英语新闻一起读31

本期（2015年5月30日）经济学人封面文章从性别的角度出发来分析在富裕国家蓝领男人们陷入了如何一种困境并应该如何解决。

今天我们先来看看问题，明天再一起了解一下解决方案。

标题：Blue-collar men in rich countries are in trouble. They must learn to adapt May 30th 2015 | From the print edition

AT FIRST glance the patriarchy（父权制） appears to be thriving. More than 90% of presidents and prime ministers are male, as are nearly all big corporate bosses. Men dominate finance, technology, films, sports, music and even stand-up comedy. In much of the world they still enjoy social and legal privileges simply because they have a Y chromosome. So it might seem odd to worry about the plight of men.

★thrive: v兴旺发达→thriving: adj.兴旺的，繁荣的 /prosper: v 兴旺，发达→prosperous: 兴旺的

★stand-up comedy:简单说就是类似于中国的单口相声，还想了解的话可以维基百科。

★plight: 境况，一般指困境(a difficult or distressing situation)。

★chromosome：染色体

文章开头先是讲了在父权社会男人似乎在各方面都具有优势和特权，段落结尾表示在这种情况下担心男人的境况似乎很奇怪。注意文章中might seem 所表达的情感，既然“看似奇怪”那下文应该会告诉我们“实则不然”。

Yet there is plenty of cause for concern. Men cluster(聚集) at the bottom as well as the top. They are far more likely than women to be jailed, estranged from（疏远）their children, or to kill themselves. They earn fewer university degrees than women. Boys in the developed world are 50% more likely to flunk（不及格） basic maths, reading and science entirely.

果然，本段以yet 开头话锋一转开始介绍男人面临的种种问题。

One group in particular is suffering(有一群人尤其痛苦) . Poorly educated men in rich countries have had difficulty coping with（应付） the enormous changes in the labour market and the home over the past half-century. As technology and trade have devalued brawn, less-educated men have struggled to find a role in the workplace. Women, on the other hand, are surging into expanding sectors such as health care and education, helped by their superior skills. As education has become more important, boys have also fallen behind girls in school (except at the very top). Men who lose jobs in manufacturing often never work again. And men without work find it hard to attract a permanent mate. The result, for low-skilled men, is a poisonous combination of no job, no family and no prospects.

★enormous：巨大的≈ tremendous / massive /immense /gigantic /tremendous /vast

★brawn：和brain 对应，指体力。

★cope ： (with sth) to deal successfully with sth difficult(成功地)对付,处理。

★superior：n 上级；adj.更好的，更强的≠inferior：n 下级；adj.差的，次的

这一段进一步阐述了在科技和教育越发被重视的今天，如果一个男人没文化多可怕。他们首先找不到好的工作，自己没有能力因此找不到老婆，继而看不到生活的前途。整个人生都黑暗了……