丹麦提出要买下美国？前提是，得让他搬走

Original 大眼独到英语

有待开发、地缘政治、探险旅游

用英语怎么说？

一向不按常理出牌的特朗普，最近又有个惊人的想法。

作为房地产商出身的总统，他把眼光瞄准了一个超级大地块：格陵兰岛。

President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in recent weeks in buying Greenland, the world's largest island currently owned by Denmark.

最近几周，特朗普总统多次表达了对购买格陵兰岛的兴趣，格陵兰岛是世界第一大岛，现在为丹麦所有。

格陵兰岛是世界第一大岛，面积有200多万平方公里，相当于3个日本+2个德国+2个英国，现在是丹麦的自治领土。果然是成功的房地产商，特朗普要么不出手，一出手就是大手笔啊！

据多家媒体报道，特朗普最初有购岛的念头是在去年春天，当时有报道称丹麦因为要向有5万人口的格陵兰岛提供经济援助，财政吃紧，有人便建议总统买下格陵兰岛。

这一提议引发了美国国内的广泛讨论，CNN就对此列出了几个方面的问题，进行了分析：

1. Why?

为啥要买？

Why would the US President want to purchase an island that is 80% covered by an ice sheet and where less than 60,000 people actually live? Trump himself hasn't said -- yet -- but there are a few obvious reasons.

美国总统为什么要购买80％被冰盖覆盖、实际居住人口不到6万人的岛屿呢？特朗普本人还没有说 - 但是有一些显而易见的原因。

The first is because Greenland is widely believed to be hugely rich in natural resources. And much of it is currently untapped, due to the fact that, well, 80% of the country is covered by an ice sheet. But due to global warming, that ice sheet is melting rapidly.

首先是因为人们普遍认为格陵兰岛拥有丰富的自然资源。 其中大部分目前尚未开发，因为该国80％的地区都被冰盖覆盖。但由于全球变暖，冰盖正在迅速融化。

△ untapped 是指（资源、潜力等）未开发的，来自于动词tap，利用、发掘、开发的意思，例句：We need to tap the expertise of the people we already have. 我们需要充分利用现有人员的专业知识。

The second is for geopolitical reasons. The United States already has a foothold in the country -- Thule Air Base.

第二是出于地缘政治的原因。美国已经在该国有一个据点 - 拓乐空军基地。

Third, Trump is a man very interested in his legacy in office. Buying Greenland would be a major bullet point on his presidential resume.

第三，特朗普是个一心想要在任职期间留下些政治遗产的人。购买格陵兰岛将成为他总统履历上的重要一笔。

△ bullet point是指文件或ppt中用正方形、菱形等点句符号标出的内容，引申为重点、要点的意思。

特朗普一厢情愿地提出这个想法，可有问过格陵兰岛和其真正主人 -- 丹麦呢？并没有！

2. Is Greenland for sale?

格陵兰岛待售吗？

Seems like no!

"#Greenland is rich in valuable resources such as minerals, the purest water and ice, fish stocks, seafood, renewable energy and is a new frontier for adventure tourism," tweeted the country's government on Friday morning. "We're open for business, not for sale."

好像没有！

“#格陵兰岛拥有丰富的珍贵资源，如矿产、最纯净的水和冰、鱼类、海鲜、可再生能源，是探险旅游的新前沿，”该国政府周五早上发推文说。“我们对商业开放，但格陵兰岛不卖。”

现在显然不是100多年前，格陵兰岛不是你美国想买就能买的。丹麦人更是斩钉截铁地回答说：“我们不卖！”

丹麦前首相拉斯姆森的第一反应是：这一定是一个愚人节的玩笑，完全不合时宜。

但买岛真的是个荒谬绝伦的想法吗？

3. Is this crazy?

这是个疯狂的想法吗？

Nope -- despite what Twitter might make you think.

不是，尽管推特可能会让你这么认为。

The United States has actually pursued the purchase of Greenland before.

美国之前实际上曾试图购买过格陵兰岛。

In 1946, US Secretary of State James Byrnes -- serving under President Harry Truman -- broached the idea with the Danish foreign minister at a United Nations meeting in New York. Nothing ever came of it.

1946年，美国国务卿詹姆斯·伯恩斯在总统哈里·杜鲁门的领导下，在纽约联合国会议上向丹麦外交部长提出过这一想法，但什么都没成。

事实是，历史上美国从别国买地的次数并不多，但引起的争议都不小。最著名的就是美国曾以720万美元，从沙皇俄国手中购买下阿拉斯加。

4. Does the US buy a lot of other countries?

美国是否买过其他许多国家？

Um, no.

呃，不是。

One of the last times the United States bought land from a foreign country was in 1867, when Secretary of State William Seward orchestrated the purchase of Alaska from the Russians for $7.2 million.

美国最近一次从他国购买土地是在1867年，当时的国务卿威廉·西沃德策划以720万美元从俄国人手中买下阿拉斯加。

It was heavily criticized at the time -- and has gone down as "Seward's Folly" in the history books.

此举在当时备受批评，在历史书中被称为“西沃德的蠢事”。

特朗普想买，丹麦人除了断然拒绝，居然还提出了自己的offer，《纽约客》杂志8月16日就抛出了一篇短文，标题是“丹麦提出要买下美国”。Seriously?! 这可是越来越热闹了！

“As we have stated, Greenland is not for sale,” a spokesperson for the Danish government said on Friday. “We have noted, however, that during the Trump regime pretty much everything in the United States, including its government, has most definitely been for sale.”

“正如我们所说，格陵兰岛是非卖品。”丹麦政府的一位发言人周五表示，“我们注意到，在特朗普执政下，美国几乎所有东西，包括其政府在内，都在可出售之列。”

“Denmark would be interested in purchasing the United States in its entirety, with the exception of its government,” the spokesperson added.

“丹麦对买下整个美国很感兴趣，不过不包括它的政府，”发言人补充道。

A key provision of the purchase offer, the spokesperson said, would be the relocation of Donald Trump to another country “to be determined,” with Russia and North Korea cited as possible destinations.

发言人还说，购买邀约的一个关键条款是将特朗普安顿到“待定”的另一个国家，俄罗斯和朝鲜都是可能的选择。

听起来是不是觉得有些不可思议？

事实上，这只是《纽约客》著名的专栏作家Andy Borowitz写的一篇讽刺小说，并不是真实新闻故事。

但不少美国人居然还当真了，纷纷转发，并表示“好主意！同意！”，有好事者直接贴出了新的美国地图，上面竟是硕大的丹麦国旗！