2018年翻譯資格考試英語筆譯初級模擬題：希格拉德拉塞麗娜鎮(zhèn)
It didn’t take long for Manuel García Murillo, a bricklayer who took over as mayor here last June, to realize that his town was in trouble. It was 800,000 euros, a little more than $1 million, in the red. There was no cash on hand to pay for anything — and there was work that needed to be done.
曼紐爾·加西亞·穆里洛是一名磚匠出身，去年六月，他接任了這座城市的鎮(zhèn)長一職，但是他很快意識到他的城市正陷入危機。財政赤字達800,000歐元，比100萬美元還要多上一點。政府沒有現(xiàn)金來支付任何費用，而擺在面前的卻是一堆沒有完成的爛攤子。
But then an amazing thing happened, he said. Just as the health department was about to close down the day care center because it didn’t have a proper kitchen, Bernardo Benítez, a construction worker, offered to put up the walls and the tiles free. Then, Maria José Carmona, an adult education teacher, stepped in to clean the place up.
他說，接下來居然發(fā)生一件讓人意想不到的事情。那時由于沒有一個像樣兒的廚房，衛(wèi)生部正準備關閉托兒所，一名叫做伯納多·貝尼特斯的建筑工人提出為其免費修筑墻壁并貼上瓷磚。一名叫做瑪麗亞·何塞·卡莫納的成人教師也站了出來，要幫助打掃托兒所。
And somehow, the volunteers just kept coming. Every Sunday now, the residents of this town in southwest Spain — young and old — do what needs to be done, whether it is cleaning the streets, raking the leaves, unclogging culverts or planting trees in the park.
不知怎么地，志愿者們一個個接踵而至。現(xiàn)在，每逢周日，這座西班牙西南部小鎮(zhèn)的居民們，無論老少，都來幫助完成鎮(zhèn)里那些需要被完成的事宜，有人清掃大街，有人清理落葉，有人疏通水道，還有人在公園里植樹。
“It was an initiative from them,” said Mr. García. “Day to day we talked to people and we told them there was no money. Of course, they could see it. The grass in between the sidewalks was up to my thigh. "
加西亞說道：“他們都是自愿的，我們日復一日地和人民進行交談，并告訴他們鎮(zhèn)里還沒有錢，當然，他們能看得出來，因為人行道兩側的草都長到我大腿那么高了�！�
Higuera de la Serena is in many ways a microcosm of Spain’s troubles. Just as Spain’s national and regional governments are struggling with the collapse of the construction industry, overspending on huge capital projects and a pileup of unpaid bills, the same problems afflict many of its small towns.
從很多方面來看，希格拉德拉塞麗娜鎮(zhèn)都像是西班牙危機的一個縮影。由于很多耗資巨大的工程超支，并欠下大量欠款，很多小鎮(zhèn)都面臨和西班牙國家和地區(qū)政府同樣的問題：他們正在為建筑業(yè)的衰敗而犯愁。
But what has brought Higuera de la Serena a measure of fame in Spain is that the residents have stepped up where their government has failed. Mr. García says his phone rings regularly from other town officials who want to know how to do the same thing. He is serving without pay, as are the town’s two other elected officials. They are also forgoing the cars and phones that usually come with the job.
但是由于當?shù)氐木用裨谡С植蛔〉臅r候挺身而出，希格拉德拉塞麗娜鎮(zhèn)在西班牙聲名大增。加西亞說，經常有其他鎮(zhèn)子的官員打來電話向自己討教是怎么做到這些的。加西亞沒有薪水可領，其他兩個選舉出來的官員也是一樣。他們甚至放棄了工作中配備的公車和電話。
“We lived beyond our means,” Mr. García said. “We invested in public works that weren’t sensible. We are in technical bankruptcy.” Even some money from the European Union that was supposed to be used for routine operating expenses and last until 2013 has already been spent, he said.
加西亞說：“我們入不敷出，在公共事業(yè)上的投資并不理智，技術也十分欠缺。歐盟的借款本應用于正常政府運作，并維持到2013年，可是即使這些錢都已經花光了�！�
Higuera de la Serena, a cluster of about 900 houses surrounded by farmland, and traditionally dependent on pig farming and olives, got swept up in the giddy days of the construction boom. It built a cultural center and invested in a small nursing home. But the projects were plagued by delays and cost overruns.
希格拉德拉塞麗娜鎮(zhèn)有大約九百戶民宅，周圍是耕地，一直以來，小鎮(zhèn)靠養(yǎng)豬以及種植橄欖維生。在建筑熱潮風靡的日子里，小鎮(zhèn)也受到了熱潮的席卷。鎮(zhèn)上建立了一個文化中心，投資了一家小型療養(yǎng)院。但是這些項目卻面臨擱置以及成本超支的困境。
The cultural center still has no bathrooms. The nursing home, a whitewashed building sits on the edge of town, still unopened. Together, they account for some $470,000 of debt owed to the bank. But the rest of the debt is mostly the unpaid bills of a town that was not keeping up with its expenses. It owes for medical supplies, for diesel fuel, for road repair, for electrical work, for musicians who played during holidays.
文化中心還沒有洗手間。粉刷成白色的療養(yǎng)院坐落于小鎮(zhèn)的邊緣，至今還沒有開放。這兩個項目加起來共拖欠了銀行470，000美元。其他的債務主要是小鎮(zhèn)入不敷出造成的，這些開支包括醫(yī)療供應、燃油、公路維護、電力供應以及那些在節(jié)假日表演的音樂家們。
Higuera de la Serena is not completely without workers. It still has a half-time librarian, two half-time street cleaners, someone part-time for the sports complex, a secretary and an administrator, all of whom are paid through various financing streams apart from the town. But the town once had a work force twice the size. And when someone is ill, volunteers have to step in or the gym and sports complex — open four hours a day — must close.
希格拉德拉塞麗娜鎮(zhèn)并不是一名工人也沒有。它有一名半工半薪的圖書管理員，兩名半工半薪的道路清潔工，一名在體育中心兼職的工作人員，一名秘書和一名管理員。他們的薪水都來自小鎮(zhèn)外的其他渠道。但在此之前，鎮(zhèn)子里的工人數(shù)量是現(xiàn)在的兩倍。體育中心每天開放四個小時，現(xiàn)在只要工作人員生病，志愿者們就必須接手體育中心的工作，否則體育中心必須關閉。
