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      考研英语水平的进步，不仅要记单词，还需要阅读外语文献等资料。接下来，小编为2024考研者们，整理出——2024考研英语同源外刊8月:别让司机跑路了!供考生参考。

2024考研英语同源外刊8月:别让司机跑路了!

Like so much else, the roots of today’s freight slump can be traced to the pandemic. As the coronavirus disrupted activity, first in China and then in Europe and the United States, chronic delivery delays and shipping cost hikes caused companies to rethink their just-in-time strategies and instead build up stockpiles of consumer goods and industrial parts, Levy said.

就像其他问题一样，今天货运萧条的根源可以溯源至疫情。列维说，由于新冠病毒破坏了日常经济活动，首当其冲的是中国，接下来是欧洲和美国，长期的交货延迟和货运成本飙升导致公司们开始重新思考他们的即时交付策略，转而囤积消费品和工业零部件。

When consumers later began resuming their normal spending patterns — with fewer goods and more in-person services — companies were caught with overstuffed warehouses. Higher interest rates made a bad situation worse by increasing the cost of keeping idle supplies. Major retailers in recent months have been ordering fewer items, focusing instead on reducing their stockpile of unsold goods. At Target, inventory in the first months of this year plunged 16 percent, led by apparel and home goods.

当消费者后来开始恢复他们正常的消费模式——减少商品购买增加当面服务——公司发现自己的仓库已经被塞得满满当当。加息增加了闲置供应产品的仓储成本，让情况更加恶化了。近几个月来，主要零售商一直在减少产品采购，转而把重心放在降低未售出商品的库存上。塔吉特今年年初几个月的库存下降了16%，服装和家居用品的库存下降幅度较大。

Shipping containers arriving at the Port of Los Angeles, ground zero for the pandemic-era woes, are down 23 percent from a year ago. Truckers are getting less than half their 2021 per-mile peak earnings, adjusted for inflation, even as their operating costs rise. And on Wednesday, Union Pacific, the nation’s second-largest railroad, said its profits fell more than 11 percent in the most recent quarter.

洛杉矶港口是疫情时代灾难的“核爆中心”,抵达洛杉矶港的集装箱数量比一年前下降了23%。考虑通货膨胀因素，卡车司机每英里的收入不到2021年峰值的一半，而与此同时他们的运营成本还增加了。周三，美国第二大铁路公司联合太平洋公司表示，其近期一个季度的利润下降了11%以上。

Normally, a downturn in freight shipments would signal the approach of a broader downturn. But consumer spending, which accounts for 68 percent of the economy, isn’t collapsing. It’s gradually slowing and pivoting from merchandise to services, such as insurance and air travel. In the second quarter, consumer spending on services rose three times as fast as goods purchases, according to the Commerce Department. This distinctive economic climate is making the freight recession more punishing than usual.

正常来讲，货运量的下滑预示着更大范围的经济衰退的到来。但是，占到了经济总量68%的消费者支出并没有崩溃。它正逐步放缓，并从商品转向服务，例如保险和航空。第二季度，消费者服务支出的增长速度是商品购买速度的三倍。这种独特的经济环境让货运衰退比以往更加严重。

Lower freight volumes that are soon followed by a full-blown recession are ordinarily cushioned by falling gas prices, from weak demand, lower equipment costs and a soft labor market with wages under control. None of those conditions apply today. Retail gasoline prices average $3.56 per gallon, according to the Fed. That’s down about 18 percent from one year ago but still high relative to most of the past five years. Likewise, inflation has pushed equipment prices up, and the strong jobs market means that employers must compete for workers by offering higher pay.The combination of lower freight demand and higher costs is eroding profit margins and driving smaller carriers out of the business.

但这些情况今天都不适用了。根据美联储的数据，汽油零售价格平均为每加仑3.56美元。比去年下降了约18%，但与过去五年大多数时候相比仍处于一定的位置。同样，通货膨胀推大了设备价格，而强劲的就业市场意味着雇主必须通过提供更大的工资来争夺工人。货运需求下降和成本上升正在侵蚀利润率，让很多小型货运公司机被迫从行业中离场。

 

单词：

1.slump

/slʌmp/

v.(价格、价值、数量等)骤降，猛跌; 惨败，猛跌; (因无力站立而)倒下，倚

n.(价格、销售额、利润等的)突然下跌; (经济的)不景气，萧条

2.hike

/haɪk/

n.徒步旅行，远足; (价格、花费等的)大幅度提升，猛增

v.远足，徒步旅行; 突然增加; 拉起，提起(尤指衣物)

3.stockpile

/ˈstɒkˌpaɪl/

n.库存;积蓄

vt.贮存;储蓄

      综上是“2024考研英语同源外刊8月:别让司机跑路了!”，希望对备战2024考研考生们有所帮助!让我们乘风破浪，终抵彼岸，考研加油!

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