文章分析与翻译

第一部分：文章主旨、段落主旨及作者写作思想

文章主旨

文章聚焦美国邮政服务（USPS）面临的财务困境，分析其持续亏损的原因，包括技术变革导致的业务需求下降、僵化的监管结构以及利益集团的压力。文章介绍了一项旨在缓解USPS财务压力的立法提案，但指出该提案仅是权宜之计，未能解决根本问题。作者对USPS的现代化改革持批评态度，认为当前措施不足以实现21世纪邮政系统的转型。

段落主旨

• 段落1：描述USPS的财务困境，亏损严重且负债高企，指出技术变革导致首类邮件需求下降及监管结构限制管理灵活性是主要原因。
• 段落2：分析利益集团（如邮政工会和贺卡制造商）对国会施加压力，阻碍改革，导致USPS无法现代化并推迟必要投资。
• 段落3：介绍一项通过众议院的立法提案，通过加价和将邮政退休人员纳入医保来节省资金，缓解财务压力，但仍未触及深层问题。
• 段落4：指出该提案仅是维持USPS运营的最低限度措施，未能改革集体谈判或取消周六送货等关键问题，反映立法者对短期危机而非长期转型的关注。

作者写作思想

作者对USPS的现状持批评态度，承认其面临的技术和结构挑战，但对立法者仅采取“权宜之计”而不推动全面改革表示不满。作者认为，USPS需要根本性变革以适应21世纪需求，而当前措施远远不足，透露出对立法者短期思维的失望。

第二部分：逐句翻译与重点分析

段落1

1. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) continues to bleed red ink.
   • 翻译：美国邮政服务（USPS）持续亏损。
   • 重点单词/短语：
     • bleed red ink: 持续亏损
   • 语法：现在进行时表示持续状态；bleed red ink为比喻表达，指财务赤字。
2. It reported a net loss of $5.6 billion for fiscal 2016, the 10th straight year its expenses have exceeded revenue.
   • 翻译：它报告2016财年净亏损56亿美元，这是连续第10年支出超过收入。
   • 重点单词/短语：
     • net loss: 净亏损
     • fiscal: 财政的
     • straight: 连续的
     • expenses: 支出
     • revenue: 收入
   • 语法：the 10th straight year作同位语，修饰2016；its expenses have exceeded revenue为定语从句。
3. Meanwhile, it has more than $120 billion in unfunded liabilities, mostly for employee health and retirement costs.
   • 翻译：与此同时，它有超过1200亿美元的未拨款负债，主要用于员工医疗和退休费用。
   • 重点单词/短语：
     • meanwhile: 与此同时
     • unfunded liabilities: 未拨款负债
     • mostly: 主要
   • 语法：介词短语for employee health and retirement costs作定语，修饰liabilities。
4. There are many reasons this formerly stable federal institution finds itself on the verge of bankruptcy.
   • 翻译：这个曾经稳定的联邦机构濒临破产有许多原因。
   • 重点单词/短语：
     • formerly: 以前
     • stable: 稳定的
     • federal institution: 联邦机构
     • on the verge of: 濒临
     • bankruptcy: 破产
   • 语法：There be句型；finds itself表示“发现自己处于”。
5. Fundamentally, the USPS is in a historic squeeze between technological change that has permanently decreased demand for its bread-and-butter product, first-class mail, and a regulatory structure that denies management the flexibility to adjust its operations to the new reality.
   • 翻译：从根本上说，USPS正处于技术变革和监管结构之间的历史性挤压中，技术变革永久减少了其主要产品——首类邮件的需求，而监管结构剥夺了管理层调整运营以适应新现实的灵活性。
   • 重点单词/短语：
     • fundamentally: 从根本上
     • historic squeeze: 历史性挤压
     • technological change: 技术变革
     • permanently: 永久地
     • bread-and-butter: 主要收入来源
     • first-class mail: 首类邮件
     • regulatory structure: 监管结构
     • flexibility: 灵活性
     • adjust: 调整
     • new reality: 新现实
   • 语法：between…and…连接两个并列原因；that引导定语从句修饰change和structure。

段落2

6. And interest groups ranging from postal unions to greeting-card makers exert self-interested pressure on the USPS’s ultimate overseer – Congress – insisting that whatever else happens to the Postal Service, aspects of the status quo they depend on get protected.
   • 翻译：从邮政工会到贺卡制造商的利益集团对USPS的最终监管者——国会——施加自利压力，坚持无论邮政服务发生什么变化，他们依赖的现状必须得到保护。
   • 重点单词/短语：
     • interest groups: 利益集团
     • ranging from…to…: 从……到……
     • exert pressure: 施加压力
     • self-interested: 自利的
     • ultimate overseer: 最终监管者
     • Congress: 国会
     • status quo: 现状
     • get protected: 得到保护
   • 语法：ranging from…to…表示范围；insisting that…引导宾语从句；whatever引导让步状语从句。
7. This is why repeated attempts at reform legislation have failed in recent years, leaving the Postal Service unable to pay its bills except by deferring vital modernization.
   • 翻译：这就是为什么近年来的改革立法多次尝试失败，导致邮政服务无法支付账单，只能推迟重要的现代化进程。
   • 重点单词/短语：
     • repeated attempts: 多次尝试
     • reform legislation: 改革立法
     • defer: 推迟
     • vital: 重要的
     • modernization: 现代化
   • 语法：This is why…引导原因状语从句；leaving…作结果状语；except by表示“除了通过”。

段落3

8. Now comes word that everyone involved – Democrats, Republicans, the Postal Service, the unions and the system’s heaviest users – has finally agreed on a plan to fix the system.
   • 翻译：现在有消息称，所有相关方——民主党、共和党、邮政服务、工会及系统最大用户——最终同意了一项修复系统的计划。
   • 重点单词/短语：
     • now comes word: 现在有消息
     • everyone involved: 所有相关方
     • heaviest users: 最大用户
     • agree on: 同意
     • fix: 修复
   • 语法：that引导同位语从句，解释word；破折号引出列举。
9. Legislation is moving through the House that would save USPS an estimated $28.6 billion over five years, which could help pay for new vehicles, among other survival measures.
   • 翻译：一项立法正在众议院推进，该立法预计在五年内为USPS节省286亿美元，这可以帮助支付新车辆等其他生存措施。
   • 重点单词/短语：
     • move through: 通过
     • the House: 众议院
     • estimated: 估计的
     • survival measures: 生存措施
   • 语法：that引导定语从句修饰legislation；which引导非限制性定语从句修饰节省的资金。
10. Most of the money would come from a penny-per-letter permanent rate increase and from shifting postal retirees into Medicare.
    • 翻译：大部分资金将来自每封信加价一分钱的永久性价格调整以及将邮政退休人员纳入医保。
    • 重点单词/短语：
      • penny-per-letter: 每封信一分钱
      • permanent: 永久的
      • rate increase: 价格调整
      • shift into: 纳入
      • Medicare: 医保
    • 语法：from…and from…并列介词短语表示资金来源。
11. The latter step would largely offset the financial burden of annually pre-funding retiree health care, thus addressing a long-standing complaint by the USPS and its unions.
    • 翻译：后一项措施将在很大程度上抵消每年预拨退休人员医疗费用的财务负担，从而解决USPS及其工会长期以来的抱怨。
    • 重点单词/短语：
      • latter: 后者
      • offset: 抵消
      • financial burden: 财务负担
      • pre-funding: 预拨款
      • long-standing: 长期存在的
      • complaint: 抱怨
    • 语法：thus表示结果；by the USPS and its unions作状语。

段落4

12. If it clears the House, this measure would still have to get through the Senate – where someone is bound to point out that it amounts to the bare, bare minimum necessary to keep the Postal Service afloat, not comprehensive reform.
    • 翻译：如果该措施通过众议院，仍需通过参议院——在那里肯定会有人指出，这只是维持邮政服务不破产的最低限度措施，而非全面改革。
    • 重点单词/短语：
      • clear: 通过
      • the Senate: 参议院
      • be bound to: 肯定会
      • point out: 指出
      • bare minimum: 最低限度
      • keep afloat: 维持运营
      • comprehensive reform: 全面改革
    • 语法：If引导条件状语从句；where引导定语从句修饰Senate；that引导宾语从句。
13. There’s no change to collective bargaining at the USPS, a major omission considering that personnel accounts for 80 percent of the agency’s costs.
    • 翻译：USPS的集体谈判没有任何变化，这是一个重大疏漏，因为人事费用占机构成本的80%。
    • 重点单词/短语：
      • collective bargaining: 集体谈判
      • major omission: 重大疏漏
      • personnel: 人事
      • account for: 占
    • 语法：considering that…引导原因状语从句。
14. Also missing is any discussion of eliminating Saturday letter delivery.
    • 翻译：同样缺失的是关于取消周六信件投递的任何讨论。
    • 重点单词/短语：
      • eliminate: 取消
      • Saturday letter delivery: 周六信件投递
    • 语法：missing作表语；of eliminating…作定语修，那些 discussion。
15. That common-sense change enjoys wide public support and would save the USPS $2 billion per year.
    • 翻译：这一常识性变化获得广泛的公众支持，并将为USPS每年节省20亿美元。
    • 重点单词/短语：
      • common-sense: 常识性的
      • wide public support: 广泛的公众支持
    • 语法：主语+enjoys+宾语结构。
16. But postal special-interest groups seem to have killed it, at least in the House.
    • 翻译：但邮政特殊利益集团似乎已在众议院扼杀了这一变化。
    • 重点单词/短语：
      • special-interest groups: 特殊利益集团
      • kill: 扼杀
    • 语法：seem to have done表示推测已发生的情况。
17. The emerging consensus around the bill is a sign that legislators are getting frightened about a politically embarrassing short-term collapse at the USPS.
    • 翻译：围绕该法案的逐渐形成的共识表明，立法者对USPS在政治上令人尴尬的短期崩溃感到恐慌。
    • 重点单词/短语：
      • emerging consensus: 逐渐形成的共识
      • frightened: 害怕的
      • politically embarrassing: 政治上尴尬的
      • short-term collapse: 短期崩溃
    • 语法：that引导同位语从句，解释sign。
18. It is not, however, a sign that they’re getting serious about transforming the postal system for the 21st century.
    • 翻译：然而，这并不是他们认真考虑21世纪邮政系统转型的迹象。
    • 重点单词/短语：
      • however: 然而
      • transform: 转型
    • 语法：however表示转折；that引导同位语从句。

第三部分：题目详解

Q1. The financial problem with the USPS is caused partly by

选项：
[A] its unbalanced budget
[B] its rigid management
[C] the cost for technical upgrading
[D] the withdrawal of bank support

解析：段落1提到“the USPS is in a historic squeeze between technological change that has permanently decreased demand for its bread-and-butter product, first-class mail, and a regulatory structure that denies management the flexibility to adjust its operations”，指出技术变革导致收入减少（预算失衡）和监管结构限制管理灵活性。因此，选项[A]正确。选项[B]管理僵化未直接提及；[C]技术升级成本不是主要原因；[D]银行支持撤回无依据。

正确答案：A

Q2. According to Paragraph 2, the USPS fails to modernize itself due to

选项：
[A] the interference from interest groups
[B] the inadequate funding from Congress
[C] the shrinking demand for postal service
[D] the incompetence of postal unions

解析：段落2提到“interest groups…exert self-interested pressure on…Congress…leaving the Postal Service unable to pay its bills except by deferring vital modernization”，表明利益集团的压力导致改革失败和现代化推迟，因此选项[A]正确。选项[B]、[C]、[D]均无直接依据。

正确答案：A

Q3. The long-standing complaint by the USPS and its unions can be addressed by

选项：
[A] removing its burden of retiree health care
[B] making more investment in new vehicles
[C] adopting a new rate-increase mechanism
[D] attracting more first-class mail users

解析：段落3提到“shifting postal retirees into Medicare…thus addressing a long-standing complaint by the USPS and its unions”，表明将退休人员纳入医保可解决长期的退休医疗费用预拨款问题，因此选项[A]正确。选项[B]、[C]、[D]未涉及此问题。

正确答案：A

Q4. In the last paragraph, the author seems to view legislators with

选项：
[A] respect
[B] tolerance
[C] discontent
[D] gratitude

解析：段落4提到“it amounts to the bare, bare minimum necessary to keep the Postal Service afloat, not comprehensive reform”和“It is not, however, a sign that they’re getting serious about transforming the postal system”，表明作者对立法者仅采取最低限度措施而不进行彻底改革感到不满，因此选项[C]正确。选项[A]、[B]、[D]与作者态度不符。

正确答案：C

Q5. Which of the following would be the best title for the text

选项：
[A] The USPS starts to Miss Its Good Old Days
[B] The Postal Service: Keep away from My Cheese
[C] The USPS: Chronic Illness Requires a Quick Cure
[D] The Postal Service Needs More Than a Band-Aid

解析：文章强调USPS的长期财务问题和当前措施的不足（仅是“最低限度”），需要更深层次的改革。选项[D]“The Postal Service Needs More Than a Band-Aid”准确概括了USPS需要全面改革而非临时措施的主题。选项[A]怀旧、[B]无关、[C]虽提到长期问题但“Quick Cure”与文章观点不符。

正确答案：D

第四部分：考研单词、短语、语法、句式汇总

考研单词

• bleed: 流血（比喻亏损）
• net loss: 净亏损
• fiscal: 财政的
• straight: 连续的
• expenses: 支出
• revenue: 收入
• meanwhile: 与此同时
• unfunded: 未拨款的
• liabilities: 负债
• mostly: 主要
• formerly: 以前
• stable: 稳定的
• federal: 联邦的
• verge: 边缘
• bankruptcy: 破产
• fundamentally: 从根本上
• historic: 历史的
• squeeze: 挤压
• technological: 技术的
• permanently: 永久地
• bread-and-butter: 主要收入来源
• first-class: 首类的
• regulatory: 监管的
• flexibility: 灵活性
• adjust: 调整
• reality: 现实
• interest: 利益
• exert: 施加
• self-interested: 自利的
• ultimate: 最终的
• overseer: 监管者
• Congress: 国会
• status quo: 现状
• protect: 保护
• repeated: 重复的
• attempts: 尝试
• reform: 改革
• legislation: 立法
• defer: 推迟
• vital: 重要的
• modernization: 现代化
• involved: 涉及的
• estimated: 估计的
• survival: 生存
• measures: 措施
• penny: 分
• permanent: 永久的
• rate: 价格
• shift: 转移
• Medicare: 医保
• offset: 抵消
• financial: 财务的
• burden: 负担
• pre-funding: 预拨款
• long-standing: 长期存在的
• complaint: 抱怨
• clear: 通过
• Senate: 参议院
• bound: 肯定的
• bare: 仅有的
• minimum: 最低限度
• afloat: 维持运营
• comprehensive: 全面的
• collective: 集体的
• bargaining: 谈判
• omission: 疏漏
• personnel: 人事
• account for: 占
• eliminate: 取消
• common-sense: 常识性的
• support: 支持
• special-interest: 特殊利益
• kill: 扼杀
• emerging: 逐渐形成的
• consensus: 共识
• frightened: 害怕的
• politically: 政治上
• embarrassing: 尴尬的
• short-term: 短期的
• collapse: 崩溃
• transform: 转型

考研短语

• bleed red ink: 持续亏损
• on the verge of: 濒临
• bread-and-butter product: 主要收入来源
• regulatory structure: 监管结构
• new reality: 新现实
• exert pressure on: 对……施加压力
• status quo: 现状
• repeated attempts: 多次尝试
• reform legislation: 改革立法
• defer vital modernization: 推迟重要现代化
• agree on: 同意
• fix the system: 修复系统
• move through: 通过
• survival measures: 生存措施
• penny-per-letter: 每封信一分钱
• rate increase: 价格调整
• shift into: 纳入
• financial burden: 财务负担
• long-standing complaint: 长期抱怨
• keep afloat: 维持运营
• bare minimum: 最低限度
• comprehensive reform: 全面改革
• collective bargaining: 集体谈判
• major omission: 重大疏漏
• account for: 占
• Saturday letter delivery: 周六信件投递
• common-sense change: 常识性变化
• wide public support: 广泛的公众支持
• special-interest groups: 特殊利益集团
• emerging consensus: 逐渐形成的共识
• politically embarrassing: 政治上尴尬的
• short-term collapse: 短期崩溃

考研语法

• 现在进行时：如“continues to bleed red ink”（持续亏损）。
• 定语从句：如“technological change that has permanently decreased demand”（技术变革永久减少需求）。
• 同位语从句：如“word that everyone involved…has finally agreed”（消息称所有相关方同意）。
• 条件状语从句：如“If it clears the House”（如果通过众议院）。
• 原因状语从句：如“considering that personnel accounts for 80 percent”（因为人事费用占80%）。
• 结果状语：如“leaving the Postal Service unable to pay its bills”（导致无法支付账单）。
• 并列结构：如“between technological change…and a regulatory structure”（技术变革和监管结构之间）。
• 非限制性定语从句：如“which could help pay for new vehicles”（可以支付新车辆）。
• 被动语态：如“get protected”（得到保护）。
• 让步状语从句：如“whatever else happens”（无论发生什么）。
• 宾语从句：如“insisting that…get protected”（坚持现状得到保护）。

考研句式

• 复杂长句：如“Fundamentally, the USPS is in a historic squeeze between technological change that has permanently decreased demand for its bread-and-butter product, first-class mail, and a regulatory structure that denies management the flexibility to adjust its operations to the new reality.”
• 因果句：如“This is why repeated attempts at reform legislation have failed in recent years, leaving the Postal Service unable to pay its bills except by deferring vital modernization.”
• 转折句：如“It is not, however, a sign that they’re getting serious about transforming the postal system for the 21st century.”
• 并列句：如“Most of the money would come from a penny-per-letter permanent rate increase and from shifting postal retirees into Medicare.”
• 插入语：如“Democrats, Republicans, the Postal Service, the unions and the system’s heaviest users”（列举相关方）。
• 强调句：如“it amounts to the bare, bare minimum necessary to keep the Postal Service afloat”（仅是最低限度）。