外刊精读：动乱中的美国

英文原文来自《经济学人》2020年6月6日刊

本文仅供语言学习，不代表本平台任何观点。

The fire this time

Will protesters in American cities bring progress, or set back the cause they champion?

这次动乱

美国城市的抗议者对于他们所拥护的事业是会带来进步，还是会带来阻碍？

One hundred thousand Americans are dead from a virus. A feat of space flight demonstrates American ingenuity. In cities across the country, protests sparked by racial injustice are showing an ugly side of America to the world. In November voters must choose between a Republican running on a law-and-order platform, and an uninspiring vice-president running for the Democrats. The year is 1968. It is also 2020.

10万美国人已死于一种病毒，尽管（疫情期间）太空飞行的壮举显示了美国人的聪明才智，但美国各地种族不平等所引发的抗议活动向世界展示了美国丑陋的一面。在今年也就是2020年的11月，选民们必须在一个共和党人和一个毫无生气的民主党副总统之间做出选择，上一次面临这种选择时还是1968年。

Feat n.

技艺；武艺；功绩；英勇事迹

Ingenuity n.

独创力；聪明才智；心灵手巧

Spark n./v.

n.1.火花；火星;

2.电火花;

3.（指品质或感情）一星，丝毫，一丁点;

4.生气；活力；才华；热情;

5.诱因；导火线;

6. 愤怒的情感；激烈的情绪

v.1. 引发；触发;

例句：The proposal would spark a storm of protest around the country.

这一提案将引发全国性的抗议浪潮。

2.冒火花；飞火星；产生电火花

Uninspiring adj.

不吸引人的；不令人鼓舞的

Democrats n.

民主党；民主党人（Democrat的复数）

Be dead from 因…死亡

In 1968 the virus was flu and the space mission Apollo 8. But the injustice had the same corrosive effect. As James Baldwin wrote in the early 1960s, racism “compromises, where it does not corrupt, all the American efforts to build a better world—here, there or anywhere.” Today more than 350 cities nationwide erupted after George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, was killed by a white police officer. For nearly nine agonising minutes, deaf to Mr Floyd’s pleas and the growing alarm of the crowd, the officer choked the life out of him.

（与2020年类似）1968年，在爆发病毒流感的同时阿波罗8号完成了航天任务。这种种族歧视也有同样的腐蚀作用。正如詹姆斯·鲍德温(James Baldwin)在20世纪60年代初所写的那样，种族主义“在不腐败的地方妥协，让美国人在任何地方努力建设一个更美好的世界”。今天，手无寸铁的非洲裔美国人乔治·弗洛伊德被一名白人警察杀害，全美350多个城市爆发骚乱。在痛苦的9分钟里，警察对弗洛伊德的请求和人群众不断增长的惊恐充耳不闻，掐死了弗洛伊德。

Mission n./v.

n.1.官方使命；使团的使命;

2.使团；代表团；执行任务的地点;

3.尤指在海外的）传教，布道；布道团;

4.布道所；传教区;

5.使命；天职;

6.军事行动;

7.太空飞行任务;

eg:a US space mission美国的太空飞行;

8.（极其艰巨且需长时间才能完成的）任务，旅行

v.作艰苦的长途旅行（尤指去许多地方）

Injustice n.

不公正，不公平（的对待或行为）

Corrosive adj.

1.腐蚀性的；侵蚀性的;

2.损害性的；逐渐起破坏作用的

Racism n.

1.种族歧视；种族迫害;

2.种族主义；种族偏见

Compromise n./v.

n. 1.妥协；折中；互让；和解;

2.妥协（或折中）方案;

3.达成妥协（或和解）

v. 1.（为达成协议而）妥协，折中，让步;

2.违背（原则）；达不到（标准）;

3.（尤指因行为不很明智）使陷入危险，使受到怀疑

Corrupt adj/v.

adj.1.贪污的；受贿的；腐败的；营私舞弊的;

2.不诚实的；不道德的;

3. 已变换的；有缺陷的；有错误的

v.1.使腐化；使堕落;

2.破坏；损坏;

3.引起（计算机文件等的）错误；破坏

Unarmed adj.

1.不带武器的；非武装的;

2.不使用武器的；徒手的

Agonising adj.

烦恼的；苦闷的

Plea n.

1.请求；恳求;

2.被告或被告律师的）抗辩，答辩，辩护;

3.（向法庭提供的）理由，借口，辩解

choke v./n.

v.1.（使）窒息，哽噎;

2.（掐住喉咙）使停止呼吸，使窒息;

3.（尤指感情激动而）说不出话来，使哽咽;

4.阻塞，塞满，堵塞（通道、空间等）;

5.（因紧张等而）失败，失灵，失去作用

n.1.（车辆发动机的）阻风门，阻塞门;

2.窒息；哽噎；哽噎声；呛住的声音

No wonder the spark ignited a bundle of kindling lying nearby. The fire this time is burning for the same reasons it has so often in the past: that many African-Americans still live in places with the worst schools, the worst health care and the worst jobs; that the rules apply differently to black people; the fact, rammed home by covid-19, that whenever America suffers misfortune, black America suffers most; a sense that the police are there to keep a lid on a city’s poor, even as they protect wealthy suburbs. And, yes, the sheer intoxication that comes from belonging to a crowd that has suddenly found its voice, and which demands to be heard.

许多非洲裔美国人仍然生活在教育最差、医疗保健最差、工作最差的地方，并且相同的规则对黑人和白人的适用差异和过去引发暴乱的原因差不多，难怪火星引燃了附近的一捆火柴。新冠疫情让人们认识到，美国无论什么时候遭遇不幸，受害最深的都是黑人，警察在保护富裕郊区的同时，也要控制城市的穷人。当然，这次暴乱的爆发还夹杂着一个突然找到了自己的声音、需要被倾听的群体的纯粹自我陶醉。

Ignite v.

（使）燃烧，着火；点燃

Kindling n.

引火柴；引火物

So often in the past 过去十之八九是这样

Ram v./n.

v.1.和…相撞；撞击;

2. 塞进；挤进

n.1.公羊;

2.夯锤；撞击装置

Misfortune n.

1.厄运；不幸;

2.不幸的事故（或情况、事件）

Sheer adj./adv/v/

adj .1.（用来强调事物的大小、程度或数量）;

2.完全的；纯粹的；十足的

eg:The concert was sheer delight. 这场音乐会是一次十足的享受。

3.陡峭的;

4.又薄又轻几乎透明的;

adv. 垂直地；陡峭地

v. ˌsheer aˈway/ˈoff (from sth) 急转，急拐（避开某物）

Intoxication n.

中毒；陶醉；喝醉

The cycle of injustice, protest, riot and conservative reaction has come round many times since 1968. So many, that it would be easy to conclude that police violence and racial inequality in America are just too hard a problem to fix. Yet such pessimism is unwarranted. It is also counter-productive.

自1968年以来，不公正、抗议、暴乱和保守主义的反应已经循环了很多次。这种现象太多，以至于人们轻易地认为美国的警察暴力和种族不平等是一个难以解决的问题。然而，这种悲观不仅毫无根据，而且会适得其反。

Inequality n.

不平等；不平衡；不平均

Pessimism n.

悲观；悲观情绪；悲观主义

Unwarranted adj.

不合理的；不必要的；无正当理由的；不适当的

Counter-productive adj.

产生相反效果的

Activists sometimes charge that the entire criminal-justice system is racist. Police unions protect their members, including the rotten ones. In recent days a police car has rammed protesters and officers have assaulted people on the street. But the system is made up of thousands of jurisdictions and police departments. They are not all the same. For every Minneapolis, where some thuggish officers went on “warrior” courses and saw themselves as an occupying force, there is a Camden, New Jersey. Camden’s police force was so broken that in 2013 it was disbanded and the city started afresh. Its police chief was this week able to march with peaceful protesters through their city.

活动家有时会指责整个刑事司法系统是种族主义的，警察工会保护他们的所有成员，甚至包括腐败的成员。最近几天，一辆警车冲撞了抗议者，还有警察袭击了街上的人们。这个刑事司法系统是由数千个司法管辖区和警察局组成的，它们都不一样。在明尼阿波里斯市，一些残暴的警察走上了“勇士”道路，并把他们自己视为占领军，就出现了一个新泽西州的卡姆登（2013年，美国新泽西州的卡姆登市因暴力而曾解散、重组警局）。曾经的卡姆登警察队伍已经支离破碎，以至于在2013年被解散重组，因此城市才得以重新开始，甚至在本周警察局长能够与和平抗议者一起在该市游行。

Rotten adj./adv.

adj.1.腐烂的；腐败的；腐朽的;

2.非常糟糕的；恶劣的;

3.不诚实的；腐败的;

4.不舒服；不适;

5.感到内疚（或惭愧）;

6.（强调非常生气或沮丧）倒霉的，破烂的

adv.很大程度上；非常

Assault n./v.

n.1.侵犯他人身体（罪）；侵犯人身罪;

2.攻击；突击；袭击;

3.（向困难或危险事物发起的）冲击;

4. 抨击

v.1.猛烈攻击，袭击，侵犯人身（尤指构成罪行）;

2.使（感官）难受

Jurisdiction n.

1.司法权；审判权；管辖权;

2.管辖区域；管辖范围

Thuggish adj.

暴力的，野蛮的；暗杀的；谋财害命的

Warrior n.

（尤指旧时的）武士，勇士，斗士

Disband v.

解散；解体；散伙

例句：They set about disbanding the terrorist groups.他们开始解散恐怖主义组织。

Afresh adv.

从头；重新；另行 

例句：It was a chance to start afresh . 这是个重新开始的机会。

Chief adj/.n.

adj.1.最重要的；首要的；主要的;

2.最高级别的；为首的；首席的;

3. 最高级别的；为首的

n.1.（公司或机构的）首领，头目，最高领导人;

2.首领；酋长；族长

March v./n.

v.1.齐步走；行进;

2.（坚定地向某地）前进，进发;

3.使同行；强迫（某人）一起走;

4.游行示威；游行抗议

n.1.示威游行；抗议游行;2.行进；行军;3.稳步发展；稳步前进;4.进行曲

Policing America is hard because America is more violent than any other rich country and its citizens more heavily armed. About 50 police officers are murdered while doing their job each year. But the sustained falls in crime over the past three decades have made room for less warlike law enforcement—by training officers to diffuse confrontation, not seek it, and by making them accountable whenever they use force. Many police departments, including Camden, have already taken this chance to turn themselves round (see United States section). Others have not, partly because the federal government under President Donald Trump has eased the pressure for change. But the police and prosecutors are under local democratic control. They can be made to embrace reform if enough people vote for it.

监管美国是困难的，因为美国比其他任何富裕国家都更暴力，而且美国公民的武器装备也更精良。每年大约有50名警察在工作时被谋杀。但是，过去三十年来，犯罪率持续下降，这为减少战争性质的执法提供了空间，训练官员分散对抗，而不是寻求对抗，并让他们在使用武力时承担责任。许多警察部门，包括卡姆登，已经利用这个机会改变自己的立场(见美国部分)。其他人没有，部分原因是唐纳德·特朗普总统领导下的联邦政府缓解了改革的压力。但是警察和检察官都在当地民主的控制之下。如果有足够多的人投票支持改革，他们就会欣然接受。

Sustain v.

1.维持（生命、生存）;

2.使保持；使稳定持续;

3.遭受；蒙受；经受;

4.证明；证实;

5.支撑；承受住;

6.认可；确认；准许；支持

Warlike adj.

1.好战的；好斗的；尚武的;

2.战争的；与战争有关的；军事的

Enforcement n.

执行，实施；强制 

例句：The doctors want stricter enforcement of existing laws.医生们希望现行法律的执行能更严格。

Diffuse adj./v.

adj.1.弥漫的；扩散的；漫射的;

2.不清楚的；难解的；冗长的；啰唆的

v.1.传播；普及；使分散；散布;

2.（使气体或液体）扩散，弥漫，渗透;

3.（使光）模糊，漫射，漫散

Confrontation n.

对抗；对峙；冲突

Ease n./v.

n.1.容易；轻易；不费劲;

2.舒适；安逸；自在；无忧无虑

v.1.（使）宽慰；减轻；缓解；

2.（使）小心缓缓地移动；

3.使…容易些；

4.缓和；放松；

5.降低；（使）贬值

Prosecutor n.

1.公诉人；检察官;

2.原告律师；控方律师

Pessimism is self-defeating, too. It is a short step from thinking that America’s original racial sin is so deep that it cannot be overcome, to thinking that smashing and burning things is justified, because it is the only way to get attention. Yet if today’s protests slide into persistent rioting, as in 1968 after Martin Luther King’s assassination, the harm they cause could be felt most keenly in African-American districts. Those people who can leave will. The left-behind will be worse off, as home values plunge and jobs and shops disappear. The police may withdraw, leading to an increase in crime, which in turn may eventually bring more violent policing. The scars will be visible for decades.

悲观主义的效果适得其反。从认为美国的种族歧视已经根深蒂固到无法克服，到认为打砸烧是合理的，这是个很小的进步了，因为这是唯一获得关注的办法。然而如果今天的抗议游行转变成了持续的暴动，就像1968年马丁路德金遭到暗杀之后，那些非裔美国人居住的地区将会深刻感受到暴动造成的伤害。那些可以离开的人会离开的。随着房价暴跌、工作和商铺消失，留下来的人的处境将会更糟糕。警察可能会撤离，导致犯罪数量的增加，这反过来可能导致更暴力的警队。伤疤数十年都可见。

Self-defeating: 自我挫败的；适得其反的；弄巧成拙的 self-defeating regulations弄巧成拙的规定

Smash: v. 打碎；摔碎

例句：Rioters ran through the city center smashing windows and looting shops.暴动者穿过市中心，砸碎商店橱窗，掠劫店铺里的东西。

Justified:

adj. （决定、行为或想法）正当的，合理的 

例句：In my opinion, the decision was wholly justified. 我认为，这个决定完全合理。

adj. （做…）有正当理由的

例句：He's absolutely justified in resigning. He was treated shamefully. 他完全有理由辞职。他受到了侮辱。

Slide into：不自觉地陷入(某种情绪、态度或情境) 

例句：He needs them to stop the country sliding into chaos. 他需要他们来防止这个国家陷入混乱。

Assassination：n. 暗杀

Worse off：adj. 变得更穷困；变得更糟p

Plunge: vi. 骤降；猛跌

例句：The Pound plunged to a new low on the foreign exchange markets yesterday. 昨天在外汇市场上英镑骤跌至新低。

Across the country, black leaders, who have seen this happen before, are telling protesters not to undermine their cause. “A protest has purpose,” said Atlanta’s mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, condemning the vandalism in her city. In recent days protesters have heeded that and have been trying to restrain those who just want to start a fire—some of them white troublemakers.

全国各地，黑人领导者们曾经见过这些情况，他们告诉抗议者不要破坏他们的事业。亚特兰大市长Keisha Lance Bottoms说：“抗议是有目的性的”，指责那些在她的城市进行故意破坏的人。最近几天，示威者们也注意到了这一点，一直在约束那些只想挑起战火的人——其中有一些是制造麻烦的白人。

Undermine：vt.（常指逐渐地）削弱信心、权威等，损害

例句：The President has accused two cabinet ministers of working secretly to undermine his position/him.总统指责有两位内阁部长在暗中算计他。

Criticism just undermines their confidence.批评只是削弱了他们的信心。

Cause: n. 事业；追求；目标；理想 

例句：Refusing to have one leader has not helped the cause. 拒绝推举一名领导者对此项事业毫无帮助。

Vandalism：n. （尤指对公共财产的）故意破坏，捣毁

Heed: vt. 注意，听从（尤指建议或警告）

例句：The airline has been criticized for failing to heed advice/warnings about lack of safety routines.该航空公司因没有理会针对其日常安全工作不力所提出的建议／警告而受到批评。

Black leaders also understand how riots can wreck a political cause. When neighbourhoods are ablaze, the rest of the country focuses on putting out the fires. Harm to police officers in riots may cause voters to forget where their sympathies lay when it all began. When rioting takes hold, those who support the protests may find that their demands for change are drowned out by the clamour for order to be re-established.

黑人领导者也意识到暴动是如何破坏政治生涯的。当附近燃着熊熊烈火时，全国其他地区都在奋力灭火。骚乱中对警察的伤害可能会使选民忘记一切开始时他们对黑人的同情心。当暴动发生时，支持抗议活动的人可能会发现，他们对变革的诉求声被要求重新建立秩序的声音淹没了。

Wreck：vt. 毁坏、完全破坏

例句：He has been warned that his behavior might wreck his chances of promotion.有人警告他说，他的行为可能会毁掉自己晋升的机会。

Ablaze：adj. 猛烈燃烧的；烈火熊熊的

例句：The house was ablaze, and the flames and smoke could be seen for miles around.房子燃起了熊熊大火，方圆几英里都能看到烈焰和浓烟。

Drown sth out:（噪音）盖过，淹没

Clamour：vi. 大声（或吵闹）地抱怨，大声地要求

例句：The children were all clamouring for attention.孩子都吵吵嚷嚷希望引起注意。

In a presidential election, fear often beats idealism. Mr Trump seems to want this to be the choice in November. He has encouraged his supporters to clash with protesters outside the White House and been looking to deploy active troops alongside the national guard so as to “dominate” what his people call the battlespace. Law and order helped Richard Nixon beat Hubert Humphrey in 1968. It could work again.

在总统大选中，恐惧往往会打败理想主义。特朗普似乎想让这成为11月的一个选择。他鼓励他的支持者们和白宫外的示威者发生冲突，然后指望部署现役部队和国民护卫军来“统治”人民所说的战场。法律和秩序帮助尼克松在1968年击败了休伯特·汉弗莱。这件事可能再次发生。

Clash: vi. 打斗，打架；发生冲突；争论，争辩

例句：Students clashed with police after demonstrations at five universities.学生在五所大学示威之后与员警发生了冲突。

Look to: 寄望；指望；依靠

例句：The difficulties women encounter with their doctors partly explain why so many of us are looking to alternative therapies.

我们很多人都寄望于替代疗法，个中原因从女性看医生所遇到的困难可知一二。

Active troop：现役部队。

Yet fear betrays Mr Floyd’s memory. The more America is united, the better it can strive to ensure that all its citizens are able to live by its founding ideals. Unity will not come from Mr Trump, who has spent four years trying to divide the country. Instead, the leaders of protest movements, along with America’s mayors and police chiefs, must inspire it themselves. If the protests are overwhelmingly non-violent, they also carry a promise. Not that the protesters will get everything they want, nor that the injustices holding back African-Americans can all be put right at once, but that tomorrow can be better than today.

然而恐惧背叛了对弗洛伊德先生怀念。美国越团结，它就越会努力确保其所有公民都能按照他们创作的理想来生活。团结不会源于特朗普，他花了四年时间试图分裂国家。相反，抗议活动的领导者，以及美国的市长和警察局长，必须激励自己。如果抗议活动绝大多数是非暴力的，那么它们也可以带来希望。抗议者并不能获得他们想要的一切，也不是可以立即消除阻碍非裔美国人的不公正行为，但是明天可以比今天更好。

Memory: 单数名词(对死者的)怀念，记忆

Mayors：n. 市长 

Injustice：n. 不公正；不正义

Hold back:

①阻挡;阻止

Stagnation in home sales is holding back economic recovery. 国内销售的停滞不前正阻碍着经济复苏。

②（使）犹豫;（使）退缩

The administration had several reasons for holding back. 政府因为几个原因而犹豫不决。

③储备;保留

Farmers apparently hold back produce in the hope that prices will rise. 农民囤积农产品显然是希望价格能够上涨。

④隐瞒

You seem to be holding something back. 你好像隐瞒了点什么。

By the end of the decade in which Baldwin wrote of the need to heal America, the country had set about dismantling the legal edifice of racial segregation. It was also in the grip of a reaction from those who thought civil rights had gone too far. America is like that. Progress tussles with its opposite. But Americans have been tugging away at racism for half a century. This week, when the cruel death of a black man drew protesters of all races onto America’s streets, it was not just a sign of how much work lies ahead, but also that progress is possible.

在鲍德温（Baldwin）谈到必须治愈美国的十年之际，美国已着手废除种族隔离的法律体系。那些认为民权已经走得太远的人所做出的反应也深刻影响了它。美国就是这样。进步始终在和它的对立面斗争。但是，美国人在过去半个世纪以来一直在反对种族主义。本周，当一个黑人残酷的死亡将各种族的抗议者吸引到美国街头时，这不仅标志着未来还有很多工作要做，也表明进步就在前方。

Dismantle: v. （逐渐）废除，撤销，破坏 

例句：...opposition to the president's policy of dismantling apartheid... 反对总统废除种族隔离的政策

Segregation：n. (因种族、性别、宗教不同而采取的)隔离措施，隔离政策 

Edifice: n.（信仰或传统制度的）体系，结构 

In the grip of：受制于；受…的深刻影响

例句：...a region in the grip of severe drought. 受大旱严重影响的地区

Tussle: vi. 争夺;争抢;争斗

例句：Officials tussled over who had responsibility for the newly fashionable unemployment agenda. 众官员为谁负责最近备受关注的失业议题一事争得不可开交。

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