Progressives often support diversity mandates as a path to equality and a way to level the playing field.
【生词】mandatevt.授权，命令，强制执行 n. 命令，引申为政策
level n.水平, 程度, 层次; adj.齐平的, 平的; v.扳平, 使相等, 使瞄准
【翻译】进步派人士通常支持推行多样性政策，将其视为实现平等以及营造公平竞争环境的一种途径。
But all too often such policies are an insincere form of virtue-signaling that benefits only the most privileged and does little to help average people.
【生词】all too often 往往
privilegedadj.享有特权的, 特许的
【翻译】然而，这类政策往往只是种虚伪的“美德展示”行为，仅使最特权阶层受益，对普通民众的帮助微乎其微。
A pair of bills sponsored by Massachusetts state Senator Jason Lewis and House Speaker Pro Tempore Patricia Haddad, to ensure “gender parity” on boards and commissions, provide a case in point.
【生词】parityn.平价，价值对等, 同等，平等
【翻译】由马萨诸塞州参议院议员杰森·刘易斯与众议院临时议长帕特里夏·哈达德共同提出的两项法案，旨在确保董事会及委员会中实现“性别平等”——这一案例便充分体现了该立法宗旨。
Haddad and Lewis are concerned that more than half the state-government boards are less than 40 percent female. In order to ensure that elite women have moresuch opportunities, they have proposed imposing government quotas.
【生词】 elite n.精英，杰出人物; adj.精英的
【翻译】哈达德与刘易斯担忧，该州政府下属的各类委员会中，女性成员占比不足40% 的情况占半数以上。为确保优秀女性能够获得更多此类机会，她们提议实施政府配额制度。
If the bills become law, state boards and commissions will be required to set aside 50 percent of board seats for women by 2022.
【生词】 set aside把…放置一旁, 留出，取消
【翻译】若相关法案正式成为法律，各州委员会及董事会须在2022年前将50%的董事会席位分配给女性。
The bills are similar to a measure recently adopted in Califomia, which last year became the first state to require gender quotas for private companies.
【生词】quotan.定量, 定额, 指标, 摊派
【翻译】这些法案与加利福尼亚州近期通过的一项法规类似；该州去年成为美国首个要求私营企业实行性别配额制度的州。
In signing the measure, California Governor Jerry Brown admitted that the law, which expressly classifies people on the basis of sex, is probably unconstitutional.
【生词】expresslyadv.明显地, 明确地, 特别地, 特意地
【翻译】在签署该法案时，加利福尼亚州州长杰里·布朗承认，这项明确根据性别对人群进行分类的法律很可能违宪。
The US Supreme Court frowns on sex-based classifications unless they are designed to address an “important” policy interest, because the California law applies to all boards, even where there is no history of prior discrimination, courts are likely to rule that the law violates the constitutional guarantee of “equal protection”.
【生词】frown on皱眉；持反对态度
【翻译】美国最高法院对基于性别的分类制度持反对态度，除非此类分类制度旨在解决一项“重要的”政策利益；因为加利福尼亚州的该法律适用于所有董事会——即便该董事会此前并无歧视历史——法院也很可能裁定该法律违反了宪法所保障的“平等保护”原则。
But are such government mandates even necessary? Female participation on corporate boards may not currently mirror the percentage of women in the general population, but so what?
【生词】 mirrorn.镜子，反光镜, 真实的写照, 反映; vt.反映, 反射
【翻译】然而，这类政府强制性规定是否真的必要？目前，女性在企业董事会中的占比或许并未与女性在总人口中的占比相匹配，但这又有什么关系呢？
The number of women on corporate boards has been steadily increasing without government interference.
【翻译】在没有政府干预的情况下，企业董事会中的女性成员数量持续稳步增长。
According to a study by Catalyst, between 2010 and 2015 the share of women on the boards of global corporations increased by 54 percent.
【翻译】根据Catalyst 的一项研究，在 2010 年至 2015 年期间，全球跨国企业董事会中女性成员的比例增长了 54%。
Requiring companies to make gender the primary qualification for board membership will inevitably lead to less experienced private sector boards.
【生词】qualificationn.资格，授权, 条件，限制, 合格证书
【翻译】要求企业将性别作为董事会成员的首要任职条件，势必会导致私营部门董事会成员经验不足的情况增加。
That is exactly what happened when Norway adopted a nationwide corporate gender quota.
【翻译】这正是挪威实施全国性企业性别配额制度后所发生的情况。
Writing in The New Republic, Alice Lee notes that increasing the number of opportunities for board membership without increasing the pool of qualified women to serve on such boards has led to a “golden skirt” phenomenon, where the same elite women scoop up multiple seats on a variety of boards.
【生词】scoop up 铲起, 舀，引申为轻松获得，包揽
【翻译】爱丽丝·李在《新共和》杂志上撰文指出，由于增加董事会成员席位数量而未同步扩大担任此类董事会的合格女性人才库，导致了“黄金裙边”现象——即同一批精英女性在多个不同董事会中同时占据多个席位。
Next time somebody pushes corporate quotas as a way to promote gender equity, remember that such policies are largely self-serving measures that make their sponsors feelgood but do little to help average women.
【生词】self-servingadj.自助的，引申为利己的
【翻译】下次当有人将企业配额制度作为促进性别平等的手段时，请记住：这类政策在很大程度上属于利己性举措——它们能让政策制定者感到满意，但对普通女性而言几乎毫无助益。
完成对应题目吧~