英譯漢部分

The Gap Between Rich and Poor Widened in U.S. Capital

Washington D.C. ranks first among the 40 cities with the widest gap between the poor and the rich, according to a recent report released by the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute on July 22nd. The top 20 percent of households in D.C. have an average yearly income of $186,830, 31 times that of the bottom 20 percent, which earns only $6,126 per year. The income gap is also big in Atlanta and Miami, but the difference is not as pronounced.

The report also indicates that the widening gap occurred mainly during the 1990s. Over the last decade, the average income of the top 20 percent of households has grown 36 percent, while the average income of the bottom 20 percent has only risen 3 percent.

"I believe the concentration of the middle- to high-income families in the D.C. area will continue, therefore, the income gap between rich and poor will be hard to bridge," David Garrison told the Washington Observer. Garrison is a senior researcher with the Brookings Institution, specializing in the study of the social and economic policies in the greater Washington D.C. area.

The report attributed the persistent income gap in Washington to the area's special job opportunities, which attract high-income households. Especially since the federal government is based in Washington D.C., Government agencies and other government related businesses such as lobbying firms and government contractors constantly offer high-paying jobs, which contribute to the trend of increasing high-income households in the D.C. area. For example, a single young professional working in a law firm in D.C. can earn as much as $100,000 in his or her first year out of law school.

"In addition, high-quality housing available in Washington D.C. is one of the main reasons why high-income families choose to live here, while middle and low-income families, if they can afford it, choose to move out of Washington D.C. to the Virginia and Maryland suburbs so that their kids can go to better schools," stated Garrison.

"As rich families continue to move into D.C. and middle and low-income families are moving out, the poorest families are left with nowhere to move, or cannot afford to move. This creates the situation we face now: a huge income gap between the rich and poor."

The Washington D.C. area to which Garrison refers is the District of Columbia city itself, not including the greater Washington metro area. "The greater Washington metro area has a large population of about 5 million, but the low-income households are often concentrated in D.C. proper," Garrison explained.

Tony Blalock, the spokesperson for Mayor Anthony Williams, said resignedly, "No matter what we seem to do to bring investment into the District, a certain population is not able to access the unique employment opportunities there. The gap between the rich and poor is the product of complex forces, and won't be fixed overnight."

Garrison believes that the D.C. government should attract high-income families. By doing so, the District's tax base can grow, which in turn can help improve D.C.'s infrastructure. "But in the meantime, the District government should also take into consideration the rights of the poor, set up good schools for them, and provide sound social welfare. All these measures can alleviate the dire situation caused by income disparity. "

Garrison, however, is not optimistic about the possibility of closing the gap between the rich and poor. He is particularly doubtful that current economic progress will be able to help out the poor. "Bush's tax-cut plan did bring about this wave of economic recovery, and the working professionals and rich did benefit from it. It is unfair to say that the plan did not help the poor at all… it just didn't benefit them as much as it did the rich, " Garrison said. "The working class in America, those who do the simplest work, get paid the least, and dutifully pay their taxes, has not benefited from Bush's tax-cut plan much."

Garrison concludes, "A lot of cities in America did not enjoy the positive impact of the economic recovery. Washington D.C., on the other hand, has always been sheltered by the federal government. The wide gap between rich and poor in the District, therefore, deserves more in-depth study and exploration."

英譯漢參考答案

美國首都貧富不均情況加重

美國首都獨(dú)立研究機(jī)構(gòu)華盛頓特區(qū)財(cái)政政策研究院（DC Fiscal Policy Institute）于7月22日公布的一份其最新的研究報(bào)告顯示，華盛頓特區(qū)的貧富差距居全美40個(gè)大都會區(qū)之冠，20%最富有的家庭其年收入高達(dá)$186,830美元，是20%最貧窮家庭年收入（僅$6,126美元）的31倍。雖然亞大蘭大和邁阿密兩市的貧富差距與華盛頓相當(dāng)，但其貧富不均的情況卻不如華盛頓明顯。

報(bào)告指出，華盛頓特區(qū)貧富差距逐漸加大主要是發(fā)生在90年代。在過去十年中，20%最富有的家庭其年收入增長了36倍，而20%最貧窮家庭的年收入僅僅增加了3倍。

“我認(rèn)為中高收入家庭過分集中在特區(qū)的情況仍然會持續(xù)下去，在未來十年內(nèi)貧富鴻溝恐怕難以拉近，”布魯金斯學(xué)院（Brookigns Institution）專攻大華盛頓地區(qū)經(jīng)濟(jì)和社會形勢的高級研究員大衛(wèi)·蓋立森（Daivd Garrison）對《華盛頓觀察》周刊說道。

這份報(bào)告將華盛頓特區(qū)的貧富鴻溝歸咎于當(dāng)?shù)靥厥獾墓ぷ鳈C(jī)會。而這些工作往往會吸引高收入家庭搬到此地。特別是華盛頓也是美國聯(lián)邦政府的所在地，而聯(lián)邦政府和與政府相關(guān)的行業(yè)，如院外游說團(tuán)體和政府合約承包商等等，不斷提供高薪工作，也使得華府的高收入家庭有不斷增加的趨勢。舉例來說，一個(gè)單身的年輕專業(yè)人士從法學(xué)院畢業(yè)后，在華府的律師事務(wù)所服務(wù)第一年的年收入可高達(dá)$100,000美元。

“此外，華盛頓特區(qū)也提供高品質(zhì)的住宅（high-quality housing），這也是為什么高薪家庭選擇在華府居住的主因之一，”蓋立森分析道，“而一般中低收入家庭，在有余力的情況下，為了孩子能夠上較好的學(xué)校而選擇搬離華盛頓特區(qū)，移至分布于馬里蘭州和弗吉尼亞州的住宅區(qū)。”

“在高收入家庭不斷遷移到特區(qū)、中低階層的家庭移出，而最貧窮的家庭又面臨無處，也無力可搬的窘境時(shí)，就造成我們現(xiàn)在看到的，貧富懸殊的華盛頓特區(qū)，”蓋立森對《華盛頓觀察》周刊說到。

蓋立森此處所指的華盛頓特區(qū)指的是約有56萬人口的都市（District of Columbia）本身，不包括整個(gè)華盛頓大都會區(qū)（Greater Washington Metro Area），“整個(gè)華盛頓大都會區(qū)人口高達(dá)500萬人，但低收入戶卻只往華盛頓特區(qū)集中，”他特別解釋道。

“不論我們?nèi)绾闻ξ碳业饺A盛頓特區(qū)投資，華府有一部分的低收入家庭就是無法從中受惠，沒有辦法得到特區(qū)獨(dú)特的高薪工作機(jī)會?！?華盛頓市長辦公室發(fā)言人托尼·布拉克（Tony Bullock）說，“貧富差距的背后許多復(fù)雜的原因，是不能在一夕之間就改變的。”他言談間頗有對特區(qū)的貧富懸殊無可奈何之嘆。

蓋立森則認(rèn)為，特區(qū)政府的確應(yīng)該吸引高收入家庭到特區(qū)居住，因?yàn)檫@樣能夠帶來更多稅收，對市政建設(shè)有積極作用?！暗瑫r(shí)，特區(qū)政府也應(yīng)該重視窮人的權(quán)益，設(shè)立好的學(xué)校、提供健全的社會福利等等，這些市政措施都能有效地改善特區(qū)嚴(yán)重的貧富不均狀況?！?/p>

但蓋立森對未來貧富差距是否真能拉近不是十分樂觀，他尤其對這波經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)蘇是不是能幫助到窮人保持懷疑的態(tài)度：“布什的減稅方案雖然帶動了美國這波經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)蘇，有工作的人和富人的確享受到不少好處，但對窮人的幫助雖然不能說是完全沒有，也只能說是不如富人的獲益高，”蓋立森分析道，“美國一般的工薪族（working class），也就是那些做初級工作、拿最低工資、老老實(shí)實(shí)繳稅的人，實(shí)在沒有從布什的減稅案得到太大益處?！?/p>

蓋立森總結(jié)說：“美國許多城市并沒有享受到美國經(jīng)濟(jì)好轉(zhuǎn)所帶來的積極價(jià)值，但華盛頓特區(qū)一直以來受到聯(lián)邦政府的庇佑，它貧富懸殊的情況仍然如此嚴(yán)重，確實(shí)值得深入的研究和檢討?！?/p>