The energy crunch
How to help with those bills
There are better, fairer and cheaper ways than meddling with prices
 Natural –gas prices are eight times higher than they were last summer and traders expect precious little respite over the coming year. 天然气价格比去年夏天高出八倍，交易员预计来年不会有多少宝贵的喘息机会。█respite: a useful delay before something unpleasant happens 短暂的延缓；喘息（时间） e.g. Their teacher was away, so they had a day's respite before their essays were due. 他们的老师外出，所以他们交论文的期限往后拖了一天。
 By October a household in Britain could be paying more than £3,500($4,200) a year for energy, more than three times last year’s bill, leading the Bank of England to warn of inflation passing 13% before the year is out. 到 10 月，英国的一个家庭每年为能源支付的费用可能超过 3,500 英镑（合 4,200 美元），是去年账单的三倍多，这导致英格兰银行发出警告，通胀在今年结束前将超过 13%。█warn: to make someone realize a possible danger or problem, especially one in the future 警告；告诫 短语：to warn of警告；warn sb of sth警告某人某事
 Alas, politicians are botching their response. 政府的应对措施一团糟。█botch: to spoil something by doing it badly(UK also bodge) 弄糟 短语：botch up；e.g. We botched (up) our first attempt at wallpapering the bathroom. 我们第一次试着给浴室贴壁纸，结果一团糟。
 To stop rising wholesale energy prices passing through fully to consumers’ bills, many have resorted to price caps and energy-tax reductions. 为了阻止不断上涨的批发能源价格完全转嫁到消费者的账单上，许多政客采取了限制价格和减免能源税的措施。█resort to: V-I If you resort to a course of action that you do not really approve of, you adopt it because you cannot see any other way of achieving what you want. 不得不求助 e.g. They felt obliged to resort to violence. 他们觉得有必要诉诸暴力。
 Liz Truss, a Conservative politician vying to become Britain’s next prime minister, is talking of cutting payroll taxes. 力争成为英国下一任首相的保守党政客利兹·特拉斯（Liz Truss）正在谈论削减工资税。█vie: If one person or thing is vying with another for something, the people or things are competing for it. 竞争 [正式] 短语：vie with sb for sth与某人竞争…；vie to do sth竞争；e.g. California is vying with other states to capture a piece of the growing communications market. 加州正在与各州竞争，以求在不断扩大的通讯市场上获得份额。  
 Hearteningly, there are signs that people and businesses can and do respond to high prices by conserving energy. 令人振奋的是，有迹象表明人们和企业能够并且确实通过节约能源来应对高价格。█heartening: making you feel happier and more positive 令人振奋的 e.g. It was heartening to see so many people at the rally. 看到有这么多人参加集会真是令人很振奋。Syn. Inspirational, uplifting, inspiring, motivating
 Sometimes conservation can be galvanized by regulation. 有时可以通过监管激励能源节约。█galvanize: to cause (a force that is capable of causing change) to become active激励；刺激；促进（改变） e.g. The Web site has galvanized support for the project. 该网站提高了对该项目的支持。
 Politicians cannot stop rising energy prices from making economies worse off, but they can determine who bears the brunt of the shock. 政客们无法阻止能源价格上涨导致的经济恶化，但他们可以决定谁将首当其冲。█bear the brunt of：首当其冲 e.g. Schools will bear the brunt of cuts in government spending. 政府削减开支，学校将首当其冲受到影响。
 Who, then, should pay? The crowd-pleasing choice is the energy companies, which are making out like bandits, but general taxation makes more sense. 那么，谁应该买单（负责）呢？ 大众喜欢的选择是能源公司，它们像土匪一样大赚特赚。但综合的税收更合乎逻辑。█①bandit：N-COUNT Robbers are sometimes called bandits, especially if they are found in areas where the law has broken down. 土匪  ②make out: to write down the required information on (something, such as a check)或者理解为make out [=fill out] a form，原句中可以理解为fill out a check 填写一张支票，所以翻译成赚钱。
 That only leads to underinvestment—and the next bout of sky-high prices. 这只会导致投资不足——以及下一场天价潮。█bout：a short period of illness or involvement in an activity （疾病的）发作；（某活动的）一段，一阵，一场 e.g. a drinking bout (= short period of drinking a lot of alcohol) 一场狂饮
 注：外刊观点与本人无关，仅用于英语学习