2020年经济学人 列克星顿专栏--搅乱德克萨斯州(2)

Managing pandemic politics is easiest in states with stable majorities, as Andrew Cuomo of New York and Mike DeWine of Ohio have shown. It is much harder in more divided ones, especially for Republican governors, who cannot get too far out of step with the source of much of the divisiveness, President Donald Trump¹. And Texas is one of the most politically torn states of all. Its Republican rulers, grown decadent² by decades in power, are bitterly feuding³ even as a tsunami⁴ of politico-demographic change rushes towards them. Mr Abbott’s highly politicised management of the pandemic may be about as solid as such pressures allow.

纽约州的安德鲁·科莫和俄亥俄州的麦克·德万表示，管理多数席位稳定的州的疫情期间的政治问题是最容易的。总统唐纳德·特朗普表示，在分歧更大的州中处理政治问题更加困难，特别是共和党州长们，不能太过偏离造成分歧的根源，得克萨斯州是所有州中政治分歧最大的州之一。德克萨斯州的共和党执政者们，在执政数十年后日渐颓废，即使在政治人口变化的海啸向他们袭来之际，他们仍在激烈地争吵。在这样的压力所允许的范围内，雅培州长对疫情的高度政治化管理可能是可靠的。

His political balancing act reflects his enigmatic figure. He is much less charismatic than his immediate⁵ predecessors⁶, Rick Perry and George W. Bush, and—deep into his second gubernatorial term—less well-known. Having ascended⁷ to the governorship via the state Supreme⁸ Court bench and attorney-general’s office, he has never faced a tough election. Many Texans have no idea even that he is wheelchair-bound, owing to a freak tree-fall accident he suffered as a teenager— though his courage in battling back from that tragedy is his most admirable quality. Politically, too, Mr Abbott has managed to remain usefully indeterminate.

他的政治平衡行为反映了他令人费解的形象。他的魅力远不如他的前任，里克·佩里和乔治·沃克·布什，而且在他的第二个州长任期内也不那么出名。他通过州最高法院和总检察长办公室升任州长，从未面临过艰难的选举。许多德克萨斯人甚至不知道他是坐轮椅的，因为他十几岁时遭遇了一次奇怪的树木坠落事故，尽管他从那场悲剧中奋力反抗的勇气是他最令人钦佩的品质。在政治上雅培也设法保持了不确定性，这很有用。

He took office as a conservative hardliner—boasting of the 31 times he had sued the Obama administration and soon enough echoing Mr Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric⁹. This earned him credit with a state party that had veered¹⁰ hard to the right. Dan Patrick, leader of the Texan senate and an advocate of American grandparents risking covid-19 infection for the sake of the economy— even unto death—is its most recognisable face. Yet Mr Abbott knows Mr Patrick’s politics is another sort of suicide mission in a state that last had a white majority over a decade ago. The 2018 mid-terms, in which the Democrats¹¹ flipped¹² 14 seats in the state legislature (and Mr Patrick survived a surprisingly fierce challenge) underlined that reality. Having won his own re-election with ease, Mr Abbott used his increased heft in the party to help launch one of the most quietly impressive Republican rethinks of the Trump era. The state’s next biennial¹³ legislative¹⁴ session, held last year, was devoted¹⁵ to property tax and bipartisan education funding, not—as previously—to bathroom bills.

他上任时是保守派强硬派，自夸自己曾31次起诉奥巴马政府，并很快回应了特朗普的反移民言论。这为他赢得了一个努力右倾的州政党的赞誉。德克萨斯州参议院领袖丹·帕特里克倡导美国有感染新冠肺炎风险的老年人们，通过死亡以拯救美国经济，他是努力右倾的州政党的代表。然而，雅培知道帕特里克先生的政见对于一个州来说，是另一种自杀式的任务，上一次自杀式任务是在10年前，当时白人占多数。在2018年中期选举中，民主党在州议会中的席位翻了14席（帕特里克在一次出人意料的激烈挑战中获胜），凸显了这一现实。在轻松赢得连任后，雅培利用自己在党内日益增加的分量，帮助发起了共和党对特朗普时代最令人印象深刻的反思之一。该州下一次两年应届的立法会议于去年举行，专门讨论财产税和两党教育经费问题，而不是像以前那样讨论厕所法案。

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 decadent   

adj.颓废的，衰落的，堕落的

参考例句：

• Don't let decadent ideas eat into yourselves.别让颓废的思想侵蚀你们。
• This song was once banned, because it was regarded as decadent.这首歌曾经被认定为是靡靡之音而被禁止播放。

3 feuding   

vi.长期不和（feud的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Riccardo and Cafiero had been feuding so openly that the whole town knew about it. 里卡多和卡菲埃罗一直公开地闹别扭，全城的人都知道此事。 来自辞典例句
• The two families have been feuding with each other for many generations. 这两个家族有好多代的世仇了。 来自互联网

4 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 ascended   

v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He has ascended into heaven. 他已经升入了天堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The climbers slowly ascended the mountain. 爬山运动员慢慢地登上了这座山。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

10 veered   

v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• The bus veered onto the wrong side of the road. 公共汽车突然驶入了逆行道。
• The truck veered off the road and crashed into a tree. 卡车突然驶离公路撞上了一棵树。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

13 biennial   

adj.两年一次的

参考例句：

• The workers were strongly against the biennial election.工人们强烈反对两年一次的选举。
• His is a biennial,and one of the most useful pasture plants we have.这是两年生植物，也是我们最有用的牧草之一。

14 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

15 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。