2023年经济学人 特朗普能否绝地翻盘（1）

 

 

    The charges in Manhattan have restored Donald Trump¹ to his favourite role曼哈顿指控复原了特朗普最爱扮演的角色

    “I bring out the worst in my enemies,” Roy Cohn, a ferocious² red- and gay-baiting lawyer, once told William Safire, a conservative columnist³, “and that’s how I get them to defeat themselves.”

    “我把敌人最坏的一面展现出来，”一个凶狠且给人扣“红帽子”的同性恋律师罗伊·科恩曾对保守派专栏作家威廉·萨菲尔说，“这就是我让他们自我毁灭的方式。”

    Donald Trump, for years Mr Cohn’s client and ardent⁴ pupil, has outdone his mentor⁵: Mr Trump brings out the worst in everyone—enemy, ally and onlooker⁶ alike.

    特朗普多年来一直是科恩的客户和热情的学生，他的表现最终超过了科恩：特朗普让每个人展现了最糟糕的一面——无论是敌人、盟友还是旁观者。

    How else to explain the ecstasy⁷ of news-media speculation⁸ and vamping as Mr Trump’s arraignment⁹ approached on April 4th, the historic and unprecedented¹⁰ use of the words “historic” and “unprecedented”, the online tracker CNN created so that panting viewers could follow along as Mr Trump’s plane delivered him from Florida to New York City?

    除此之外怎么解释4月4日特朗普的传讯临近时，新闻媒体开始疯狂猜测并且大肆渲染？美国有线新闻网为了气喘吁吁的观众，在特朗普乘坐专机从佛罗里达飞往纽约的过程中跟踪报道，史无前例地使用了“历史性的”和“史无前例的”这两个词。

    And how else to explain the indictment¹¹ itself?

    还能怎么解释起诉书本身呢?

    Democrats¹² and their sympathetic commentators¹³ had been predicting that when the charges were unsealed, they would prove far darker than the familiar accusations¹⁴ that Mr Trump orchestrated a scheme in 2016 to pay hush¹⁵ money to smother¹⁶ embarrassing revelations and enhance his chance at the presidency¹⁷.

    民主党人和同情他们的评论人士一直预测，当指控被披露时，它们将比人们熟悉的指控要黑暗得多，即特朗普在2016年策划了一项计划，支付封口费，以掩盖丑事败露，并增加他担任总统的机率。

    They said the indictment would show that Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, was not relying on an unusual gambit to bootstrap what are misdemeanours under state law—falsifying business records—into felonies by linking them to violations¹⁸ of campaign-finance law.

    他们说，起诉书将表明，曼哈顿地区检察官阿尔文·布拉格并没有采取非常手段，将伪造商业记录与违反竞选筹款法联系起来，从而将州法律规定的轻罪推为重罪。

    They predicted that Mr Bragg would not be counting heavily on the testimony¹⁹ of Mr Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, whose integrity might not impress a jury since he has already pleaded guilty in the scheme and to lying to Congress.

    他们预测，布拉格不会过多依赖特朗普前律师迈克尔科恩的证词，后者的正直可能不会打动陪审团，因为特朗普已经承认设计骗局，承认向国会撒谎。

    Yet in the end the surprise was that the indictment held none.

    然而，最后令人惊讶的是，起诉书中没有任何证据。

    Of course, as Mr Bragg’s defenders²⁰ say, no American should be above the law.

    当然，正如布拉格先生的捍卫者所说，任何美国人都不应该凌驾于法律之上。

    No principle of good governance could immunise former presidents from being prosecuted²¹ for committing crimes.

    任何善政原则都不能使前总统免受犯罪的起诉。

    There is also rough justice in Mr Trump, who has so often called for opponents to be jailed, finding himself in the dock.

    特朗普身上还有一种粗暴的正义，他经常呼吁将反对者投入监狱，结果却发现自己在被告席。

    But in choosing to charge this former president with these crimes, Mr Bragg has done less to vindicate²² the rule of law than to put it at risk.

    但选择以这些罪行起诉这位前总统，与其说布拉格是在维护法治，不如说是将法治置于危险之中。

    He has smoothed Mr Trump’s path back to the Republican nomination²³ and thus to the White House.

    他为特朗普重返共和党提名、进而入主白宫铺平了道路。

    Not long ago, Mr Trump seemed to be waning²⁴ as a political force.

    不久前，特朗普的政治力量似乎正在减弱。

    Even some of his supporters worried that, as he whined²⁵ about the 2020 election and his brace²⁶ of impeachments²⁷, he came across as obsessively²⁸ pursuing stale personal grievances²⁹ rather than championing Americans’ concerns.

    就连他的一些支持者也担心，当他抱怨2020年的选举和一连串弹劾时，他给人的印象是，痴迷于追求陈腐的个人不满，而不是维护美国人关心的事。

    Fox News had turned its cameras away from him and trained them on a seemingly formidable, likely challenger, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida.

    福克斯新闻将镜头从他身上移开，对准了一个看似强大、可能成功的挑战者——佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯。

1 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。

2 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

3 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

4 ardent   

adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的

参考例句：

• He's an ardent supporter of the local football team.他是本地足球队的热情支持者。
• Ardent expectations were held by his parents for his college career.他父母对他的大学学习抱着殷切的期望。

5 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

6 onlooker   

n.旁观者，观众

参考例句：

• A handful of onlookers stand in the field watching.少数几个旁观者站在现场观看。
• One onlooker had to be restrained by police.一个旁观者遭到了警察的制止。

7 ecstasy   

n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷

参考例句：

• He listened to the music with ecstasy.他听音乐听得入了神。
• Speechless with ecstasy,the little boys gazed at the toys.小孩注视着那些玩具，高兴得说不出话来。

8 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

9 arraignment   

n.提问，传讯，责难

参考例句：

• She was remanded to juvenile detention at her arraignment yesterday. 她昨天被送回了对少年拘留在她的传讯。 来自互联网
• Wyatt asks the desk clerk which courthouse he is being transferred to for arraignment. 他向接待警员询问了马宏将在哪个法庭接受传讯。 来自互联网

10 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

11 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

12 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

15 hush   

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

参考例句：

• A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
• Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

16 smother   

vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息

参考例句：

• They tried to smother the flames with a damp blanket.他们试图用一条湿毯子去灭火。
• We tried to smother our laughter.我们强忍住笑。

17 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。

18 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

19 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

20 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

22 vindicate   

v.为…辩护或辩解，辩明；证明…正确

参考例句：

• He tried hard to vindicate his honor.他拼命维护自己的名誉。
• How can you vindicate your behavior to the teacher?你怎样才能向老师证明你的行为是对的呢？

23 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

24 waning   

adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• Her enthusiasm for the whole idea was waning rapidly. 她对整个想法的热情迅速冷淡了下来。
• The day is waning and the road is ending. 日暮途穷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

25 whined   

v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨

参考例句：

• The dog whined at the door, asking to be let out. 狗在门前嚎叫着要出去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted. 他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚、撅嘴。 来自辞典例句

26 brace   

n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备

参考例句：

• My daughter has to wear a brace on her teeth. 我的女儿得戴牙套以矫正牙齿。
• You had better brace yourself for some bad news. 有些坏消息,你最好做好准备。

27 impeachments   

n.控告( impeachment的名词复数 )；检举；弹劾；怀疑

参考例句：

• The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. 参议院独自拥有审理一切弹劾案的全权。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Clause 6:The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. 6.所有弹劾案，只有参议院有权审理。 来自互联网

28 obsessively   

ad.着迷般地，过分地

参考例句：

• Peter was obsessively jealous and his behaviour was driving his wife away. 彼得过分嫉妒的举止令他的妻子想离他而去。
• He's rude to his friends and obsessively jealous. 他对他的朋友很无礼而且嫉妒心重。

29 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》