美国国家公共电台 NPR--An update on the crisis in Sri Lanka

An update on the crisis in Sri Lanka

Transcript¹

Sri Lanka spent its first night under curfew, with a government in chaos², and protesters on the streets of the capital Colombo. How will calm be restored?

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We're going to go to Sri Lanka now. There has been another day of confusion, this after days of chaos. The president fled the country on Wednesday but didn't resign. And the man he made acting³ president isn't welcomed by many protesters who've brought the country to a standstill in recent days after a monthslong economic meltdown, many blame on the government. A curfew was imposed overnight in the capital, Colombo, and a state of emergency remains⁴ in effect. Reporter Raksha Kumar has been following the story, and she joins us now. Thank you so much for being here.

RAKSHA KUMAR, BYLINE⁵: Thanks, Rachel.

MARTIN: Just explain what the situation is right now. I mean, have things quieted down at all since yesterday?

KUMAR: So, Rachel, yeah, it looks a bit like things are slightly quiet since yesterday because the protesters have announced that they will be leaving the buildings that they have occupied since the weekend. So the presidential palace, the prime minister's official residence and certain other official buildings as well. Curfew has been lifted in the western provinces, but curfew remains in Colombo, the capital, until Friday. So the speaker of the Parliament, who belongs to Rajapaksa's party, has asked for Rajapaksa to submit his resignation or he said, quote, "we'll consider other options to remove him." So there's a lot of confusion, really. Rajapaksa was supposed to return to the country and kind of turn it around economically when he was elected in 2019. But that's clearly not happened.

MARTIN: What did happen? How did things get so bad? Because the protesters, I mean, they're demanding economic reforms, right? What do they want to see happen?

KUMAR: Yeah. So they obviously want some economic stability in the country. However, they are aware that political stability is the immediate⁶ requirement. So the protesters I spoke⁷ to are saying that they want a president who will be accountable to the Parliament. So Sri Lanka now has something called an executive presidency⁸ where the president is actually above the Constitution. So they want that abolished. It's also important to note that the protesters have largely been nonviolent, except for when the administration has used tear gas and water cannons⁹ on them.

MARTIN: So this is the political problem that's most urgent. But talk a little bit about how the economic situation deteriorated¹⁰ so badly.

KUMAR: So the Sri Lankan economists¹¹ I spoke to said that there were a slew¹² of bad decisions that the Rajapaksa government took. So top of the list would be tax cuts for the rich and a sudden ban on chemical fertilizers for the farmers. So what this meant was that Sri Lankan farmers could not produce as much as they used to, and that also meant that the country did not have food security anymore. The situation only worsened because of COVID, especially because the country is reliant on tourism. And the Ukraine war kind of pushed the country over the edge, in many ways because supply chains for important goods were cut.

So before the protests, Sri Lanka was negotiating with the International Monetary¹³ Fund to try and find a way out of the current economic situation that it found itself in. But, of course, now, with everything being so uncertain politically, it's hard to see how or when those talks will resume with the IMF.

MARTIN: Reporter Raksha Kumar in Mumbai, thank you so much.

KUMAR: Thanks, Rachel.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

3 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

4 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。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 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。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

9 cannons   

n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

11 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。

13 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。