考研英語閱讀材料匯編之社會類(2)

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閱讀是考研英語的重要題型之一，也是保障英語成績的關(guān)鍵題目。因此，考研學(xué)子們要充分重視英語閱讀，除了平時多多閱讀英語雜志、報紙外，還需要針對閱讀進行專項訓(xùn)練。小編整理了關(guān)于考研英語閱讀題源的系列文章——考研英語閱讀材料匯編之社會類(2)，請參考!

A Case of Gender Blues

After a lifetime of agonizing over his gender identity, Steven Stanton decided to become a woman about two years ago. "It wasn't something I wanted to do,” says Stanton, 48, the city manager of Largo, Fla. "It was something I had to do.” He started hormonal therapy ,gradually shedding body hair and losing muscle mass. He began to feel breast pain when he went jogging—a problem he remedied by following a doctor's recommendation to wear a sports bra. On trips away from home, he began venturing out dressed as a woman. Although he confided all this to his wife and a small circle of friends, he knew that one day he'd have to tell the townspeople he served. So he prepared meticulously for that moment—aiming for May, when his 13-year-old son would be away—and created a detailed eight-page plan. "When you tell somebody this, it's devastating," he says. "It is like an element of betrayal."

Stanton's plan foundered two weeks ago when the St. Petersburg Times published an article about his plans for a sex change. In the ensuing upheaval, church leaders condemned him and angry residents demanded his ouster. At a tumultuous meeting last Tuesday, city commissioners voted 5-2 to begin the process of firing Stanton, who has received mostly solid reviews in 14 years as city manager. "I do not feel he has the integrity, nor the trust, nor the respect, nor the confidence to continue," said Commissioner Mary Gray Black. Now on paid administrative leave, Stanton has until Tuesday to decide whether to appeal. Civil rights and transgender groups have rushed to his defense. "It's been a long time since I've seen that degree of just flagrant discrimination," says Karen Doering, senior counsel for the National Center for Lesbian Rights and now Stanton's lawyer.

Stanton has struggled with his identity since he was a child. He used to try on his sister's dresses and continued accumulating women's clothes over the years. When he married in 1990, he hoped to stifle his yearnings and eventually tried counseling. But "you go and try to get fixed," he said at last week's commission meeting, "and you learn you can't get fixed." In 2003, while city leaders were debating a human-rights ordinance that would protect transsexuals, the then Commissioner Pat Burke criticized Stanton for not lobbying hard enough for the measure (it didn't end up passing, but the town did adopt an internal policy barring discrimination on the basis of gender identity). Stanton, who was possibly wary of accusations of favoritism, responded by confiding his secret to Burke. when he showed her photos of himself in drag, she laughed affectionately and offered him fashion tips. "It was a light dress, and it didn't work.” she says.

Stanton's case comes at a time when the transgender community is gaining acceptance. There's "a growing trend among mental-health professionals to get the social environment to adapt to the person rather than force the person to conform to gender stereotypes," says psychiatrist Jack Drescher. Federal civil-rights law offers no explicit protection for transgender workers, but eight states (not including Florida) and the District of Columbia do. In the corporate world, 122 of the Fortune 500 companies now have no discrimination policies that include gender identity, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Yet Stanton's experience shows the limits of such acceptance. The Largo city commission could vote to finalize his firing as early as Tuesday. Stanton, who initially refused to take legal action, is now contemplating it. "I never anticipated so many people calling up from the community saying, `Please, promise me that you'll fight this'." As Stanton told his son, "Being courageous is being willing to stand when others are willing to sit" After years of battling himself, perhaps he's ready to take on a broaden struggle.

詞匯注解

重點單詞

agonize /' æg?naiz/

【文中釋義】v.掙扎

【大綱全文】v.(使)極度痛苦，折磨 ，掙扎

shed /?ed /

【文中釋義】v. 脫落

【大綱全文】v.流出;散發(fā)，散發(fā) ，脫落，脫去

n.棚屋， 小屋

remedy /’remidi /

【文中釋義】vi. 治療

【大綱全文】n藥品;治療措施;補救方法;糾正方法;消除方法;補嘗,賠償，法律補救方法

v.治療，醫(yī)治;糾正，補救

betrayal /bi’trei?l /

【文中釋義】n.辜負，出賣

【大綱全文】n背叛，暴露

condemn/k?n’dem/

【文中釋義】v.譴責(zé)

【大綱全文】v.譴責(zé)，指責(zé);判刑，宣告有罪

integrity/in’tegriti/

【文中釋義】n.正直，誠實

【大綱全文】n.正直，誠實;完整，完全

administrative / ad'ministr?tiv/

【文中釋義】adj行政的，

【大綱全文】adj.行政的,管理的

defense /di’fens/

【文中釋義】 n.揮衛(wèi)，辮護

【大綱全義】n.防衛(wèi)，防衛(wèi)物

acceptance /?k'sept?ns/

【文中釋義】n.認可，接受

【大綱全義】n.接受，接收，驗收，接納;承認

認可;認可，歡迎

explicit /iks'plisit/

【文中釋義】adj顯然的，明確的

【大綱全義】adj.詳述的，明確的;坦率的;

顯然的

contemplate /'k?ntempleit/

【文中釋義】vt.打算

【大綱全義】v.注視，沉思，打算

超綱單詞

hormonal adj.時荷爾蒙的，激素的 confide v.吐露，信托，信賴

townspeople n.市民，鎮(zhèn)民 upheaval n.舉起，隆起，大變動

tumultuous adj.亂哄哄的，喧嘩的 finalize v.使結(jié)束，使完結(jié)

flagrant adj非常的，不能容忍的

重點段落譯文

在經(jīng)過對自己性別特性一生的痛苦掙扎后，現(xiàn)年48歲的佛羅里達州拉哥市執(zhí)行長斯蒂芬·士丹頓在大約兩年前決定變成一名女性。他說：“我也不想這么做，但我不得不這么做。”然后，他開始接受激素治療，身上的體毛逐漸脫落，成塊的肌肉也逐漸消失。當他慢跑時開始感到胸部疼痛—他聽從了醫(yī)生的建議，穿上了運動文胸，這個問題才得以解決。出門在外時，他開始嘗試穿成女性的樣子。盡管他把這一切告訴了妻子和一小部分朋友，但是他知道終有一天他不得不把這些告訴他所服務(wù)的市民。于是他為這一刻做了精心準備—時間選在5月份，他13歲的兒子恰好不在—制作了一份長達8頁的詳細計劃。“告訴別人這些是會產(chǎn)生相當大的反響的，”他說：“這有些像某種程度的背叛。”

兩周前，當《圣彼得堡時報》發(fā)表了一篇關(guān)于士丹頓變性計劃的文章時，他的計劃失敗了。在接下來的事情變化中，教堂領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人譴責(zé)他，憤怒的居民也要求將他驅(qū)逐出境。在上周二亂哄哄的會議上，城市委員會成員以5比2的選票表決決定解雇士丹頓，盡管他在擔(dān)任市執(zhí)行長的連續(xù)14年間受到了很多好評。委員會成員瑪麗·格利·布萊克說:“我認為他沒有誠實，不可信，沒有受人尊敬的品格，也沒有繼續(xù)留任的信心。”雖然面臨著行政職務(wù)被解雇的處罰，但是士丹頓直到周二才決定是否要上訴。而民權(quán)和跨性別團體都去為他辯護。同性戀權(quán)益中心的高級辯護律師、士丹頓現(xiàn)在的律師凱倫。多林說:“很久以前我就注意到了這種不能容忍的歧視。”

士丹頓變性事件正好發(fā)生在變性團體逐步得到人們認可的時期。精神病醫(yī)師杰克·德雷舍說:“心理健康專業(yè)人士越來越傾向于想讓社會適應(yīng)像士丹頓這樣的人，而不是強迫他們?nèi)プ駨脑竟逃行詣e。”雖然聯(lián)邦民權(quán)法律沒有為變性人提供明確的保護，但是有8個州(不包括佛羅里達)和哥倫比亞地區(qū)卻提供了該項保護。根據(jù)人權(quán)運動，企業(yè)界中的財富500強中，有122家現(xiàn)今沒有包括性別在內(nèi)的歧視政策。

然而士丹頓的變性事件披露了社會對變性認同的局限性.拉哥市委員會最早可以在周二通過選舉來決定士丹頓的去留。最初不愿采取法律措施的士丹頓如今正在考慮階段。“我沒料到團體里會有這么多人打電話給我‘請答應(yīng)我你要繼續(xù)戰(zhàn)斗下去’。”正如士丹頓對兒子所說的那樣:“勇敢就是當其他人想坐著的時候而你愿意站著。”經(jīng)過幾年的自我斗爭，也許士丹頓已經(jīng)決定進行一場更廣泛的斗爭。

希望各位考生能夠每天堅持閱讀，提高詞匯量和語感能力，為以后的系統(tǒng)復(fù)習(xí)打下堅實的基礎(chǔ)。最后提醒大家，夏季來臨，復(fù)習(xí)備考需注意防暑降溫。預(yù)?？佳谐晒?

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