英军袜子改用中国制造

    Britain's armed services are to wear socks made in China after the firm which has supplied them for 80 years was dropped.
    英国国防部决定弃用英国制造的袜子，转而为英军采购成本低廉的中国产袜子。
    UK's Ministry¹ of Defense² has instead handed the contract to a Northern Ireland firm, Cooneen Watts³ & Stone, which manufactures its socks in China and will supply 2.5 million pairs over four years. Sock-maker HJ Hall, which is 128-year-old and has provided socks for the Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy for 80 years, lost the 5-million-pound order this time.
    英国国防部近日表示，一家名为“酷尼”的北爱尔兰公司在招标过程中赢得新合同。该公司在中国生产袜子，将会在未来4年为英军提供250万双袜子。而此前有128年历史的英国HJ Hall制袜公司为英国陆海空三军提供袜子已有80年的历史，此次却与价值5百万英镑的订单擦肩而过。
    An MoD spokesman said: "Following an open tender process, a new contract to provide socks was awarded to Cooneen Watts & Stone, who offered the best value for money to meet our requirements. “英国国防部发言人称：“经过一系列公开温和的招标流程，‘酷尼公司’以其优良的性价比满足了军方的需求，从而赢得该合同。”
    Anton Jenkins, HJ's sales and marketing⁴ director, said: "I don't think it's right that men who are out there defending the country in all weathers should be wearing the cheapest socks the MoD can get. With the greatest respect to the other company, we have been making socks for 120 years and have people who have been here for 40 years. That is what you are paying for."但HJ Hall公司市场营销负责人安顿-耶金斯称：“辛苦保卫国家的军人穿那些买来的最廉价袜子，我觉得这有点不应该。没有贬低其他公司的意思，但是我们公司已经做了120年的袜子，有的员工在这一呆就是40年。这是我们袜子的卖点所在。”
    Warning of redundancies, Jenkins said: "Job losses are inevitable⁵, whether it's voluntary or any other method, I don't know at this stage.
    “失业是不可避免的，但我不知道会以怎样的方式裁员，”耶金斯说道，道出了国防部这一决定对该公司造成的不可避免的裁员后果。
 

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

4 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

5 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。