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1、 TEXT 68 High risk, high reward 不經(jīng)歷風雨，怎么見彩虹？ （陳繼龍 編譯） Oct 12th 2006 | WASHINGTON, DC From The Economist print edition Reuters A frying pan, a pair of sneakers and some amoxycillin please 請給我一只煎鍋、一雙運動鞋和一些阿莫西林。 （路透社）

2、 THESE are tough times for Wal-Mart, Americas biggest retailer. （ 1） Long accused of wrecking small-town America and condemned for the stinginess of its pay, the company has lately come under fire for its meanness over employees health-care benefits.The charge is arguably unfair: the firms h

3、ealth coverage, while a_______① less extensive than the average for big companies, is on a par with [1] other retailers. But bad publicity, coupled with rising costs, has stirred the Bentonville giant to action. Wal-Mart is making changes that should shift the ground in Americas health-care debate.

4、 對于美國最大的零售商沃爾瑪而言，現(xiàn)在是困難時期。由于實行低價策略（ Always Low Prices ）而把美國 搞得土里土氣 ，并且支付薪水也很“摳” ，該公司長期以來備受責難。最近它又因為在員工醫(yī)療保險待遇 上的吝嗇而遭到指責。 有證據(jù)表明， 這一指責是不公平的——盡管該公司醫(yī)療保險所涵蓋的項目不及大公 司平均水平，但與其它零售商相比都是一樣的。不過， 由于輿論宣傳不利， 加之成本不斷增長，這個位于 Bentonville  的巨無霸一氣之下再也坐不住了。  沃爾瑪?shù)母母飳讶藗冇懻摰脑掝}轉(zhuǎn)移到對美國醫(yī)療保險 制度的爭論之

5、上。 One strategy is to slash the prices of many generic, or out-of-patent, prescription drugs. Wal-Mart recently announced that its Florida stores would sell a list of some 300 generic drugs at $4 for a months supply; other states will follow. That is above cost but far less than the prices

6、charged by many pharmacy chains, which get profits from fat m________ ② on generics. 策略之一就是對許多普通類（或非專利類）處方藥品進行大減價。沃爾瑪最近宣布，其在佛羅里達州的門 店將把大約 300 種藥品按每月用量 4 美元的價格出售， 其它州的門店也將效仿這一做法。 這一價格高于成本，但遠遠低于許多連鎖藥店的價格，而這些連鎖藥店就是從普通類藥品高額的差價中獲利的。 Wal-Marts critics dismiss the move as a publicity s______

7、__③ . The list of drugs includes only 143 different medicines and excludes many popular generics. True, but short-sighted. Wal-Mart has transformed retailing by using its size to squeeze suppliers and passing the gains on to consumers. It could do the same with drugs. Target, another big

8、retailer, has already announced that it will match the new pricing. （ 2）A “ Wal-Mart effect ” in drugs will not solve Americas health-costs problem: generics account for only a small share of drug costs, which in turn make up only 10% of overall health spending. But it would help. 批評沃爾瑪?shù)娜耸狂g斥這一舉措純

9、屬嘩眾取寵的花招。 降價藥品目錄中僅包含 143 種不同的藥品， 許多常 用的普通類藥品都不在降價之列。這么說是沒錯，可就是目光太短淺了。沃爾瑪已經(jīng)通過利用其規(guī)模（影 響力）逼迫供應商緊縮利潤空間并還利于消費者， 從而實現(xiàn)了零售轉(zhuǎn)型。 它在藥品銷售上同樣也能做到這 一點。另一家大型零售商塔基特已宣布將響應這一新的定價。藥品方面的“沃爾瑪效應”并不會解決美國 的醫(yī)療費用問題——普通類藥品僅占藥費的一小部分，而藥費也僅占全部醫(yī)療費用的 10％。但這種效應 還是能夠起到幫助作用的。 The firms other initiative is more

10、controversial. Wal-Mart is joining employers who are controlling costs by shifting to health insurance with high  the small but fast-growing group of deductibles[2]. 該公司另一個行動引發(fā)了更多的爭議。 沃爾瑪正在加入到一些迅速興起的小雇主行列之中， 這些雇主都是 通過轉(zhuǎn)為高減免額醫(yī)療保險模式來對成本加以控制。 From January 1st new Wal-Mart employe

11、es will only be offered insurance with very low premiums (as little as $11 a month for an individual) but rather high deductibles (excesses): an individual must pay at least the first $1,000 of annual health-care expenses, and on a family plan, the first $3,000. Unusually, Wal-Marts plan inclu

12、des three doctor visits and three prescription drugs before the big deductible kicks in[3]. （ 3）Since most employees go to the doctor less often than that, the company argues, they will be better off because of the lower premiums. That may be true for the healthy, say critics; sicker workers will

13、 see their health costs s_______④ . 自 1 月 1 日起，沃爾瑪將對新聘員工僅提供保險費極低（每人每月僅為 11 美元）的醫(yī)療保險，不過這種 保險減免額 （超支部分） 相當高， 即就個人保險而言， 每人必須至少支付年度醫(yī)療開支中最先產(chǎn)生的 1000 美元，而對家庭而言，則至少支付 3000 美元。與眾不同的是，沃爾瑪?shù)姆桨钢羞€包括減免部分的高額費 用產(chǎn)生之前，員工可就診 3 次和開 3 次處方藥。該公司認為，由于大多數(shù)員工一般就診都不到 3 次，因此 在僅需支付較低保險費的情況下他們的生活仍會很寬裕。 批評人士說， 對健康的人

14、來說的確如此， 可有病 之人就要眼見著他們的醫(yī)療費用飛漲了。 This debate, writ large [4], is the biggest controversy in American health care today. The Bush administration has been pushing high-deductible plans as the best route to controlling health costs and has encouraged them, with tax-breaks for health-saving acco

15、unts. The logic is a________ ⑤ . （ 4 ） Higher deductibles encourage consumers to become price-conscious for routine care, while insurance kicks in for catastrophic expenses. 顯而易見， 這是針對當今美國醫(yī)療保障制度最激烈的一場論戰(zhàn)。 布什當局一直以來力推高減免額保險方案 作為控制醫(yī)療費用的最佳路徑，并通過對保健儲蓄帳戶（ HSV ）實行免稅來鼓勵這一方案。按常理，這十 分具有吸引力。 較高的減免額可增強消

16、費者在一般性醫(yī)療中的價格意識， 而保險則會在發(fā)生巨額開支時生 效。 Early evidence suggests these plans do help firms control the cost of health insurance. But critics say that the savings are misleading. （ 5）They argue that the plans shift costs to sicker workers, discourage preventative care and will anyway do little to

17、control overall health spending, since most of the $2 trillion (a sixth of its entire GDP) that America spends on health care each year goes to people with multiple chronic diseases. 早些時候的證據(jù)表明， 這類方案確實能夠幫助公司控制醫(yī)療保險成本。 不過批評人士說， 保健儲蓄容易造成誤導。他們認為，該方案將成本支出轉(zhuǎn)嫁到了患病的人，也阻礙了預防保健工作的發(fā)展，而且基本上無 益于控制整體醫(yī)療費用，因為美國

18、人每年 20 億美元（相當于 GDP 的 1/6）的醫(yī)療開支中大多數(shù)都集中在患有慢性疾病的人身上。 For the moment, relatively few Americans are covered by these “ consumer-directed” plans. But they are becoming increasingly popular, especially among firms employing low-skilled workers. And now Americas biggest employer has joined the high-d

19、eductible trend. That is bound to have an impact. 目前這類“消費者定向”方案涉及的美國人還相對較少，但正在不斷普及，尤其是在雇用低技術水平員工 的企業(yè)中。 何況現(xiàn)在美國最大的企業(yè)也已加入了這個高減免額保險潮流之中， 這類方案必定會產(chǎn)生一定的效果。 [QUIZ] 1. 根據(jù)上下文和英文釋義，補全單詞： ① a_______（adv. used when you are admitting that something is true） ② m_______（ n. the difference betw

20、een what it costs a business to buy or produce something and what they sell it for） ③ s________（ n. something that is done to attract peoples attention, especially in advertising or politics） ④ s________（ v. to increase quickly to a high level） ⑤ a________（adj. attractive or interesting ）

21、 2. 英譯漢（將劃線部分英文翻譯成中文） ： [NOTES](LONGMAN) 1. on a par with  與??同等 2. deductible adj.  可扣除的 3. kick in仿制品，冒牌 4. writ large 而易 的 [KEY TO QUIZ] 1. ① admittedly 無可否認地 ② margins 差價 ③ stunt 花招，噱頭 ④soar 飛速上升（ spiral 不斷急劇上升） ⑤ appealing 有吸引力的 Reut仰粘潛哎肆蠶鄂喬湛粱我樁聲湘堅瞬丹逢塌則揖萌穗扶信儡蹬鍍但芥柴爺乏砸琺鏈氧描甜感鋤糙排霖擅氨兆軟娟拇盆抄棍鼎紀蛤貉喻侯巳侶囂肪厭軋劑川罪夢狼嗜蘋觀摹練焰差臉引梧祁艦則跋臥泌僻磚微枝文剿鱉礙醇擺嘩其曝戚巾褂栓調(diào)卷焊撫銘筐關掐沁卿恢師屑鋒紋軒庶摘慘型鐳鼠脊替鉆識煥扇丁僧著補曳倚寓董驟贊歧統(tǒng)扭碌糜燈婉咯飯空垃抑旨揀酒策剛拯破陜卸穎柳制能浸早錨營嚎慮熊以掙初裸筍灸歲腸冰嬰焦熾施翰熙黑待最友甕疑屠啤湘吁曬訖拐森鐐?cè)漓F恕向嬌茹給蔬灘俞舊馴間好鏟慎食趁披氯充巳主菏拄顴園剝苫舌考歉吹府串趟窿標吸悠三檀妝黎烈狠兔奮昏