2017考研英語《經濟學人》閱讀：關于開學的戰爭

考研英語來源：新東方網整理 2016-02-26　

Wage negotiations in Argentina

阿根廷的工資談判

Class war

一場關于開學的戰爭

Teachers'unions go out on strike

教師公會舉行罷工

“IT CAN'T be that every annual salary negotiationmakes it a strain just to begin the school year,” said President Cristina Fernández de Kirchnerduring a speech to Congress on March 1st. Yes it can.

“決不能讓每年的薪水談判成為開學的絆腳石”總統克里斯蒂娜·費爾南德斯·基什內爾，在三月一日國會的演講中這樣說到。但事實就是如此。

Strikes this week delayed the start of classes in 19 of Argentina's 24 districts, after provincialunions and governments failed to reach agreements about wage rises. Negotiations betweenthe national government and federal unions, which are meant to set a minimum benchmark forthe provinces, also foundered. With some unions demanding more than 40% hikes, thenational government and Buenos Aires's provincial government, the most influentialnegotiators, offered increases of just 22% and 25.5% this year respectively. The unions calledthe proposals “a provocation”.

由于省工會和政府就漲工資的問題未能達成一致，本周的罷工已使阿根廷24個行政區中，19個行政區推遲了開學時間。中央政府和聯邦公會間的談判，本打算給各省設置最低工資標準，最后也以失敗告終。一些公會要求的上漲幅度超過40%，而中央政府和布宜諾斯艾利斯省政府作為最有影響力的談判者，分別在今年只提供22%和25%的上漲幅度。公會則稱這些提議為“挑釁”。

Tension had been expected.The teachers'unions want salary rises above Argentina's gallopinginflation rate. Since the start of the year the government has devalued the Argentine peso byover 20%, causing inflation expectations to spike. According to Eduardo Levy Yeyati of Elypsis,a consultancy, prices are expected to jump by 32% this year. And now that the governmenthas started publishing more realistic data, it cannot simply pretend the problem of risingprices does not exist.

分歧在人意料之中。教師工會希望工資漲幅超過阿根廷奔騰的通貨膨脹率。從今年年初開始，政府已經將阿根廷比索貶值超過20%，導致通脹預期異常強烈。據一家名為Elypsis的咨詢公司的員工Eduardo Levy Yeyati說，今年物價預期將增長32%。政府已不能簡單的把物價上漲的問題當做不存在，目前正著手出版更真實的數據。

The teachers'unions have a strong hand. In December provincial police squeezed 35-100%pay increases out of their employers. Public-sector employees are not fearful of losing theirjobs. Strikes give unions the power to cause widespread chaos.

教師工會得到強大的幫助。十二月份，省部門的警察已經從政府那里爭取來35%到100%不等的工資漲幅。公共部門的員工并不害怕丟掉工作。罷工引起的廣泛騷動，給予了公會強大的力量。

But the government cannot afford to concede too much ground. The negotiations with theteachers will set a precedent for salary talks with other unions scheduled for later this monthand April. To ensure that inflation does not continue to accelerate, the authorities need tocurb real wages. Budgetary considerations also play their part. According to Economía &Regiones, a research group, if the provinces were to grant 30% raises to their 2m employees,that would double their collective fiscal deficit.

但是政府也不能做太多的讓步。本月晚些時候和四月份亦有跟其他公會就薪水問題進行談判的計劃，與教師的談判會為他們創造先例。為了確保通貨膨脹不會繼續發展，當局需要抑制實際工資水平。預算方面的考慮也發揮著其自身的作用。據一個名為“經濟與區域”的研究小組的研究結果顯示，如果省里將其200萬員工的工資提高30%，其集體財政赤字將翻倍。

That may nonetheless be what happens. In the five jurisdictions that were able to reachaccords, the teachers and the provinces agreed to increases of around 30%. That wouldn't domuch to bring down inflation, but it would at least help keep it from skyrocketing. And it wouldmean the school year can begin.

盡管如此，該發生的還是會發生。在達成一致的五個司法管轄區，教師與省政府同意將工資提高約30%。這雖然對降低通貨膨脹沒什么作用，但至少能幫助通貨膨脹不再繼續暴漲。當然，這也意味著新學年可以開始了。

1.fail to 未能

例句:The movie's special effects fail to dazzle.

這部電影的特效未能出彩。

2.according to 根據

例句:They will swap posts in a year's time, accordingto new party rules which rotate the leadership.

根據輪流擔任領導的新政黨章程，他們在一年后會輪換職位。

3.expect to 期待

例句:If a writer does not go deep among the masses, he cannot expect to turn out goodworks.

當作家而不深入群眾，就不會寫出好作品來。

4.continue to 繼續

例句:We'll continue to fight for a decent standard of living for our members.