经济学人:驾驶在越南 四个轮子不错两个轮子更好

 　　Asia: Driving in Vietnam: Four wheels good, two wheels better

　　亚洲：驾驶在越南：四个轮子不错，两个轮子更好

　　A proliferation of cars threatens to clog¹ the country’s big cities.

　　激增的汽车即将塞满了越南的大城市。

　　Cars and motorbikes are banned from the old heart of Hoi An, a pretty tourist town in central Vietnam.

　　会安，越南美丽的旅游城市，老城的中心禁止汽车和摩托车通行。

　　When the country’s newish prime minister paid a visit, he obligingly travelled on foot.

　　越南新任国家总理来访，他愉快地在此步行。

　　驾驶在越南两个轮子更好.jpg

　　But as Nguyen Xuan Phuc strode manfully around, his motorcade crept along behind him.

　　然而阮春福在前面雄赳赳大步流星，身后却是缓缓徐行车队。

　　Outraged² netizens disseminated³ photos of the incident, forcing Mr Phuc to apologise—a rare step for a senior official in Vietnam’s authoritarian⁴ regime.

　　气愤的越南网民散布了该事件照片并要求他道歉——要员道歉，这在越南独裁体制下还是很罕见的。

　　Not many Vietnamese can afford a fleet of blacked-out saloons.

　　越南有能力购买纯黑色高档轿车的人群还不多。

　　But car-ownership in the Communist country is soaring, bringing worries about pollution and congestion⁵.

　　但在这个共产主义国度里，有车一族正在飙升，引起大家对大气污染和交通拥堵的担忧。

　　Sales of cars, vans and lorries rose 55% by volume in 2015, albeit⁶ from a low base; so far this year they are up another third.

　　2015年，越南小车、货车和卡车的销量上涨55%，尽管基数很低；本年度截至目前，销量再度增加1/3。

　　Most went to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, which between them house about half of Vietnam’s urban population.

　　汽车销量增长主要来自首都河内和胡志明市。全国近一半的城镇人口都居住在这两个城市。

　　Compared with its choked neighbours, Vietnam’s big cities are relatively⁷ uncongested.

　　越南的大城市相对没有其周边国家的城市那么拥堵。

　　The country’s 40m or so motorbikes terrify pedestrians⁸, but can thunder 10-abreast along thoroughfares as well as worm down dark alleyways.

　　约四千万的摩托车让行人毛骨悚然，但是这些摩托车可以十辆并排轰隆疾驰在大道上，也可以缓缓在黑胡同里蠕动。

　　Cars, by contrast, block up the pipes.

　　不像汽车堵成一条长龙。

　　Only 9% of land in the heart of Hanoi is given over to primary and secondary roads, compared with 32% in Manhattan.

　　河内仅有9%的土地用以建设主要和次级道路，而迈哈顿道路占地32%。

　　The World Bank in 2011 calculated that if car-use were to reach even the moderate level seen in nearby Malaysia, Vietnam’s capital would grind to a complete halt.

　　世界银行2011年计算，如果越南的汽车用量和邻居马来西延的中等水平的持平，越南的资产将会完全停止增长。

　　The government is conflicted, says Arve Hansen, an academic.

　　政府是矛盾的，Arve Hansen，一位学者这样评论到。

　　It champions the local car-assembly industry but also slaps stiff taxes on buyers, in part for fear of jams.

　　政府一方面支持汽车制造产业，另一方面又因为担心拥堵，征收严苛的购车税。

　　A suite⁹ of recent trade deals will eventually limit authorities’ power to control car-use through tariffs¹⁰.

　　近期的一系列交易终将限制政府通过收税来控制用车的权利。

　　A pact¹¹ with South-East Asian neighbours, which comes into full force in 2018, could see cheap cars pour in from Thailand.

　　一份越南和东南亚国家的合约将在2018年生效，意味着大量便宜的汽车从泰国涌入。

　　The appeal of buying a car may grow even as Vietnam’s roads clog up.

　　尽管越南交通拥堵，人们买车的热情却持续高涨。

　　The growing risk of collision with a car is making motorcycling more dangerous.

　　随着发生摩托车和汽车相撞风险不断增加，选择摩托车出行变得更加危险。

　　Motorists who know they will end up in jams prefer to do it in air-conditioned vehicles than perched on sweaty bike seats.

　　始终都要堵车，摩托车一族也钟情于空调汽车，不愿干坐在汗涔涔的自行车座上。

　　Longer travel times are also putting Vietnamese off buses, which were anyway hot and unreliable.

　　旅途漫长也是让人们放弃公共汽车的原因，公共汽车不仅热还不准时。

　　Use of Hanoi’s underfunded public buses has dropped 14% in a year.

　　因此河内缺乏资金的公交客车的使用率在一年降低14%。

　　New urban rail systems should help a little.

　　新建轨道有助于缓解城市交通压力。

　　The first of at least six metro¹² lines is under construction in Ho Chi Minh City; two elevated railways are being built in Hanoi.

　　胡志明市计划建设至少六条地铁线路，目前正在建设第一条；河内正在修建两条轻轨。

　　But it will take years to complete these networks, and the fast-growing cities they will serve are transforming as they are built.

　　然而这些交通网络数年才能建完，轨道建设的同时城市却在不断转变。

　　Hanoi inparticular is sprawling¹³, helped along by policies that encourage local authorities to build outward, rather than up.

　　尤其是河内，在鼓励政府向外建设而不是向上建设的政策下，无序扩张。

　　City officials are making do.

　　市政府官员也在努力。

　　Bigwigs in Ho Chi Minh City talk of narrowing pavements to widen roads; Hanoi insists more and better buses are revving¹⁴ up.

　　胡志明市要员考虑缩小建设来扩宽道路，河内坚持快速发展更多更好的汽车。

　　In June cadres in the capital said they thought improvements in public transport would eventually allow them to ban Hanoi’s 5m motorbikes from the heart of the city.

　　六月，国家干部称他们考虑改善公共交通，最终可以限制河内市中心的5百万摩托车。

　　It would be better to ban cars.

　　汽车限行更好。

　　1.on foot 步行

　　例句:I go to school usually on foot.

　　我上学通常是走路去。

　　2.so far 目前

　　例句:What have you found so far?

　　你到目前为止发现了什么？

　　3.public buses 公共汽车

　　例句:Another primary reason is that there seem to be too many private cars and not enough public buses.

　　另一个主要原因是私家车过多而公交车不够。

　　4.air-conditioned 备有空调的

　　例句:Is this apartment air-conditioned?

　　这间公寓有空调设备吗？

1 clog   

vt.塞满，阻塞；n.[常pl.]木屐

参考例句：

• In cotton and wool processing,short length fibers may clog sewers.在棉毛生产中，短纤维可能堵塞下水管道。
• These streets often clog during the rush hour.这几条大街在交通高峰时间常常发生交通堵塞。

2 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

3 disseminated   

散布，传播( disseminate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。
• Berkovitz had contracted polio after ingesting a vaccine disseminated under federal supervision. 伯考维茨在接种了在联邦监督下分发的牛痘疫苗后传染上脊髓灰质炎。

4 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

5 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

6 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。

7 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。

8 pedestrians   

n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

10 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

11 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

12 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

13 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

14 revving   

v.（使）加速( rev的现在分词 )；（数量、活动等）激增；（使发动机）快速旋转；（使）活跃起来

参考例句：

• The team are revving up for next week's game. 这个队伍对下周的比赛跃跃欲试。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Since the introduction of new techniques, the production has been revving up. 自从新技术的引进，产量一直都在增加。 来自互联网