奥运盛事背后 里约的残酷现实

 　　Times Insider shares insights into how we work at The New York Times. In this article, Simon Romero explains how his job as Brazil bureau chief has evolved to include all sorts of additional (and unlikely) roles since friends and colleagues from around the world descended² on Rio de Janeiro for the Olympic Games.

　　“时报内情”(Times Insider)专栏为读者呈现《纽约时报》所发报道幕后的故事。西蒙?罗梅罗(Simon Romero)在这篇文章中讲述的是，自从世界各地的朋友和同事为奥运会纷纷现身里约之后，他作为巴西分社社长的工作如何逐渐演化，囊括了其他种种（出人意料的）职责。

　　Reaching the favelas at the heights of Complexo do Alem?o is nothing less than breathtaking.

　　抵达阿莱茂住宅区(Complexo do Alem?o)最高处的贫民区，绝对是一个激动人心的过程。

　　An awe³-inspiring aerial tramway connects the densely⁴ populated hillsides, their maze⁵ of passageways a testament⁶ to resilience and ingenuity⁷ in the face of hardship. Brazil would be awash in more medals if an Olympic category existed for the young kite fighters practicing their sport at the precipice⁸ where the gondola⁹ car makes its last stop.

　　一条令人惊叹的空中索道连结着一个个人口稠密的山坡，山坡上迷宫般的通道，证明着人们在困难面前有着怎样的应变能力和生活智慧。缆车的最后一站位于一道悬崖边，一些年轻人正在那里练习斗风筝，如果奥运会有这个项目，巴西一定可以拿到更多奖牌。

　　But I knew I had truly arrived in Alem?o when I heard the spine-tingling sound of gunfire.

　　但当听到令人毛骨悚然的枪声时，我意识到自己真的到了阿莱茂。

　　“It’s coming from down there,” said one of the boys, kite string in hand, pointing to the sprawling¹⁰ agglomeration¹¹ of dwellings¹² below. He couldn’t have been older than 10. He and his friends didn’t even flinch¹³ when the shots echoed around them, as if the sounds were as normal as the birdsong of Rio’s great kiskadees.

　　“枪声是从下边传来的，”其中一个攥着风筝线的男孩，指向下方的大片住宅说道。他的年纪应该不超过10岁。枪声在耳畔回荡之际，他和朋友们甚至没有表现出一点点畏缩，仿佛这枪声和里约的大食蝇霸鹟的鸣叫声一样稀松平常。

　　“What are you doing in Alem?o?” he asked.

　　“你来阿莱茂干什么？”他问。

　　Some of the best questions come from those who are being interviewed.

　　有些最出彩的问题其实来自受访者。

　　The Rio Olympics were starting, and thousands of journalists from around the world were swarming¹⁴ around the city’s new sports venues¹⁵. As the bureau chief here for The Times, I was also excited about the Games. But I felt the need to report outside the Olympic bubble, especially in Alem?o, where the long war between drug gangs and the police was flaring¹⁶ up once again.

　　当时正值里约奥运会开幕之际，来自世界各地的数以千计的记者不断汇聚在这座城市崭新的体育场馆周围。作为时报巴西分社的记者，我也对奥运会充满热情。但我觉得做报道时，有必要置身于奥运会这个大泡泡之外，尤其有必要来到阿莱茂。在这里，长期对峙的贩毒团伙和警方正再度发生激烈冲突。

　　The actors in this conflict didn’t get the memo¹⁷ that Rio wasn’t supposed to be a theater for gun battles during the Olympics. The authorities had promised that the city would be safe during the Games, deploying¹⁸ tens of thousands of troops to patrol the streets. Still, I found entire families cowering¹⁹ in their hovels in Alem?o as the fighting raged around them.

　　这场冲突的参与者没有收到备忘录，不知道奥运会期间的里约不该有枪战上演。当局此前已经承诺保障这座城市在奥运会期间的安全，并调动了数万名军人在街上巡逻。不过，当枪战在身边激烈进行的时候，我发现阿莱茂德的许多人家都躲在自己的小屋里。

　　This disconnect — Olympic festivities alongside Rio’s brutal²⁰ drug war — reflects the city’s fault lines. Of course, many of the journalists parachuting in for the Games are expressing awe about what they see. The city, with its teeming²¹ beaches and soaring granite²² peaks, remains²³ as enchanting²⁴ as ever. Television crews couldn’t ask for a better backdrop.

　　这种脱节——一边是奥运庆祝活动，一边是里约残酷的毒品战争——折射出了这座城市的裂痕。当然，许多为了奥运会空降到这里的记者都在说，自己见到的一切是多么动人。里约有着熙熙攘攘的海滩和高耸的花岗岩山峰，一如既往地散发着迷人的气息。电视工作者很难找到比这更好的拍摄背景。

　　At the same time, some of the impressions I’ve come across remind me of that oldie but goody from The Onion, “Woman Who ‘Loves Brazil’ Has Only Seen Four Square Miles of It,” about a dental hygienist from the United States who is enthralled²⁵ after soaking up the atmosphere at a luxury resort on Rio’s outskirts²⁶ without ever making it into the city proper.

　　与此同时， 对这个国家的一些印象让我想起了洋葱网(The Onion)上的一篇文章——《“热爱巴西”的女人只看到四平方英里之内的巴西》(Woman Who ‘Loves Brazil’ Has Only Seen Four Square Miles of It)，说的是一位来自美国的牙科工作者，完全沉侵在里约郊区一个奢华度假村所制造的氛围之中，连市区都没去过，却已深深地爱上了巴西。文章是很早以前发的，但其中的一些说法至今依然适用。

　　I’m also still enthralled with Brazil after covering the country for more than a decade, based in Rio for much of that time. The Olympics have been thrilling. The opening ceremony, sublimely²⁷ choreographed²⁸ by Deborah Colker, was uplifting. I’ve cheered for Brazil’s volleyball teams in Maracan?zinho alongside my wife and kids, who are proud Brazilian citizens.

　　我报道巴西新闻已有十多年之久——很多时候是以里约为根据地——至今却也依然对这个国家感到着迷。奥运会一直都是激动人心的。由德博拉?库克尔(Deborah Colker)精心编排的开幕舞蹈令人振奋。我曾在马拉卡纳齐诺体育场(Maracan?zinho)内为巴西排球队欢呼，以身为巴西公民为荣的妻子和孩子当时就坐在我身旁。

　　But it’s been surreal to see Rio, a place normally on the global news back burner, turn into something of a media circus during the Olympics.

　　但看到里约这样一个通常难以贡献头条国际新闻的地方，在奥运会期间突然成为媒体关注的焦点，还是有种超现实之感。

　　As friends and colleagues descend¹ on the city, my own job of bureau chief has evolved to include additional roles like ticket procurer, restaurant critic, translator, security adviser²⁹ and consultant³⁰ on the attributes of Rio’s pés-sujos, the great unkempt neighborhood watering holes that Cariocas call “dirty feet.”

　　随着朋友和同事纷纷在这座城市现身，我本人作为分社社长的工作逐渐囊括了许多额外的职责，比如门票掮客、餐厅评论家、翻译、安全顾问，以及对里约各个“pés-sujos”的特色了如指掌的咨询师。“pés-sujos”指的是虽不甚整洁却令人愉悦的社区小酒馆，里约人称之为“脏脚馆子”。

　　I’ve relished³¹ the coverage³² of the Games by visiting colleagues from The Times, some of whom are seeing Rio for the first time. Now I know how Belize cheers for Simone Biles; what synchronized³³ divers³⁴ say to one another before the plunge³⁵; how easily table tennis balls crumple³⁶; how Brazil’s judo³⁷ champion, Rafaela Silva, emerged from Rio’s favelas.

　　到访的时报同事对奥运会的报道让我读得津津有味，他们中的一些人是首次来到里约。现在我知道了中美洲国家伯利兹如何为西蒙?拜尔斯(Simone Biles)欢呼；知道了双人跳水运动员纵身一跃之前会跟对方说些什么；知道了乒乓球有多容易会变瘪；知道了巴西的拉斐拉?席尔瓦(Rafaela Silva)如何走出贫民区，成为柔道冠军。

　　When Brazil’s Olympic moment is finished, Rio, like some cities in the United States, will still be grappling with vexing³⁸ levels of inequality and bloodshed. Certain favelas, the urban areas here that largely coalesced³⁹ as squatter⁴⁰ settlements, are festering with ire over the Games — especially those that were literally⁴¹ torn apart to make way for the Olympic overhaul⁴².

　　等到巴西的奥运时刻画上句号的时候，里约像美国的一些城市一样，仍然要竭力应对令其备受困扰的不平等问题和流血事件。在某些贫民区，也就是基本已经聚合为棚户区的城市地带，人们对奥运会怒恨满腔——尤其是在那些为了给奥运会改造工程让路而变得支离破碎的地方。

　　Long before the Olympics began, I started chronicling the complex war for control over Complexo de Alem?o, the vast maze of favelas thought to be named for Leonard Kaczmarkiewicz, a Polish immigrant who once owned the land in Rio’s north zone where squatters put down stakes. (A light-skinned foreigner in Brazil is still often called “alem?o,” or German.)

　　在奥运会开幕很久之前，我就已经逐年记录对阿莱茂住宅区控制权的争夺所引发的复杂冲突。这是一片巨大的迷宫般的贫民区，其名字被认为取自波兰移民莱昂纳德?卡茨马基维奇(Leonard Kaczmarkiewic)，此人一度拥有里约北部这片供棚户区居民安营扎寨的土地。（在巴西，肤色较浅的外国人至今依然常常被称作“alem?o”，意为“德国人”。 ）

　　Some of the stories I’ve covered in Alem?o have been heartbreaking, like that of Alda Rafael Castilho, a young police officer who dreamed of being a psychologist. At the age of 27, she was fatally shot when gunmen stormed her police outpost. I still shudder⁴³ when remembering how hard it was to interview the parents of Eduardo de Jesus Ferreira, the 10-year-old boy who was shot dead last year by the police in Alem?o.

　　我报道过一些关于阿莱茂的令人心碎的故事，有一篇文章写的是阿尔达?拉斐尔?卡斯蒂略(Alda Rafael Castilho)，一名曾梦想成为心理学家的年轻警察。27岁那年，她被冲进她所在的警察哨所的枪手射杀。而每当回想起10岁男孩爱德华多?德热苏斯?费雷拉(Eduardo de Jesus Ferreira)去年被阿莱茂的警察枪杀后，采访他的父母有多艰难，我仍然感到不寒而栗。

　　Someday, I hope to take the tramway in Alem?o again all the way to the last stop, to visit friends who live in the Favela das Palmeiras. If they tell me that the echo of gun battles has become a distant memory, as peace finally breaks out, that would be a triumph to rival all the stunning⁴⁴ feats⁴⁵ I’ve witnessed during the Rio Olympics.

　　我希望有一天再度乘坐阿莱茂的缆车，一直到最后一站，去拜访住在达斯帕尔梅拉斯贫民窟的朋友们。如果他们告诉我，随着和平终于到来，回荡在耳畔的枪战声已经成为了遥远的回忆，那将是一场媲美我在里约奥运会期间见证的所有惊世伟绩的胜利。

1 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

2 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

3 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

4 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

5 maze   

n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑

参考例句：

• He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
• She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。

6 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

7 ingenuity   

n.别出心裁；善于发明创造

参考例句：

• The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
• I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。

8 precipice   

n.悬崖，危急的处境

参考例句：

• The hut hung half over the edge of the precipice.那间小屋有一半悬在峭壁边上。
• A slight carelessness on this precipice could cost a man his life.在这悬崖上稍一疏忽就会使人丧生。

9 gondola   

n.威尼斯的平底轻舟；飞船的吊船

参考例句：

• The road is too narrow to allow the passage of gondola.这条街太窄大型货车不能通过。
• I have a gondola here.我开来了一条平底船。

10 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

11 agglomeration   

n.结聚，一堆

参考例句：

• The Guangxi's sugar industry has the characters of industrial agglomeration.广西糖业在发展过程中体现出了产业集聚特征。
• This agglomeration of funds resolves a number of problems.这种集资的办法解决了以下几个问题。

12 dwellings   

n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The development will consist of 66 dwellings and a number of offices. 新建楼区将由66栋住房和一些办公用房组成。
• The hovels which passed for dwellings are being pulled down. 过去用作住室的陋屋正在被拆除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 flinch   

v.畏缩，退缩

参考例句：

• She won't flinch from speaking her mind.她不会讳言自己的想法。
• We will never flinch from difficulties.我们面对困难决不退缩。

14 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

15 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

16 flaring   

a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的

参考例句：

• A vulgar flaring paper adorned the walls. 墙壁上装饰着廉价的花纸。
• Goebbels was flaring up at me. 戈塔尔当时已对我面呈愠色。

17 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

18 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

19 cowering   

v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He turned his baleful glare on the cowering suspect. 他恶毒地盯着那个蜷缩成一团的嫌疑犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He stood over the cowering Herb with fists of fury. 他紧握着两个拳头怒气冲天地站在惊魂未定的赫伯面前。 来自辞典例句

20 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

21 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道

22 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

23 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

24 enchanting   

a.讨人喜欢的

参考例句：

• His smile, at once enchanting and melancholy, is just his father's. 他那种既迷人又有些忧郁的微笑，活脱儿象他父亲。
• Its interior was an enchanting place that both lured and frightened me. 它的里头是个吸引人的地方，我又向往又害怕。

25 enthralled   

迷住，吸引住( enthrall的过去式和过去分词 )； 使感到非常愉快

参考例句：

• The child watched, enthralled by the bright moving images. 这孩子看着那明亮的移动的影像，被迷住了。
• The children listened enthralled as the storyteller unfolded her tale. 讲故事的人一步步展开故事情节，孩子们都听得入迷了。

26 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

27 sublimely   

高尚地，卓越地

参考例句：

• In devotion woman is sublimely superior to man. 怜悯是女子胜过男子的德性之一。
• She was sublimely unaware of how foolish she looked. 她根本不知道她的样子多愚蠢。

28 choreographed   

v.设计舞蹈动作( choreograph的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• There was some carefully choreographed flag-waving as the President drove by. 总统的车经过时，人们按精心编排的动作挥舞着旗帜。
• Achim had choreographed the dance in Act II himself. 阿希姆自己设计了第2幕的舞蹈动作。 来自辞典例句

29 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

30 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

31 relished   

v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望

参考例句：

• The chaplain relished the privacy and isolation of his verdant surroundings. 牧师十分欣赏他那苍翠的环境所具有的幽雅恬静，与世隔绝的气氛。 来自辞典例句
• Dalleson relished the first portion of the work before him. 达尔生对眼前这工作的前半部分满有兴趣。 来自辞典例句

32 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

33 synchronized   

同步的

参考例句：

• Do not use the synchronized keyword in Managed Objects. 不要在管理对象上使用synchronized关键字。 来自互联网
• The timing of the gun was precisely synchronized with the turning of the plane's propeller. 风门的调速与飞机螺旋桨的转动精确同步。 来自辞典例句

34 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

35 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

36 crumple   

v.把...弄皱，满是皱痕，压碎，崩溃

参考例句：

• Take care not to crumple your dress by packing it carelessly.当心不要因收放粗心压纵你的衣服。
• The wall was likely to crumple up at any time.墙随时可能坍掉。

37 judo   

n.柔道

参考例句：

• The judo is a kind of fighting sport.柔道是一种对抗性体育活动。
• Which is more important in judo, strength or techniques?柔道运动中，力量和技术哪个更重要？

38 vexing   

adj.使人烦恼的，使人恼火的v.使烦恼( vex的现在分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论

参考例句：

• It is vexing to have to wait a long time for him. 长时间地等他真使人厌烦。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Lately a vexing problem had grown infuriatingly worse. 最近发生了一个讨厌的问题，而且严重到令人发指的地步。 来自辞典例句

39 coalesced   

v.联合，合并( coalesce的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The puddles had coalesced into a small stream. 地面上水洼子里的水汇流成了一条小溪。
• The views of party leaders coalesced to form a coherent policy. 党的领导人的各种观点已统一为一致的政策。 来自辞典例句

40 squatter   

n.擅自占地者

参考例句：

• The squatter settlements originally came into being through illegal land invasions. 违章建筑区最初是通过非法的土地占有而形成的。
• Squatter control is maintained by regular patrols and hut-to-hut checks. 当局定期逐户视察所有寮屋，以收管制之效。

41 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

42 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

43 shudder   

v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动

参考例句：

• The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材，他浑身一阵战栗。
• We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。

44 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

45 feats   

功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance. 过去，他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。
• His heroic feats made him a legend in his own time. 他的英雄业绩使他成了他那个时代的传奇人物。