In America and other well-off places businesswomen are making strides, according to The Economist’s glass-ceiling index, an annual snapshot of female empowerment. Their share of board seats is rising in most places (though it has dipped since 2019 in progressive Sweden). Female boardroom representation surged in the Netherlands and Germany after they introduced mandatory quotas. But laws aren’t everything. The British government’s voluntary targets have also boosted the share of women on the boards of FTSE 100 companies, from 12.5% a decade ago to nearly 40%. Investors who care about environmental, social and governance factors are increasingly pressing firms to treat male and female employees equally.

根据本刊对女性赋权的年度评估结果——玻璃天花板指数，在美国和其他富裕地区，商界女性正大步前进。在大多数地区，董事会中的女性比例不断上升（不过在开明的瑞典，该比例自2019年以来有所下降）。荷兰和德国在出台强制性配额制度后，董事会中的女性代表激增。但法律只是一个方面。英国政府的自愿目标也提高了富时100指数公司董事会中的女性占比，从十年前的12.5%提高至近40%。关注环境、社会和治理因素的投资者正越来越多地敦促公司平等对待男女员工。

well-off: ADJ Someone who is well-off is rich enough to be able to do and buy most of the things that they want. 富裕的

My grandparents were quite well-off. 我的祖父母生活很富裕。

make strides大步前进, 取得进展

Stride: N-COUNT If you make strides in something that you are doing, you make rapid progress in it. 进步，比如：

The country has made enormous strides politically but not economically.这个国家在政治上取得了巨大进步，但在经济上却没有。

替代表达：

make headway: to move forwards, especially when it is difficult （尤其是在有困难的情况下）前进、取得进展，比如：

While the research might be biological, the ability to make headway on this centuries-old problem is technological.虽然这项研究可能是生物学的范畴，但在这个持续数世纪的难题上取得的进展却是靠技术的力量。

Snapshot:N-COUNT If something provides you with a snapshot of a place or situation, it gives you a brief idea of what that place or situation is like. 简况; 大致印象

The interviews present a remarkable snapshot of Britain in these dark days of recession.这些访谈深刻地展现了英国在黑暗的经济大萧条时期的点滴情况。

dip表示“下降”，但是要注意是“暂时的”下降：: V-I If the amount or level of something dips, it becomes smaller or lower, usually only for a short period of time. (暂时) 下降，比如：

Unemployment dipped to 6.9 percent last month. 上个月，失业率降到了6.9%。

progressive这里的用法值得get: in favour of new ideas, modern methods and change 进步的；先进的；开明的

progressive schools 先进的学校

it has dipped since 2019 in progressive Sweden. 这句话说在瑞典，这个比例有所下降，其实恰恰证明了这个比例在瑞典原本就已经很高了。

[小结] 表示“暴涨”的单词

Surge：( of prices, profits, etc. 物价、利润等 ) to suddenly increase in value 急剧上升；飞涨；激增

The Freedom Party's electoral support surged from just under 10 percent to nearly 17 percent. 自由党的选举支持率从只有不到10%剧增到近17%。

名词用法：

~ (in/of sth) a sudden increase in the amount or number of sth; a large amount of sth （数量的）急剧上升，激增；大量；一大批

a surge in consumer spending 消费开支的激增

我们之前整理过替代表达:

Soar/rocket/skyrocket/shoot up/boom/spiral/jump等等

Boost: ~ sth to make sth increase, or become better or more successful使增长；使兴旺（V-T If one thing boosts another, it causes it to increase, improve, or be more successful. 促进）,比如：

to boost exports / profits 增加出口；提高利润

to boost sb's confidence / morale 增强某人的信心 / 士气

同义项下可做名词使用，比如：

a boost in car sales 汽车销售额的增长

Running-shoe makers have long tried to boost athletic performance, observes Geoff Burns, a biomechanics expert at the University of Michigan.密歇根大学的生物力学专家杰夫·伯恩斯（Geoff Burns）表示，跑鞋制造商长期以来都在试图提高运动员的运动表现。

Still, business women have a long way to go before they catch up with their male counterparts, especially in the upper reaches of corporate hierarchies, and in some respects trail their female colleagues in politics (see chart). Men still occupy more than two in three boardroom seats in America. In South Korea, they hog more than nine in ten. Women continue to earn less than their male colleagues (never mind that girls outperform boys at school across the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries). In America outcomes are worse still for women of colour, who make less than white women and are even more under represented in senior roles.

然而在商界，女性追赶男性同行的道路依然漫长，特别是在高层职位上。而且在某些方面，商界女性的发展不如政界女性（见图表）。在美国，超过三分之二的董事席位仍由男性占据。在韩国，该比例超过九成。女性的收入仍低于男性同事（尽管纵观主要由富国组成的经合组织，女孩的学业表现优于男孩）。在美国，有色人种女性的境况更不理想，不但收入低于白人女性，担任高级职务的比例也更低。

[写作] have a long way to go.... 表达“要达成某事的道路依然漫长”

写作/翻译的时候我们直接套用就行了，比如：

We have a long way to go before we make that happen.要实现那个目标，我们还有很长的路要走。

counterpart: N-COUNT Someone's or something's counterpart is another person or thing that has a similar function or position in a different place. 对应的人或物，比如：

The Foreign Minister held talks with his Chinese counterpart.外交部长与中国外交部长举行了会谈。

有时候可以用cousin: a member of a group of people with similar origins，比如：We Americans owe a great deal to our European cousins.

the upper reaches of corporate hierarchies企业高层职位

trail their female colleagues in politics不如政界女性

trail这里的用法get一下，是个不错的小词：~ (by/in sth) ( used especially in the progressive tenses 尤用于进行时 ) to be losing a game or other contest （在比赛或其他竞赛中）落后，失利，失败

This country is still trailing badly in scientific research. 这个国家在科研方面仍然大大滞后。

The Conservatives are trailing Labour in the opinion polls.在民意测验中保守党的支持率落后于工党。

[小结] 还有一些词也可以表示“超过，谁比谁好，谁不如谁”，比如：

outperform/outrun

esclipse/outshine/overshadow

...

老读者想起来了没有？out-词缀应该不陌生，“超过”的意思，outperform胜过, outrun超过。

“赶超”还可以理解为“使……相形见绌”，比如dwarf：

2018年阿里巴巴双11的最终成交额为2135亿元，超过了美国黑色星期五和网络星期一的成交额总和。Last year the platform saw 213.5 billion yuan worth of merchandise transacted in the 24-hour event, dwarfing Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the US combined.

pale beside/next to sth., pale in/by comparison (with/to sth.), pale into 相形见绌；显得逊色 

Last year's riots pale in comparison with this latest outburst of violence. 去年的骚乱与最近这次暴乱相比，可说是小巫见大巫。

When someone you love has a life-threatening illness, everything else pales in comparison. 当你所爱的人得了致命的疾病时，其他的一切就都显得不重要了。

put sb./sth. to shame 使……相形见绌

When machines can put humans to shame in performing the routine job-specific tasks that Infosys once took offshore, it makes sense to think about the skills that computers find harder to learn. 既然在执行日常的、与特定工作相关的具体任务时，机器已经能让人类相形见绌，那么思考那些电脑较难掌握的技能便顺理成章。

其他表示对比的英文词组，可以看下这篇：表示事物的对比，可以有哪些花式英文表达？

Hog名词我们都知道是“猪”，动词用法还真不太常见:[ VN ] to use or keep most of sth yourself and stop others from using or having it 多占；独占

to hog the road (= to drive so that other vehicles cannot pass) 占着马路中间开车

OECD, a club of mostly rich countries主要由富国组成的经合组织

——这个在写作时如果碰到OECD的时候，可以直接套用了。一般提到经合组织，都是这么介绍的。

women of colour有色人种女性

More troubling still, too many women are dropping off the corporate ladder altogether. Although remote work made it easier for some women to combine work with family chores (still performed mostly by mothers and wives), the pandemic has pushed a disproportionate number of them out of the workforce. Women’s labour-force participation in OECD countries declined from 65% before covid-19 first hit to 63.8% a year later. Stymying female advancement may be yet another insidious consequence of the virus.

更令人不安的是，有太多女性正完全从职场阶梯上跌落。尽管远程工作让部分女性能更方便地兼顾工作和家务（仍主要由母亲和妻子操持），但疫情把过多的女性挤出了劳动力市场。在经合组织国家，女性的劳动力参与率从疫情爆发之初的65%下降到一年后的63.8%。阻碍女性进步可能是疫情的又一个潜在恶果。

这段有一个长句子, 我们来看下意群：

Although remote work made it easier for some women to combine work with family chores（让步状语） (still performed mostly by mothers and wives-插入语), the pandemic （主干主语）has pushed（主干谓语） a disproportionate number of them（主干宾语） out of the workforce（主干宾补）.

可以看出来下半句就是主干：

the pandemic has pushed a disproportionate number of them out of the workforce

疫情把太多的女性挤出了劳动力市场

让步状语稍微长一点：

Although remote work made it easier for some women to combine work with family chores

尽管远程工作让部分女性能更方便地兼顾工作和家务

 (still performed mostly by mothers and wives-插入语)

——处理的时候要把被动变主动：主要还是由母亲和妻子操持

drop off the corporate ladder 从职场阶梯上跌落

down the career ladder在职业阶梯上

职场阶梯：corporate ladder

职业阶梯：career ladder

很好理解的吧。企业职级就像是个梯子一样。

remote work远程工作 

family chores/tʃɔː/家务

Disproportionate: ~ (to sth) too large or too small when compared with sth else 不成比例的；不相称的；太大（或太小）的

The area contains a disproportionate number of young middle-class families.此地年轻的中产阶级家庭特别多。

stymie: to prevent sb from doing sth that they have planned or want to do; to prevent sth from happening阻挠；阻碍；阻止；妨碍，比如：

Mr Monti's resignation will stymie further reform until after the election.然而蒙蒂的辞职会在至下一次大选期间内扼制改革的进一步推行。

[小结] 表示“阻碍”的词

Get/stand in the way of: to prevent sb from doing sth; to prevent sth from happening 挡…的路；妨碍

He wouldn't allow emotions to get in the way of him doing his job.他不会让情绪妨碍自己的工作。

hold back：PHRASAL VERB To hold someone or something back means to prevent someone from doing something, or to prevent something from happening. 阻止，比如：

Stagnation in home sales is holding back economic recovery.住房销售的停滞正阻碍着经济的复苏。

Thwart /θwɔːrt/ :[ VN ] ~ sth~ sb (in sth) to prevent sb from doing what they want to do 阻止；阻挠；对…构成阻力，比如：

to thwart sb's plans 阻挠某人的计划

She was thwarted in her attempt to take control of the party. 她控制这个政党的企图受阻了。

insidious consequence潜在恶果

Insidious: ( formal disapproving ) spreading gradually or without being noticed, but causing serious harm 潜伏的；隐袭的；隐伏的

the insidious effects of polluted water supplies 供水系统污染的潜在恶果

下次可以用这个词替换potential, possible。

本文完。