中阶经济|第73集：自测版纯净原声

音频一：

We often hear people say that America is a land of opportunity, a country built on hope to aspire the greatness on the American dream. Once upon a time, Americans thought that if they worked hard enough, even in the phase of adversity, they would be rewarded with success.

音频二：

Today’s demographics show that the middle-class is disappearing and now the richest 1% of the population has mastered more wealth than the bottom 90%. And if you ask low-income people what’s the one thing that will change their life, they’ll say “ a full-time job.” That’s all they aspire to.

音频三：

Businesses, in order to boost profits, hire employees as part-time workers only. This means they are paid the lowest legal wage and receive no health care or other benefits provided to full-time employees. The cumulative effect of these two factors is that many Americans are forced to take two or more part-time jobs, just to make ends meet.

重点词汇：

aspire /ə'spaɪə/ vt/vi. 渴望，追求

phase /feɪz/ n. 阶段

adversity /əd'vɜːsɪtɪ/ n. 不幸，逆境 （adverse a.负面的，坏的）

be rewarded with 收到，收获

demographics /demə'græfɪks/ n. 人口统计学

cumulative effect 累计效果

make ends meet 收支平衡

Gini coefficient 基尼系数

Pension /'penʃ(ə)n/ n. 养老金

跟读训练：

一、

We often hear people say that America is a land of opportunity, a country built on hope to aspire the greatness on the American dream.

我们常听人说到，美国是一个机遇之地，是一个建立在对伟大美国梦追求的希望之上的国家。

Once upon a time, Americans thought that if they worked hard enough, even in the phase of adversity, they would be rewarded with success.

曾经，美国人以为，只要他们工作足够努力，即便身处逆境，他们依然可以收获成功。

二、

Today’s demographics show that the middle-class is disappearing and now the richest 1% of the population has mastered more wealth than the bottom 90%.

今天的人口统计学显示，中产阶级正在消失，现在最富裕的1%的人口掌握的财富比底层90%的还多。

And if you ask low-income people what’s the one thing that will change their life, they’ll say “ a full-time job.” That’s all they aspire to.

如果你问低收入人口，一件事会改变他们的生活，他们会说，“全职工作”，这是他们所希望的一切。

三、

Businesses, in order to boost profits, hire employees as part-time workers only. This means they are paid the lowest legal wage and receive no health care or other benefits provided to full-time employees.

企业为了提升利润，只把员工按兼职身份招聘进来。这意味着，他们被支付了最低法定工资，并且没有收到健康或其它的提供给全职员工的福利。

The cumulative effect of these two factors is that many Americans are forced to take two or more part-time jobs, just to make ends meet.

这两个因素的累积效果就是，很多美国人被迫选择两个或更多兼职工作，只为收支平衡。