IF, a few years ago, somebody had suggested that a Conservative chancellor of the exchequer would hand a Labour-dominated English city much greater spending powers, few people would have believed it. But in February of this year George Osborne said he would do just that, by transferring control over a 6 billion local NHS budget to politicians in Manchester. The chancellor’s move was revolutionary. If similar powers were given to other cities it would change the way Britain is run, reversing a decades-long trend towards the centralization of power in Westminster. Many attempts have been made to give cities and regions more clout.
词汇突破：1.exchequer（英国）财政部; 美国财政部叫：treasure 中国财政部：Ministry of finance
2. chancellor of exchequer: the finance minister of the United Kingdom, who prepares the nation's annual budgets
（英国）财政大臣 （负责国家每年的财政预算）
3. spending powers 财政支出的权力
4. Conservative 保守党的； Labour 工党的；（英国两大政党，这是常识）
5. NHS(National Health Service)，即英国国家医疗服务体系，这个体系一直承担着保障英国全民公费医疗保健的重任
6. clout 权力 =power
7. Westminster 威斯敏斯特（伦敦市的一个行政区，英国议会所在地）就是指：英国议会，议会政治；
8. George Osborne 乔治.奥斯本 （英国财务大臣）大家可以去了解一下这个小个人男人。考研出现过三次了。
9. budget 预算
第一句：
IF, a few years ago, somebody had suggested that a Conservative chancellor of the exchequer would hand a Labour-dominated English city much greater spending powers, few people would have believed it.
参考译文：如果，几年前，某人认为保守党的财务大臣会给工党领导的城市更多的财政开支的权利，没人会信。
第二句：
