考研英语阅读理解题源：Human rights(The gay divide)

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　　考研英语阅读理解题源：Human rights(The gay divide)

　　Human rights

　　The gay divide

　　Victories for gay rights in some parts of the world have provoked a backlash elsewhere

　　THERE was a teenager in Arizona in the 1970s who “could no more imagine longing to touch a woman than longing to touch a toaster”. But he convinced himself that he was not gay. Longing to be “normal”, he blamed his obsession with muscular men on envy of their good looks. It was not until he was 25 that he admitted the truth to himself—let alone other people. In 1996 he wrote a cover leader for The Economist in favour of same-sex marriage. He never thought it would happen during his lifetime. Yet now he is married to the man he loves and living in a Virginia suburb where few think this odd.

　　The change in attitudes to homosexuality in many countries — not just the West but also Latin America, China and other places — is one of the wonders of the world (see article). This week America’s Supreme Court gave gay marriage another big boost, by rejecting several challenges to it; most Americans already live in states where gays can wed. But five countries still execute gay people: Iran hangs them; Saudi Arabia stones them. Gay sex is illegal in 78 countries, and a few have recently passed laws that make gay life even grimmer. The gay divide is one of the world’s widest. What caused it? And will tolerance eventually spread?

　　The leap forward has been startlingly quick. In the 1950s gay sex was illegal nearly everywhere.In Britain, on the orders of a home secretary who vowed to “eradicate” it, undercover police were sent out to loiter in bars, entrap gay men and put them in jail. In China in the 1980s homosexuals were rounded up and sent to labour camps without trial. All around the world gay people lived furtively and in fear. Laws banning “sodomy” remained in some American states until 2003.

　　Today gay sex is legal in at least 113 countries. Gay marriages or civil union s are recognised in three dozen and parts of others. In most of the West it is no longer socially acceptable to be homophobic. Gay life in China is now both legal and, in cities, undisguised. Latin America is even more gay-friendly: 74% of Argentines and 60% of Brazilians believe that society should accept homosexuality. Thais are more relaxed about transgender people than Westerners are. South Africa’s constitution is remarkably pro-gay. The young have tended to lead the way: although only 16% of South Koreans over 50 think that homosexuality should be accepted, 71% of 18-to 29-year-olds do.

　　Yet there are still parts of the world where it is not safe to be homosexual. Extra-judicial beatings and murders are depressingly common in much of Africa and in some Muslim countries. African gangs subject lesbians to“corrective rape”. In some countries persecution has intensified. Chad is poised to ban gay sex. Nigeria and Uganda have passed draconian anti-gay laws (though a court recently struck Uganda’s down). Russia and a few other countries have barred the “promotion”of homosexuality.

　　This is partly a reaction to the spread of gay rights in the West. Thanks to globalisation, people who live in places where everyone agrees that homosexuality is an abomination can now see pictures of gay-pride parades in Sydney or men marrying men in Massachusetts. They find this shocking. Meanwhile some homophobic Western preachers have gone to fire up anti-gay audiences in Africa, and American conservatives offer advice to countries thinking of drafting anti-gay laws.

　　Revulsion against homosexuals is ancient, deep and, in its way, sincere, even if some of the politicians leading the backlash do so for cynical reasons. By taking up arms against an imaginary Western plot to spread perversion, Vladimir Putin and Nigeria’s Goodluck Jonathan doubtless hope to distract attention from the corruption and incompetence of their own regimes. But they have picked their scapegoats shrewdly: 74% of Russians and 98% of Nigerians disapprove of homosexuality. In places like Indonesia, Senegal, Uganda and Malaysia the young are no more tolerant than the old—sometimes less so.

　　Nonetheless, there are reasons for optimism, at least in the long term. Urbanisation helps. It is easier to find a niche in a big, anonymous city than in a village where everyone knows your business. Gay life in the Indian countryside is still awful; in Mumbai or Delhi it is much easier,despite being illegal. In rural South Africa, to be openly gay is to court death; yet half of South Africans now say that their neighbourhood is a good place to be gay. As people move to cities, old traditions lose their grip; and by 2050 mankind is expected to be 66% urban, up from 54% today.

　　Emerging countries in Asia and Latin America have generally grown kinder to gay people as they have grown richer, more open and more democratic. The hope is that as Africa and the Arab world catch up, they will follow suit. Although religion is a barrier to tolerance — the more pious a society, by and large, the less enthusiastic it is about gay rights — it is not an insuperable one: plenty of devout nations, such as the Philippines and the United States, are friendly to gays these days.

　　中文对照阅读：

　　人权

　　关于同性恋的分歧

　　在世界一些地方同性恋人权的胜利招致了其他地方的不满。

　　20 世纪70 年代在亚利桑那州有一个少年“对渴望触摸女人的想象就像渴望触摸一个烤面包机”。但那时他确信自己是不是同性恋。渴望是“正常的”，他把这些对美貌肌肉男的痴迷归结于嫉妒。直到25 岁，他承认了这一真相更别说别人。1996 年给杂志领袖经济学人写了篇关于支持同性婚的文章。他从来没有想到这会在他有生之年实现。现在他娶了他爱的男人，生活在弗吉尼亚州郊区，这里没有人认为这是件奇怪的事。

　　在许多国家不只是西方还有拉丁美洲，中国和其他地方态度上对同性恋的改变是世界奇迹之一(另见文)。本周美国最高法院通过拒绝几个挑战者对同性恋婚姻认可上有了另一个大的提升;大多数美国人生活是我州同性恋都可以结婚。但仍有五个国家对同性恋者执刑：伊朗的绞刑;沙特阿拉伯用石头扔他们。同性恋在78 个国家仍然是非法的，最近有一些国家通过法律使他们生活更加快乐。同性恋将是世界上最大的分歧之一。这是什么引起的呢?宽容最终会蔓延吗?

　　以惊人的速度发生着变化。在20 世纪50 年代的同性恋性行为在几乎所有的地方都是非法的。在英国，内政大臣发誓要“消灭”它，派出去卧底警察在酒吧闲逛，使同性恋者落入陷阱，把他们关进监狱。在中国20 世纪80 年代的同性恋者被围捕，不经审判就送往劳动营。世界各地的同性恋生活在阴暗和恐惧中。直到2003 年美国的一些州法律仍然禁止“鸡奸”。

　　现在同性恋在至少113 个国家是合法的。在30 多个国家和地区同性恋结婚或从事民事工会都是得到认可的。在大多数西方国家社会完全接受同性恋。中国的同性恋生活不仅是合法的而且在一些城市城市中更加是光明正大的。拉丁美洲对同性恋更加友好：74% 的阿根廷人和60%的巴西人认为社会应该接受同性恋。泰国人对变性人比西方人更开放。南非宪法是非常赞成同性恋的。年轻人往往是主导：虽然50 多岁的韩国人中只有16%认为同性恋应该被接受，但71%的18 至29 岁的人赞同。

　　然而，世界上仍有一些地方对同性恋是不安全的。司法外的殴打和谋杀在许多非洲和穆斯林国家都非常普遍。非洲集团倾向对女同性恋”纠正强奸”。在一些国家迫害不断的加剧。乍得将禁止同性恋。尼日利亚和乌干达已经通过了严格的反同性恋的法律(尽管法庭最近驳回了乌干达)。俄罗斯和其他一些国家已经禁止“促销”同性恋。

　　这是对同性恋权利在西方国家传播的阻碍。由于全球化，只要是住在大家都憎恶同性恋的地方就可以看到这样的画面：同性恋在悉尼骄傲游行或在马萨诸塞州男人和男人结婚。他们发现这是令人震惊的事。同时，一些同性恋的西方传教士去点燃了非洲反同性恋观众的怒火，美国保守派建议国家考虑制定反同性恋的法律。

　　实话说，即使一些政客以愤世嫉俗的原因提出反对，对同性恋的反感是一个古老深刻的话题。拿起武器反对假象的西方阴谋，普京和尼日利亚总统乔纳森无疑希望从自己的政权的腐败和无能中转移注意力。他们精明的挑选了他们的替罪羊：74%的俄罗斯人和98%的尼日利亚人反对同性恋。在像印度尼西亚，塞内加尔，乌干达和马来西亚这样地方的年轻人不像老年人那么宽容，甚至更少。

　　然而，至少从长远来看还是有乐观的理由。城市化有助于它的发展。在大的城市中匿名的生活，比在每个人都了解你的村子里更容易找到一席之地。印度农村，同性恋者的生活仍然是可怕的;孟买或新德里会更容易，尽管也是非法的。在南非农村，公开的同性恋就是找死;然而，现在一半的南非人说他们的邻居是同性恋者的好地方。随着人们迁往城市，旧的传统失去控制;并到2050 城市人口预计将从今天的54%将会上升到66%。

　　在亚洲和拉丁美洲的新兴国家随着他们变得更富有，更加开放和民主，已经普遍的对同性恋者更加友好。我们期待非洲和阿拉伯他们将效仿，赶上步伐。虽然宗教是宽容的一个阻碍——但总的来说他们是一个更加善良的群体。对于同性恋权利缺乏热情不是不可逾越的：很多拥有宗教信仰的国家，如菲律宾和美国，现在对同性恋也是友好的。

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