2015考研英语阅读英文原刊《经济学人》：意议会高级服务生

　　2015考研英语复习正是强化复习阶段，考研英语阅读在考研英语中占了40分，所以考研英语阅读是英语科目中重要的一项。新东方名师范猛老师曾建议过考研生需要坚持每天泛读10-15分钟的英文原刊。强烈推荐了杂志《经济学人》.杂志中的文章也是考研英语的主要材料来源.希望考研考生认真阅读，快速提高考研英语阅读水平。

　　Italy's parliament

　　意大利议会

　　High-class errand boys

　　高级服务生

　　Parliamentary workers are facing a cut in theirgenerous pay

　　议会的工作人员们面临着丰厚薪水削减的窘境。

　　Gold braid and a golden job

　　金色穗带与金饭碗

　　TO EARN 136,000 ($181,590), a browse of the internet suggests, you need to be an IToperations director at a British firm, governor of New York state—or an usciere (usher) inthe Italian parliament. An usciere's duties include carrying messages, accompanying visitorsand looking dignified in uniforms laden with gold braid. The sole occupational hazard is ofa punch in the eye while intervening in the occasional brawl between lawmakers.

　　在网友们的心目中，如果想要赚取136,000，你需要成为英国公司里的TI运营主管，或者纽约州的州长，抑或意大利国会里的招待员。国会招待员的指责包括收发信息，游客陪同以及身着缀着金色穗带的制服以保持高贵庄严的形象。而这个职业唯一的职业病就是在国会议员们偶尔争吵上去劝架的时候会被误伤打成乌眼青。

　　Now, however, the uscieri face a second danger: a cut in their salaries. In May, MatteoRenzi's government put a 240,000 cap on annual public-sector earnings. That will directlyaffect “only” about 130 of Italy's 2,300 parliamentary employees. But other salaries are tobe reduced to keep pay differentials the same. Earnings of an usher nearing retirement areexpected to drop over a three-year period from 136,000 to a miserly 100,000-105,000.

　　现如今，这些国会招待员们面临着第二个危机,他们工资的削减问题。今年五月，伦齐政府在年度公共部门收入上仅仅投入了240,000。这意味着2300名国会雇佣员工中“只有”130名会受到影响。然而其他人的薪水也会被削减，以保证薪酬差异一致。一名临近退休的招待员在三年之内很可能从 136,000 降到吝啬的100,000-105,000。

　　Last month several hundred parliamentary workers besieged a meeting of deputies who hadgathered to agree on a draft plan. As the deputies left, they encountered a barrage of ironicapplause and shouts of “Didn't touch your own salaries, did you?” This unprecedentedscene was a foretaste of the difficulties Mr Renzi faces as he attempts to take onentrenched interests in Italian society.

　　上个月，数百名国会工作人员包围住一群正在开会拟定计划草案的国会议员。当议员们离开的时候，讽刺的掌声与嘘声此起彼伏：“没能波及自己的薪水是不是很开心?”这种前所未有的场面预示着伦齐先生改革意大利社会的既得利益时将压力山大。

　　The speaker of the lower house reminded the protesters that beyond Montecitorio, the palacehousing the chamber, there was a real country—one where more than a decade of economicstagnation has reduced real GDP per person to the level of 1998. Inside parliament, years oflong service have kept salaries rising inexorably. Figures leaked to a television reporter lastyear showed that most parliamentary workers could expect their salaries to quadruple in realterms over a 40-year career.

　　下议院发言人提醒抗议者，在蒙地奇拖利欧的宫殿外才是真正的意大利,超过十年经济停滞，实际人均GDP已经降至1998年的水平。在国会内，常年的服务使得国会内工作人员的薪水疯狂上涨。一些人告诉电视台的记者，在去年，多数的国会工作人员有望当工龄超过四十年的时候，自己的薪水可以涨到目前水平的三倍。

　　“The justification for all this is a word, ‘autodichia', the doctrine that says parliamentshould have total freedom to manage itself so it does not come under pressure from thegovernment,” says Sergio Rizzo, co-author of “La Casta”, a best-selling book on the privilegesof Italy's political class. Talks between the government and the trade unions representing theuscieri will take place in the next few weeks. They'll need a big table: there are 11 unionswho have members working in the lower house and 14 in the Senate.

　　而这一切的理由全都是一个字眼,“autodichia”，即国会应该有完整的自由来自我管理，只有这样它才不会受到来自政府的压力。意大利政治阶级权贵们的畅销书La Casta的合编者Sergio Rizzo如是说。政府与代表招待员们的谈判联盟应该在未来几周进行对话。他们需要一个大的平台,因为有11个工会联盟都有来自下议院的工作者并且有14名成员是来自参议院。

　　1.need to 需要;需要做

　　You need to touch up the poem.

　　你需要给这首诗润色一下。

　　Do we need to discuss this question?Yes.

　　这个问题还用得着讨论吗?要讨论。

　　2.reduce to 减少到

　　A crushing machine reduces big rocks to powder.

　　粉碎机能把大石块轧成粉末。

　　To reduce pounds to pence you multiply by a hundred.

　　镑乘以一百就折合成便士。

　　3.gather to 聚拢

　　Gather to me my consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

　　说，招聚我的圣民到我这里来，就是那些用祭物与我立约的人。

　　Refugees gather to look for clothing at an aid station set up outside the Bayside Arenashelter in the earthquake- and tsunami-destroyed town of Minamisanriku, northeasternJapan.

　　日本东北部，被地震和海啸摧毁的南三陆町市，难民聚集在一个设立在海湾边的避难场所外面的一个救援站，寻找衣物。

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