每周考研阅读 2021 Text 1

How can the train operators possibly justify yet another increase to rail passenger fares?

铁路公司怎么可能为又一次提高火车票价找到正当理由呢？

operators n. 公司
rail n. 铁路
passenger n. 乘客
fares n.票价

It has become a grimly reliable annual ritual: every January the cost of travelling by train rises, imposing a significant extra burden on those who have no option but to use the rail network to get to work or otherwise. This year’s rise, an average of 2.7 percent, may be a fraction lower than last year’s, but it is still well above the official Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation.

这已经成了一个令人沮丧却又必然发生的年度惯例：每年一月，火车出行的成本都会上涨，给那些除了坐火车上班或出行就别无选择的人增加了巨大的额外负担。今年平均2.7%的涨幅，可能比去年略低一点点，但仍然远高于官方衡量通胀的消费者物价指数（CPI）。

grimly   adv. 令人沮丧的
reliable adj. 真实可信的
ritual   n. 老规矩
impose   v. 强加
significant adj. 相当数量的
burden   n. 负担
otherwise adj.别的
rise     n. 增长
average  n. 平均
fraction n. 稍微
above    prep. 高于
measure  n. 度量
inflation n. 通货膨胀

Successive governments have permitted such increases on the grounds that the cost of investing in and running the rail network should be borne by those who use it, rather than the general taxpayer. Why, the argument goes, should a car-driving pensioner from Lincolnshire have to subsidise the daily commute of a stockbroker from Surrey? Equally, there is a sense that the travails of commuters in the South East, many of whom will face among the biggest rises, have received too much attention compared to those who must endure the relatively poor infrastructure of the Midlands and the North.

历届政府之所以允许这种涨价，理由是投资和运营铁路网络的成本应该由使用者承担，而不是由普通纳税人买单。他们的论点是：凭什么要让林肯郡一个开车的退休老人去补贴萨里郡一个经纪人的日常通勤？同样地，还有一种看法是，东南部通勤者（其中许多人将面临最大的涨幅）的困境得到了过多关注，相比之下，那些必须忍受中部和北部相对落后基础设施的人却被忽视了。

successive adj. 相继的
permitted  v. 允许
grounds    n. 充分理由