新西兰英语 426 Minimum Wage increase

　　Today, the minimum¹ wage has increased by 25c from $12.75 to $13 an hour. For young people who are still being trained for the job, their pay has increased by 20c from $10.20 to $10.40.
At $13 an hour, this comes to $520 for a 40-hour week. The median hourly rate for all workers, including people on a salary, is $20 an hour. Usually professional² people like teachers and lawyers receive a salary which is a yearly³ amount. It may be paid every two weeks. A median is an average where half the people receive more and half the people receive less.
The age group which has the highest weekly pay is between 35 and 39 years of age. The median for this age group is $777 a week – ($900 for men and $657 for women).
The median household income is $1,236 a week. This includes government benefits⁴ like “Working for Families”.
These figures are for the June quarter last year, collected by the Department of Statistics⁵. If you are interested, you can find these figures on the Stats website.
Questions
What is the difference between median and mean? Why does the Stats Dept prefer the median?
Who earns the minimum wage?
Why do men earn more than women?

1 minimum   

adj.最低的，最小的；n.最小量，最低限度

参考例句：

• What is the minimum price?最低价是多少？
• Today's minimum temperature is 10℃.今天的最低气温是10℃。

2 professional   

adj.专业的；职业的；n.专业人员；职业运动员

参考例句：

• He is a professional tennis player.他是一名职业网球运动员。
• I need a professional to sort out my finances.我需要专业人士为我管理财务。

3 yearly   

adj.每年的，一年一度的；adv.一年一次地

参考例句：

• The flower show is a yearly event in our town.我们镇上的花展一年举行一次。
• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。

4 benefits   

n.津贴费；利益( benefit的名词复数 )；（给职工的）奖金；救济金；益处

参考例句：

• economic benefits accruing to the country from tourism 旅游业为该国带来的经济效益
• The article enthused about the benefits that the new system would bring. 本文热情赞扬了新制度将带来的好处。

5 statistics   

n.统计，统计数字，统计学

参考例句：

• We have statistics for the last year.我们有去年的统计资料。
• Statistics is taught in many colleges.许多大学都教授统计学。