《经济学人》（The Economist）是一份创办于1843年的英国杂志，主要关注政治和商业方面的新闻。它是英语专业学生课外阅读的必备刊物，更是考研英语命题小组最钟爱的题源，历年考研真题中几乎有一半的文章都选自《经济学人》。

The Capital's public transport system is sputtering. Transantiago, the Chilean capital's public-transport system, had its tenth birthday in February, but no one celebrated. Launched with much fanfare, the scheme was supposed to integrate bus and metro lines and speed up traffic. Smog-spewing yellow buses disappeared. Smart cards replaced cash.

译文： 智利首都的交通系统饱受诟病。智利首都的公共交通系统“圣地亚哥通”在二月份迎来了十岁的生日，但是没有人为之欢欣鼓舞。在一片锣鼓喧天中，圣地亚哥通开始问世，该项计划原本预计能够整合公交和地铁线路从而让交通更为快捷。喷着烟雾的黄色公交消失了。智能卡片取代了现金。 词汇： sputter ['spʌtə] vi. 发劈啪声；唾沫飞溅；结结巴巴地讲vt. 气急败坏地说；飞溅出；喷出n. 劈啪声；喷溅声；急切的言语（此处sputtering指的是人们抱怨交通系统） launch [lɔntʃ] vt. 发射（导弹、火箭等）；发起，发动；使…下水vi. 开始；下水；起飞n. 发射；发行，投放市场；下水；汽艇 fanfare ['fæn'fɛr] n. 吹牛，炫耀；喇叭或号角嘹亮的吹奏声vt. 热热闹闹地宣布 integrate ['ɪntɪɡret] vt. 使…完整；使…成整体；求…的积分；表示…的总和vi. 求积分；取消隔离；成为一体adj. 整合的；完全的n. 一体化；集成体 都学小课堂： speed up为固定短语，意思为“加速；使加速”。

But Transantiago is sputtering. Fare evasion is rampant, journeys are getting slower and the state has spent billions of dollars to prop up private bus operators. Passengers sometimes wait ages at stops scrawled with graffiti with no inkling of when the next bus will arrive. Espacio Publico, a think-tank, calls Transantiago Chile's worst public-policy project since the country returned to democracy in 1990.

译文： 但是，圣地亚哥通饱受争议。逃票现象很猖獗，出行速度越来越慢，同时政府已经花费数十亿美元来赞助民营公交运营商。有时，乘客得在画满涂鸦的站牌下，等候着不知什么时候到站的巴士。一家名为Espacio Publico的智囊团机构把圣地亚哥通称为智利自1990年恢复民主制以来最糟糕的公共决策项目。 词汇： rampant ['ræmpənt] adj. 猖獗的；蔓延的；狂暴的；奔放的 scrawl [skrɔl] vt. 潦草地写；乱涂vi. 乱涂，涂鸦；乱写n. 潦草的笔迹 democracy [dɪˈmɑkrəsi] n. 民主，民主主义；民主政治 都学小课堂： 文中加粗部分scrawled with graffiti修饰stops，指车站画满涂鸦；with no inkling of when the next bus will arrive做伴随状语修饰passengers，指乘客不知公交车什么时候会到站。

Despite all that, Transantiago has brought some improvements. The number of fatal accidents has dropped sharply, as has pollution from exhaust fumes. The system's 20,000 employees are now on formal contracts and have better working conditions than before. Because bus drivers no longer handle cash, the number of robberies has fallen. Compared with transport in many other Latin American cities, Santiago's works pretty well. But it would be hard to persuade most commuters of that.

译文： 尽管如此，圣地亚哥通还是有了一些改进。意外死亡事故与空气废弃污染量都有明显降低。该系统目前有2万名员工签署了正式合同，工作环境较之前也更好。由于司机不再收取现金，抢劫发生的数量也下降了。比起其他拉美国家的交通来说，圣地亚哥的确做得非常不错。但是，这很难说服大多数的通勤者。 词汇： fatal accidents：死亡事故 robbery ['rɑbəri] n. 抢劫，盗窃；抢掠 commuter [kə'mjʊtɚ] n. 通勤者，经常乘公共车辆往返者；月季票乘客

The problems start with design. Planners laid some bus lanes directly over metro lines, so the two forms of transport compete rather than complementing each other. The city has hired too few inspectors to catch fare-dodgers and motorists who stray into bus lanes (though cameras are catching some of the errant cars). Sometimes buses are so crowded that even honest passengers have trouble reaching the card-swiper. Increasingly, passengers are less inclined to pay.

译文： 这些问题源于其本身的设计。设计者们让一些公交车道直接经过地铁线上方，所以造成了两种交通方式共同竞争，而不是相互帮补。城市中的查票员和巡警不足，很难抓住逃票者以及那些违规占用公交车道的司机（即使摄像头能够抓住一些违法车辆）。有时候，公交车非常拥挤以至于最诚实的乘客也难以接触扫卡器。渐渐地，乘客们不太愿意付钱了。 词汇： complement [ˈkɑːmplɪment] n. 补语；余角；补足物vt. 补足，补助 errant ['ɛrənt] adj. 不定的；周游的；错误的；偏离正路的 都学小课堂： be inclined to为固定词组，意思是“倾向于....”

Despite the subsidies, fares have risen by 40% since 2010, far faster than most prices. Bus journeys have slowed by 8% since 2012. For some, fare-dodging is a form of protest. Guillermo Munoz, the metropolitan area's director of public transport, admits that in some parts of the capital the service is “very bad”. Last month Chile's transport minister resigned, in part to take responsibility for Transantiago's failings. Espacio Publico says one reason for the high subsidies is that too few companies operate the buses. The system began with 16 operators but dropouts and mergers have shrunk the number to seven. The largest firms operate 1,200 buses apiece. This makes them “too big to fail”, says Clemente Perez of Espacio Publico. Hence the subsidies to keep money-losing companies afloat.

译文： 尽管有政府的补助，自2010年起公共交通的车费上涨了40%，这比其他开销上涨速度要快得多。但是，旅程时间却比2012年慢了8%。对于一些人来说，逃票就是一种抗争行为。公共交通系统的地区领导人Guillermo Munoz承认在首都的一些地方，公共交通服务是极其糟糕的。上个月，智利的交通部长辞职，部分原因就是为圣地亚哥通的失败承担责任。Espacio Publico谈到政府为公共交通提供高额补贴是因为运营公交的公司太少了。该系统原本有16家运营商，但是有些退出或者合并，现在只剩下七家。最大的公司独自运营1200辆公交。Espacio Publico智囊机构的Clemente Perez谈到，这使得这些运营商“规模太大以至于不会破产”。于是，补贴使赔钱公司继续运转。 词汇： subsidy ['sʌbsədi] n. 补贴；津贴；补助金 resign [rɪ'zaɪn] vt. 辞职；放弃；委托；使听从vi. 辞职n. 辞去职务

No company should have more than 10% of the market, Mr Perez thinks. The city will have a chance to correct that next year, when contracts to operate bus lines are to expire. It is likely to encourage smaller and newer companies to enter the market. That might release money for improvements. The new transport minister, Paola Tapia, has created a task-force to help reduce fare-dodging and promised more money for inspectors. With luck, Transantiago could become a service that commuters are happy to pay for.

译文： Perez认为，任何一家公司都不应该有超过10%的市场占有率。圣地亚哥明年有机会去进行改进，因为到时候与公交运营商的合同就会到期。政府很有可能让小型的新公司进入市场。这可能会让更多钱流入市场从而情况得到改善。新的交通部长Paola Tapia已经成立工作小组来协助减少逃票现象，同时承诺给检票员提高工资。如果一切顺利的话，Transantiago应该会变成一款令通勤者们愉快付钱的交通服务。 词汇： expire [ɪk'spaɪɚ] vi. 期满；终止；死亡；呼气vt. 呼出（空气） release [rɪ'lis] vt. 释放；发射；让与；允许发表n. 释放；发布；让与