纽约时报 可怕的控告指向沙特王子 “沙漠达沃斯”因此蒙尘(1)

Saudi Prince's Showcase Tarnished¹ by a Grisly Report

可怕的控告指向沙特王子 “沙漠达沃斯”因此蒙尘

By Mark Landler and Kate Kelly

文/马克·兰德勒，凯特·凯利

The participants nicknamed it “Davos in the Desert,”

参与者给这次会议起了个昵称——“沙漠达沃斯，”

which captures the lofty ambitions of the annual investor² conference scheduled to convene³ in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this month.

这一昵称恰好说明了本月计划在沙特利雅得召开的年度投资者会议有着远大的抱负。

Initially⁴ planned as an intimate gathering⁵, it grew quickly in size and scope,

原本计划只作亲密聚会的会议规模和范围迅速扩大，

and the inaugural⁶ meeting last year reflected the determination of its host, Crown Prince Mohammed bin⁷ Salman, to be a player on the world stage.

去年召开的首次会议便反映了其主持人穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼王子登上世界舞台的决心。

In keeping with Muslim practice, no alcohol was served.

为了遵从穆斯林的习俗，会议期间没有提供酒精饮料。

Waiters roamed the vast, opulent Ritz-Carlton Hotel, offering pale Saudi coffee and exotic fruit drinks.

服务员漫步在宽敞豪华的丽思卡尔顿酒店，为嘉宾们提供淡淡的沙特咖啡和充满异域风情的果汁。

Outside the hotel, female executives kept their arms and legs covered.

在酒店外，女领导人们便将自己的双腿和双臂遮了起来。

But the gathering was an extravagant⁸ embodiment of Crown Prince Mohammed’s dream to modernize⁹ Saudi Arabia and wean it off its reliance on oil by 2030.

然而，这次集会极尽奢华地体现了穆罕默德王储实现沙特阿拉伯社会的现代化，并使其在2030年前摆脱对石油的依赖的梦想。

Speaking on stage to the Fox Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo,

在台上接受“福克斯商业新闻网”主持人玛丽亚·巴蒂罗姆的采访时，

the prince said Saudi Arabia “and all of its projects and programs can reach new horizons in the world.”

王子说沙特阿拉伯“及其所有项目和计划都可以在世界舞台上迈向新的高度。”

Then he presented his blueprint¹⁰ for Neom, a $500 billion planned city that would rise from the sands —

之后他介绍了他设计的Neom蓝图，这是一个将耗资5000亿美元打造的沙漠城市——

a futuristic Xanadu of high-tech¹¹ jobs and robot workers.

一个以高科技岗位和机器人员工为特色的未来乌托邦。

Last week, that vision collided with the brutal¹² realities of the Middle East —

上周，这一愿景与中东的残酷现实发生了冲突——

a swirl¹³ of allegations that Crown Prince Mohammed’s family ordered the murder of a Saudi journalist in Turkey.

一连串指控都称穆罕默德王储的家人曾下令在土耳其谋杀一名沙特记者。

The ensuing furor¹⁴ has tarnished the future king’s reputation and left his conference in tatters, as foreign investors¹⁵ confront the dark side of his Arabian dreams.

这些指控激起的民愤不仅玷污了这位未来国王的声誉，还让他主持的这场会议因为外国投资者看清了他的阿拉伯梦的阴暗面而变得支离破碎。

If last year’s conference served as a grand coming-out party for Crown Prince Mohammed,

如果说去年的会议是穆罕默德王储举行的一次盛大的进场派对，

this year’s gathering is a symbol of the West’s deepening disillusionment with the young leader.

那么，今年的聚会就是西方对这位年轻领导人进一步的幻灭的象征。

No longer the bold reformer bent¹⁶ on modernizing¹⁷ his kingdom — a favorite of President Trump¹⁸ and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner —

如今，他已不再是那个下定决心要让他的王国实现现代化——朗普总统和他的女婿杰瑞德库什纳的最爱——的大胆改革之人，

he is now regarded as an impulsive¹⁹, unreliable autocrat²⁰ who falls back on crude tactics to crush dissent²¹.

而成了人们眼中的一个冲动而不可靠，依靠粗暴的策略来粉碎异议者的独裁分子。

The grisly, if unconfirmed, reports about the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, have prompted a growing list of attendees and sponsors to bail²² out of the Riyadh meeting.

关于记者贾马尔·卡尔佐吉的那些可怕，尽管还未被证实，的报道，已经让越来越多的与会者和赞助商退出了利雅得会议。

And by week’s end, The New York Times and every other major Western news media organization, except Fox Business Network, had canceled its participation²³.

截至周末，《纽约时报》和除“福克斯商业新闻网”之外的其他主要西方新闻媒体组织都已放弃了各自的参会资格。

1 tarnished   

（通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏

参考例句：

• The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
• His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。

2 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

3 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

4 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

5 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

6 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

7 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

8 extravagant   

adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。

9 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。

10 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

11 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

12 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

13 swirl   

v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形

参考例句：

• The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust.汽车在一股粉红色尘土的漩涡中颠簸着快速前进。
• You could lie up there,watching the flakes swirl past.你可以躺在那儿，看着雪花飘飘。

14 furor   

n.狂热；大骚动

参考例句：

• His choice of words created quite a furor.他的措辞引起了相当大的轰动。
• The half hour lecture caused an enormous furor.那半小时的演讲引起了极大的轰动。

15 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

16 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

17 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

18 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。

19 impulsive   

adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的

参考例句：

• She is impulsive in her actions.她的行为常出于冲动。
• He was neither an impulsive nor an emotional man,but a very honest and sincere one.他不是个一冲动就鲁莽行事的人，也不多愁善感.他为人十分正直、诚恳。

20 autocrat   

n.独裁者；专横的人

参考例句：

• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。
• The nobles tried to limit the powers of the autocrat without success.贵族企图限制专制君主的权力,但没有成功。

21 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

22 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

23 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。