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在疫情的冲击之下，美国的“经济悬崖”时代已经到来，通货膨胀已经走向顽固阶段。在此背景下，美国普通民众的生活受到了何种影响？今天让我们跟随纽约时报一起来看看。
原文导读（上）
This Is Going to Hurt
Kat Johnston didn’t expect the pandemic to make her less stressed about her finances. After all, she temporarily lost her job at the library where she worked full time. But, like many Americans, she found an unexpected reprieve from money worries: Months at home limited her spending, and she received expanded unemployment insurance and two one-time checks from the government.
“When I first came back to work, I had probably $2,200 in savings—which I know is not much, but it’s more than I’d had in a while,” she said. But it was nomatch for the inflation that has come since. “That savings is pretty much gone now. As things have gotten so expensive, it’s been almost a paycheck-to-paycheck life.”
Ms. Johnston, 31, lives in the Dallas area in a studio apartment and had hoped to upgrade to a one bedroom— her cat will occasionally use her bed as a litter box, so being able to shut the door would be good. Yet rent is increasing enough that she is considering moving in with a roommate instead.
Gas is so expensive that she is buying just a quarter of a tank at a time. Her$65,000 in student loans from undergraduate and graduate school were in forbearance before the pandemic because she was struggling to afford them on her roughly$40,000 annual income. She has been able to continue not paying them because of a government moratorium, but she knows that may not last forever.
She’d like to find a better-paying job, but she’s unsure about leaving a secure position — and embarking on a draining job search — at a moment when economists and investors warn of an impending recession. “It does feel like whatever I was thinking I was going to do is on hold,” she said.
Millions of Americans are feeling similarly stuck as their savings run low and their cost of living runs high. Now, the economy appears poised to slow— potentially sharply— in ways that could limit wage growth and cause job losses even as prices remain elevated. But instead of rushing to the economy’s aid by giving Americans money, as they did in March 2020, policymakers are engineering this slowdown. Then, the problem was a global pandemic; now, it’s stubbornly high inflation, and the main way the government knows to solve that is by inflicting some economic pain.
In other words, the long-predicted “cliff” may finally have arrived.
第一段：Kat Johnston didn’t expect the pandemic to make her less stressed about her finances. After all, she temporarily lost her job at the library where she worked full time. But, like many Americans, she found an unexpected reprieve from money worries: Months at home limited her spending, and she received expanded unemployment insurance and two one-time checks from the government.
推荐译文：凯特·约翰斯顿（Kat Johnston）没有预想到新冠疫情的大流行会减轻她的财务压力。毕竟，她暂时失去了她在图书馆的全职工作。但是，像许多美国人一样，她发现金钱方面的忧虑反倒出奇地减少了。困在家的几个月限制了她的消费，她还收到了升级的失业保险和政府的两张一次性支票。
知识点解读：
1.expect：预料；预期，指有很大程度的把握，但仍含有预料之意。常用的表达为“expect to do 期待去做；期望做某事”，例如，“I didn’t expect to find you here. 我没料到在这里碰到你。”还有“be expected to 预计、预估”，例如，“House prices are expected to perk up. 预计房价会上涨。”英语中有个习惯用语叫“expect a baby”，意为“怀孕”，大家要注意积累，此外，我们还要区分“expect”和其它表示“期望、愿望”的词语的区别：
Desire：表示强烈的意图和渴望。 Wish：多指难于实现或不可能实现的愿望。 Hope 指对愿望实现有一定信心的希望。
2.be stressed about:……紧张，例如，“I am stressed about money. 我手头钱不宽裕。”
3.work full time：“全职”的动词表达，相当于名词“full-time job”，相对应的，“兼职”为“part-time job.”
4.unemployment insurance:失业保险，相关需要积累的表达有：“casual unemployment临时性失业”；“chronic unemployment长期失业”和“claims for unemployment insurance失业救济申请”。此外，我们还要区分insurance和assurance:
insurance:指保险费；保险，保险业，例如，“An insurance company will insure your life.保险公司可以给你保寿险。” 常见的表达有“life insurance 人寿保险”；“liability insurance 责任保险”；和“property insurance 财产保险”。
assurance:保证;担保;自信，例如，“They had given an absolute assurance that it would be kept secret. 他们信誓旦旦地保证将对此绝对保密。”
5.one-time check：一次性支票。
第二段：“When I first came back to work, I had probably $2,200 in savings—which I know is not much, but it’s more than I’d had in a while,” she said. But it was nomatch for the inflation that has come since. “That savings is pretty much gone now. As things have gotten so expensive, it’s been almost a paycheck-to-paycheck life.”
推荐译文：“当我第一次回来工作时，我大概有2200美元的储蓄——我知道这并不多，但这比我一度拥有的储蓄多。”她说，只是这无法与此后的通货膨胀相提并论。“这些储蓄现在几乎用光了。由于物价昂贵，日子过得紧巴巴的。”
知识点解读：
1.have +money+ in savings:有……的存款，例如，“I have totally 5 million in savings. 我共有五百万存款。”
2.no match for:无法相提并论，例如，“He ' s nothing but a suit, no match for you.他只不过西装好看而已,不是你的对手”
3.paycheck-to-paycheck:非常地道的英文表达，相当于中文的“月光族”，也可以说“live from paycheck to paycheck”，表示“日子过得紧巴巴的。”
第三段：Ms. Johnston, 31, lives in the Dallas area in a studio apartment and had hoped to upgrade to a one bedroom— her cat will occasionally use her bed as a litter box, so being able to shut the door would be good. Yet rent is increasing enough that she is considering moving in with a roommate instead.
推荐译文：31岁的约翰斯顿女士住在达拉斯地区的一个单间公寓里，她曾希望升级到单间卧室——她的猫偶尔会把她的床当作猫砂盆，所以如果能够关上门就好了。然而，租金的增长足以让她考虑搬去和室友一起住。
知识点解读：
litter box：原意是指“垃圾箱”，在原中文表示“猫砂盆”。
第四段：Gas is so expensive that she is buying just a quarter of a tank at a time. Her$65,000 in student loans from undergraduate and graduate school were in forbearance before the pandemic because she was struggling to afford them on her roughly$40,000 annual income. She has been able to continue not paying them because of a government moratorium, but she knows that may not last forever.
推荐译文：汽油太贵了，她每次只买四分之一的油。她在本科和研究生阶段的65,000美元学生贷款在新冠疫情的大流行之前就已经暂停了，因为她的年收入大约为40,000美元，很难负担这些贷款。由于政府暂停计划，她能够继续不还款，但她知道长远来看这并不太可能。
知识点解读：
1.a quarter of：四分之一；25%。例如，“Before he had been up a quarter of an hour the whole house were astir and busy . 他起床还不到一刻钟，整个屋子都忙碌起来了。”在经济学上，通常有以下专业术语表达：
Q1：quarter 1的缩写，代表第一季度。 Q2：quarter 2的缩写，代表第二季度。
2. student loan：学生贷
3.关于不同学历的表达：
Undergraduate本科；graduate研究生阶段；bachelor学,；master硕士; doctor博士; Post博士后
4.forbearance:克制、容忍，例如，“There is, however, a limit at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue. 克制也有个限度，超过了限度就不再是美德。”
5.struggle to：艰难地做某事，例如，“Those who have lost their jobs struggle to pay their supermarket bills。那些失去工作的人努力支付超市账单。”
6.moratorium：正式的延缓,暂停，尤其是指官方机构暂停某项措施。
第五段：She’d like to find a better-paying job, but she’s unsure about leaving a secure position — and embarking on a draining job search — at a moment when economists and investors warn of an impending recession. “It does feel like whatever I was thinking I was going to do is on hold,” she said.
推荐译文：她想找到一份收入更高的工作，但在经济学家和投资者警告即将出现经济衰退的时刻，她对从一个安全的职位离职——并开始寻找一个令人疲惫的工作——没有多大的把握。她说：“这让我真切地感受到，我想做的一切都被搁置了。”
知识点解读：
1.better-paying：收入更高的，连字符构词法在英文中十分常用，比如说，“easy-going 和蔼的，平易近人的。”
2.embark on：开始做，常用的表达是“embark on sth”, 例如，“He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。”
3.Impending:即将发生的，例如，“We were well aware of impending disaster.我们清楚地意识到即将来临的灾难。”
4.be on hold:被搁置，被忽略，例如，“I've been on hold for over an hour trying to talk to someone from the bank. 我已经等了一个多小时，想和银行的人谈谈。”
第六段：Millions of Americans are feeling similarly stuck as their savings run low and their cost of living runs high. Now, the economy appears poised to slow— potentially sharply— in ways that could limit wage growth and cause job losses even as prices remain elevated. But instead of rushing to the economy’s aid by giving Americans money, as they did in March 2020, policymakers are engineering this slowdown. Then, the problem was a global pandemic; now, it’s stubbornly high inflation, and the main way the government knows to solve that is by inflicting some economic pain.
推荐译文：数以百万计的美国人也有类似的感觉，因为他们的储蓄少了，而生活成本高了。现在，经济似乎准备放缓——可能是急剧放缓——其方式可能会限制工资增长，并导致工作岗位流失，即使价格仍然高涨。但是，政策制定者并没有像2020年3月那样通过给美国人发钱来帮助经济，而是在设计这种放缓。当时，问题是全球大流行病；现在，问题是顽固的高通货膨胀，而政府知道解决这个问题的主要方法是施加一些经济痛苦。
知识点解读：
1.run low/high：经济学中常用的词汇，表示“低走/高走”的概念，可用于图表作文中描述经济的走势，例如，“Their savings run low and their cost of living runs high. 储蓄减少，生活成本提高。”
2.cost of living：生活成本，拓展另一个词的表达, “standard of living 生活水平”。
第七段：In other words, the long-predicted “cliff” may finally have arrived.
推荐译文：换句话说，预言已久的 "悬崖 "可能终于到来。
知识点解读：
In other words：换言之，可替换的表达有“To put it simply”和“In a nutshell”等，写作中可以灵活转换，例如，“换言之，成功创造人工智能可能是人类文明史上最大的事件。To put it simply, success in creating AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilization.”
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