-
TEXT A
Surviving an
economic crisis
经济危机中求生存
1 The economic slump so many people
suffered through originated in the United States,
with a
regulatory failure of mortgages
rated less risky than they turned out to be. As
large numbers of
homeowners proved
unable to repay their loans, the companies that
had the oversight and those
that owned
the loans (as well as their subsidiaries and their
shareholders) lost sizable amounts of
money.
The
effects
of
these
drastic
losses
soon
spiraled
into
the
US
job
market
as
layoffs
and
terminations.
The
rebound
was
slow
in
coming.
Many
people
experienced
long
months
of
struggles just like the character in
this story.
许许多多的人正经历的这场经济萧条
发端于美国。
对抵押贷款监管不力，
致使当时的风险评
估远低于现在的最终结果。
由于大量的房产所有人无法偿还贷款，
负责监管的公司、
放贷的
公司
（以及其子公司及股份持有者）
都损失了大笔的金钱。
这些巨额亏损的后果很快就影响
到美国就业市场，造成下岗或解雇。
经济复兴迟迟不来。
许多人几个月来都是苦苦挣扎，正
如下
面故事中的主人公那样。
2
Facing tenant eviction after several months of
unpaid rent, Sue Johnson packed up whatever she
could fit into her
two
-
door automobile and
drove out of town.
苏
< br>·
约翰逊有好几个月都未付房租了，面临着被逐出的境地，她把能塞进她的那辆双
门轿车
的东西都打包收拾好，离城而去。
3
She
wound
up
at
a
motel,
putting
down
the
$$260
she
had
managed
to
scrape
together
from
friends
and
from
selling
her
living
room
set.
It
was
all
the
money
Sue
had
left
after
her
unemployment
benefits
had
expired.
She
faced
life
as
a
migrant,
a
previously
unimaginable
situation for a woman who, not that
long before, had held a corporate job in a large
metropolitan
city and was enrolled in a
graduate business school.
她最
后在一家汽车旅馆落脚，
交付了
260
美元的定金，
这还是她设法从朋友那儿以及卖掉家
具后凑齐的，
是苏在失业救济金被终止后所有的余钱。
她面临流浪生活，
这在以前是难以想
象的，而她不久以前都还在大都市里一家公司供职
，并就读于商学院研究生班。
4
Sue knew that in all likelihood, she would end up
living in her car. She was part of a
hard
-
luck
group
of jobless people who called themselves
99 weeks of unemployment insurance
benefits that they could claim.
苏明白自己最终很可能以车为家。她如今已成为倒霉的失业群体中的一份子，他们自称
< br>“99
周人
”
，因为他们已经领
完至多
99
周的失业保险救济金。
5
Long
-
term
unemployment
was
at
record
levels,
according
to
the
Bureau
of
Labor
Statistics.
Modest
payments
of
unemployment
benefits
were
a
lifeline
that
enabled
people
who
were <
/p>
out
-
of
-
work
to
maintain
at
least
an
appearance
of
normalcy,
keeping
a
roof
over
their
heads,
putting gas in their cars, paying
electric and phone bills.
根据
劳动统计局的数据，
长期失业率已达到创纪录的水平。
些许的失
业救济金对那些失去工
作的人来说可是救命钱，
这使他们不至于
形貌落魄，无立锥之地；
不至于无钱加油，缴不起
电费话费。<
/p>
1
6 Without the checks, people like Sue,
who once was a director of client services at a
technology
company, began to tumble
over the economic cliff. The last aspects of their
former working
-
class
or middle
-
class
lives were gone, and all of them faced unsure
futures.
一旦收不到失业救济支票，
哪怕是像苏这样曾经贵为技术公司客服经理的人，
也会日益跌入
经济窘迫的深渊；
原有工薪阶层或中产阶级的最后一抹荣光也已消逝不在，
所有人都前途未
卜。
7 When Sue received her
last unemployment check, she felt a wave of
profound grief. With no
income to
deposit, Sue's checking account deteriorated into
negative balances. Her car was on the
verge of being repossessed. And, the
constant harassment of the financing company for
her car
loan added to her daily stress.
Each day, like a ping pong ball, Sue went back and
forth between
resolve and
despair.
当苏收到最后一笔失业救济支票时，
阵阵悲凉涌上心头。
由于没有收入进账，
苏的
活期账户
余额转为负值。汽车行将被收回！而且信贷公司不断骚扰，催还车贷，让她成天
压力倍增。
每天，苏就像乒乓球一样在信心和绝望之间起落不定。
8 It was a sickening
plunge considering that only a short year and a
half before, Sue was earning
$$56,000 a
year at her old job, enjoyed vacationing in places
like Mexico and the Caribbean, and
had
started business school at an excellent
university.
生活境遇真是令人痛心地一落千丈！
想想仅在短短的一年半之前，
苏在原有工作岗位上可挣
到
56,000
美元的年薪，可在像墨西哥、加
勒比那样的地方度假，还就读于名校商学院。
9
Initially,
Sue
had
tried
to
finish
her
university
certification
remotely,
but
finally
dropped
out
because
of
the
stress
from
her
sinking
finances.
She
applied
for
every
possible
job
in
the
employment spectrum,
from minimum
-
wage retail
jobs to director positions.
最初，苏还试图通过远程教育完成学业，但是由于自己经济状况每况愈下，最后只好辍学。
她通过各种就业渠道求职，不管是起薪干起的零售活儿还是部门经理。
10
Sue
should
have
been
evicted
from
her
two
-
bedroom
apartment
for
non
-
payment
several
months before she
was, but, thankfully, the process was delayed by
paperwork and bureaucracy.
Eventually,
the bureaucracy caught up with her and a municipal
council gave her 10 days to leave
her
apartment for good. She had no choice but to
comply.
由于未付房租，
苏早
在几个月前就应被逐出她那两居室的公寓。不过，
谢天谢地，
这
一过程
因为繁琐的文件手续和官僚主义作风而拖延至今。
最终政
府机构还是找上了她，
市政委员会
限定她十天内彻底走人。除了
遵从，她别无选择。
11
That last day of her old life, Sue wept as she
drove away. She wondered if she would ever again
be able to reclaim that life of comfort
and respect. Sue even considered turning the
steering wheel
of her car into a tree
and ending her life story right there.
就在告别昔日生活的最后一天，
苏流着泪驾车离去。
她不知道自己还能否重温那舒适而又受
人尊敬的生活。苏甚至想过打转方向
盘一头撞向大树，就此了结一生。
12 Friends came to her aid. One friend
wired her $$200 while she was driving away from her
old
2
apartment,
enabling her to find refuge in a motel along the
way. But Sue worried there wouldn't be
any more charity for the money and gas
she desperately needed.
朋友们及
时施以援手。
就在她驾车离开公寓的路上，
一位朋友给她电汇来
200
美元，
使得她
< br>能够在沿途的一家汽车旅馆觅得栖身之所。
但是她担心不会再有人来援助自己急需
的钱和汽
油了。
13 Helped by gas cards donated by a
church, Sue decided to return to her hometown. She
figured
the
health
-
care safety net there
was better, as well as the job market. She
contacted a local shelter
but
learned
there
was
a
waiting
list.
Welfare
was
not
an
option,
because
she didn't
have
young
children. And, Sue knew that none of
her three adult sons were in a position to help
her.
有了教堂赠送的加油卡，
苏
打算返回家乡。
她想那儿的医疗保障体系会好一些，
找工作也容
易些。
她联系了当地的收容所，
但是得
到的回答是先得排队等着。
领取福利救济没有她的份，
因为她没
有未成年的孩子。苏知道她的三个已成年的儿子也帮不了她。
14
have to take care of
myself. I really, really need to get work. I need
a job. I don't want to be seen
as a
parasite.
“
我知道，只有
自己才能帮自己，
”
苏说。
“
我告诉自己：我得养活自己。我确实得干活，我
要找份工作，我可不想被
人看成寄生虫。
”
15 Sue's motel room was depressing.
Lining the shelves underneath the television were
her food
supplies: rice and noodles
that she mixed with water in the motel's ice
bucket and heated up in a
microwave;
peanut butter and jelly; a loaf of white bread —
the subsistence of a desperate person.
Sue's days were spent surfing Internet
job indexes and applying for jobs where the silent
苏在汽车旅馆的房间极其窘迫。
电视下面的壁橱里存放着几样食物：
大米和面条，
< br>这两样她
可在旅馆的冰镇桶里与水和在一起，
然后在微波
炉里加热；
另外还有花生酱、
果冻和一条白
面包
——
这些食物也就供一个走投无路的人勉强度日而已。
苏连日来都在上网查找各种工作
指南，四处求职；但一次次无声
的拒绝让她陷于无助。
16
Sue had all new struggles and obstacles to deal
with too, like what to do for an address for job
applications.
She
worried
about
what
would
happen
when
her
cell
phone
was
cut
off
for
non
-
payment, and
calls to her number would disappear into an
invisible world she could not reach.
苏还有新的烦心事要应付：
比如求职信的通信地址该如何填写。
她还担心要是手机因为欠费
停机了怎么办？别人拨打她的号码，就如
石沉大海，她无法接听。
17
Finally, an old friend sent Sue a ray of hope, a
small miracle: $$300 cash — just enough for
another brutal week of struggle.
终于，一位老朋友送来一缕希望，一个小小的惊喜：
300
美元的现金
——
勉强够她再苦撑一
周。
TEXT
B
Economic bubbles: Causes
and conditions
经济泡沫：成因与条件
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
上一篇：六年级上册英语阅读题及答案解析
下一篇：英语四六级长难句分析精讲结构分析