考研英語：外刊閱讀丨Branching out

本文選自一篇名爲“Branching out”的文章。雖然考研英語較少觸及政治類文章，但進一步瞭解美國聯邦制和三權分立的內涵，積累一些美國法律和憲法等相關的知識是很有必要的。文章以移民案爲背景，深層揭露了美國各方政治力量的博弈。本文句式比較複雜，而且主體很多，各方的立場和較量不容易理清，要仔細辨別。

閱讀原文
Ⅰ①America's framers designed separate institutions to make, enforce and interpret laws. ②But when Congress ceases to function as it should, the division of labour becomes blurry. ③Comprehensive legislation to deal with 11.3m undocumented immigrants has long proved elusive. ④In November 2014, a year and a half after a bipartisan Senate bill was rejected by the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives, Barack Obama picked up his pen and issued executive orders shielding about a third of illegal immigrants from deportation and allowing them to work. ⑤On April 18th, the Supreme Court considered whether his actions were legal.

Ⅱ①At issue in United States v Texas is Mr Obama’s move granting “deferred action” to undocumented aliens whose children are American citizens or lawful permanent residents. ②The policy, known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), aims to grant relief to those “who have become integrated members of American society”, and to keep families from being dispersed across international borders. ③The programme lifts the threat of removal from over 4m people but does not confer “any form of legal status” on its recipients.

詞彙短語
1. framer['freɪmə] n. 制定者
2. *blurry[ˈblɜ:ri] adj. 模糊的
3. *undocumented [ˌʌn'dɒkjʊmentɪd] adj. 無正式文件的；非法入境
4. *elusive[iˈlu:sɪv] adj. 難以捉摸的
5. *bipartisan [ˌbaɪpɑ:tɪˈzæn] adj. 兩黨的
6. shield [ʃi:ld] v.保護
7. *deportation [ˌdi:pɔ:'teɪʃn] n.遣返；遞解出境
8. at issue 在爭論中
9. permanent [ˈpɜ:mənənt] adj. 永久的
10. integrated [ˈɪntɪgreɪtɪd] adj. 整體的；和諧的
11. disperse[dɪˈspɜ:s] v. 驅散
12. confer [kənˈfɜ:(r)] v. 授予；給予
注：標*的爲超綱詞

翻譯點評
Ⅰ①America's framers designed separate institutions to make, enforce and interpret laws. ②But when Congress ceases to function as it should, the division of labour becomes blurry. ③Comprehensive legislation to deal with 11.3m undocumented immigrants has long proved elusive. ④In November 2014, a year and a half after a bipartisan Senate bill was rejected by the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives, Barack Obama picked up his pen and issued executive orders shielding about a third of illegal immigrants from deportation and allowing them to work. ⑤On April 18th, the Supreme Court considered whether his actions were legal.

翻譯：當初，美國的國父們設立了不同的機構, 分別享有立法權，執法權，釋法權。但是當國會不再發揮其應有的功能，這種分工就變得模糊了。旨在解決1300萬無證件移民問題的綜合法案一直難以捉摸。2014年11月，美國總統奧巴馬簽署了行政命令，讓三分之一的非法移民免於被遣返的命運，並且可以留美工作。這距離上次共和黨領導人在衆議院上否決了兩黨的參議院法案過去了1年半的時間。今年4月18日，美國最高法院就此案開庭，決定奧巴馬的命令是否合法。

點評：本文一共有六段，可以清晰地分爲三個層次。段Ⅰ爲第一層次，簡要的介紹了案件的背景。段Ⅱ-Ⅴ是第二層次，詳細介紹各方力量的觀點交鋒。段Ⅵ是第三個層次，說明作者對結局的分析和猜測。段Ⅰ引出文章話題。①②句開篇指出美國三權分立制度出現了分工模糊的問題。從時間上看，①句描述過去，②句描述現在，形成很明顯的對比。③④⑤句按時間順序簡要交代了“移民暫緩遣返”案的發展經過，以此爲例，說明開篇指出的職權劃分模糊的問題。這裏展現了多方力量，聯邦政府v地方政府；民主黨v共和黨；政府v 法院。

Ⅱ①At issue in United States v Texas is Mr Obama’s move granting “deferred action” to undocumented aliens whose children are American citizens or lawful permanent residents. ②The policy, known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), aims to grant relief to those “who have become integrated members of American society”, and to keep families from being dispersed across international borders. ③The programme lifts the threat of removal from over 4m people but does not confer “any form of legal status” on its recipients.

翻譯：聯邦政府對德克薩斯州案的爭論焦點在於，奧巴馬同意了“擁有美國公民或擁有永久合法居住身份的父母暫緩遣返”（DAPA)。 這項法令旨在讓“融入美國社會的成員”放下心來，不用遭受和家人異國分隔的痛苦。這項命令讓400萬人免除離開美國的危險，但是並不授予他們“任何形式的法律地位”。

點評：段Ⅱ承接上文指出，之所以聯邦政府和德克薩斯州在最高法院對簿公堂，是因爲奧巴馬總統簽署的一項“非法移民暫緩遣返令”（DAPA）。隨後②③句具體介紹DAPA的內容和目的。