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有很多考生都说考研英语阅读好难，其实只是你看的不够多。经济学人的文章是考研英语中阅读的来源之一，考研的考生们平时可以多看里面的文章，为考研英语阅读打基础。
今天给大家带来的内容是：职场女性的漫漫长路
(本文选自《经济学人》20210515期)
背景介绍：
随着时代的发展，女性就业率不断提高，已经成为社会发展的重要力量，但是面对竞争激烈的现代社会，各种问题、新的矛盾不断呈现，影响和制约了女性的职业发展。现代社会越来越需要女性在职业舞台发挥更大的作用和潜能，但是，由于种种因素的影响，女性在职业发展中仍然面临着重重障碍。
How executive mothers cope
高管妈妈们的生活如何
Women still face barriers to progress at work
女性在职业发展中仍然面临着重重障碍
Betsy Holden was vice-president of strategy and new products at Kraft, a giant food company, when she became pregnant for the second time. “No one has ever done the job with two children,” her male boss worried. “How many children do you have?” Ms Holden asked. “Two,” he replied.
怀上二胎时，贝特西·霍尔顿在食品巨头卡夫公司担任副总裁，负责公司战略和新产品。她的老板(男性)担心地说道：“从来没有养育了两个孩子的人担任副总裁的职位。”霍尔顿问他：“那你有几个孩子。”他回答道：“两个。”
This double standard is only one of the barriers that female executives face, as recounted in “Power Moms”, a new book by Joann Lublin, a former Wall Street Journal columnist. The author focuses on two waves of female leaders. The first group were the baby-boomers, born between 1946 and 1964. These were often the only women in upper management at their firms.
正如《华尔街日报》前专栏作家乔安·卢布林在其新书《厉害的妈妈们》中所述，这种双标只是女性高管面临的种种障碍之一。作者着重对两代女性领导者进行了研究。首先是1946年至1964年出生的婴儿潮一代。她们往往是公司高层中的唯一女性。
They faced a lot of pressure to be hands-on mothers, had little support from their husbands and were reluctant to ask for reduced schedules for fear of not seeming committed to their jobs. The stress for these women was immense, especially as they felt unable to discuss their parenting problems with male colleagues.
她们面临着作为亲力亲为的母亲的巨大压力，几乎得不到丈夫的支持，而且她们不愿意请求减少工作安排，因为担心这样会显得不够恪尽职守。这些女性背负着巨大的压力，尤其是当她们感觉无法与男同事讨论育儿问题时。
The second wave of women, born between 1974 and 1985, had female colleagues in upper management, expected (and usually received) support from their spouses, and benefited from employer perks, such as maternity leave and flexible working.
第二代女性高管出生于1974年至1985年，她们在高管层中有其他女同事，期望(通常也能得到)丈夫的支持，并且能够享受到产假和弹性工作制等雇主给予的福利。
They were able to be more open with colleagues about their parental duties. This later generation has mastered the “work-life sway” in which they move back and forth between their personal and professional lives in the course of a day, conducting a meeting before taking their children for a check-up and then returning to the office.
她们能够更开诚布公地与同事谈论自己作为父母的责任。这代人已经掌握了“工作与生活的平衡之道”，她们每天在个人生活和职业生活之间来回穿梭，先开了会，再带孩子去做检查，然后又回到办公室。
The earlier generation, by blazing the trail, made it easier for those behind them. A Harvard Business School study shows that adult daughters of employed mothers are more likely to hold supervisory responsibility and earn higher incomes while sons are likely to spend more time caring for family members.
前一代女性开辟了道路，让后代女性的路更好走。哈佛商学院的一项研究显示，在职女性的成年女儿更有可能承担管理职责，收入也会更高，而她们的儿子可能会话更多的时间照顾家人。
And companies are now much more willing to promote women, who make up more than a fifth of senior executive positions in American firms, compared with just 10% in 1996.
如今，企业更愿意提拔女性，在美国公司的高管职位中，女性占比超过五分之一，而1996年时这一比例仅为10%。
A few are exceptionally accommodating, for example providing rooms where mothers can express milk, sinks to wash the breast pump and even courier services to deliver the milk when they are away on a business trip.
有些公司还会为女性提供一些福利，比如为母亲们提供挤奶室和清洗吸奶器的水池，甚至还会在她们出差时提供母乳配送的快递服务。
Despite the advances made by female executives, things are even more difficult for the vast majority of working mothers. Many work in smaller businesses, where maternity benefits and flexible hours are less likely to be available.
虽然女性高管的境况得到了改善，但对于绝大多数在职妈妈来说，处境变得更艰难了。许多人在规模较小的公司工作，这些公司不太可能1提供产假福利和弹性工作制。
Many are in low-paid jobs, or in sectors like health care and retailing, where it has been impossible to work remotely during the pandemic. The author writes that “nothing is more essential to an employed mother’s professional success than reliable high-quality child care”, and for many women who are not executives, this is a constant headache.
许多人从事低薪工作，或是在医疗保健和零售行业工作，她们在疫情大流行期间无法进行远程工作。作者写道，“没有什么比可靠的、高质量的托儿服务更关系到一个职场母亲的事业成就了”，而对于许多并非高管的女性来说，这一直是一个令人头痛的问题。
It is good news that many more women have climbed the corporate ladder, not just in terms of fairness, but because an economy should take advantage of all its potential talent.
好 消息是，越来越多的女性在职场上获得了晋升。这不仅仅是为了实现公平，更是因为一个经济体应该充分利用其所有的潜在人才。
There needs to be a lot more progress made in helping the vast majority of women to juggle their home and work lives, not least by providing affordable child care. There are many more cleaners, cooks and carers than there are chief executives.
在帮助绝大多数女性平衡家庭和工作生活方面，我们仍需要做出更大的努力，尤其是在提供人们负担得起的儿童保育服务方面。毕竟清洁工、厨师和护工的人数要远远多于首席执行官的人数。
(红色标注词为重难点词汇)
重难点词汇：
reluctant [rɪˈlʌktənt] adj. 不情愿的;勉强的;顽抗的
maternity [məˈtɜːrnəti] n. 母性 adj. 产科的;孕妇的
juggle [ˈdʒʌɡl] vi. 玩杂耍;欺骗 vt. 歪曲 n. 玩戏法