《中英對照讀新聞》Oil workers trade in marriages for a job油田工人以婚姻抵工作

◎魏國金

Former employees of a state-run oilfield in north China are jumping through a strange hoop to get their jobs back -- they are filing for divorce.

華北一家國營油田的離職勞工為拿回工作，正遵從一項怪異指示：他們訴請離婚。

China's state-run giants, once the heart of the planned economy, have cast off millions of employees since the launch of market reforms two decades ago. But the Huabei Oilfield Co., based in Renqiu, Hebei province, issued a new policy saying divorced laid-off employees could return to work.

中國的國營巨擘曾是計劃經濟的重心，而自20年前展開市場改革以來，已解僱數百萬名員工。不過，位於河北省任丘市的華北油田公司卻發布一項新政策，指出離了婚的下崗員工可以返回工作崗位。

“Following these rules, laid-off employees just have to have a divorce certificate and they are qualified for re-employment,” former oilfield worker Wang Ying said, “To qualify to get my job back, I had to divorce my husband of 10 years, even though we have a wonderful relationship.”

「依據這些規定，下崗員工只要有離婚證書，他們就有資格重新僱用，」前油田員工王瑩說，「為了符合重獲工作資格，我必須與我結褵10年的丈夫離婚，縱使我們的關係極好。」

Divorce is on the rise in China but still unusual outside big cities. State media reported 1.6 million couples from the country of 1.3 billion people divorced in 2004.But among Huabei employees, untying the knot had become so common that people had replaced the standard greeting of “Have you eaten?” with “Are you divorced yet?,” the report said.

離婚在中國節節上升，但大都市之外仍屬不尋常。國營媒體報導，在2004年，中國13億人口中，有160萬對夫妻仳離。而在華北油田的員工之間，離婚變得如此平常，致使人們以「你離婚了嗎？」取代了標準的問候語「吃過了嗎？」報導說。

新聞辭典

trade in：以（舊貨）抵購（新品）、做生意。例句：He trades in his computer every two years.（他每2年換購一次電腦。）

jump through a hoop：可指受苦，也有聽命行事的意思。例句：He would jump through a hoop for her.（他對她言聽計從。）put someone through the hoop則是指使某人受磨練。

laid-off：被裁員、被遣散。例句：The firm planned to lay off 100 workers.（公司計畫裁員100人。）