2016考研英語時(shí)文精析---養(yǎng)老金：隨用隨取的錢罐

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考研英語閱讀文章一般都是來自近幾年英美國家一些享有較高聲譽(yù)的權(quán)威報(bào)刊雜志，如Newsweek(《新聞周刊》)，Now York Times(《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》)，U.S. News and World Report(《美國新聞與世界報(bào)道》)，The Economist(《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》)，Times(《時(shí)代周刊》)等等。同學(xué)們平時(shí)應(yīng)該多看這些刊物，既可以為閱讀準(zhǔn)備豐富厚實(shí)的背景材料，又可以提高閱讀能力。然而許多同學(xué)在閱讀中會遇到一些問題影響理解，因此老師挑選了考研同源精品文章，配合重點(diǎn)知識講解，幫助2016考研的同學(xué)理解并提高。

下面我們學(xué)習(xí)一篇2014年3月22日的《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》的文章，先掌握文章大意，然后再學(xué)習(xí)文章中的語言。

【英漢對照正文】

Pensions

養(yǎng)老金

Pot luck

隨用隨取的錢罐

The chancellor hands more freedom to retirees

財(cái)政大臣給予退休人員更多的自由

GET out those cruise brochures—retirees may soon be going on a spending spree. Historically, most Britons with personal pensions and those in so-called “defined-contribution” schemes have been forced to use their pension pots to buy an annuity—a product paying a (normally fixed) income for the rest of their lives. These have never been popular. Money invested in an annuity is locked away and cannot be passed on to the retiree's heirs. Recently, low interest rates and longer lifespans have caused annuity rates to fall sharply. Last month the Financial Conduct Authority, Britain's regulator, concluded that the annuity market “is not working well for consumers”.

現(xiàn)在出現(xiàn)了那種旅行宣傳冊—退休人員可能很快過上肆意狂歡的生活。回首過去，大多數(shù)擁有個人退休金的英國人和那些所謂的“界定供款計(jì)劃”(即雇主或雇員將資金投入某個計(jì)劃，由基金管理人員利用此投資進(jìn)行市場運(yùn)作)的參與者，都被強(qiáng)制去用他們的退休金購買年金—是一種定期投入資金并且終生可定期領(lǐng)取一定金額的計(jì)劃。但這些并不被大眾接受，因?yàn)橛糜谀杲鹜顿Y的錢都是被限制的，子女并不能作為接受者。而近期，低利率和較長的使用期使得年金利率大幅下降。英國的監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)—金融服務(wù)監(jiān)督局，于上月宣布“年金計(jì)劃和消費(fèi)者相處的并不融洽”。

Few anticipated George Osborne's sweeping response. In his budget speech, the chancellor outlined a plan to do away with the requirement to buy an annuity and all the arcane rules that accompany it. Retirees will be free to draw down their pension pot as they like, subject to paying tax at their marginal rate. That will bring Britain into line with other countries including America, Australia and Denmark.

幾乎沒有人預(yù)料到喬治·奧斯本的全面響應(yīng)。在這位財(cái)政大臣的預(yù)算中，提出了一個廢除任何購買年金以及與年金相關(guān)的計(jì)劃。在他們以邊際稅率來繳稅限制下，退休人員可以自由減少退休金的入資。這一舉措使得英國與美國、澳大利亞和丹麥等國家面臨同一處境。

It may prove a popular idea, but is it a good one? Pensions get generous tax treatment to encourage people to provide for retirement; if they blow their pension pot on a Maserati, they may end up as wards of the state, particularly in their later years when many will need expensive care in nursing homes.

這可能是一個大眾喜聞樂見的決策，但這是否是一個明智的決策呢?養(yǎng)老金得到了慷慨的稅收優(yōu)惠待遇，這促進(jìn)了人們積極為退休做準(zhǔn)備;但如果他們肆意揮霍他們的退休金，他們可能會在國家的病房中結(jié)束一生，特別是當(dāng)他們在晚年可能需要昂貴的醫(yī)療護(hù)理。

The government reckons that most people can be trusted to make sensible decisions (although it is also proposing that they be given advice when they retire). But that view sits oddly with its other policies. Many workers are now auto-enrolled in pension plans, on the basis that they are too apathetic to provide for their futures voluntarily. Do people suddenly acquire wisdom when they retire, perhaps?

政府相信大部分人能作出明智的選擇(盡管它還提議，當(dāng)他們退休時(shí)可以提出建議)。但是相比于政府的其他政策，這種看法似乎處于一個尷尬的位置。工人對于自己的未來太漠不關(guān)心從而不會主動去登記，基于這一情況，現(xiàn)在很多工人在養(yǎng)老金計(jì)劃中被自動登記。也許，人們在其退休之時(shí)能突然醒悟?

The change will have wide-ranging consequences, not least for the insurance companies that sell annuities, several of which saw sharp share-price plunges. To the extent that pensioners do take more of their pension pot upfront, the government will get tax revenues earlier than before; the boost may be worth ￡1.2 billion ($2 billion) by the 2018-19 financial year.

這個變化產(chǎn)生的結(jié)果將會有深遠(yuǎn)影響，尤其是那些出售年金的保險(xiǎn)公司，其中一些保險(xiǎn)公司意識到了股票價(jià)格的狂跌。由于領(lǐng)養(yǎng)老金的人總是提前領(lǐng)取養(yǎng)老金，政府征收稅收收入將比以前不斷提早;根據(jù)2018-2019年的財(cái)政年度，這個增值將會達(dá)到12億英鎊(20億美元)。

But there are dangers for the state too. Public employees such as doctors and teachers are covered by final-salary schemes, under which the government guarantees to pay them a retirement income. These pensions are funded on a pay-as-you-go basis, meaning the Treasury has put no money aside to cover them. If public-sector workers decided to transfer their money into a private pension pot, to take advantage of the new freedom, the Treasury would have to cough up the cash immediately; the government is proposing to deny public-sector workers that right.

但是對于國家來說還是存有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。公務(wù)人員，例如醫(yī)生和教師，他們是被最終薪金計(jì)劃涵蓋在內(nèi)的，在該計(jì)劃中，政府承諾支付他們的退休收入。這些養(yǎng)老金是在“現(xiàn)收現(xiàn)付”(即由在職職工承擔(dān)已退休職工的社會保障成本;支付給退休者的社會保障資金是直接來自該時(shí)點(diǎn)的在職勞動者負(fù)擔(dān)的社會保障費(fèi)用)的基礎(chǔ)上提供的。如果公共部門的工人們享受這個新的自由，決定將他們的資金轉(zhuǎn)移至一個私人的養(yǎng)老金存儲地方，那么財(cái)政部就不得不馬上返還資金;政府正提議否決公共部門工人們的這項(xiàng)權(quán)利。

The same worry applies to private-sector final-salary schemes, which might suddenly face a cash drain if workers opt to convert. Such pension schemes are big investors in government bonds, and the switch might make it more difficult to fund Britain's deficit. So private-sector workers in final-salary schemes may also lose their right to transfer. Freedom for some retirees will thus come at the price of restrictions on others.

私營部門的最終薪金計(jì)劃同樣有這樣的擔(dān)憂之處，因?yàn)楫?dāng)工人選擇去轉(zhuǎn)變的時(shí)候它可能會很突然的面對資金外流這種狀況。這種養(yǎng)老金計(jì)劃是政府債券的“大投資者”，并且一旦發(fā)生轉(zhuǎn)換，為英國的赤字提供資金將會難上加難。因此，在最終薪金計(jì)劃中的私營部門工人也可能會失去他們變換的權(quán)利。如此一來，一些退休人員的自由將會以他人的限制作為代價(jià)。

【文章概述】

財(cái)政大臣提出廢除購買年金的計(jì)劃的要求，從而使退休人員可以自由減少退休金的入資，作者分析了這一決策的廣泛的影響，包括對退休人員，保險(xiǎn)公司，政府稅收，公共部門工作人員和私人部門工作人員的影響，最后得出結(jié)論這一決策有許多負(fù)面影響，退休人員的自由將會以對他人的限制為代價(jià)。

【重點(diǎn)知識講解】

1. Many workers are now auto-enrolled in pension plans, on the basis that they are too apathetic to provide for their futures voluntarily. (Para 4)

主干：

Many workers are now auto-enrolled in pension plans

其他成分：

on the basis 狀語

that they are too apathetic to provide for their futures voluntarily that引導(dǎo)的basis的同位語從句

詞匯和短語：

on the basis 基于

auto- 自動pref.

enroll 登記 v.

pension 養(yǎng)老金; 撫恤金n.

apathetic 冷漠的;無動于衷的，缺乏興趣的a.

voluntarily 自愿地，主動地a.

譯文：工人對于自己的未來太漠不關(guān)心從而不會主動去登記，基于這一情況，現(xiàn)在很多工人在養(yǎng)老金計(jì)劃中被自動登記。

2. The change will have wide-ranging consequences, not least for the insurance companies that sell annuities, several of which saw sharp share-price plunges. (Para 5)

主干：

The change will have wide-ranging consequences

其他成分：

not least for the insurance companies 狀語

that sell annuities that引導(dǎo)的定語從句修飾the insurance companies

several of which saw sharp share-price plunges 非限制性定語從句修飾the insurance companies that sell annuities

詞匯和短語：

wide-ranging 廣泛的a

not least 尤其

annuity年金，養(yǎng)老金，年金保險(xiǎn)n.

plunge 驟跌n

譯文：這個變化產(chǎn)生的結(jié)果將會有深遠(yuǎn)影響，尤其是那些出售年金的保險(xiǎn)公司，其中一些保險(xiǎn)公司意識到了股票價(jià)格的狂跌。