北京救护车变身出租车打表收费

 Ambulances in Beijing will be fitted with taxi-style meters in an effort to allay¹ public concerns about overcharging. 

为免公众诟病救护车收费过高，北京救护车将采用类似出租车的打表计价系统。

From May, the emergency vehicles will charge a fixed² rate of 50 yuan for patients being transported up to 3km, and then seven yuan for each kilometre travelled after that, the Beijing Morning Post reports. If an ambulance is called but then not needed, a 50-yuan charge will still apply, the paper notes. 

据《北京晨报》报道，5月份开始，急救车运送病人3公里内固定收费50元，3公里以上每增加一公里收费7元。该报道称，急救车出车但未使用的，仍需缴纳50元出车费。

Until now, ambulance drivers worked out the charges themselves, often leading to complaints from members of the public who felt that their bills were too high, The Beijing News says. 

据《新京报》报道，到目前为止，救护车费用都是由司机自行收取，导致有公众投诉收费过高。

北京救护车变身出租车打表收费

In February, Chinese media reported that a man in Shandong was slapped with a 3,600-yuan charge after his ill father was transported 80km to hospital. That's about half the monthly wage of an average Beijing worker. 

据中国媒体报道，今年2月份，山东一男子给生病的父亲叫救护车，结果行驶了80公里，花了多达3600元车费——相当于北京每月人均工资的一半。

On social media, the fact that ambulances charge for their services at all is news to most users. "I always thought that ambulances were free," writes one person on the Sina Weibo microblogging site. Plenty of people think it's unethical to charge for emergency services, and one user wonders: "Will you need an entrance ticket to go into hospital in future?" 

在社交媒体上，很多网友竟然是第一次听说救护车出车要收钱。新浪微博一位网友表示：“我一直以为救护车是免费的呢。”很多人认为急救服务收费不道德，一位网友就发出这样的疑问：“以后是不是去医院得买门票了？”

A few users think that ambulance meters are a good idea, with one saying it'll help them "be more efficient". But some sarcastically³ suggest that - as with some unscrupulous taxi drivers - the meters might provide an incentive⁴ to take the long way round. "In future, don't rule out ambulances taking a detour⁵ when using the meter," one man says. 

也有网友认为急救车打表这个主意不错，一位用户称这样有利于使急救车“更有效率”。还有一些冷嘲热讽的网友，他们觉得计价器为无良司机绕道敛财提供了好机会。一位男网友表示：“将来救护车也要加入计价器绕行大军了。”

Vocabulary

allay：减轻；使缓和；使平静

unethical：不道德的

unscrupulous：寡廉鲜耻的；不讲道德的

1 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。

2 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

3 sarcastically   

adv.挖苦地，讽刺地

参考例句：

• 'What a surprise!' Caroline murmured sarcastically.“太神奇了!”卡罗琳轻声挖苦道。
• Pierce mocked her and bowed sarcastically. 皮尔斯嘲笑她，讽刺地鞠了一躬。

4 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

5 detour   

n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道

参考例句：

• We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走，避开繁忙的交通。
• He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家，而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。