2017年06月六级第1套仔细阅读 Passage 2 原文翻译及答案解析

Macy's reported its sales plunged 5.2% in November and December at stores open more than a year, a disappointing holiday season performance that capped a difficult year for a department store chain facing wide-ranging challenges. Its flagship stores in major U.S. cities depend heavily on international tourist spending, which shrank at many retailers due to a strong dollar. Meanwhile, Macy's has simply struggled to lure consumers who are more interested in spending on travel or dining out than on new clothes or accessories.

梅西百货报告称，其开业超过一年的门店在11月和12月的销售额暴跌5.2%，这个令人失望的假日季表现为这家面临广泛挑战的百货连锁店艰难的一年画上了句号。其位于美国主要城市的旗舰店严重依赖国际游客消费，而由于美元走强，许多零售商的国际游客消费减少。与此同时，梅西百货一直难以吸引那些更愿意在旅行或外出就餐上花钱，而不是购买新衣服或配饰的消费者。

The company blamed much of the poor performance in November and December on unseasonably warm weather. "About 80% of our company's year-over-year declines in comparable sales can be attributed to shortfalls (短缺) in cold-weather goods," said chief executive Terry Lundgren in a press release. This prompted the company to cut its forecasts for the full fourth quarter.

该公司将11月和12月的糟糕表现主要归咎于反常的温暖天气。首席执行官特里·伦德格伦在一份新闻稿中表示：“我们公司可比销售额同比下降的约80%可归因于寒冷天气商品的短缺。”这促使该公司下调了整个第四季度的预期。

However, it's clear that Macy's believes its troubles run deeper than a temporary aberration (偏离) off the thermometer. The retail giant said the poor financial performance this year has pushed it to begin implementing $400 million in cost-cutting measures. The company pledged to cut 600 back-office positions, though some 150 workers in those roles would be reassigned to other jobs. It also plans to offer "voluntary separation" packages to 165 senior executives. It will slash staffing at its fleet of 770 stores, a move affecting some 3,000 employees.

然而，很明显梅西百货认为其困境远不止于气温计的暂时偏离。这家零售巨头表示，今年糟糕的财务表现已促使它开始实施4亿美元的成本削减措施。公司承诺削减600个后台职位，但其中约150名员工将被重新分配到其他工作岗位。它还计划向165名高级管理人员提供“自愿离职”方案。它将大幅削减其770家门店的员工数量，此举将影响约3000名员工。

The retailer also announced the locations of 36 stores it will close in early 2016. The company had previously announced the planned closures, but had not said which locations would be affected. None of the chain's stores in the Washington metropolitan area are to be closed.

该零售商还宣布了将于2016年初关闭的36家门店的地点。该公司此前已宣布了计划关闭的门店，但未说明哪些地点会受到影响。该连锁店在华盛顿大都会区的门店均不会被关闭。

Macy's has been moving aggressively to try to remake itself for a new era of shopping. It has plans to open more locations of Macy's Backstage, a newly-developed off-price concept which might help it better compete with ambitious T.J. Maxx. It's also pushing ahead in 2016 with an expansion of Bluemercury, the beauty chain it bought last year. At a time when young beauty shoppers are often turning to Sephora or Ulta instead of department store beauty counters, Macy's hopes Bluemercury will help strengthen its position in the category.

梅西百货一直在积极推动重塑自己，以适应购物新时代。它计划开设更多梅西百货Backstage门店，这是一个新开发的折扣概念店，可能有助于它更好地与雄心勃勃的T.J. Maxx竞争。它还在2016年推动Bluemercury的扩张，这是它去年收购的美容连锁店。在年轻美容购物者常常转向Sephora或Ulta，而不是百货商店美容柜台的时代，梅西百货希望Bluemercury能帮助加强其在这一领域的地位。

One relative bright spot for Macy's during the holiday season was the online channel, where rang up "double-digit" increases in sales and a 25% increase in the number of orders it filled. That relative strength would be consistent with what was seen in the wider retail industry during early part of the holiday season. While Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday all saw record spending online, in-store sales plunged over the holiday weekend.

梅西百货在假日季的一个相对亮点是在线渠道，其销售额实现了“两位数”增长，处理订单数量增长了25%。这种相对强势与假日季早期更广泛的零售行业所见一致。尽管感恩节、黑色星期五和网络星期一在线支出均创纪录，但实体店销售在假日期间暴跌。