2011公共英語：PETS三級閱讀與翻譯試題訓練1

　　1．Democracy and personal liberty are not limitless, and they are under the control of certain conditions. It is known that in most parts of the world, the relation between population and resources is already unfavorable and will probably become even more unfavorable in the future.

 

     民主和個人自由并非沒有界限，而是受到某些條件的制約。眾所周知，在世界絕大多數(shù)地方，人口和資源的關(guān)系已經(jīng)非常不利，而且將來可能會更加不利。

　　The unbalanced relation between population and resources makes the growing poverty more deteriorat-ing. This growing poverty constitutes a permanent menace to peace. And not only to peace, but also to democratic institutions and personal liberty. For over-population is not compatible with freedom. An unfavor-able relationship between numbers and recourses tends to make the earning of a living almost intolerably difficult. Labor is more abundant than goods, and the individual is forced to work long hours for little pay. The un-friendly nature or the equally unfriendly wielders of po-litical and economic power enable labor to have no sur-plus of accumulated purchasing power.

 

     人口和資源之間不平衡的關(guān)系，使得不斷增長的貧困現(xiàn)象更加惡化。不斷增長的貧困，不僅對世界和平構(gòu)成永久的威脅，而且還對民主設(shè)置和個人自由造成損害。因為過多人口就不能自由地和諧相處。人口數(shù)和資源間的不利關(guān)系，往往使得謀生達到幾乎無法忍受的困難程度。勞動力比商品更加豐富，個人為獲得可憐的工資被迫工作更長的時間。不友善的自然或者同樣不友善的政治、經(jīng)濟權(quán)力的掌控者，使得勞動力沒有剩余的購買力。

　　Democracy is, among other things, the ability to say “no” to the boss. As a man lives in a society confining to a govern-ment, he can’t say “no” to the boss, unless he is sure of being able to eat when the boss’s favor has been with-drawn. And he cannot be certain of his next meal un-less he owns the means of producing enough wealth for his family to live on, or has been able to accumulate sur-plus out of past wages. If he had a chance of moving to virgin territories, where he could make a fresh start, he would be able to say “no” to the boss, but there is no free land.

 

      民主有別于其他事情，是對老板說“不”的能力。作為一個生活在受政府支配的社會中的人，除非他確信沒有政府的恩惠他也能夠吃飽，除非他擁有的財產(chǎn)能足夠滿足家庭生存，或者從過去工資中積累了可觀的剩余，否則是不會對老板說不的。如果他有機會遷到未開墾的疆域，一切可以重新開始，他甘愿對老板說“不”，但世上并沒有自由國。

　　In an overcrowded country, very few people own enough to make them financially independent; very few people are in a position to accumulate purchasing power. Moreover, in any country where population presses hard upon natural resources, the general eco-nomic situation is apt to be so precarious that govern-ment control of capital and labor, production and con-sumption, becomes inevitable. It results that democratic ideals will not work in conditions of poverty and extreme social unrest.

　　在人口過度擁擠的國家，很少人擁有能夠在經(jīng)濟上保持獨立的財產(chǎn)，很少人的購買力能夠不斷增長。而且，在任何國家，如果人口給自然資源帶來巨大壓力，那么，普遍的經(jīng)濟狀況就會趨于不穩(wěn)定，政府對資本、勞動力、生產(chǎn)和消費的控制就不可避免。其結(jié)果是在貧困和極度社會動蕩條件下，民主理念不起作用。