时代周刊:美国的两极分化(1)

Polarization prevailed, again

极化再次盛行

Our tribal¹ loyalties² remain too intense for one election to change anything

我们对种族的忠诚仍然过于强烈，一次选举无法改变任何事情

On The morning of election Day, Americans faced two competing narratives³. On the one hand, there was a veritable avalanche⁴ of polling data indicating the possibility—even probability—of a blue-wave election not seen since Barack Obama's 2008 rout⁵ of John McCain.

在选举日的早上，美国人面临着两种相互矛盾的说法。一方面，大量的民意调查数据表明，自2008年巴拉克·奥巴马击败约翰·麦凯恩以来，蓝波选举的可能性——仅仅是可能性——从未出现过。

On the other hand, we had decades of data and experience telling us that America was closely (and intensely) divided. Americans are by and large entrenched⁶ in their political and cultural tribes, and virtually nothing can budge⁷ them.

另一方面，几十年的数据和经验告诉我们，美国是紧密(以及严重)分裂的。总体来说，美国人在他们的政治和文化种族中根深蒂固，几乎没有什么能让他们动摇。

As the votes started to roll in, and the hopes of a blue-wave election dissipated, the electoral outcome grew momentarily cloudy just as the underlying⁸ national realities grew ever more clear. Once again, the polls were wrong. America remains⁹ deeply polarized, few voters are truly persuadable, and angry gridlock will likely dominate Washington.

随着选票滚滚而来，蓝波选举的希望逐渐消散，选举结果暂时变得阴云密布，而潜在的国家现实却越来越清晰。民意调查又一次错了。美国的两极分化仍然很深，很少有选民是真正可以说服的，愤怒的僵局很可能会主导华盛顿。

Rarely in American history has so much happened and still changed so little. In the past year alone, the House impeached¹⁰ the President; a pandemic killed more than 232,000 Americans and seriously sickened countless¹¹ more; we endured a historic economic collapse¹²; and a shocking act of police brutality¹³ in Minneapolis ripped the scabs off America's racial divisions, leading to protests and civil unrest in cities and towns from coast to coast.

在美国历史上，发生很多事情而变化却又很小的情况是很少见的。仅在过去一年，众议院弹劾了总统，一场新冠导致23.2万多美国人死亡以及更多人严重患病，我们还经历了历史性的经济崩溃，明尼阿波利斯市令人震惊的警察暴行撕裂了美国种族分裂的伤疤，引发了全国各地城镇的抗议和内乱。

Any one of those events would be historic and traumatic. All of them together have rendered 2020 uniquely painful for the American public. Yet politically, it's remarkable¹⁴ how these seismic¹⁵ events have led to very little political change.

这些事件每一件都是历史性的，每一件都具备杀伤力。所有这些事情加在一起，使得2020年成为了美国公众无比痛苦的一年。但在政治方面值得注意的是，这些大事几乎没有给政治带来什么变化。

1 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

2 loyalties   

n.忠诚( loyalty的名词复数 )；忠心；忠于…感情；要忠于…的强烈感情

参考例句：

• an intricate network of loyalties and relationships 忠诚与义气构成的盘根错节的网络
• Rows with one's in-laws often create divided loyalties. 与姻亲之间的矛盾常常让人两面为难。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 narratives   

记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分

参考例句：

• Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning. 结婚一向是许多小说的终点，然而也是一个伟大的开始。
• This is one of the narratives that children are fond of. 这是孩子们喜欢的故事之一。

4 avalanche   

n.雪崩，大量涌来

参考例句：

• They were killed by an avalanche in the Swiss Alps.他们在瑞士阿尔卑斯山的一次雪崩中罹难。
• Higher still the snow was ready to avalanche.在更高处积雪随时都会崩塌。

5 rout   

n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮

参考例句：

• The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
• The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。

6 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

7 budge   

v.移动一点儿；改变立场

参考例句：

• We tried to lift the rock but it wouldn't budge.我们试图把大石头抬起来，但它连动都没动一下。
• She wouldn't budge on the issue.她在这个问题上不肯让步。

8 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 impeached   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

12 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

13 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

14 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

15 seismic   

a.地震的，地震强度的

参考例句：

• Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves.地震产生两种地震波。
• The latest seismic activity was also felt in northern Kenya.肯尼亚北部也感觉到了最近的地震活动。