读外刊学英文|经济学人：Britain's missing middle
大家好，今天起推出《读外刊学英文》栏目，选材主要节选自国内外主流杂志，如《经济学人》、《纽约时报》、《时代》等。
文章会从单词、短语和长难句的层面，给大家分析点睛词组和短语，同时长英语阅读、翻译和写作加分~
想要长期学习英语，或者正在备考四六级、考研、专四专八或BEC等国内外考试都可阅读，阁主会尽量选难度适中、活泼有趣的内容，欢迎大家分享转发！
今天节选的是2017年6月3日《经济学人》的封面文章——Britain’s missing middle《消失的中产阶级》，虽然这篇文章讲的是英国脱欧及大选后的中产阶级的状况，但遣词用句非常出彩，是阅读写作的最佳材料~ 一起来学习~
导读
沪江英语四六级
文章介绍了目前英国两党——保守党与工党领导人在面对近期国内外形势变化时做出的一系列政策规划。一方面介绍了当今时政热点，另一方面又包含许多英国国情介绍。
精读段落
BRITAIN last voted in a general election just two years ago. Back then, the country was a bridge between the European Union and Barack Obama’s America. Its economy was on the mend after years of squeezed living standards. Scottish independence had just been ruled out.
划重点词汇：
→ Its economy was on the mend after years of squeezed living standards.
☆ on the mend： (关系)在改善; (形势)在好转; (病情、伤情)在好转；
例句：More evidence that the economy was on the mend was needed.
需要更多表明经济在好转的证据。
☆ squeeze： v. (常指用手)挤压; 紧捏; 挤; 压榨(液体等)；
这里使用的是squeeze的比喻义： (fig 比喻) a company squeezed by(ie under financial pressure because of) reduced sales 因销售量下降而处境困难的公司.
英英释义：
If you are squeezed by financial demands, they cause you financial problems:
→ 试着理解以下英文句子：
Small businesses are being squeezed by heavy taxation.
参考翻译：在经历了数年紧缩/紧巴巴/萧条的生活水平之后，英国经济逐渐好转。
Scottish independence had just been ruled out.
☆ rule out：不考虑, 排除; 阻止…发生, 使…不可能。
例句：A serious car accident in 1986 ruled out a permanent future for him in farming.
1986年的一起严重车祸使他永远无法务农了。
参考翻译：苏格兰独立的可能性刚刚被排除。
His(MrCorbyn's) tax plan takes aim at high earners and firms, who would behave in ways his costings ignore. University would be free, as it was until the1990s—a vast subsidy for the middle class and a blow to the poor, more of whom haveenrolled since tuition fees helped create more places.
☆ take aim at：瞄准，对准；
例句：Now we have to take aim at the problem and try to get it solved.
现在我们不得不正视这个难题并试图解决它。
Mrs May plans to leave the EU’s single market, once cherished by Tories as one of Margaret Thatcher’s greatest achievements. Worse, she insists on cutting net migration by nearly two-thirds.
☆ insist on：坚持认为；执意要求；
例句：She insisted on being present at all the interviews.
她坚决要求出席所有的采访。
英英释义：
Net migration rate：
The rate of people moving into a country less the number of people moving out of the same country.
High levels of migration, whether in or out of a country, can cause problems relating to unemployment and, in some areas, a reduction or glut in a particular labor force.
No party passes with flying colours. But the closest is the Liberal Democrats. Brexit is the main task of the next government and they want membership of the single market and free movement.
☆ pass (sth) with flying colours: 成功出色地（通过测试）；
例句：So far Mc Allister seemed to have passed all the tests with flying colors.
到目前为止，麦卡利斯特似乎所有的考试都考得非常好。
这里no party涉及到的是英国的两党。托利党（Tories），保守党前身，后改名为Conservative(保守党）；英国两大党派中的另一大执政党是工党（ the Liberal Democrats）。
今天的主要内容就到这里了~ 后面我们会接着分析这篇文章中的长难句和写作表达~
编辑：阁主