中国的典型老外形象是什么样的?

 　　As China's economy and culturalprominence grows, expats from around the world and all walks of life flock¹ tothe Middle Kingdom. While one of the oldestexpats in China haslived here over half a century, one recent survey asked the question, "Whoare China'stypical expats?"

　　随着中国经济文化发展显著，世界各地从事各行各业的外国人开始涌向这个中央王国（译注：明清以来西方国家对中华地区政权或者中原王朝的称呼）。在中国居住最久的一名外国人已在中国待了半个多世纪，最近一项调查提出了这样一个问题：“中国典型的老外形象是什么样的”？

　　中国的典型老外形象是什么样的1.jpg

　　The short answer: overwhelmingly² male andilliterate. According to the China Society for Research on InternationalProfessional Personnel³ Exchange and Development, 74 percent of expats in China are male.In terms of nationality, 34 percent come from North America, 28 percent fromEuropean countries and 21 percent from Asia. Awhopping 73 percent of them barelyspeak Chinese – even though 30 percent have been living in China for 5-10years and 20 percent have been here for more than a decade. Clearly, companieslooking for expat workers aren't interested in providing Chinese lessons.

　　答案是简短的：男性数量占绝对优势的文盲群体。据中国社会国际专业人才交流与发展研究，74%在华外国人是男性。就国籍来说，其中有34%来自北美、28%来自欧洲国家、还有21%来自亚洲。他们当中多达73%的人几乎不会讲中文——尽管30%的人已经在中国生活了5年至10年，还有20%的人已经在中国生活了十年以上。显然，想要雇佣外国人的公司并不会有向他们提供中文课程的意愿。

　　Along with summarizing demographics, thesurvey asked what expats what they didn't like about their lives in China. Asidefrom language barriers and constant visa-renewing troubles, the majority offoreign expats are concerned with education for their children, and medical andsocial insurances offered by their employers.

　　除了作出汇总统计，调查还询问了外国人在中国生活不如意的方面。除了语言障碍和需要经常更新签证的麻烦外，大多数移居国外的人会关心的是孩子的教育问题以及用人单位提供的医疗和社保福利。

 

 

　　Of the 2000+ foreigners who participated insurvey, more that 70 percent are satisfied with their lives in China, and 75percent of their employers said that they were satisfied with their expatemployees. Just 17 percent expressed a little dissatisfaction with their lives,but still wished to continue working in China. Fortunately, only 3.3percent reported to be extremely dissatisfied with their professional lives, andwanted to leave as soon as their contracts terminated⁴.

　　两千多名参与调查的外国人中，超过七成的人对自己在中国的生活感到满意，75%的雇主对他们的工作表现感到满意。只有17%的外国人对他们的生活表现出些许不满，但他们仍希望继续在中国工作。据报道，所幸只有3.3%的人对他们的职业生涯表现出极度不满并想要在合同期结束后尽快离开。

　　Foreigners in China complain a lot aboutpollution, racism⁵, and the inability to secure permanent residency status.Despite all this, one study showed that China is actually the bestplace for expats looking to make money. The Chinese government is stillunsatisfied with these results, and in fact, they think “Chinaneeds to do better to hire and keep professional expats.” So hang in there,semi-professional English teachers!

　　在中国的外国人对污染问题、种族歧视以及无法获得永久居留资格颇有怨言。尽管有这些问题存在，一份研究表明中国其实是想要赚钱的外国人的最佳去处。中国政府仍然对这样的结果不满意，事实上，他们觉得“中国需要为在中国就业的有专业水准的外国人提供更好的条件并留住他们”。所以，忍耐一下吧，那些半职业化的英语教师们！

1 flock   

n.羊群，一群，大量；vi.群集，聚集，成群

参考例句：

• A flock of customers were waiting for the store to open.一群顾客在等候着商店开门。
• A few sheep have been lost from the flock.羊群里少了几只羊。

2 overwhelmingly   

adv.压倒性地；不可抵抗地

参考例句：

• They voted overwhelmingly against the proposal. 他们以压倒多数票否决了该提案。
• The local economy is overwhelmingly dependent on oil and gas extraction. 当地经济过于依赖石油和天然气的开采。

3 personnel   

n.[总称]人员，员工，人事部门

参考例句：

• The personnel are not happy to change these rules.全体工作人员对改变这些规定很不高兴。
• Personnel has lost my tax forms.人事部门把我的税收表格给弄丢了。

4 terminated   

terminate的过去式

参考例句：

• The agreement between us is terminated forthwith. 我们之间的协议立即终止。
• His contract was abruptly terminated. 他的合同意外地终止了。

5 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。