VOA标准英语2010年-Check Out the New Library Sign: 'For P

You'll almost always find four public services run by local governments across America: police and fire departments, the agency that fixes the streets and cleans the sewers¹, and the public library.

Notice that we said almost always. That's because the fifth-largest library system in the United States isn't local at all.

And it's not fully² public, either.

It's a group of 14 library systems from Tennessee to California that are run by a private, profit-making company called Library Systems & Services, or L.S.S.I. This company has been given control of systems that were struggling to find enough money to stay open.

But L.S.S.I.'s latest contract, for $4 million, puts it in charge of a system in Santa Clarita, a Los Angeles suburb in southern California, whose libraries are holding their own financially.

To achieve profitability, Library Systems & Services typically slashes³ costs drastically, in part by replacing unionized workers.

L.S.S.I. chief executive Frank Pezzanite told the New York Times that a lot of local libraries are, in his words, atrocious.

"Their policies are all about job security," he said. "That's why the profession is nervous about us. You can [work at] a library for 35 years and never have to do anything and then have your retirement⁴. We're not running our company that way. You come to us, you're going to have to work."

Responding to outrage⁵ expressed in many quarters over the outsourcing of its three library branches, Santa Clarita's acting⁶ mayor, Marsha McLean, assured citizens that giving up control of the library was essential to cutting costs during economic hard times.

She stressed that the city's libraries would still technically⁷ be public, since the city owns them and anyone in town can still come in and check out books for free.

1 sewers   

n.阴沟，污水管，下水道( sewer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sewers discharge out at sea. 下水道的污水排入海里。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Another municipal waste problem is street runoff into storm sewers. 有关都市废水的另外一个问题是进入雨水沟的街道雨水。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 slashes   

n.（用刀等）砍( slash的名词复数 )；（长而窄的）伤口；斜杠；撒尿v.挥砍( slash的第三人称单数 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• They report substantial slashes in this year's defense outlays. 他们报道今年度国防经费的大量削减。 来自辞典例句
• Inmates suffered injuries ranging from stab wounds and slashes to head trauma. 囚犯们有的被刺伤，有的被砍伤，而有的头部首创，伤势不一而足。 来自互联网

4 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

5 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

6 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

7 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。