英语高级口语教程 Is It Necessary to Keep the \"Iron Rice B

Is It Necessary *** Keep the "Iron R***e Bowl"?

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Li***ng Without the "Iron R***e Bowl"

S***ce 1987, ref***m of the Ch***ese labour system has stepp*** out of the lab***a***ry and ****** the real w***ld of employ***nt. F*** many, the " iron r***e bowl " no longer exlsts. The " iron r***e bowls " - a Ch***ese ***phemism f*** ***vern***nt-assig***d secure jobs that had been cherish*** f*** m***e than 30 years - were shatter***.
No a***urate figure was **ailable on how many w***kers h**e been laid off so far. But scatter*** rep***ts offer a g***mpse of the s***pe of u***mploy***nt.

In 1987, State-ow***d enterprises *** Hubei Pro***nce laid off 14, 000 w***kers. Last sum***r, 30, 000 people *** Shanghai were recei***ng u***mploy***nt pensions.
The ******guration of a labour market at the Shenyang Steel Pipes Fac***ry *** Liaon***g Pro***nce went unherald***no firecrackers, no march***g band, no bursts of appl***se. Instead of gaiety, weep***g was heard at the peri***ter of a small crowd of about 50 people wit***ss***g the event.

Except f*** a few off***ials ***t***g at tables on the platf***m, everyo*** at the ***et***g had been laid off at the end of a w***k.optimization program***. They ***clud*** labourers, cadres, techn***ians, ***mmunist Party ***mbers, and even univer***y graduates. The saddest were the eight ex-cadres who lost their executive jobs.
Zhao yusheng, 46, was Party secretary of the No 2 w***k***p of the fac***ry bef***e he was laid off. He found another job on the labour market, load***g and u***oad***g trucks. He once serv*** *** the army and part***ipat*** *** battles. But this turn of events made him cry.

"F*** m***e than 20 years I had been do***g what the Party ask*** *** *** do, " he said. "Now on the labour market I f***d I do not h**e any skills. I can o***y be****** a truck loader."
F*** m***e than 30 years, u***mploy***nt *** Ch***a has been regard*** as an e***l wh***h labour plan***rs h**e tri*** *** **oid at all ***sts,
The plan***rs were once quite ***mplacent about the solution--the "iron r***e bowl". They were ***nfident that a po***cy of "low salaries and broad employ***nt" would end u***mploy***nt *** Ch***a f***ever.

But the " iron r***e bowl " system was a dead-end. Reluctantly,the plan***rs.look*** f*** another way.And even though it would c***se pa*** and diff***u***ies,they re***m***nd***
a system that would permit lay***g off ******mpetent staff. That, they fe***, would ***crease eff***iency and give ai***ng enterprises a ***w lease on ***fe.
F*** w***kers affect***, lay-off is a bitter pill wh***h so*** simply cannot swallow.
F*** m***e than 30 years, Ch***ese people h**e fe*** ***tally secure *** their jobs. Now they are fac***g the possibi***ty of los***g their jobs, and many h**e react*** with pan*** and h***r***.

Fu Gangzhan, direc***r of the E***nom*** Develop***nt Research Institute of the East Ch***a Univer***y of Chemistry, has studi*** Ch***a's labour problems f*** many years.
Two sum***rs a*** Fu and his ***lleagues ***nduct*** a survey of several thousand w***kers and entrepre***urs *** Shanghai. Their purpose was *** unveil the rea***ty of u***mploy***nt *** Ch***a.
Dur***g the sa*** period, e***nom***s profess*** Tao Zhaipu of the Zhongshan Univer***y *** Guangzhou was also study***g the employ***nt actua***ties *** Ch***a.

They ca*** *** the sa*** ***nclusion almost at the sa*** ti***: u***mploy***nt exists and has always exist*** *** Ch***a. They found that there was a ***re of u***mploy*** number***g
between 15 mil***on *** 25 mil***on people *** the ***untry. This range is almost the sa*** as the entire populations of Austra***a and Canada.
U***ke u***mploy***nt *** develop*** ***untries, u***mploy***nt *** Ch***a is ge***rally hidden from ***ew.

The State spends 50 *** 60 bil***on yuan ( $16.5 *** $ 18.9 bil***on ) each year *** the f***m of salaries, bonuses and other be***fits supp***t***g "iron r***e bowl" w***kers who ***ver actually earn a penny f*** their employers. This expenditure a***ounts
f*** about 50 per cent of the profits hand*** over *** the State by all the enterprises *** the ***untry.

II. Read
Read the follow***g passages. Under****** the imp***tant ***ewpo***ts while read***g.

1. Break***g the "Iron R***e Bowl"

In his eff***t *** repair the damage of 30 lost years,Deng Xiaop***g is abo***sh***g what is call*** the "iron r***e bowl" *** "big-pot system", wh***h guarante*** that w***kers and peasants shar*** equal rewards regardless of their ***ntribution. In its place, he has ***troduc*** "production responsibi***ty", wh***h ***nks remu***ration *** ***di***dual eff***t.

The dramat*** impact of these ref***ms is most e***dent *** rural Ch***a, ho*** *** m***e than 80 percent of the ***untry's 1.1 bil***on people. A ****** *** a ***wnship outside Wuxi tells the s***ry. The ***mmu*** there, ***ke most throughout Ch***a, has been dismantl***. Instead of be***g assig***d *** jobs by a team leader and draw***g equal shares from a ***mmon revenue pool as *** the gast, the peasants ***ntract *** w***k a piece of land and *** deLiver a quota of products *** the state at a fix*** pr***e.
What they produce above the quota they may keep f*** their own ***nsumption *** sel.l *** a free market. They also are en***urag*** *** ca***ivate bigger private plots and *** engage *** what are known as "side****** acti***ties" *** ***g***nt their *********s. The resu*** is that the **erage household ********* has ***creas*** from about $ 225 a year *** $ 350--$400. The most enterpris***g can earn many ti***s that sum.

L***d*** *** the Ch***ese press as a model f*** all *** follow is the ch***ken far***r who went ****** the egg bus***ess and amass*** a f***tu*** suff***ient *** enable her *** buy Ch***a's first privately ow***d car, as well as two trucks f*** her enterprise.
Everywhere the e***dence of ris***g affluence - *** Ch***ese terms-- is ***sible. In o*** ***wn I *********, where hardly a ***w house had been bui*** f*** 30 years, ***arly 90 percent of the fami***es h**e now mov*** ****** ***w a***ommodations. Most ho***s h**e radio-cassette players, and a maj***ity h**e tele***sion sets acquir*** *** the past year *** so. Less than five years a***, such luxuries were un**ailable.

In Nanj***g, once the capital of the kouom***tang ***vern***nt, a ********* sees another.ht***ct of the personal ***centive system. Bus***ess booms *** a free market of hundr***s of .***di***dually operat*** stalls ***n***g several narrow streets. On sale are vegetables, fruits, ch***kens and ***ve fish and eels. Buyers are many. Peasant ***rchants charge what the market will bear and keep what mo***y they get.
Are ***mmunist leaders w***ri*** that all of this will lead *** the e***rgence
of a ***w class of r***h peasants'? They ***sist they are not. "So*** peasants prosper early, others will prosper later," says o*** off***ial. I7eng puts it as a tr***kle-down the***y: "Make so*** people r***h first s0 as *** lead all people *** wea***h."

2. How It Feels *** Be Out of Job

Xu Peihua, 26, was fir*** from her job at the Shanghai No 5 Silk Knitt***g Fac***ry *** january 1987 after she beca*** ill.
The ***mmunity ***mmittce where Xu ***v*** was suppos*** *** ***mpensate her f*** 70 per cent of her ***d***al expenses f*** o*** year after she left the fac***ry. But after a year, her ill***ss ***t w***se.
A Shanghai hospital refus*** *** take her *** u***ess she paid a depo*** of 10,000 yuan. After much ******tiation with the hospital, she was taken ***, after pay***g 5,000 yuan depo***.

Her problems were not over. Her u***mploy***nt ***surance expir*** and so she no longer receiv*** her 40-yuan monthly pension.She had nowhere *** *** *** get ***mpensation f*** her hospital fees. Xu ********* mo***y urgently, but no ***stitutions would help.
Xu's f******r employer, the Shanghai No 5 Silk Knitt***g Fac***ry, said that their responsibi***ty f*** her end*** once she was fir***. So they refus*** *** give a penny.
The Shanghai Labour Ser***ce ***mpany, wh***h has an u***mploy***nt pension fund of 20 mil***on yuan at its disposal, ***uld not help with the ***d***al bills bec***se Xu was no longer e***gible f*** a pension.

Neither ***uld she receive assistance from the Shanghai Mun***ipal Bure*** of Ci***l Affairs. Their welfare ***verage extends *** div***c*** people, s***gle seni***s, ho***less youngsters, relatives of martyrs and soldiers *** ser***ce, and disabl*** people. Xu did not fall ****** any of these cate***ries, so she did not qua***fy.
But not all jobless people share Xu's fate. A w***dow may shut, but a do*** may open. A number of u***mploy*** people h**e made a su***es**ul tran***ion from "iron r***e bowl" *** w***k***g on their own *** f*** private bus***ess.

Li Chuny***g of t.he Shenyang Steel Pipes Fac***ry was o*** of the few univer***y graduates who lost her job. She had o***y w***k*** there a year after she had graduat***.
Bef***e the rea***ty of u***mploy***nt happe***d *** her, she had o***y heard ahout such ***uations *** ***untries ***ke the Unit*** States *** Japan where so*** univer***y graduates, even a few with master's *** doc***r's degrees, ***uld not f***d a job. ln Ch***a, univer***y graduates were highly sought by enterprises.

F*** four months, Li rode around Shenyang on her bike job-hunt***g. She wrote three exam***ations given by potential etnployers and at last ***t a jub at a research ***stitute that urgently ********* transla***rs. It was a job she had long want*** and now was very happy *** get.
As Li's case ***ws, los***g a job doesn't ***cessarily ***an bad luck. It may even br***g a better, m***e sati**y***g job.

3. Job Chang***g Be******s a Fashion

It us*** *** be quite an embarrass***g th***g *** Ch***a f*** a person *** be dismiss*** by his *** her employer. But th***gs are different now.
Take Beij***g as an example. Many people now seek the opp***tunity *** be sack***.
Last year, so*** 14, 000 people su***e****** *** le*****g their w***k places by resign***g *** h*****g their employers dismiss them. Many of them were the backbo*** of their enterprises, ***clud***g skill*** w***kers and ***llege graduates just assig***d *** their w***k places.

Enterprise leaders hold that many th***gs a***ount f*** the chang***g of jobs. So*** people are not ***ntent with the ***uation *** their w***k units; so*** are attract*** by the higher ********* of self-employ*** w***kers and those who w***k f*** f***eign ***terest- ***volv*** bus***esses.
A woman us*** *** w***k f*** a ***m***rce ***llege as a teacher *** Beij***g, but she found it m***e ***terest***g *** w***k f*** a ***rp***ation as an off***e w***ker.
She said: "Sati**action *** my career is what I want."

Not all of those who left their w***k units f***d ***w jobs ***stantly. They be****** frequent *********s *** the labour market *** the capital. So*** are lucky and are well receiv***, but so*** are not, especially those who do not h**e special professional skills.
It is not unusual f*** so*** people *** try *** return *** their ***ig***al w***k units bec***se they fail *** f***d suitable ***w jobs.
So*** who quit enjoy a ***w su***ess *** their career. A street p***lar said, "I just regret I left the fac***ry ***o late..." The p***lar w***e a suit of Western-style clothes and apparently is well-off now.

But another p***lar said that they earn mo***y o***y through hardship. "We suffer ***ld***ss *** w***ter and heat *** sum***r, spend***g all day *** open air." And he ***ld a rep***ter that a p***lar who w***k*** ***ar him had retur***d *** his ***ig***al w***k unit bec***se he found it ***o hard *** be a self-employ*** w***ker.
The frequent change of jobs among employees represents a challenge *** the years-old job allocation system *** Ch***a, revea***ng the fact that people h**e begun *** pay attention *** their personal values and h**e a sense of ***mpetition. The flow of person***l *** the f***m of quitt***g old jobs *** f***d ***w o***s cannot be s***pp*** by ***re adm***istrative ***ans. Such a flow is ***e***table *** the develop***nt of a ***mmodity e***nomy.
The problem can o***y be solv*** by further ref***m.

4. A Tr**e***ng Man's Labour of Love

B***n *** the Year of the Monkey a******d***g *** the Ch***ese calender, Wang Haihe, 22, is ***nsider*** by so*** people as h*****g so*** of the characterist***s of monkeys, such as be***g ***vely, nimble and ***od at c***mb***g.
Wang himself doesn't deny this, s***ce he really can't stand a tranquil and unchang***g ***fe. He has been busy mo***ng about s***ce his childhood.
Now, o***y a few years later, he has parlay*** his e***rgy and ***terests ****** a thri***ng tr**el bus***ess.

As early as when he was *** primary school, he and his family spent most of their ho***days tr**el***ng *** ***arby mounta*** areas *** *** scen*** spots *** Jiangxian ***unty, Shanxi Pro***nce.
"Tr**el***ng has so***ti***s ***ant risk *** ***, and several ti***s I was on the verge of death when I c***mb*** on*** overhang***g c***ffs," said Wang. "But this ***ver s***ps ***; *** fact, it excites ***."
By the ti*** when Wang graduat*** from high school, he had set foot on such famous mounta***s around the ***untry as Taishan *** Shandong Pro***nce, Huashan *** Shaanxi, Hengshan *** Hebei and Songshan *** Henan. Of all the places he has been, he ***kes Mt. Huashan best. It is ***nsider*** o*** of the most precipi***us and dramat*** mounta***s *** the ***untry.

"I was there n***e ti***s," he said. "Each ti*** I reach*** the summit, I ***ut*** with excite***nt."
But th***gs went ***ntrary *** Wang's ***terests. He ***t a job *** the local F***ance Bure*** and w***k*** as a clerk after he graduat*** from high school.
"From so*** people's po***t of ***ew it is a ***od job, s***ce it is easy, ***mf***table and safe, but f*** *** it is ******lerable," said Wang.
After a few months, Wang quit his job, gi***ng up the"iron r***e bowl" of security, and on Oc***ber 1 last year he ope***d a privatelyow***d tr**el ser***ce, the first o*** *** the pro***nce. It aims at arous***g people' s ***terest *** tr**el and helps them arrange ***urs, lodg***g, transp***tation, pho***-tak***g, entrance t***kets and so on.

From ***f***mation he had ***llect*** from ***wspapers and magaz***es, he lear***d that about 100, 000 people *** the ***untry every year ****** *** ****** the Guandi Temple, the most ***nvenient scen*** spot from Jiangxian ***unty.
"But very few people from the ***unty ca*** *** the place, not bec***se they had been there, but bec***se most people ***ere had no idea about tr**el***ng," said Wang. "Most of the youngsters here would th***k it is a waste of mo***y *** tr**el and thcy spend most of their mo***y on food and clothes."?

Wang put advertise***nts along streets *** draw the iuterest of young pcuple.
"From the ti*** I was very young, I drea***d of ***ur***g the ***untry's be***tiful rivers and mounta***s," he said. "When I am out *** nature, I always feel relax*** and be****** open-m***d***. Now that I h**e be***fit*** a lot from tr**el***ng, I want m***e people *** sha re my fee***ng, and do my best *** help them and make their tr**el easier and m***e ***terest***g."
After be***g *** bus***ess o***y a week, Wang ***ganiz*** his first group of youths --17 of tbem.

"The trip is excit***g and really e***nom***al, ?said o*** of the youngsters *** the group. "We tr**el*** *** Mt. Huashan and Xi'an *** Shaanxi Pro***nce f*** three days, an.d each of us o***y spent 65 yuan a***ogether."
With ***od knowl***ge about the legends and his***r***al ***f***mation about various ***es, and h*****g r***h experience *** arrang***g trips, Wang soon won the trust of the local people. To his great sati**action, m***e and m***e people *** the ***unty h**e begun *** ***w an ***terest *** tr**el***ng, and Wang's tr**el ser***ce has be****** very popular among young people there.
"I am very happy with my w***k now. To ***, the 'iron r***e bowl' is actually an iron lock. I would rather ***ve a******d***g *** my own de.ires and reaiize my full potential," he said.