2017考研双语新闻阅读：英国百年钢厂倒闭

2017 考研双语新闻阅读：英国百年钢厂 倒闭 考研英语阅读提分要多看多练多总结，很多题材都离不开时事新闻，大家平时要多注 意阅读一些双语新闻，提升词汇量，拓展知识面。下面凯程网考研频道分享双语新闻阅读， 大家要多练练。 2017 考研双语新闻阅读：英国百年钢厂倒闭 REDCAR, England This small town on the NorthSea, famous for a century-old mill that produced the steel for some of the worlds most iconicbridges, has been shattered by the news that the plant is about to shut forever, taking 2,200jobs with it. 英国雷德卡这座北海边的小城，以一家为世界上的一些标志性桥梁生产钢材 的百年老厂而闻名。然而，这家工厂即将永久关闭并随之丧失 2200 个工作岗位。消息令全 城震惊不已。 The upheavals of postindustrial Britain were on display one recent evening at OGradys, a localpub, as steelworkers shared their sorrow just a few feet away from a businessman who sellscheap Chinese steel to the British government, something many in Redcar complain about. 后工业化时代英国的这次振荡最近一个晚上在当地酒吧 OGradys 展现得淋漓 尽致。钢铁工人分享他们的悲伤，而咫尺之外就是一名向英国政府销售中国廉价钢材的商 人许多雷德卡人对此颇有抱怨。 “Everyones going crackers,” said Conrad McCormick, 38, a married father of two who lost hisjob at the mill, which made steel for the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia, the Victoria FallsBridge in Zambia and 1 World Trade Center in New York. “所有人都要疯了，”38 岁的康拉德麦考密克(Conrad McCormick)说道。他是 一位有两个孩子的已婚父亲，丢了工厂的工作。他原来工作的地方为澳大利亚悉尼海港大 桥、赞比亚维多利亚瀑布大桥和纽约世界贸易中心一号楼生产过钢材。 “The only thing Im sure of in my life right now is this,” he said, holding up a pint of beer. “现在我生活中唯一能确定的事情就是这个，”他举起一杯啤酒说。 Across the pub, also pint in hand, stood Jim, a 61-year-old businessman who declined to givehis surname. Jim said his midsize company was doing well selling Chinese and other foreign steelto the government to build railways, wind farms and public buildings. 吧台另一边，站着 61 岁的商人吉姆(Jim)，他的手里也拿着酒。他不愿透露自己 的姓。吉姆说，他的中型公司销售中国等地的外国钢材给政府来修建铁路、风力发电场和 公共建筑，生意不错。 Britain “is saving money and cutting the public deficit by importing cheap material from abroad,”he said. 英国“正通过从国外进口低成本材料来节省资金和削减公共赤字，”他说。 The final closing of the Teesside Steelworks plant, founded in 1917 and most recently owned bySahaviriya Steel Industries of Thailand, was announced on Oct. 12. Earlier in the month, theBritish unit of Sahaviriya, which operated the plant, filed for bankruptcy, and the coke ovenswere kept burning amid talks of a takeover by another company. But those talks fell through.Once the coke ovens go cold, there is very little chance of restarting the plant. 提赛德钢铁厂(Teesside Steelworks)成立于 1917 年，最近由泰国伟成发钢铁工业公 司(Sahaviriya SteelIndustries)拥有，于 10 月 12 日正式宣布关闭。本月早些时候，伟成发负 责运营此家工厂的英国分公司申请破产，与另一家公司谈判收购事宜之际，厂内的炼焦炉 保持了点火状态。但这些谈判最终不了了之。一旦炼焦炉冷却，重新启动工厂的机会就微 乎其微了。 The same forces are also buffeting another steel company, Tata, which announced on Fridaythat it was slashing 1,200 jobs in Britain, or 7 percent of its work force there. 同样的力量也在猛烈冲击另一家钢铁公司塔塔钢铁公司(Tata)。它于上周五宣 布，将在英国大幅削减 1200 个工作岗位，相当于当地员工总数的 7%。 The government has announced a compensation package worth 80 million pounds, or about$123.5 million, for the Teesside workers, involving retraining and money for start-ups, but thelatest crisis was the final nail for the famous steelworks. 政府已经宣布了一项价值 8000 万英镑( 约合 7.9 亿元人民币)的提赛德员工赔偿方 案，包括再培训和创业资金，但最新的危机是对这家著名钢厂的最终定论。 Redcar, a northeastern England town of just 35,000, is in a region already suffering fromBritains highest unemployment rate 8.5 percent, three points higher than the nationalfigure. At least 10 percent of young people here are unemployed, and hundreds ofsteelworkers on contract have been fired in addition to the 2,200 employees. 雷德卡是仅有 3.5 万人口的英格兰东北小城，本已身处英国失业率最高的地区。 这里的失业率达 8.5%，比全国平均数字高出三个百分点。雷德卡至少 10%的年轻人处于无 业状态。在那 2200 名员工之外，还有数百名合同工被解雇。 Once renowned for its solid industrial jobs, the town is now famous for its “charity shops,pubs and takeaways,” said Claire, a 35-year-old nurse who is married to a steelworker. 这座小城曾以不错的产业工作岗位而享誉英国，现在却以“慈善商店、酒吧和外 卖店”而闻名，35 岁的护士克莱尔(Claire)说道。她的丈夫是一名钢铁工。 Without steel, Redcar offers little else to the world, except for modest summer seasidetourism. Even then, it is badly served by the local rail network a slow, four-carriage train onrickety tracks and British tourists find it easier to fly to Spain. 去掉钢材，雷德卡就没有什么其他东西可以向世界供应的了，除了规模不大的夏 季海滨旅游。即便是旅游业，也被当地铁路网摇摇晃晃的轨道上跑着一趟缓慢的四车 厢列车严重拖累，英国游客觉得飞到西班牙会更容易一些。 “Its such a small town, its forgotten by everyone else,” said Alan Bunn, 38, anothersteelworker who has been laid off. “它是一座弹丸小城，被所有人遗忘了，”另一位已下岗的 38 岁钢铁工人阿 兰邦恩(Alan Bunn)说。 The loss of Redcars competitiveness is on open display: Even the soccer stadium in thenearby city of Middlesborough was built using German steel. An offshore wind farm in the seanear the town was built with German and Belgian steel. 雷德卡的竞争力丧失是有目共睹的：就连附近城市米德尔斯堡修建足球场使用的 也是德国钢材。小城附近洋面的一座海上风电场使用的是德国和比利时钢材。 An official at EDF Energy Renewables, which operates the wind farm, said the companys policywas to use local material. But local steel was found to be “not up to par with 凯程考研集训营，为学生引路，为学员服务！ 第 3 页 共 5 页 the companysstandards of quality,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of thesensitivity of the issue. 运营这座风电场的法国电力集团可再生能源公司(EDF Energy Renewables)的一位 负责人表示，他们公司的政策是使用当地材料。但是当地钢材“没有达到公司的质量标准， ”这位负责人说。由于问题的敏感性，此人要求不具名。 The government is trying to spur the economies of larger northern cities like Manchester andLeeds, but not those quite as far north as Redcar. Its streets are lined with shuttered stores;there are 12 charity shops and six pawnshops. Cafes, restaurants and hotels that once reliedon hundreds of contract workers are empty. 政府正试图刺激较大的北方城市如曼彻斯特和利兹的经济发展，而不是那些像雷 德卡这样的偏远北方小城。它的街道两旁是倒闭的商店;这里有 12 家慈善商店和六间当铺。 曾依赖数以百计的合同工的咖啡馆、餐厅和宾馆现在空空如也。 The only other large-scale employer in Redcar is Sembcorp, an energy company based inSingapore that employs 270 workers here. 雷德卡唯一的另一个大型雇主是一家总部设在新加坡的能源公司胜科工业集 团(Sembcorp)，它在这里雇用了 270 名工人。 “No one really cares about the northeast,” said Mr. Bunn, the steelworker. “You grow up feelingthat way. Its common knowledge.” “没有人真正关心东北地区，”钢铁工人邦恩说道。 “成长过程中一直有这种感 受。尽人皆知。” Politicians have lost a lot of credibility among Redcar residents, he said, and voters arerejecting the dominant parties to register protest votes instead. In the May election for aparliamentary seat, the local candidate for the anti-immigration U.K. Independence Party didwell, coming in just shy of second place. 政客已经在雷德卡居民中丧失了许多信用，他说，选民们向主要政党说不，转而 进行抗议式投票。在 5 月的议会席位选举中，反移民的英国独立党 (U.K. Independence Party)在当地的候选人表现很好，差一点就位列第二。 Residents and workers like Mr. Bunn acknowledge that job losses are inevitable in a marketeconomy. But there is widespread anger at the government for appearing to abandon thesteelworks and the community. 当地居民和像邦恩一样的工人承认，市场经济下裁员是不可避免的。但是，对政 府放弃钢厂和社区的态度，很多人都怒火中烧。 Workers and local employers say they want a robust industrial plan to level the playing field forBritish steel makers. For example, they say, Britains environmental taxes and energy prices,which are the most expensive in Europe, must be reduced. They also want the government toimpose higher tariffs on Chinese imports and require companies and public works to use localsources for some of their material. 工人和当地的雇主表示，他们希望有一个强力的产业规划，以保证英国钢铁制造 商拥有公平的竞争环境。例如，他们说英国的环境税和能源价格是欧洲最高的，必须下降。 他们还希望政府对进口的中国商品征收更高的关税，并要求企业和公共工程使用的材料部 分来自当地。 “Its not that were trying to pick on China,” said Gary Klesch, a British- American businessmanwho this year decided against buying a Tata-owned steel plant in Scunthorpe, about 70 milessouth of Redcar, citing high energy costs and taxes. China gives its steel industry strongersupport than Britain does, he said, “and while China doesnt break trade rules, they are bendingthem.” “这并不是说我们正在试图挑中国的毛病，”英裔美国商人加里克莱施(Gary Klesch)说，他决定今年不购买塔塔钢铁公司在斯肯索普的钢铁厂，理由是高能源成本和赋 税。斯肯索普位于雷德卡以南约 70 英里处。他说，中国给钢铁行业的支持远比英国更强有 力，“虽然中国没有违反贸易规则，他们正在扭曲这些规则。” The Conservative government of Prime Minister David Cameron has ruled out that kind ofintervention. 首相戴维卡梅伦(David Cameron)的保守党政府已经排除了采取这种干预方式的 可能性。 Jason Raj, a spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, said thegovernment had “taken action to help steel makers by paying 47 million for compensation forenergy costs.” In July, Parliament voted to extend tariffs on Chinese wire rod products thatBritain believes are priced below fair market value, he said, and “will consider further cases asthey arise.” 商业、创新与技能部发言人贾森拉吉(Jason Raj)说，政府已经“采取行动来帮助 钢铁制造商，支付了 4700 万英镑的能源成本补贴。”他说 7 月份议会经过表决，延长了对 中国盘条产品征收的关税，英国认为该产品的售价低于公平市场价值，并且会“在新情况 出现时，考虑进一步措施”。 To Peter Atkinson, 56, the latest crisis is nothing new. He retired from the mill in 2010, when itwas being sold to its current owners. Its owner then, Tata Steel of India, had laid off 1,700workers after a contract ended. Now his 26-year-old son, also a steelworker, is out of a job. 对 56 岁的彼得阿特金森(Peter Atkinson)来说，最新的危机不是什么新鲜事。他 2010 年从工厂退休，当时工厂出售给了目前的所有者。当时的拥有者印度塔塔钢铁公司， 在一份合同结束后就解雇了 1700 名员工。现在，他 26 岁的同为钢铁工人儿子，已失去了 工作。 “Its nice to look after other people in the world,” Mr. Atkinson said, alluding to a recentannouncement by George Osborne, chancellor of the Exchequer, about a 3 million plan toteach soccer in China. “But sometimes youve got to look after your own.” “能照顾世界其他地方的人是好事，”阿特金森说，他在暗示英国财政大臣乔 治奥斯本(George Osborne)最近宣布的花费 300 万英镑( 约合 2950 万元人民币) 在中国培训 足球教练的计划。“但有时你必须照顾好自己。” There is a lot of griping in Redcar about China, which the Cameron government is hotlypursuing for trade deals. China produces half the worlds steel, and its dominance resonateshere because Britain, too, once produced half the worlds steel. 卡梅伦政府正积极寻求与中国做生意，但在雷德卡，人们对中国有很多不满情绪。 全世界使用的钢材有一半都是由中国生产，这种主导地位在这里产生了反响，因为英国一 度也曾为全世界供应一半的钢材。 China has vast steel stockpiles, amassed during the years after Beijings stimulus package in2008. But now that its economy is losing steam, China is selling its steel at prices that Britishand other European steel makers struggle