When Gina Garro and Brian Duplisea adopted 4-month-old Andres from Colombia last month， they were determined to take time off from work to care for him. Six years ago， after their daughter， Melina， was born， the family scraped by on Duplisea's $36，000 salary as a construction worker so Garro， a special-education teacher， could stay home. Now， since Garro's job furnishes the family health insurance， she'll head back to work this fall while Duplisea juggles diapers and baby bottles. His boss agreed to the time off——but he will have to forgo his $18-an-hour pay. It won't be easy. Though Garro's $40，000 salary will cover their mortgage， the couple will have to freeze their retirement accounts， scale back on Melina's after-school activities——and pray that nothing goes wrong with the car. “It takes away from your cushion and your security，” says Garro. “Things will be tight.”

　　The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act was supposed to help families like Garro's， offering a safety net to employees who want to take time off to nurture newborns， tend to their own major illnesses or care for sick relatives. But while the law guarantees that workers won't lose their jobs， it doesn't cover their paychecks. One survey last year showed that while 24 million Americans had taken leaves since 1999， 2.7 million more wanted to， but couldn't afford it. That may change soon. In response to increasing demands from voters， at least 25 states are now exploring new ways to offer paid leave. One possibility： tapping state disability funds. A handful of states——New York， New Jersey， California， Rhode Island and Hawaii——already dip into disability money to offer partial pay for women on maternity leave. But that doesn't help dads or people caring for elderly parents. New Jersey and New York may soon expand disability programs to cover leave for fathers and other caretakers. Thirteen states， including Arizona， Illinois and Florida， have proposed using unemployment funds to pay for leave.

　　Massachusetts has been especially creative. When the state's acting governor， Jane Swift， gave birth to twin daughters in May， she drew attention to the issue with her own “working maternity leave”： she telecommuted part-time but earned her usual full-time salary. Even before Swift returned to work last week， the state Senate unanimously passed a pilot plan that would use surplus funds from a health-insurance program for the unemployed to give new parents 12 weeks off at half pay. Another plan， proposed in the House， would require employers to kick in $20 per worker to set up a “New Families Trust Fund.” Businesses would get tax credits in return. This week Swift is expected to announce her own paid-leave plan for lower-income mothers and fathers. Polls show widespread public support——another reason Swift and other politicians across the country have embraced the issue.

　　Still， not everyone's wild about the idea. People without children question why new parents——the first group to get paid leave under many of the proposed plans——should get more government perks than they do. Business groups are resistant to proposals that would raid unemployment funds; several have already filed suit to block them. As the economy slows， many companies say they can't afford to contribute to proposed new benefit funds either. Business lobbyists say too many employees already abuse existing federal family-leave laws by taking time off for dubious reasons or in tiny time increments. The proposed laws， they say， would only make matters worse.

　　For Garro and Duplisea， though， the new laws could make all the difference. As Melina fixes a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich， Duplisea hugs a snoozing Andres against his T shirt. “We're trying to do the right thing by two kids， and we have to sacrifice，” Duplisea says. In Massachusetts and plenty of other states， help may be on the way.

　　注(1) 本文選自Newsweek;8/27/2001， Vol. 138 Issue 9， p46， 1p， 1c

　　注(2) 本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象是1997年真題text 1(1，2，3，5題)，第4題模仿1997年真題text 3 的第2題。

　　1. From the first paragraph， we learn that __________________.

　　[A] Garro and Duplisea used to live a comfortable and easy life.

　　[B] Duplisea‘s boss is so considerate as to allow him to keep his job

　　[C] Garro can earn more money so she should go back to work.

　　[D] The couple have made a lot of sacrifices to take care of their children.

　　2. When Garro says “It takes away from your cushion and your security”， she means _____________________.

　　[A] it exhausts her family savings

　　[B] it plunges her family into financial trouble

　　[C] it deprives her children of health insurance

　　[D] it makes her feel insecure

　　3. If Garro lives in Massachusetts， she will ___________________.

　　[A] have 12 weeks off at half pay

　　[B] telecommute part-time but earn full-time salary

　　[C] leave her job without pay to take care of her kids

　　[D] get $20 from her employer for her leave

　　4. The word “perk” (Line 2， Para. 4) most probably means _______________.

　　[A] grant

　　[B] policy

　　[C] encouragement

　　[D] reward

　　5. The author‘s attitude towards paid leave seems to be that of _________________.

　　[A] opposition

　　[B] suspicion

　　[C] approval

　　[D] indifference

　　答案：DBAAC

　　篇章剖析

　　本文為說明文，主要介紹帶薪請假政策的起因，制定和實施情況，以及所面臨的問題和反對意見。文章首先以加羅一家的經(jīng)歷說明停薪請假的人所面臨的經(jīng)濟困難。然后在第二，第三段介紹了一下各州針對這一問題的解決方案。第四段介紹了反對者的態(tài)度和看法，最后一段再次以加羅一家的情況來說明帶薪請假政策可能帶來的積極變化，并且呼應(yīng)了文章開頭部分，以此作為結(jié)尾，使得全文層次分明，結(jié)構(gòu)完整。

　　詞匯注釋

　　scrape v. (常與along， by， through連用)勉強維持生計;勉強通過

　　furnish v. 供應(yīng)， 提供

　　juggle v. 耍，弄

　　diaper n. 尿布

　　forgo v. 拋棄;放棄

　　cushion n. 緩沖，減輕或緩和不利后果的東西：

　　tap v. 開發(fā);利用

　　maternity adj. 母性的，初為人母的孕婦的;適合于孕婦的，生小孩或成為母親的第一個月的

　　telecommute v. (在家里通過使用與工作單位連接的計算機終端)遠距離工作

　　pilot plan 試點方案

　　kick in 參與提供資金和其他幫助的活動中去

　　tax credit 稅金免除

　　perk n. 額外津貼 (亦作： perquisite)

　　raid v. 侵吞

　　lobbyist n. 院外活動集團成員;說客

　　increment n. 增加， 增量

　　難句突破

　　1.The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act was supposed to help families like Garro's， offering a safety net to employees who want to take time off to nurture newborns， tend to their own major illnesses or care for sick relatives.

　　主體句式：The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act was supposed to help…

　　結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句是一個復(fù)雜句，既包括從句，也包括分詞結(jié)構(gòu)。be supposed to do something 表示“應(yīng)該做某事”，通常強調(diào)“義務(wù)，責任”等。safety net 原義是防止墜落受傷的“安全網(wǎng)”，在此引申為“安全保障”。

　　句子譯文：1993年頒布的《家庭醫(yī)療休假法》本來應(yīng)該幫助像加羅這樣的家庭，為那些請假照顧新生兒，治療重病或者照顧患病親人的員工提供一個安全保障。

　　題目分析

　　1. 答案為D，屬事實細節(jié)題。見第一段。為了照顧兩個孩子，這一對夫婦倆做出了許多選擇。這些選擇大都意味著做出一定犧牲，比如請假在家照顧孩子，收入減少，凍結(jié)養(yǎng)老金帳戶，減少孩子課外活動開支等。

　　2. 答案為B，屬判斷推理題。 從第一段列舉的事實來看，加羅夫婦不得不凍結(jié)養(yǎng)老金帳號，減少梅麗娜的課后活動開支——還要禱告汽車別出問題�？梢娬埣僬疹櫤⒆咏o他們帶來了嚴重的經(jīng)濟問題。答案B正確。

　　3. 答案為A，屬事實細節(jié)題。內(nèi)容涉及馬薩諸塞州最近通過的一項議案。原文參照第三段第五行。

　　4. 答案為A，屬猜詞題。從第二，第三段的內(nèi)容來看，各州政府試圖動用各種基金對請假照料新生嬰兒的父母進行經(jīng)濟上的幫助，因此A項在意義上最符合。

　　5. 答案是C，屬推理判斷題。本文重點說明了停薪請假人所面臨的經(jīng)濟困難，以及各州的解決方案。并在最后一段說明帶薪請假政策可能帶來的積極變化。從材料的選擇來看，作者對于帶薪請假政策持積極的態(tài)度，所以答案C正確。

　　原文翻譯

　　上個月，吉納。加羅和布萊恩。杜普里希從哥倫比亞收養(yǎng)四個月大的安德烈時，這對夫婦決定請假照顧他。六年前，他們的女兒梅麗娜出生后，這家人靠著杜普里希作建筑工人每年36，000美元的薪水勉強度日，這樣，從事特殊教育教學(xué)的加羅就可以呆在家里照顧孩子。如今，因為加羅的工作能夠為家庭提供醫(yī)療健康保險，她將在今年秋季回去工作，而讓杜普里希擺弄那些尿片和嬰兒奶瓶。他的老板同意他請假——但他必須為此放棄十八美元一小時的報酬。這可有些讓這個家庭犯難。雖然加羅40，000美元的年薪可以支付他們的抵押貸款，但夫婦倆卻不得不凍結(jié)他們的退休帳戶，減少梅麗娜的課后活動開支——還要禱告汽車別出問題�！拔覀儾辉俸箢櫉o憂，”加羅說道：“生活會變得很拮據(jù)。”

　　1993年頒布的《家庭醫(yī)療休假法》本來應(yīng)該幫助像加羅這樣的家庭，為那些請假照顧新生兒，治療重病或者照顧患病親人的員工提供一個安全保障�？墒�，法律雖然可以保證這些員工不至于丟掉工作，卻不能支付他們的薪水。去年的一項調(diào)查顯示，雖然從1999年以來有4000萬美國人請假，但還有270萬想要請假，卻承受不起請假帶來的損失。要不了多久這種情況就會改變。目前至少有25個州正在探索提供帶薪休假的新途徑，以回應(yīng)選民日益增加的要求。一種可能就是利用州傷病基金。一些州——紐約州，新澤西，加利福尼亞，羅德島和夏威夷——已經(jīng)動用傷病基金為請孕產(chǎn)假的婦女提供部分工資。但這種舉措并不能幫助那些做父親的人和照料年邁父母的人。新澤西州和紐約州也許不久就會擴大傷病基金計劃的覆蓋面，讓那些請假照料孩子的父親們和其他照料傷病親屬的人都能從中受益。包括亞利桑那州，伊利諾伊州和佛羅里達州在內(nèi)的十三個州已經(jīng)提議動用失業(yè)基金來支付請假工資。

　　馬薩諸塞州的舉措尤具創(chuàng)意。當該州的代理州長，簡。斯威夫特五月生下一對雙胞胎女兒的時候，她以自己“請產(chǎn)假”的方式引起人們對這一問題的關(guān)注。她在家通過電腦終端遠程工作，做的是兼職工作，拿的卻是全職的薪水。在她上周重返工作崗位之前，州參議院就一致通過了一項試點方案，允許動用失業(yè)人員醫(yī)療保險計劃的剩余基金，讓剛生了孩子的父母可以拿一半工資，請假12周。眾議院提議的另外一項計劃則要求雇主為每個員工增加20美元工資，以便設(shè)立一個“新家庭信托基金”。作為回報，商業(yè)企業(yè)可以獲得稅金免除。這一周，預(yù)計斯威夫特將宣布她本人針對低收入母親和父親提出的帶薪請假計劃。民意測驗顯示了廣泛的公眾支持——這是斯威夫特和其他國內(nèi)政治家樂意解決這一問題的另外一個原因。

　　不過，并不是所有人都熱衷這種想法。一些沒有子女的人質(zhì)疑為什么剛生了孩子的父母——他們是許多提案當中第一批獲得帶薪請假待遇的人——得到的政府補貼比他們的多。商業(yè)機構(gòu)抵制動用失業(yè)基金的提案;一些機構(gòu)甚至已經(jīng)提起訴訟以阻止這些提案獲得通過。隨著經(jīng)濟發(fā)展的減速，許多公司也說他們無力為提議中的福利基金提供資金。商業(yè)企業(yè)的院外游說成員說有太多的員工已經(jīng)濫用現(xiàn)有的聯(lián)邦家庭醫(yī)療休假法，以許多可疑的借口請假，或者拖延一點請假時間。他們認為該法律提案只會使情況變得更糟。

　　不過，對于加羅和杜普里希來說，新的法律會使他們的境況大為不同。梅麗娜準備一塊花生-黃油-果凍三明治的時候，杜普里希把懷中打盹的安德烈抱在胸前。“我們正在努力為兩個孩子創(chuàng)造好的條件，所以不得不做出犧牲，”杜普里希說。在馬塞諸塞州和其他許多州，也許很快人們就會得到這樣的幫助。

　　編輯推薦：

　　各省市2015年考研報考費用匯總

　　2015年考研網(wǎng)上正式報名入口已開通 點擊進入

　　2015年考研政治資料：2014年國內(nèi)外時事政治熱點

　　2015年考研政治十大重要考點預(yù)測

　　考試吧考研題庫(新增數(shù)學(xué)三) 智能做題首選 立即體驗!