美国2023财年于9月30日结束，国会民主、共和两党一直围绕新财年预算争论不休，使美国政府陷入“停摆”危机。就在政府面临“关门”的最后一刻，国会批准了一项有效期45天的临时拨款法案，暂时避免了政府“停摆”。11月17号，“续命协议”即将到期，美国政府关门警报再度拉响。
我们看两段《巴伦周刊》的报道。
学习步骤：
1）先通读原文，标注不理解的地方。
2）阅读解析，读懂文章，积累语言点。
3）熟读原文以及解析例句。（旧书不厌百回读，熟读深思子自知。）
一、原文
The U.S. Is Days Away From a Shutdown. What’s at Stake.
It is a make-or-break week for Washington lawmakers, who are once again racing against the clock to find a way to fund the government before the sweeping federal workforce shuts down on Friday at midnight.
The situation is déjà vu for the House of Representatives, which only narrowly averted a shutdown six weeks ago when then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, struck a last-minute, short-term deal with Democrats to keep the government funded for 45 days. House Republicans then fired McCarthy for working across the aisle on the stopgap measure, and spent the following 22 days electing a leader to succeed him.
二、精读
The U.S. Is Days Away From a Shutdown. What’s at Stake.
美国距离政府停摆只有几天时间。这意味着什么？
「时间+away from...」是阅读中很常见的短语，意思是“距离...还有多长时间”，此外我们也可以说:
1）时间+to go until...
电影《不可抗拒》中有句台词就出现了这个表达：
2）时间+remaining until...
《赫芬顿邮报》在报道特朗普大选时是这么说的：
With mere days remaining until Election Day, why would Trump's campaign be spending vital resources, even sending his daughter Ivanka to a Diwali event in Virginia, to court the backing of the Hindu-American community.
在离选举日仅剩几天的情况下，为什么特朗普的竞选活动会花费宝贵的资源，甚至派他的女儿伊万卡参加弗吉尼亚州的排灯节（印度的宗教节日），以争取印裔美国人群体的支持？
court 这里作动词，表示“追求、寻求”，相当于 seek.
3）时间+left until...
看一个美剧《开心汉堡店》里的台词：
It is a make-or-break week for Washington lawmakers, who are once again racing against the clock to find a way to fund the government before the sweeping federal workforce shuts down on Friday at midnight.
对华盛顿的立法者来说，这是关键的一周，他们再次争分夺秒地寻找途径，以便在周五午夜之前能为政府提供资金，避免全面停摆。
这句话的主干是：It is a make-or-break week for Washington lawmakers
make-or-break 意思是 leading to either success or failure “决定成败的”，如：
This could be a make-or-break speech for the prime minister.
这可能是决定首相成败的一次演讲。
美剧《瑞克和莫蒂》中也出现过这个短语：

make-or-break time/moment 决定成败的时刻。
把连字符去掉，make or break 是动词，表示“是...成败的关键”，看个例句：
This movie will make or break him as a director.
这部电影将要决定他当导演是行还是不行。
Washington lawmakers 后面跟了个定语从句，补充“立法者”的相关信息：who are once again racing against the clock to find a way to fund the government / before the sweeping federal workforce shuts down on Friday at midnight
race against the clock 与时间赛跑、争分夺秒，形容情势急迫，可以用 rush to do 替换。
fund 在这里是动词，相当于 provide funds for 为...提供资金。“政府资助的研究”可以说 government-funded research.
sweeping 英文含义是 having an important effect on a large part of sth，形容影响、变化“广泛的”，如 sweeping reforms / changes 全面改革。文中 sweeping federal workforce shuts down 字面意思是：大量的联邦员工关张停业。
The situation is déjà vu for the House of Representatives, which only narrowly averted a shutdown six weeks ago when then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, struck a last-minute, short-term deal with Democrats to keep the government funded for 45 days.
对众议院来说，这种情况似曾相识。仅仅六周前，时任众议院议长、加利福尼亚州共和党人凯文·麦卡锡在最后一刻与民主党达成了一项短期协议，为政府提供了45天的资金，避免了停摆。
这句话的主干是：The situation is déjà vu for the House of Representatives
déjà vu 是法语外来语，读音为 [ˌdeɪʒɑː ˈvuː]，重音在“vu”，表示“似曾相识的情景”，看一个美剧《我们这一天》里的台词：
在《射雕英雄传》里，杨铁心误入王妃家中，发现屋里的陈设似曾相识，很像自己在牛家村的家，我们可以说：
He had a strong sense of déjà vu as he entered the room.
进这房间时他有一种似曾来过的强烈感觉。
the House of Representatives 后面跟了个定语从句：which only narrowly averted a shutdown six weeks ago
注意 narrowly 的含义和用法，它的意思是 by only a small amount，表达“肯定但差点没有”的含义，比如：
He was narrowly defeated in the election.
他在选举中以微弱差距败北。
be narrowly defeated 表示 be defeated 被击败，但差一点赢。
A man narrowly escaped death when a fire broke out in his home on Sunday morning.
周日早晨一名男子家中起火，他险些丧命。
narrowly escaped death 表示 escaped death 逃脱了死亡，但差一点没逃脱（差一点丧命）。
The car narrowly missed a cyclist. 
汽车差点儿撞上一位骑自行车的人。
narrowly missed a cyclist
表示 missed a cyclist 和骑自行车的人擦肩而过，但差一点没擦肩而过（差一点撞上）。

这个词有点绕，总之它是对后面动词的肯定，阅读中可以先把narrowly去掉，不影响对句子方向性的理解。
avert 简单说就是 avoid 的意思“避免”，如：
A disaster was narrowly averted. 
及时防止了一场灾难。 
文中从句的意思是：which only narrowly averted a shutdown six weeks ago 六周前政府险些关门。
six weeks ago后面又跟了一个定语从句，作进一步补充：when then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, struck a last-minute, short-term deal with Democrats to keep the government funded for 45 days.
其主干为：then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy struck a last-minute, short-term deal with Democrats 时任众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡和民主党达成了最后一分钟的短期协议。
Speaker 首字母大写，指英国下议院或美国众议院的议长。Kevin McCarthy 后面跟了个同位语：a California Republican 一名加州共和党议员。
「then+职务」表示“时任...”，即之前担任某个职务、现在卸任了，比如 then-president 时任总统，then-foreign minister 时任外长。
strike a deal 意思是“达成协议”，也可以用 close / reach / seal a deal 替换。
last-minute 是形容词，指“最后一刻才完成的、紧急关头的”，比如：
a last-minute holiday 
最后一分钟定下来的休假
a few last-minute changes to the script
最后一刻对手稿的几处改动
文中 struck a last-minute, short-term deal with Democrats 的意思是：和共和党在最后一分钟达成了短期协议。
to keep the government funded for 45 days 是 struck a deal with Democrats 的目的：保持政府在45天里有资金。
House Republicans then fired McCarthy for working across the aisle on the stopgap measure, and spent the following 22 days electing a leader to succeed him.
因与民主党合作达成临时措施，众议院的共和党人罢免了麦卡锡，接下来的22天，他们选举出一位继任者出任议长。
aisle 指“走廊、过道”，work across the aisle 跨过走廊一起工作，比喻和对手合作。
stopgap 指“权宜之计、临时替代的东西”，如：
It's only a stopgap measure , not a long-term solution.
那只是权宜之计，不是长期的解决方案。
九月末民主党和共和党并没有真正解决预算问题，只是达成临时协议，把问题往后拖。文中 the stopgap measure 指的就是前面的 a last-minute, short-term deal.
succeed 在这里不是“成功”，而是“接替、继任”（come after sb），用法为：succeed sb as+职位，succeed sb to+头衔。如：
Who succeeded Kennedy as President? 
接替肯尼迪任总统的是谁？ 
Who will succeed him to the throne?
谁将继承他的王位？
文中 electing a leader to succeed him 的意思是：选举出一位议长，接替麦卡锡。
拜登是民主党成员，而立法机关众议院由共和党掌控，两党形成制约。但在最后一刻，共和党议长麦卡锡与民主党达成协议，避免了政府关门，这引发众议院其他共和党成员不满，把他赶下台。麦卡锡成为美国历史上第一位被投票罢免众议长的共和党人。
最后，我们把这两段话再整体地看一遍：
The U.S. Is Days Away From a Shutdown. What’s at Stake.
It is a make-or-break week for Washington lawmakers, who are once again racing against the clock to find a way to fund the government before the sweeping federal workforce shuts down on Friday at midnight.
The situation is déjà vu for the House of Representatives, which only narrowly averted a shutdown six weeks ago when then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, struck a last-minute, short-term deal with Democrats to keep the government funded for 45 days. House Republicans then fired McCarthy for working across the aisle on the stopgap measure, and spent the following 22 days electing a leader to succeed him.
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