Para. 17
2. Women continue to start up small businesses of their own, often working from home.
1) start up: to bring a business, organization or project into existence “创办，发起，创建”
e.g.
She left the company last year to start up her own business.
去年她离开公司创办了自己的企业。
相关短语：
e.g.
a. It’s time we started on the packing.
我们该动手准备行李了。
b. Having missed the last bus, we had to start out walking.
因为错过了最后一班车，我们只好步行出发。
c. I started out to make the dress myself, but in the end I had to ask for help.
我原打算自己做这件衣服，但最后不得不请人帮忙。
d. It was fine to start with, and then it began to rain.刚开始天还不错，但后来开始下雨了。
e. We will now hear the students read their poems, starting with Tom.
我们下面来听学生们朗诵他们的诗，从汤姆开始。
2) business: n. an organization that buys or sells products or services for money “工商企业，商店，公司”
e.g.
Sheryl’s parents run a small clothing business.
谢利尔的父母经营着一家小服装店。
注意business用于此词义时是可数名词，用于“生意、事务”等词义时为不可数名词。
相关词组：
e.g.
a. We’d better stop chatting and get down to business.
我们别再闲聊，干正经事吧。
b. You have no business going through my private papers.
你无权查看我的私人文件。
c. This is not a game. We mean business.
这不是开玩笑的，我们是认真的。
business card名片；business class商务舱；business day工作日；business hours营业时间；
business park工业园区
译文：
妇女们继续自己开办小型公司企业，她们通常在家里上班。
Para. 18
People are changing careers on average every ten years now, instead of staying in a job for life.
on (an/the) average: usually, typically “按平均值，通常”
e.g.
On the average, your car was moving at a speed of 25 miles per hour.
你的车速平均为每小时25英里。
译文：
人们现在平均每十年更换一次工作，而不是一辈子只做一种。
Para. 19
1. The increase in information and knowledge-based business is reducing the levels of middlemanagement.
information and knowledge-based:“以信息和知识为基础的”
-based与名词构成形容词，有两种意思：
1) making use of “以······为基础的，利用······的”(如文中)；
2) operating or working from “总部在······的，设在······的”, 如：
logic-based artificial intelligence逻辑人工智能
computer-based accountancy使用计算机进行的会计工作
the agency’s New York-based press officer该机构驻纽约的新闻官员
management
n. 管理，经营
e.g.
The hotel has been left to their management.
饭店已由他们管理。
管理（层）
Have you heard about the change in the management?
听说领导层的变动了吗？
译文：
以信息和知识为基础的行业的增加减少了中间管理层。
2. Top managers get all the information they need to work together with front-line staff.
staff: n. the people working for a company, organization or institution（谓语动词用单复数皆可）
“员工，全体职工”
e.g.
a. It is a small hospital with a staff of just over a hundred.
这是家小医院，只有100多名员工。
b. She joined the staff of the Journal of Neurosurgery in 1997.
1997年她成了《神经外科学》杂志的工作人员。
c. Ms. Smith is on the teaching staff at the University of St. Thomas.
史密斯女士是圣 · 托马斯大学的教师。
part-time staff兼职人员；full-time staff专职人员
注意和美语中faculty区别，后者指 “全体教员”
e.g.
We are planning a meeting for students, faculty and administrators.
我们正计划召开学生、教师和行政人员的全体会议。
staff可以作动词，表示“为······配备人员”
e.g.
Local schools will be fully staffed for the start of the new school year.
地方学校将为新学年的开始配备足够的人员。
front-line
adj. 前线的
e.g.
More troops were hurried to the front-line.
更多的部队急忙奔赴前线。
Only several soldiers stand up to the enemy’s invasion in the front-line.
仅仅有几个战士在前译文：
高级管理者拥有和一线员工合作所需的一切信息。
Para. 20
More work in the corporate field is given to contractors who work from outside the company. Specialists are becoming more important than general workers.
译文：
公司把更多的业务交给外来承包商。专家正变得比普通工人更为重要。
contractor
n. 承包人; 承包商
e.g.
In case a contractor deceases during the term of a contract, the successor of the deceased contractor may continue the contract.
承包人在承包期内死亡的，该承包人的继承人可以继续承包。
specialist
n. 专家
e.g.
a. She is a specialist in English.
她是一位英语专家。
b. The peasants looked up to him as a specialist.
农民们把他看作专家。
c. You shall go to a specialist in computer or to a computer specialist for advice.
你应去计算机专营店或去找一个计算机专家咨询。