"If the behaviour is harming old people, if it goes past the legal threshold, and if the old people sue and complain about it, then the behaviour will be punished under the law," said Ying Zhigao from the city’s Bureau of Civil Affairs.

　　上海市民政局应志高(音)表示说：“如果子女的行为危害到老人，如果子女的行为没有履行法律规定的义务，如果老人抱怨子女的行为或者要求打官司，那么子女就会因自己的行为而依法受到处罚。”

　　He said this wasn’t a measure aimed at dealing with the ticking time bomb of social care provision in a country where the population is ageing fast.

　　应志高表示，在目前中国老龄化人口快速增加的情况下，这一举措并不能解决日益尖锐的社会关爱问题

　　"We are building on a very strong Chinese tradition of respecting and caring for old people" he said.

　　他说道：“我们的工作有一个强而有力的中国传统做基础，人们尊敬、关爱老年人。”

　　But there is the issue of who will pay.

　　但是问题是，谁来为此买单呢?

　　An ageing population is an issue that much of the world is trying to grapple with. But China has a unique contributory factor: the one-child policy.

　　人口老龄化是世界上许多国家都在试图解决的一个问题。但是中国的情况也许更严重，因为他们面临一个独一无二的因素：独生子女政策。

　　The decades old restriction, which has just been removed, means there are fewer children to do the caring.

　　这一维持了几十年的旧制度(不久前才废除)使得能够赡养老人的子女更少了。

　　Ju Higun was quick to show us the black and white photograph of his son inside the folder where he keeps all his government documents.

　　车海刚(音)向我们展示了他儿子的黑白照片，他把这些照片都保存得很好，和他的政府文件放在一起。

　　The couple see their son once or twice a month. The expansion of Shanghai’s metro network has made it easier he says.

　　老车两口子每个月能见到他们的儿子一两次。他说，上海地铁线路扩张使得他们团聚更方便了。

　　His son also sends money. Mr Ju whips out an envelope and fans out the handful of red 100 yuan ($15; pound 10) notes inside. It goes under the pillow in an instant.

　　老车的儿子也会给他们寄钱来。老车掏出一个信封，从里面倒出一把红灿灿的百元大钞(约合15美元，10英镑)。随后，他又马上把钱藏在了枕头下面。

　　Does he miss his boy? Yes he does.

　　他想儿子吗?是的，他想。

　　He said he wishes they lived together, as three generations of some Chinese families still do, so they could care for each other, like families in this country used to.

　　老车说他希望他们可以住在一起，像其他那些三代同堂的中国家庭一样。那么他们就可以互相关心、照顾，就像中国的家庭以前那样。

来源:BBC 新闻

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