每日英語 #154: The United States Postal Service 美國郵政局

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The United States Postal Service 美國郵政局

The United States Postal Service (“USPS”) is an independent U.S. government agency. It has not received “taxpayer dollars” (money collected by the government from Americans and American businesses) since 1983, although it does borrow some money from the U.S. Treasury.

美國郵政局（USPS）是一個美國政府的獨立機構。自1983年以來，它並未接受“納稅人資金”（美國政府向美國公民和企業收取的資金），儘管它會從美國財政部借一些錢。

Even though the USPS is financially independent, it is not really independent of the U.S. government. The U.S. “Constitution” (the most important legal document in the United States) “explicitly” (openly and very clearly) “authorizes” (allows something to exist; says that something is legal) the agency and sets clear expectations for how the USPS should operate. The USPS is required to serve all Americans, “regardless of” (no matter) where they live with the same-quality service for the same price. Obviously, it is more expensive to deliver mail to people who live in very “isolated” (hard to reach; far from others) areas, but the USPS cannot charge more money for serving those people.

儘管美國郵政局在財務上是獨立的，但它並不完全獨立於美國政府。美國“憲法”（美國最重要的法律文件）“明確”（公開且清楚地）“授權”（允許某事物存在；表明某事物是合法的）該機構，並對美國郵政局的運作設定了明確的期望。美國郵政局必須服務所有美國人，“無論”（不管）他們居住在哪裡，都提供相同品質的服務且收取相同的價格。顯然，為居住在非常“偏僻”（難以到達；遠離他人的）地區的人們送信成本較高，但美國郵政局不能因此向這些人收取更多費用。

An 11-member “Board of Governors” creates policies and procedures and sets “postage rates” (how much it costs to send something through the mail). The U.S. President “appoints” (suggests; names) nine of those members, who then must be “confirmed” (approved) by the U.S. Senate. Those members choose the “Postmaster General” (the leader of the USPS, like a CEO) and the “Deputy Postmaster General” (the second in command, like a COO).

一個由11名成員組成的“理事會”（制定政策和程序）並設定“郵資費率”（寄送物品的費用）。美國總統“任命”（推薦；提名）其中的九名成員，這些成員必須經過美國參議院的“確認”（批准）。這些成員會選出“郵政總局長”（美國郵政局的領導者，如同CEO）和“副郵政總局長”（第二指揮者，如同COO）。

The USPS has a “monopoly” (with total control over a type of business, without competition) over mail delivery and no other companies are allowed to compete with it. However, there is an “exception” (a time when the rules are different) for “urgent” (very important and needing to be done very quickly) mail, and that is why private delivery services like FedEx (Federal Express) and UPS (United Parcel Service) are able to sell “express” (very quick) delivery services.

美國郵政局在郵件投遞方面擁有“壟斷地位”（完全掌控一種業務，沒有競爭者），其他公司不允許與其競爭。然而，對於“急件”（非常重要且需要快速完成的工作）有“例外”（規則不同的情況），這也是為什麼像聯邦快遞（FedEx）和聯合包裹（UPS）等私人快遞公司可以提供“特快”（非常快速）的投遞服務。

重要單字

• 1. taxpayer dollars /ˈtæksˌpeɪər ˈdɒlərz/ 納稅人資金
• 2. Constitution /ˌkɒnstɪˈtjuːʃən/ 憲法
• 3. explicitly /ɪkˈsplɪsɪtli/ 明確地
• 4. authorizes /ˈɔːθəraɪzɪz/ 授權
• 5. regardless of /rɪˈɡɑːrdləs ʌv/ 無論
• 6. isolated /ˈaɪsəˌleɪtɪd/ 偏僻的
• 7. Board of Governors /bɔːrd ʌv ˈɡʌvənərz/ 理事會
• 8. appoints /əˈpɔɪnts/ 任命
• 9. confirmed /kənˈfɜːrmd/ 確認
• 10. Postmaster General /ˈpəʊstˌmɑːstər ˈdʒɛnərəl/ 郵政總局長
• 11. monopoly /məˈnɒpəli/ 壟斷地位
• 12. exception /ɪkˈsɛpʃən/ 例外
• 13. urgent /ˈɜːrdʒənt/ 急件
• 14. express /ɪkˈsprɛs/ 特快