北京救護車變身出租車打表收費
Ambulances in Beijing will be fitted with taxi-style meters in an effort to allay public concerns about overcharging.
爲免公衆詬病救護車收費過高，北京救護車將採用類似出租車的打表計價系統。
From May, the emergency vehicles will charge a fixed 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.
據《北京晨報》報道，5月份開始，急救車運送病人3公里內固定收費50元，3公里以上每增加一公里收費7元。該報道稱，急救車出車但未使用的，仍需繳納50元出車費。
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.
據《新京報》報道，到目前爲止，救護車費用都是由司機自行收取，導致有公衆投訴收費過高。
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.
據中國媒體報道，今年2月份，山東一男子給生病的父親叫救護車，結果行駛了80公里，花了多達3600元車費——相當於北京每月人均工資的一半。
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?"
在社交媒體上，很多網友竟然是第一次聽說救護車出車要收錢。新浪微博一位網友表示：“我一直以爲救護車是免費的呢。”很多人認爲急救服務收費不道德，一位網友就發出這樣的疑問：“以後是不是去醫院得買門票了？”
A few users think that ambulance meters are a good idea, with one saying it'll help them "be more efficient". But some sarcastically suggest that - as with some unscrupulous taxi drivers - the meters might provide an incentive to take the long way round. "In future, don't rule out ambulances taking a detour when using the meter," one man says.
也有網友認爲急救車打表這個主意不錯，一位用戶稱這樣有利於使急救車“更有效率”。還有一些冷嘲熱諷的網友，他們覺得計價器爲無良司機繞道斂財提供了好機會。一位男網友表示：“將來救護車也要加入計價器繞行大軍了。”
Vocabulary
allay：減輕；使緩和；使平靜
unethical：不道德的
unscrupulous：寡廉鮮恥的；不講道德的
