2020年经济学人 列克星顿专栏--搅乱德克萨斯州(1)

United States

美国版块

Lexington

列克星顿专栏

It’s messing with Texas

搅乱的德克萨斯州

Greg Abbott is battling the coronavirus with one hand and his party’s lunatic fringe with the other

格雷格·雅培用一只手与冠状病毒作斗争，用另一只手搏斗政党极端分子团体

In the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, Greg Abbott seemed happy to let Texas’s 254 county and 1,214 city authorities take the lead. And the conservative governor had little to gain by organising an economic lockdown that a minority of Republicans considered tantamount to treason. The state’s vastness—with its widening contrast between rural reaches and exploding metropolises—argued for local decision-making. By late March, however, with Texas still relatively¹ unscathed by the virus, Mr Abbott’s calculation changed. He struck down an effort to make mask-wearing legally enforceable in Houston. He also issued orders—ahead of almost any other governor—to reopen the bars and restaurants that local officials had shuttered. It must have seemed like good politics as well as economics at the time.

在疫情爆发的前几个月，格雷格·雅培很乐意让德克萨斯州的254个县和1214个市政府起到带头作用。德克萨斯州的乡村地区和爆发性增长的都市的差距逐渐扩大，需要地方做出决策。这个保守党州长组织了一次经济封锁，但是一无所获，少数共和党人认为该行为无异于叛国。然而到了3月底，德克萨斯州仍然相对没有受到病毒的伤害，雅培的预测发生了变化。他打击了休斯顿佩戴口罩合法化的举措。而且，他比其他州长更早地下令重新开放当地官员关闭的酒吧和餐馆。这在当时看来一定是个好的政治和经济举措。

Texas is now a centre of the viral wave sweeping² the South and West. The state is seeing well over 6,000 new infections a day, five times the number of a month ago. And most are in Houston, where scenes reminiscent of New York in April are unfolding. Last week the biggest hospital network in America’s fourth-biggest city said its intensive-care wards³ were almost full. Mr Abbott meanwhile ordered bars and other non-essential businesses to close again, forced restaurants to cut their capacity by half and urged Texans to wear masks, as he mostly does. The would-be pioneer of reopening has become the first governor to order a reclosing.

现在，冠状病毒的浪潮席卷美国南部和西部，德州正位于这场浪潮的中心。该州每天新增感染人数超过6000人，是一个月前的5倍。大多数感染病例在休斯顿，那里的场景让人想起四月的纽约。上周，美国第四大城市的最大的医院网络表示，其重症监护病房几乎满员。同时，雅培下令要求酒吧和其他非必要的企业再次关门，迫使餐馆客流量减半，并敦促德州人佩戴口罩，就像他通常做的那样。这位重新开放的准先锋成为第一位下令重新封锁的州长。

His policy twists have been heavily criticised from both sides of the aisle⁴, with some justification⁵. A cautious politician, whose preference for handing down edicts after slow deliberation reflects his background as a judge, Mr Abbott has shown more calculation than leadership during the crisis. He did not endorse⁶ the local officials he deferred⁷ to early on, but hid behind them. His move to countermand⁸ them reflected a decade-long Republican campaign to centralise power in Austin in order to peg⁹ back the Democratic cities. Even so, Mr Abbott deserves to be cut a little slack.

他在政策上的扭转受到两党的严厉谴责，这是合理的。雅培是一名谨慎的政治家，他倾向于在缓慢的审议之后再发布命令，这反映了他作为法官的背景。他在危机时展现了更多的是推测能力，而不是领导能力。他没有支持他早期听从的当地官员的意见，而是躲在他们后面。他反对这些意见的举动反映了共和党人的一项长达十年之久的运动，即在奥斯汀集中权力以遏制民主城市。即便如此，还是应该对雅培州长宽容一点。

1 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

2 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

3 wards   

区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态

参考例句：

• This hospital has 20 medical [surgical] wards. 这所医院有 20 个内科[外科]病房。
• It was a big constituency divided into three wards. 这是一个大选区，下设三个分区。

4 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

5 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

6 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

7 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

8 countermand   

v.撤回(命令)，取消(订货)

参考例句：

• I have now to countermand that order,in consequence of the receipting of the letter this morning.由于今日上午才收到来函，现在只好取消那份订单。
• The general countermand the orders issued in his absence.将军撤销了他不在时所发布的命令。

9 peg   

n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定

参考例句：

• Hang your overcoat on the peg in the hall.把你的大衣挂在门厅的挂衣钩上。
• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet.他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。