2025年考研英语二阅读 Text 2 原文翻译及答案解析

When it was established, the National Health Service (NHS) was visionary: offering high-quality, timely care to meet the dominant needs of the population it served. Nearly 75 years on, with the UK facing very different health challenges, it is clear that the model is out of date.

英国国家医疗服务体系（NHS）成立之初具有前瞻性：提供高质量、及时的医疗服务，以满足其服务人群的主要需求。近75年后，随着英国面临截然不同的健康挑战，显然这一模式已经过时。

From life expectancy to cancer and infant mortality rates, we are lagging behind many of our peers. With more than 6.8 million on waitlists, healthcare is becoming increasingly inaccessible for those who cannot opt to pay for private treatment; and the cost of providing healthcare is increasingly squeezing out investment in other public services. As demand for healthcare continues to grow, pressures on the workforce-which is already near breaking point-will only become more acute.

从预期寿命到癌症和婴儿死亡率，我们都落后于许多同级国家。超过680万人在等待名单上，对于那些无法选择私人治疗的人来说，医疗服务正变得越来越难以获得；而且提供医疗保健的成本正日益挤压对其他公共服务的投资。随着医疗需求持续增长，对已经接近崩溃边缘的医疗队伍的压力只会变得更加严峻。

Many of the answers to the crisis in health and care are well rehearsed. We need to be much better at reducing and diverting demand on health services, rather than simply managing it. Much more needs to be invested in communities and primary care to reduce our reliance on hospitals. And capacity in social care needs to be greater, to support the growing number of people living with long-term conditions.

解决健康与护理危机的许多方案已被反复讨论。我们需要更善于减少和转移对医疗服务的需求，而不仅仅是管理它。需要在社区和初级护理上投入更多，以减少我们对医院的依赖。社会护理的能力也需要增强，以支持日益增长的长期疾病患者数量。

Yet despite two decades of strategies and a number of major health reforms, we have failed to make meaningful progress on any of these aims. That is why the Reform think tank is launching a new programme of work entitled “Reimagining health”, supported by ten former health ministers. Together, we are calling for a much more open and honest conversation about the future of health in the UK, and an “urgent rethink” of the hospital-centric model we retain.

然而，尽管有二十年的战略和多项重大医疗改革，我们未能在这些目标上取得有意义的进展。这就是为什么改革智库正在启动一项名为“重新想象健康”的新工作计划，并得到十位前卫生部长的支持。我们共同呼吁就英国健康的未来进行更加开放和诚实的对话，并对我们保留的以医院为中心的模式进行“紧急反思”。

This must begin with the question of how we maximise the health of the nation, rather than “fix” the NHS. It is estimated, for example, that healthcare accounts for only about 20% of health outcomes. Much more important are the places we live, work and socialise-yet there is no clear cross-government strategy for improving these social determinants of health. Worse, when policies like the national obesity strategy are scrapped, taxpayers are left with the heavy price tag of treating the illnesses, like diabetes, that result.

这必须从如何最大化国民健康的问题开始，而不是“修复”NHS。例如，据估计，医疗保健仅占健康结果的20%左右。更重要的是我们居住、工作和社交的场所——然而，没有明确的跨政府战略来改善这些健康的社会决定因素。更糟糕的是，当像国家肥胖战略这样的政策被废除时，纳税人就要承担治疗由此产生的疾病（如糖尿病）的沉重代价。

Reform wants to ask how power and resources should be distributed in our health system. What health functions should remain at the centre, and what should be given to local leaders, often responsible for services that create health, and with a much better understanding of the needs of their populations?

改革智库想要探讨权力和资源在我们的医疗系统中应如何分配。哪些健康职能应保留在中央，哪些应交给地方领导？地方领导通常负责创造健康的服务，并且对其人口的需求有更深入的理解。