经济学人:美国中期选举(1)

 Leaders 社论

America divided 美利坚“分”众国

Politicians are making Americans miserable¹. The mid-terms offer a chance to change 政客们让美国民众痛苦不堪，中期选举是一个改变的机会

As America prepares to go to the polls on November 6th, the country is more divided and angry than it has been in decades. 美国将在11月6日举行中期选举，几十年间，美国人从未如此意见不一、义愤填膺。

Campaigning for the mid-terms has been marred² by politicians routinely treating each other as rogues³, fools or traitors⁴. 政客们照例都将对方当做无赖、白痴和骗子，破坏了中期选举。

In recent days a supporter of President Donald Trump⁵ has sent bombs to 14 of his opponents 近日，一名特朗普支持者向14名对手（美国民主党）邮寄了炸弹装置，

and a white supremacist has murdered 11 worshippers at a synagogue, in the worst anti-Semitic act in America's history. 一位白人至上主义者在犹太教堂杀害了11名礼拜者，这是美国史上最严重的反犹太主义事件。

Toxic⁶ federal politics is America's great weakness. 有毒的联邦政治（攻击竞选对手的政治行为）是美国最致命的软肋。

It prevents action on pressing real issues, from immigration to welfare; 它阻碍了解决从移民到福利一系列紧迫的实际问题；

it erodes⁷ Americans' faith in their government and its institutions; 它侵蚀了美国民众对政府及其机构的信任；

and it dims the beacon⁸ of American democracy abroad. 它还使美国民主灯塔在别国黯淡无光。

The mid-term elections are a chance to begin stopping the rot—and even to start the arduous⁹ task of putting it right. 中期选举是一个停止这种腐败的机会——甚至是艰难纠正的开始。

Mr Trump did not begin this abasement¹⁰. But he has embraced it as enthusiastically as anyone and carried it to new depths of his own devising. 尽管特朗普不是罪魁祸首，但是他像大家一样热情地接纳了它，并在自己的计划里把它带到了新高度。

All politicians stretch the truth. 政治家们都过甚其词。

Mr Trump lies with abandon—over 5,000 times since he was inaugurated, according to the Washington Post. 据《华盛顿邮报》报道，自就职以来，特朗普说慌已达5000多次。

His deceit is so brazen¹¹ and effective that many of his supporters take his word above any of his critics', especially those in the media, and seemingly in the face of all the evidence. 他的欺骗手段厚颜无耻却行之有效，以至于很多支持者把他的言论看得比批评家们的言论还重要，尤其是媒体的批评家。支持者认为似乎特朗普掌握了所有证据。

That suits Mr Trump because, once nobody is believed, he cannot be held to account. 那很适合特朗普，一旦大家都失去民众的信任，他就不用为说谎负责。

But it is disastrous¹² for America. 但这对美国来说是灾难性的。

Once reasoned debate loses its power to win arguments, democracy cannot function. 一旦争辩失去理性依据，民主就不能生效。

 

1 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

2 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

3 rogues   

n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽

参考例句：

• 'I'll show these rogues that I'm an honest woman,'said my mother. “我要让那些恶棍知道，我是个诚实的女人。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The rogues looked at each other, but swallowed the home-thrust in silence. 那些恶棍面面相觑，但只好默默咽下这正中要害的话。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

4 traitors   

卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人

参考例句：

• Traitors are held in infamy. 叛徒为人所不齿。
• Traitors have always been treated with contempt. 叛徒永被人们唾弃。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

7 erodes   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的第三人称单数 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The sea erodes the rock. 海水侵蚀岩石。
• The sea erodes the land. 海洋侵蚀陆地。

8 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

9 arduous   

adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的

参考例句：

• We must have patience in doing arduous work.我们做艰苦的工作要有耐性。
• The task was more arduous than he had calculated.这项任务比他所估计的要艰巨得多。

10 abasement   

n.滥用

参考例句：

• She despised herself when she remembered the utter self-abasement of the past. 当她回忆起过去的不折不扣的自卑时，她便瞧不起自己。
• In our world there will be no emotions except fear, rage, triumph, and self-abasement. 在我们的世界里，除了恐惧、狂怒、得意、自贬以外，没有别的感情。 来自英汉文学

11 brazen   

adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的

参考例句：

• The brazen woman laughed loudly at the judge who sentenced her.那无耻的女子冲着给她判刑的法官高声大笑。
• Some people prefer to brazen a thing out rather than admit defeat.有的人不愿承认失败，而是宁肯厚着脸皮干下去。

12 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。