经济学人156:美国和第二次世界战争 车间里的英雄

　　America and the second world war
美国和第二次世界战争
The workshop heroes
车间里的英雄
A tribute to the unsung workers
致敬无名工作者
MacArthur had help engineering victory
麦克阿瑟将军曾对工程师的胜利作过贡献
Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers who Turned the Tide in the Second World War.By Paul Kennedy.
工程师的胜利：问题解决者曾扭转了二战的局势
NEARLY 70 years after the second world war and with most of the combatants now dead, a leading historian can praise the Wehrmacht. Not, of course, its evil racism¹ but its military prowess. On the battlefields, writes Paul Kennedy of Yale University, Germany's soldiers earned universal respect for their “capacity to react swiftly and fiercely to an assault on any front”. His superlatives continue to flow. The Wehrmacht possessed² a fabulous³ capacity to recover and strike back; Germany's paratroopers were ultra- competent; the Reich fought with astounding⁴ tenacity⁵.
二战结束近70年后，大部分的参战者已与世长辞。也许主流的历史学家会赞扬纳粹德国，当然是它英勇的军队，而非那邪恶的种族主义。耶鲁大学教授保罗肯尼迪写到，德国士兵因战场上敏捷的反应能力及勇猛地向前方发起攻势而赢得普遍尊重。保罗肯尼迪的巅峰之作继续流传。纳粹德国拥有极好的反应和反击能力，空降兵相当出色，整个帝国持久作战的能力也十分惊人。
How then did Germany come to lose the war? The British-born historian strives to avoid reductionism. Unlike others, he says, he does not claim that the Allies' victory can be explained solely⁶ by brute⁷ force or by a wonder weapon or by some magical decrypting system. There were multiple factors. Some have been exaggerated. Bletchley Park was “certainly far less important” than most of the popular literature about the codebreakers suggests. Sir Arthur “Bomber” Harris's determination not to target the enemy's oil, transport and electricity grids⁸ but to blast cities instead was, he writes, a “weird panacea”.
德国是如何输掉这次战争的呢？一位英国的历史学家极力避免还原真相。他说，他不像其他人那样断言盟军的胜利只因为强大的军事力量或一件神奇的武器或某些神秘的解密系统。盟军的胜利有多种原因。一些事实被夸大。布莱切利园 （Bletchley Park）当然远不比关于破译者自述的那些大量流行著作重要。他写道，“轰炸机”阿瑟哈里斯的决心不是把目标放在敌人的石油、交通和电网上，而是要炸毁整座城市，“怪异的灵丹妙药”。
Against this, Mr Kennedy argues, some reasons for the Allies' success deserve much greater emphasis. One of them, the stupendous might of America's military-industrial complex, was recognised at last in Arthur Herman's “Freedom's Forge”, reviewed here last year. Mr Kennedy celebrates another crucial component⁹: the role of engineers. What they invented, improvised¹⁰ and improved had, by 1943, begun to turn the tide against Germany and Japan.
肯尼迪反对道：盟军胜利有一些更值得强调的原因。其中，美国军工铁三角惊人的势力最终在亚瑟赫尔曼《铸就自由》一书中被证实，去年本杂志也评论过此事。肯尼迪赞美盟军胜利的另一个重要因素是：工程师的角色。到1943年，他们的发明、创造和改进开始扭转抗衡德国和日本的局势。
By then long-range B-24 Liberator¹¹ bombers¹² protected convoys¹³ of merchant ships crossing the Atlantic; Hedgehog grenades destroyed Grand Admiral Karl D?nitz's U-boats; B-17 Flying Fortress¹⁴ bombers flew from airfields¹⁵ in England deep into Germany and drove the Japanese back in the Pacific; T-34 tanks led the blood-soaked Soviet¹⁶ counter-attack on the Eastern Front; Mustang fighter planes decimated Germany's flying aces¹⁷.
那时超远程的B-24“解放者”轰炸机保护商船的护航队穿过大西洋；“刺猬”手榴弹摧毁德国大海军上将 Karl Dnitz's的潜艇；B-17空中堡垒轰炸机在英国机场起飞，深入德国内部，穿过日本返回太平洋；苏联的血腥武器T-34坦克东线进行反击；野马战斗机摧毁了德国顶尖飞行员。
Mr Kennedy also rescues the engineers of the US Navy Construction Battalions¹⁸ from relative obscurity. Popularly known as the “Seabees”, these were the units that built the bases, the installations, the assembly points and the roads that carried the Allied¹⁹ fight forward. Their achievements more than justify²⁰ Mr Kennedy's assertion that engineers are essential to military victory. Yet, as he rightly complains, historians of grand campaigns all too often take their work for granted and assume that troops, fleets and air squadrons can be moved long distances by the stroke of a pen on a large map.
肯尼迪还救助过默默无闻的美国海军建设营的工程师，也就是人们俗称的“海军工程营人员”。他们负责建设基地，设备，集散地点和盟军向前进攻的道路。这些人的成就远远足以证明肯尼迪的说法，工程师是军事胜利的重要部分。然而，正如他抱怨地那样，研究大事记的历史学家往往把他们的工作看成是理所当然的，他们认为军队、舰队和空军中队可以很容易地移动像在地图上随笔一挥那样长的距离。
Seabee statistics are still amazing. In the Pacific alone they built, in the midst of war, 111 major airstrips and 441 piers²¹, tanks for the storage of 100m gallons of fuel, housing for 1.5m men and hospitals for 70,000 patients. The famous photograph of General Douglas MacArthur fulfilling his “I shall return” promise to the Philippines was possible only after skilful²² Seabees had managed the pontoon bridges and causeway units that brought the army ashore—along with the photographers, of course.
海军修建营人员所作成就的数据仍令人惊讶。战争年代他们在太平洋孤岛上修建了111个主要简易机场和441个码头，存放100加仑燃料的坦克，容纳150万人的住房和容纳70,000例病人的医院。麦克阿瑟将军对菲律宾承诺“我还要回来”，这张著名的照片可能只有在技术娴熟的海军修建营成员成功管理浮筒桥梁和铜锣单位之后才可能实现。当然是铜锣单位把军队和摄影师一起带上岸。
Mr Kennedy's best-known book is “The Rise and Fall of Great Powers”and his knowledge of earlier conflicts adds depth and colour to his history of the middle years of the war. Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, the Duke of Marlborough, Napoleon, William Tecumseh Sherman and others march across the pages as Mr Kennedy compares and contrasts their actions with those of their counterparts in 1943-44. And he is able to cite several instances of British-American-Soviet bickering²³ to sustain the Duke of Wellington's grumble²⁴ that having enemies is nothing like as bad as having allies.
保罗肯尼迪的著作是《大国的兴衰》，他早年的斗争经历增加了中年战争历史的深度和色彩。此书对亚历山大大帝、凯撒大帝、马尔伯勒公爵、拿破仑、威廉特库姆塞谢尔曼和肯尼迪等人进行了整篇幅的描述，并将他们与同处1943-44年代的对手们进行了对比。威灵顿公爵曾怨言：有敌人一点也不像有盟友那样糟糕，保罗肯尼迪就此能举出英、美、苏联验证这句话的几个实例。

1 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

2 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

3 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

4 astounding   

adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词)

参考例句：

• There was an astounding 20% increase in sales. 销售量惊人地增加了20%。
• The Chairman's remarks were so astounding that the audience listened to him with bated breath. 主席说的话令人吃惊，所以听众都屏息听他说。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 tenacity   

n.坚韧

参考例句：

• Tenacity is the bridge to success.坚韧是通向成功的桥。
• The athletes displayed great tenacity throughout the contest.运动员在比赛中表现出坚韧的斗志。

6 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

7 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

8 grids   

n.格子( grid的名词复数 )；地图上的坐标方格；（输电线路、天然气管道等的）系统网络；（汽车比赛）赛车起跑线

参考例句：

• Typical framed structures are beams, grids, plane and space frames or trusses. 典型构架结构为梁、格栅、平面的和空间的框架或桁架。 来自辞典例句
• The machines deliver trimmed grids for use or stock. 这种机器铸出修整过的板栅，以供使用或储存。 来自辞典例句

9 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

10 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

11 liberator   

解放者

参考例句：

• The best integrated turf quality was recorded in Ram I、Midnight、America、Connie、Liberator, which could be adopted in Shanxi. RamI、Midnight、America、Connie、Liberator综合质量表现均衡且分值较高，是山西省推广应用的重点品种。
• It is the story of a new world that became a friend and liberator of the old. 这是一部新世界的发展史，是一部后浪推前浪的历史。

12 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 convoys   

n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队

参考例句：

• Truck convoys often stop over for lunch here. 车队经常在这里停下来吃午饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A UN official said aid programs will be suspended until there's adequate protection for relief convoys. 一名联合国官员说将会暂停援助项目，直到援助车队能够得到充分的保护为止。 来自辞典例句

14 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

15 airfields   

n.（较小的无建筑的）飞机场( airfield的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For several days traffic fromthe Naples airfields was partially interrupted. 那不勒斯机场的对外交通部分地停顿了数天。 来自辞典例句
• We have achieved a great amount of destruction at airfields and air bases. 我们已把机场和空军基地大加破坏。 来自辞典例句

16 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

17 aces   

abbr.adjustable convertible-rate equity security (units) 可调节的股本证券兑换率；aircraft ejection seat 飞机弹射座椅；automatic control evaluation simulator 自动控制评估模拟器n.擅长…的人( ace的名词复数 )；精于…的人；（ 网球 ）（对手接不到发球的）发球得分；爱司球

参考例句：

• The local representative of ACES will define the local area. ACES的当地代表将划定当地的范围。 来自互联网
• Any medical expenses not covered by ACES insurance are the sole responsibility of the parents. 任何ACES保险未包括的医疗费用一律是父母的责任。 来自互联网

18 battalions   

n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍

参考例句：

• God is always on the side of the strongest battalions. 上帝总是帮助强者。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Two battalions were disposed for an attack on the air base. 配置两个营的兵力进攻空军基地。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

20 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

21 piers   

n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 )；（常设有娱乐场所的）突堤；柱子；墙墩

参考例句：

• Most road bridges have piers rising out of the vally. 很多公路桥的桥墩是从河谷里建造起来的。 来自辞典例句
• At these piers coasters and landing-craft would be able to discharge at all states of tide. 沿岸航行的海船和登陆艇，不论潮汐如何涨落，都能在这种码头上卸载。 来自辞典例句

22 skilful   

(=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的

参考例句：

• The more you practise,the more skilful you'll become.练习的次数越多，熟练的程度越高。
• He's not very skilful with his chopsticks.他用筷子不大熟练。

23 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

24 grumble   

vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another grumble from you.我不愿再听到你的抱怨。
• He could do nothing but grumble over the situation.他除了埋怨局势之外别无他法。