By Sarah Halzack

①Macy’s（纽约梅西百货公司）reported Wednesday that its sales plunged（猛跌）5.2 percent in Novemberand December at stores open more than a year, a dismal（凄凉的）holiday season（销售季）performance that capped（覆盖，胜过）a difficult yearfor a department store chain（百货商店连锁经营商）facing wide-ranging challenges: Its flagship stores（旗舰店）in major U.S. cities depend heavilyon international tourist spending（花费）, which was crimped（有波纹的，有起伏的）at many retailers（零售商）due to a strong dollar（美元汇率的强势）. ② Meanwhile, Macy’s hassimply struggled to lure（引诱，诱惑）a consumer who has been moreinterested in spending on travel or diningout（外出就餐）than on new clothesor accessories（配件，配饰）.

①  Macy’s reported Wednesday that its sales plunged 5.2percent in November and December at stores open more than a year（后置定语修饰stores）, a dismal holiday season performance（很形象的说明了销售下滑的现象）that（that引导的定语从句）capped a difficult year fora department store chain facing （非谓语动词作后置定语）wide-ranging challenges:（冒号起到解释说明的作用）Its flagship stores in major U.S. cities depend heavilyon international tourist spending, which was crimped at many retailers due to a strongdollar（非限定性定语从句，修饰前面的international tourist spending）.这一句话直接点题，指出了梅西百货在节假日购物季节这一时间段的销售也颇为惨淡。冒号后面指出一个原因是，美元汇率的强势，导致国际游客的购买力受到影响。

②  Meanwhile（表示同时，指出销售惨淡的另外一个原因）, Macy’s has simply struggled to lure a consumer who has been more interested inspending on travel or dining out than on new clothes or accessories（定语从句修饰consumer）.

The company blamed much of the poorperformance in November and December on unseasonably（不合季节地）warm weather.

这一段提到了梅西百货对于销售惨淡给出的理由，他们将销售下滑归咎于不合季节的温暖天气。这一段起到了承上启下的作用。Blame A on B：将A归责为B。

“About 80 percent of our company’s year-over-year（年基的、同比的）declines（下降）in comparable sales can be attributed to（归因于）shortfalls（不足）in cold-weather goodssuch as coats, sweaters, boots, hats, gloves and scarves（头巾）,” said chief executive（总裁）Terry Lundgren in a press release（向媒体发布的新闻稿）.

这一段用直接引语的方式表述了梅西百货官员的说法，更直观直接。官员的解释进一步证实了暖冬影响销量的说法。

These results prompted（提示）the company to cut itsforecasts（降低预测）for the full fourthquarter.

这一段是对上面内容的总结，面对着这一系列的问题，公司该做出什么样的调整了。

①However, it’s clear that Macy’sbelieves its troubles run deeper than a temporary（临时的，暂时的） aberration（失常）off the thermometer（温度计，体温计）.  ②The retail giant（巨头）said Wednesday that thepoor financial performance this year has pushed it to begin implementing（贯彻，执行）$400 million in cost-cutting（削减成本）measures. ③The company pledged（承诺）to cut 600 back-office positions（后勤岗位）, though some 150 workers in thoseroles would be reassigned to other jobs（转岗）. It also plans to offer “voluntary separation（自动离职）” packages to165 senior executives（高级管理人员）. ④It will slash（大幅度裁剪）staffing at its fleet（舰队，这里指庞大团队）of 770 Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores（布卢明代尔百货公司）, a move（行动）it says will affect some 3,000 employees.

①  However（表示转折）, it’s clear that（经常用于句首用以说明观点）Macy’s believes its troubles run deeper than a temporaryaberration off the thermometer. 首句提出梅西百货遇到的问题不仅仅是暂时的了。引领整个段落。

②  指出公司将执行削减成本的措施：裁员。

③  The company pledged to cut 600 back-office positions, though（尽管，引导的让步状语从句） some 150 workers in those roles would be reassigned to other jobs.

④  It will slash staffing at its fleet of 770Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores, a move it says（插入语） will affect some 3,000 employees.

①The retailer（零售商）also announced Wednesday thelocations of 36 stores that it will close in early 2016. The company had previouslyannounced the planned closures（停业）, but had not said whichlocations would be affected. ②None of the chain’s stores（连锁店）in the Washington metropolitan（大都市的）area are to be shuttered（关闭）.

①  The retailer also（用also指出另一个削减成本的措施）announced Wednesday the locations of 36 stores that it will close in early2016.另一个措施就是36个店关闭。

②  None of（表示否定）the chain’s stores in the Washington metropolitan area are tobe shuttered.华盛顿首都地区的连锁店没有关闭的。

①Despite the rough holiday results,investors sent Macy’s stock（股票）up about 4 percent in after-hours trading（盘后交易）. ②That could be an indication（指示，迹象）that they are cheered by the plannedpace and nature of the cost-cutting initiatives（举措）.

①  Despite（引导让步状语从句）the rough holiday results, investors sent Macy’s stock up about 4 percentin after-hours trading.尽管梅西的财政收入很不好，但是它的股票却上升了百分之四。Send...up = push...up

②  That（指前面的股票上升）could be an indication thatthey are cheered by the planned pace and nature of the cost-cutting initiatives（that引导的同位语从句）.这一句解释了上一句中投资者使股票上升的原因。

①Investors may also be reacting toMacy’s statement that it has engaged an investment bank（投资银行）to help it explore options（选择）for “monetizing（货币化）its real estate assets（不动产）” through initiatives（新方案）such as a joint venture（合资企业）. ②Activist investor（维权投资者）Starboard Value（美国的一个投资机构）has been urging（敦促）Macy’s to spin off（资产分拆）its real estateholdings（股份）, which Starboard（斯达伯德邮轮服务有限公司）has valued（估价）at $21 billion.

①  Investors may also（also引出了投资者另一个考虑）be reacting to Macy’s statement that（引导同位语从句）it has engaged an investment bank to help（不定式引导目的状语从句）it explore options for “monetizing its real estateassets” through（通过什么样的方法）initiatives such as（举出具体例子）a joint venture.

②  Activist investor Starboard Value has been urgingMacy’s to spin off its real estate holdings, which Starboard has valued at $21 billion（非限定性定语从句，修饰real estate holdings）.

①Macy’s has been moving aggressively（侵略地，攻击地）to try to remake itself for a new era（时代）of shopping. ②It has plans to open morelocations of Macy’s Backstage（折扣店）, a nascent（初期的）off-price（销售折扣商品的）concept it hopes can help it bettercompete with high-flying（十分成功的）T.J. Maxx（又称TJ's，美国最大的折扣零售商）. ③It is also pushing ahead in2016 with an expansion（扩张）of Bluemercury（Bluemercury是一家专营奢侈化妆品和水疗产品的公司，在线上和线下均有业务开展）, the District-based beauty and spachain it bought last year. ④At a time when millennial（一千年的，千禧年的）beauty shoppers are often turning toSephora（丝芙兰，全球连锁的美容护肤化妆品店）or Ulta（ULTA是美国最大的一站式美容产品零售商）instead of department store beauty counters（化妆品柜台）, Macy’s hopes Bluemercury will helpstrengthen its position in the category（种类，分类）.

①  本段的主旨句，指出梅西百货要开启购物新纪元。

②  It has plans to open more locations of Macy’sBackstage, a nascentoff-price concept it hopes can help it better compete with high-flying T.J.Maxx（同位语）.

③  It is also pushing ahead in 2016 with an expansionof Bluemercury, theDistrict-based beauty and spa chain it bought last year（同位语）.

④  At a time when（引导时间状语从句）millennial beauty shoppers are often turning to Sephora or Ulta instead ofdepartment store beauty counters, Macy’s hopes Bluemercury will help strengthenits position in the category.

①One relative bright spot（亮点，光点，高兴的事）for Macy’s during the holiday seasonwas the online channel（网络营销渠道）, where it rang up（用收银机记录）“double-digit（两位数的）” increases in sales and a 25percent increase in the number of orders it filled.  ②That relative strength（相对强势）would be consistentwith（符合，与…一致）what was seen in the wider retailindustry during the early part of the holiday season.  ③While Thanksgiving, Black Friday（黑色星期五）and Cyber Monday（网络星期一，感恩节假期之后的第一个上班日的网购促销活动）all saw record spending online（网上消费记录）, in-store sales plunged overthat holiday weekend.

①  One relative bright spot for Macy’s during the holiday season（时间状语从句）was the online channel, where（引导地点状语从句）it rang up “double-digit” increasesin sales and（表示并列）a 25 percent increase in the numberof orders it filled. 主旨句，表达了本段的主要观点。

②  That relative strength would beconsistent with what wasseen（宾语从句）in the wider retail industry during the early part of the holiday season（时间状语从句）.

③  While（虽然，然而，引导让步状语从句）Thanksgiving, Black Friday and CyberMonday all saw record spending online, in-store sales plunged over thatholiday weekend. 虽然网上的销售很好，但是实体店的销售却一直在下跌。充分说明了线上销售好于线下销售。