2021年经济学人 大英帝国日不落(2)

As well as chronicling the familiar sins of empire, particularly in India, the author gives a fair hearing to those who emphasise¹ the more positive aspects of imperial rule, railways, courts and all. And just as Britain has an imperial past, he recognises that it also has a liberal, anti-imperialist history—of abolishing the slave trade and spreading democracy, albeit² in limited form. The empire is laid bare in all its contradictory³ complexity⁴.

作者不仅记述了帝国（尤其是印度）常见的罪恶，还为那些强调帝国统治、铁路和法院等事物的更积极方面的人提供了公正的申诉机会。正如英国有着帝国主义的过去一样，桑赫拉认识到英国也有着自由、反帝国主义的历史，比如废除奴隶贸易和传播民主，尽管形式有限。大英帝国暴露出它所有矛盾的复杂性。

The same goes for its legacy⁵. Mr Sanghera, a writer for the Times, justifiably⁶ criticises Britons for not being more receptive to immigrants, but he is no reflexive admirer of “pure multiculturalism”. He acknowledges that a laissez-faire approach to integration⁷ has sometimes allowed immigrant communities to “become isolated⁸ and myopic”. He argues that immigrants themselves are sometimes to blame for this—and that the people who suffer most are families like his own: “Too much of my energy as a young adult was expended⁹ on getting my family to accept that I wanted to be more British, to change more quickly than they were.”

大英帝国的遗留问题也是如此。《泰晤士报》的作家桑赫拉对英国人不太接受移民的批评合乎情理，但他并不是“纯粹多元文化主义”的本能崇拜者。他承认，自由放任的融合方式有时会让移民社区“变得孤立和缺乏远见”。他认为，有时候，移民本身是造成这种情况的罪魁祸首，而受害最深的是如他自己这般的家庭：“作为一个年轻人，我花了太多的精力让我的家人接受我想变成更纯粹的英国人，我希望我的转变要比我的家人更快。”

As for knocking over more statues, he concludes that rather than trying to obliterate¹⁰ imperial history, which will always infuriate as many people as it pleases, Britain should commemorate¹¹ more of the colonised people who challenged and reformed the empire, or indeed died for it on the battlefield. In short, more, not fewer, plinths and plaques¹². That would give a clearer and more textured¹³ picture of Britain’s imperial past—just like Mr Sanghera’s excellent book.

至于是否要推倒更多雕像，他总结说，英国不该试图去抹杀帝国历史，这样的行为总是会惹众怒。英国应该更多地纪念那些挑战和改革帝国，或者真正在战场上为帝国出生入死的殖民地人民。简言之，英国要设立更多的纪念碑，而不是把雕像都推倒。这样的行为将展现更清晰、更有质感的英国帝国主义历史风貌，就像桑赫拉先生的优秀著作一样。

1 emphasise   

vt.加强...的语气，强调，着重

参考例句：

• What special feature do you think I should emphasise? 你认为我该强调什么呢？
• The exercises heavily emphasise the required readings.练习非常强调必须的阅读。

2 albeit   

conj.即使；纵使；虽然

参考例句：

• Albeit fictional,she seemed to have resolved the problem.虽然是虚构的，但是在她看来好象是解决了问题。
• Albeit he has failed twice,he is not discouraged.虽然失败了两次，但他并没有气馁。

3 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

4 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

5 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

6 justifiably   

adv.无可非议地

参考例句：

• There General Walters would come aboard to greet me, justifiably beaming with pride at his arrangement. 在那儿沃尔特斯将军会登上飞机来接我，理所当然为他们的安排感到洋洋得意。 来自辞典例句
• The Chinese seemed justifiably proud of their economic achievements. 中国人似乎为他们的经济成就感到自豪，这是无可非议的。 来自互联网

7 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

8 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

9 expended   

v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽

参考例句：

• She expended all her efforts on the care of home and children. 她把所有精力都花在料理家务和照顾孩子上。
• The enemy had expended all their ammunition. 敌人已耗尽所有的弹药。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 obliterate   

v.擦去，涂抹，去掉...痕迹，消失，除去

参考例句：

• Whole villages were obliterated by fire.整座整座的村庄都被大火所吞噬。
• There was time enough to obliterate memories of how things once were for him.时间足以抹去他对过去经历的记忆。

11 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

12 plaques   

（纪念性的）匾牌( plaque的名词复数 )； 纪念匾； 牙斑； 空斑

参考例句：

• Primary plaques were detectable in 16 to 20 hours. 在16到20小时内可查出原发溶斑。
• The gondoliers wore green and white livery and silver plaques on their chests. 船夫们穿着白绿两色的制服，胸前别着银质徽章。

13 textured   

adj.手摸时有感觉的, 有织纹的

参考例句：

• The shoe's sole had a slightly textured surface. 鞋底表面稍感粗糙。
• Shallow burial seems to preserve chalky textured porosity. 浅埋藏似能保留具白垩状结构的孔隙。