VOA标准英语2011--US Postal Service on 'Brink of Default'

US Postal 1 Service on 'Brink 2 of Default'

美国邮政濒临破产边缘

One of America's oldest institutions, the U.S. Postal Service, is teetering on the edge of default and must be radically 4 restructured. That, according to the postmaster general, who spoke 5 on Capitol Hill Tuesday.

The mail service Americans have known for generations is losing billions of dollars a year, as handwritten communication has all but disappeared - replaced by emails, text messages, and social-media - and billing and other commercial transactions are increasingly conducted over the Internet.

由于书信这种通信方式几乎已经消失，被电子邮件，短信和社交媒体等取代，收费和其他商业交易越来越多的通过互联网进行，美国几代人都非常熟悉的邮政服务每年损失数十亿美元。

The changing technological 6 landscape has left the regular mail service, what many Americans now refer to as "snail 7 mail," in dire 8 financial straits. U.S. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

不断进步的科技使常规的邮件服务——许多美国人将其称作“蜗牛邮件”——陷入严重的财政危机。美国邮政总局局长帕特里克·多纳霍(Patrick-Donahoe)在参议院国土安全及政府事务委员会证实了这一点。

"The Postal Service is at the brink of default," said Donahoe. "Without the enactment 10 of comprehensive legislation by September 30, the Postal Service will default on a mandated 11 $5.5 billion payment to the Treasury 12 to pre-fund retirement 13 retiree health benefits. Our situation is urgent."

多纳霍：“邮政服务已经濒临破产边缘。如果在9月30日之前不制定出综合的立法，邮政服务将拖欠应付给财政部的55亿美元退休人员健康福利资金。形势非常紧急。”

The Postal Service is seeking congressional authorization 14 to cut costs and curtail 15 services, including eliminating hundreds of thousands of postal jobs, changing health care and retirement programs for postal workers, consolidating 16 post offices, and ending Saturday mail delivery across the country.

邮政服务正在寻求国会授权削减成本，缩减服务，包括裁减数十万邮政工作岗位，改变邮政工作人员的卫生保健和退休项目，加强邮局工作效率，在全国范围内停止周六的邮件递送服务。

"The Postal Service requires radical 3 changes to its business model if it to remain viable 17 into the future," added Donahoe. "The Postal Service is in a crisis today because it operates with a restricted business model. As a self-financing entity 18 that depends on the sale of postage for its revenues, the Postal Service requires the ability to operate more as a business does."

“如果未来想要生存下去，邮政服务的商业模式需要进行彻底的变革。邮政服务陷入危机是由于商业模式受到限制。邮政服务是自筹资金的实体，依靠邮资来获得收益。邮政服务需要进行更多商业活动。”

Fighting the proposed changes is the American Postal Workers Union, whose president, Cliff Guffey, has blasted proposed changes as a "reckless assault on the Postal Service and its employees." He has also said that "crushing postal workers and slashing 19 service will not solve the Postal Service's financial crisis."

美国邮政工人联盟反对进行变革。该联盟主席Cliff Guffey抨击进行变革是“对邮政服务和雇员鲁莽的侮辱。”他还说，“裁减邮政工人和削减服务不能解决邮政服务的财政危机。”

But change is needed, according to the committee's chairman, Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.

但是该委员会主席，康乃迪克州参议员Joe Lieberman认为需要进行改革。

"We must act quickly to prevent a Postal Service collapse 20, and enact 9 a bold plan to secure its future," said Lieberman. "The U.S. Postal Service is not an 18th Century relic 21. It is a great 21st Century national asset. But times are changing rapidly now, and so too must the Postal Service if it is to survive."

“我们必须迅速采取行动，避免邮政服务破产，制定大胆的计划来确保邮政服务未来能够起死回生。美国邮政服务并不是18世纪的遗迹，而是21世纪的国有资产。但是时代正在迅速发生变化，所以，如果邮政服务想要生存下去，也必须进行变革。”

The U.S. Postal Service is a semi-autonomous federal entity, mandated by law to be revenue neutral. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have put forth 22 proposals to reform it and ensure its solvency 23.

美国邮政服务是半自治的联邦企业，由法律授权其收益中性。民主党和共和党的立法者都提出了对邮政进行改革，确保其偿付能力的提议。

Americans learn of the Postal Service from an early age. Every year before Christmas, it receives an avalanche 24 of letters from youngsters addressed to Santa Claus. It remains 25 the preferred means to send greeting cards, wedding invitations, and other personalized or formal communication, as well as magazines and other periodicals and printed advertisements. Despite reduced mail flow, the Postal Service continues to deliver more than half a billion pieces of mail a day.

美国人很早就了解邮政服务。每年圣诞节前，邮政服务都会收到许多年轻人寄给圣诞老人的信。邮政服务仍然是寄送卡片，婚礼请柬和其他个人或正式的通信，以及杂志，其他期刊和印刷的广告的最佳方式。尽管信件流量缩减，邮政服务每天仍然寄送超过5000万份邮件。