TED演讲:不存在'不投票'这种事(2)

 From the Revolution to the Civil Rights Era, the United States had a vibrant¹, robustly² participatory and raucous³ culture of voting. 从美国革命到人权时代，美国选举曾经充满生机，参与者信念坚定，草根文化喧嚣一时。

It was street theater, open-air debates, fasting and feasting and toasting, parades and bonfires. 街头戏剧，公开辩论，斋戒，盛宴，祝酒，游行和篝火晚会盛极一时。

During the 19th century, immigrants and urban political machines helped fuel this culture of voting.  十九世纪，移民和城市政治机器使得选举文化迅速发展。

That culture grew with each successive wave of new voters.  新选民不断加入，选族文化不断增长。

During Reconstruction⁴, when new African-American voters, new African-American citizens, began to exercise their power,  在美国重建期，当新一代美国黑人选民，新一代美国黑人市民行使他们的权利，

they celebrated⁵ in jubilee⁶ parades that connected emancipation⁷ with their newfound right to vote.  他们为欢庆奴隶解放纪念日而游行，把他们的解放与新获得的选举权联系到一起。

A few decades later, the suffragettes brought a spirit of theatricality⁸ to their fight,  几十年后，妇女参政运动给这场斗争附加了一种戏剧化的效果：

marching together in white dresses as they claimed the franchise⁹.  穿着白衣游行前进，宣称选举权。

And the Civil Rights Movement, which sought to redeem¹⁰ the promise of equal citizenship¹¹ that had been betrayed by Jim Crow, put voting right at the center.  民权运动，则寻求重新确认所承诺的被种族隔离政策背叛的平等公民权，把选举权作为民权运动的核心。

From Freedom Summer to the march in Selma, that generation of activists¹² knew that voting matters,  从自由之夏到塞尔玛行军（黑人选民登记活动），那一代的活动者知道选举事关重大，

and they knew that spectacle and the performance of power is key to actually claiming power. 他们也知晓那种壮观的场面，权利的行使才是权利的意义所在。

But it's been over a half century since Selma and the Voting Rights Act,  塞尔玛行军和选举权力法案已经过去了半个世纪，

and in the decades since, this face-to-face culture of voting has just about disappeared.  面对面的选举文化也已经消失了几十年。

It's been killed by television and then the internet. The couch has replaced the commons.  这都是电视惹的祸，互联网更是后来居上。沙发代替了评论。

Screens have made citizens into spectators.  屏幕使公民变成了观众。

And while it's nice to share political memes on social media, that's a rather quiet kind of citizenship.  在社交媒体上分享政治观点不失为好主意，但这只是安静的公民权。

It's what the sociologist¹³ Sherry Turkle calls "being alone together." 社会学家雪莉·特克称之为“群体中的孤独”。

1 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

2 robustly   

adv.要用体力地，粗鲁地

参考例句：

• These three hormones also robustly stimulated thymidine incorporation and inhibited drug-induced apoptosis. 并且这三种激素有利于胸（腺嘧啶脱氧核）苷掺入和抑制药物诱导的细胞凋亡。 来自互联网
• The economy is still growing robustly, but inflation, It'seems, is back. 经济依然强劲增长，但是通胀似乎有所抬头。 来自互联网

3 raucous   

adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的

参考例句：

• I heard sounds of raucous laughter upstairs.我听见楼上传来沙哑的笑声。
• They heard a bottle being smashed,then more raucous laughter.他们听见酒瓶摔碎的声音，然后是一阵更喧闹的笑声。

4 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

5 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

6 jubilee   

n.周年纪念；欢乐

参考例句：

• They had a big jubilee to celebrate the victory.他们举行盛大的周年纪念活动以祝贺胜利。
• Every Jubilee,to take the opposite case,has served a function.反过来说，历次君主巡幸，都曾起到某种作用。

7 emancipation   

n.（从束缚、支配下）解放

参考例句：

• We must arouse them to fight for their own emancipation. 我们必须唤起他们为其自身的解放而斗争。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They rejoiced over their own emancipation. 他们为自己的解放感到欢欣鼓舞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 theatricality   

n.戏剧风格，不自然

参考例句：

• The scene breaks out before you with the theatricality of a curtain lifted from a stage. 景色立即如拉开了舞台的帷幕一般充满了戏剧性地出现在你面前。 来自辞典例句

9 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

10 redeem   

v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等）

参考例句：

• He had no way to redeem his furniture out of pawn.他无法赎回典当的家具。
• The eyes redeem the face from ugliness.这双眼睛弥补了他其貌不扬之缺陷。

11 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

12 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。