2023届高考英语外刊阅读模拟强化训练：阅读理解专题二十一

高考英语外刊阅读模拟强化训练 阅读理解专题二十一 ① King Charles III will dress like the captain of Britain’s ship of state for his coronation on Saturday, but he is really a figurehead, pinned to the sharp end of a vessel unsure of its destination. In this, if not much else, his Britannic majesty resembles his struggling subjects. While a coronation is a beginning that draws on the mystique of the past, Britain’s present is all discontent and doldrums. When the fanfare is over and the flags are folded away, the course to prosperity won’t be any clearer. Britain isn’t a happy ship. Food prices rose 19% year-on-year in March, the sharpest increase since 1977. Rations are short, and the crew, especially its Scottish and Northern Irish members, is mutinous. Britain is the only Western European country with double-digit inflation. Eastern Europe’s inflation figures reflect the energy squeeze created by the post-Covid demand surge and the war in Ukraine. The same pressures have raised Britain’s energy costs, but its energy bills have been exacerbated by local factors, most self-inflicted. Britain’s biggest export markets are the U.S. and the eurozone, and storms in both currency zones have simultaneously buffeted the pound. Brexit has marginally worsened the economic situation by making trade with the European Union more cumbersome. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is committed to stabilizing the economy. He has raised income taxes to their highest level in 70 years, with people earning between £100,000 (about $126,000) and £125,000 a year effectively paying a marginal rate of 60%. This will alienate voters and accelerate brain drain. It won’t be enough to fix the National Health Service. True, in Britain the sick aren’t bankrupted by health insurers while they are in the hospital, but this is partially because there aren’t enough beds in hospitals. The Covid-19 backlog has yet to clear, mortality rates are rising, and nurses and junior doctors, or interns, are on strike. Charles III hopes that his