2018年翻译资格考试英语笔译初级模拟题：希格拉德拉塞丽娜镇
It didn’t take long for Manuel García Murillo, a bricklayer who took over as mayor here last June, to realize that his town was in trouble. It was 800,000 euros, a little more than $1 million, in the red. There was no cash on hand to pay for anything — and there was work that needed to be done.
曼纽尔·加西亚·穆里洛是一名砖匠出身，去年六月，他接任了这座城市的镇长一职，但是他很快意识到他的城市正陷入危机。财政赤字达800,000欧元，比100万美元还要多上一点。政府没有现金来支付任何费用，而摆在面前的却是一堆没有完成的烂摊子。
But then an amazing thing happened, he said. Just as the health department was about to close down the day care center because it didn’t have a proper kitchen, Bernardo Benítez, a construction worker, offered to put up the walls and the tiles free. Then, Maria José Carmona, an adult education teacher, stepped in to clean the place up.
他说，接下来居然发生一件让人意想不到的事情。那时由于没有一个像样儿的厨房，卫生部正准备关闭托儿所，一名叫做伯纳多·贝尼特斯的建筑工人提出为其免费修筑墙壁并贴上瓷砖。一名叫做玛丽亚·何塞·卡莫纳的成人教师也站了出来，要帮助打扫托儿所。
And somehow, the volunteers just kept coming. Every Sunday now, the residents of this town in southwest Spain — young and old — do what needs to be done, whether it is cleaning the streets, raking the leaves, unclogging culverts or planting trees in the park.
不知怎么地，志愿者们一个个接踵而至。现在，每逢周日，这座西班牙西南部小镇的居民们，无论老少，都来帮助完成镇里那些需要被完成的事宜，有人清扫大街，有人清理落叶，有人疏通水道，还有人在公园里植树。
“It was an initiative from them,” said Mr. García. “Day to day we talked to people and we told them there was no money. Of course, they could see it. The grass in between the sidewalks was up to my thigh. "
加西亚说道：“他们都是自愿的，我们日复一日地和人民进行交谈，并告诉他们镇里还没有钱，当然，他们能看得出来，因为人行道两侧的草都长到我大腿那么高了。”
Higuera de la Serena is in many ways a microcosm of Spain’s troubles. Just as Spain’s national and regional governments are struggling with the collapse of the construction industry, overspending on huge capital projects and a pileup of unpaid bills, the same problems afflict many of its small towns.
从很多方面来看，希格拉德拉塞丽娜镇都像是西班牙危机的一个缩影。由于很多耗资巨大的工程超支，并欠下大量欠款，很多小镇都面临和西班牙国家和地区政府同样的问题：他们正在为建筑业的衰败而犯愁。
But what has brought Higuera de la Serena a measure of fame in Spain is that the residents have stepped up where their government has failed. Mr. García says his phone rings regularly from other town officials who want to know how to do the same thing. He is serving without pay, as are the town’s two other elected officials. They are also forgoing the cars and phones that usually come with the job.
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