调查：中国“蚁族”人数超百万

爱思英语编者按：他们大学毕业，怀揣梦想来到大都市，居所狭小、收入微薄、现状堪忧。他们和蚂蚁有许多类似的特点：高智、弱小、群居，他们，就是在中国被称为“蚁族(ant tribe)”的100万的庞大群体。“蚁族”的数量不断上升也彰显了一代人的痛苦、无奈和彷徨。

西装笔挺的李志锐（音译）坐在北京公交车中临窗的位置，默默地凝视着那些掠过眼前的欧式别墅、豪华汽车以及灯火通明的购物中心。
Dressed in a crisp suit, Li Zhirui, sitting on the window seat of a Beijing bus, silently gazes at the European-style villas, luxury cars and illuminated shopping malls as they pass him by.

到站之后，他立即解下领带，走到他那停在附近的，破旧的二手摩托车旁。
As soon as his stop arrives, he takes off his tie and walks to his rickety second hand motorbike parked nearby.

他甚至连个驾照都没有。但他住得离市区较远，这样既躲避了交警，也逃开了那些想窥探他私底下生活的同事的视线。
He doesn"t even have a license. But he is far away from the city, safe from the traffic police and his colleagues, who might judge his life outside of the office.

经过15分钟的车程，他最终回到了自己局促的现实生活中：一间8平米的房间，500元的月租（合74美金）相当于他月收入的1/4，在这里他度过了无数长夜。
After a 15-minute ride, he finally squeezes his way into the reality of life: An 8-square-meter room that costs 500 yuan ($74) a month, or a fourth of his salary, where he sleeps away his nights.

在李志锐的生活中，这只是平常的一天而已。
It"s just another day in Li"s life.

作为土生土长的黑龙江人，27岁的李志锐尽量节省每一分开支，以便可以在首都北京买房。
The 27-year-old native of Northeast China"s Heilongjiang province is trying to save every penny he can to buy an apartment in the national capital.

他立志有一天要拥有属于自己的房子。就在上个月，他还在就读大学四年级的未婚妻提出分手，而原因就李志锐未能给她买一辆二手车以及订婚戒指。此后李志锐想要买房的决心更加坚定不移。
His determination to one day become a homeowner has become even stronger after his fiance, a fourth-year university student, dumped him last month when he refused to buy a second hand car and an engagement ring for her.

他说：“她不喜欢在我们出去约会时，只她买一杯咖啡而我自己却总是从家自带水喝。”
"She hated the fact that I used to bring my drinking water from home and only bought her a cup of coffee when we went out," he said.

“我的月薪只有2000元。所以你可以算算我能够买得起几杯咖啡。”
"My monthly salary is only 2,000 yuan. So you calculate how many cups of coffee I can afford."

李志锐的故事并非个案。在北京、上海等富庶城市中，许多收入微薄的大学毕业生都居住在城市的边缘地带。
Li"s story is similar to that of many low-income graduates who have moved into the fringes of China"s wealthiest cities like Beijing and Shanghai to squeeze out a living.

他们是中国的“蚁族”，这一术语是中国社会学家们提出的，用来描述那些为生活而奋斗的年轻外来者，他们怀揣大学文凭，梦想着能够过上更好的生活，争相涌向大都市，结果只找到些收入不高的工作，且生存环境极其恶劣。
They are China"s "ant tribe", a term coined by the country"s sociologists to describe the struggling young migrants, who, armed with their diplomas, scramble to big cities in hope of a better life only to find low-paying jobs and disastrous living conditions.

根据社会科学文献出版社发布的《中国人才蓝皮书》显示，有超过100万的“蚁族”生活在中国各大城市中。
According to a survey in the Blue Book about the country"s talents, which was released by the Social Sciences Academy Press, more than 1 million such "ants" live in the big cities of China.更多信息请访问：http://www.24en.com/

该调查显示，超过10万低收入的高校毕业生生活在北京。在广州、西安、重庆、太原、郑州以及南京这些城市中，这一群体同样数量众多。
The survey said more than 100,000 low-income college graduates live in Beijing, and such groups also exist in large scales in cities like Guangzhou, Xi"an, Chongqing, Taiyuan, Zhengzhou and Nanjing.

在过去十年中，中国大力推行高校扩招政策，22至29岁之间的高校毕业生数量与日俱增。
The number of college graduates, aged 22 to 29, has been growing since China greatly expanded its university enrollment system over the past decade.

教育部相关统计数字显示，高校毕业生已从2000年的107万人增加到2009年的611万人。
According to statistics from the Ministry of Education, the number of college graduates has jumped from 1.07 million in 2000 to 6.11 million in 2009.

调查显示，通常“蚁族们”所居住的破旧房屋附近，有很多的小餐馆、网吧、理发店以及诊所等。
The shabby houses where the "ant tribe" lives usually have many tiny restaurants, Internet bars, hair salons and clinics in close proximity, the survey said.

报告称，“蚁族”们的工作并不稳定，平均月薪低于2000元。
The "ants" don"t have a stable job and their average salary is below 2,000 yuan per month, it said.

北京大学博士后研究员廉思曾出版过一本关于“蚁族”的著作，他表示：“他们和蚂蚁有着许多类似特点。他们群居在狭小的空间中；高智商，勤劳肯干，但却默默无闻，收入微薄。”
Lian Si, a post-doctoral fellow at Peking University, who wrote a book about the "ant tribe", said: "They share every similarity with ants. They live in colonies in cramped areas; they"re intelligent, hardworking, yet anonymous and underpaid."

蓝皮书中还提到，“蚁族”们的尴尬困境已成为一个严重的社会问题，政府应该发展二、三线城市以吸引更多来自大城市的高校毕业生。
The embarrassing living situation of the "ant tribe" has been a serious social issue and the government should develop "second- and third- tier cities" to attract more graduates from big cities, the Blue Book said.

相关词汇

cramped 狭窄的
 
crisp 整洁的,干净利落的
 
diploma 毕业文凭, 学位证书
 
dump 丢下；抛弃
 
fiance 未婚妻（夫）
 
illuminated 被照明的;发光的
 
rickety 摇摇晃晃的，不牢固的
 
scramble 争夺, 争抢
 
squeeze 挤入，塞入
 
underpaid 所得报酬过低的