经济学人:天生冤家 狗狗与快递员(1)

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　　Post Office Vs Pooches: Leash¹ the hounds 狗与邮递员：放狗

　　Online shopping helps the post office's bottom line-and delight mutts. 网上购物促进了邮局业务，但也让恶犬高兴了。

　　Chiselled² in granite³ on a post office in Manhattan is the United States Postal⁴ Service's unofficial motto:  曼哈顿邮局前的花岗岩上刻着美国邮政局的非官方宣言：

　　“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” “无论鹅毛大雪，还是倾盆大雨；无论炎炎烈日，还是昏暗夜色，都无法阻止邮差用飞快的速度完成他们所指定的任务。”

　　Dogs sometimes do, though. 然而有时候狗却能阻止他们。

　　The number of canine⁵ attacks on postal workers has climbed from 5,581 in 2013 to 6,755 in 2016. 犬类攻击邮递员的案件数量从2013的5581件增至2016年的6755件。

　　Most attacks occur in cities, where postal workers often walk to make deliveries. 大部分的攻击行为发生在城市，因为在城市邮递员往往步行去送货。

　　Los Angeles has the worst record, with 80 dog attacks last year, followed by Houston with 62. 旧金山的情况最严重，在去年有80条犬类攻击的记录，休斯顿以62条的记录位居其次。

　　Thanks to e-mail, online banking⁶ and the like, the postal service delivers many fewer letters than it used to. 由于电子邮件、网上银行等类似事物的出现，邮政服务派送的信件比以往要少得多。

　　The volume of first-class mail it handles has dropped from 91bn items in 2008 to 61bn in 2016. 一等信件的处理数量已经从2008年的九百一十亿件下降至2016年的六百一十亿件。

　　But internet shopping has led to a jump in parcel deliveries—up from 3.3bn to 5.2bn in the same period. 但是网上购物使得包裹递送的数量激增——在同一时期内从三十三亿件增长到五十二亿件。

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