时代周刊:美国的两极分化(2)

Take a look at the exit polls. In 2016, Donald Trump¹ won 58% of the white vote. In 2020, he won 57%. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won 89% of the Black vote. In 2020, Joe Biden won 87%. In 2016, Clinton won 66% of the Hispanic vote. In 2020, Biden won 66%. Yes, the total margins² adjusted very slightly—and those slight adjustments can make the difference between winning and losing in closely divided swing states—but the overall message was crystal clear. Our tribal³ loyalties⁴ remain intense.

看看出口民调吧。2016年，唐纳德·特朗普赢得了58%的白人选票。2020年，他赢得57%的选票。2016年，希拉里·克林顿赢得了89%的黑人选票。2020年，乔·拜登赢得了87%的选票。2016年，克林顿赢得了66%的拉美裔选票。2020年，拜登赢得了66%的选票。是的，整体差距的变化非常微小——这些微小的变化会在两党势均力敌的摇摆州造成输赢的差别——但总基调是非常清晰的，即我们对种族的忠诚仍然很强烈。

It's worth noting here the role of the Electoral College and the Senate. It's virtually certain that the GOP has lost the popular vote for the seventh time in the past eight presidential elections, yet at the same time, it has no real reason to believe that either the presidency⁵ or the Senate is slipping from its grasp. The result is a sense of increasing political frustration⁶ from a majority of the nation, with no real path to reform the system.

值得注意的是选举团和参议院的作用。几乎可以肯定的是，共和党在过去八届总统选举中第七次失去了普选，但与此同时，我们并没有真正的理由相信总统或者参议院能够从共和党的掌控中消失。其结果就是，由于没有真正的改革途径，美国大多数人会有越来越强烈的政治挫败感。

And so the nation's politics looks like a version of trench⁷ warfare⁸, where massive effort is expended⁹ to achieve the most incremental¹⁰ gains and the costs of stalemate only escalate¹¹. Those emotional costs may well be the most consequential¹². As the Pew Research Center has noted¹³, partisan¹⁴ antipathy¹⁵ is growing "more intense, more personal." A supermajority of Democrats¹⁶ and Republicans view their opponents as "more closedminded." A supermajority of Republicans view Democrats as "more unpatriotic." But data is inadequate¹⁷ to capture the pain and intensity¹⁸ of human feelings. Our social media timelines are full of stories of broken relationships and fractured families. Many of us can tell stories of old friendships grown cold.

所以，美国的政治看起来就像是一场堑壕战，要付出巨大的努力来获得最大的增量收益，而陷入僵局的代价只会越来越大，其中情感上的代价可能是最为重要的。正如皮尤研究中心所指出的那样，党派反感正变得“越来越强烈，越来越个人化”。绝大多数的民主党人和共和党人认为他们的对手“更保守”。绝大多数共和党人认为民主党人“更不爱国”。但数据不足以捕捉人类情感的痛苦和强烈程度。我们的社交媒体时间线充满了破裂的关系和破裂的家庭故事。我们很多人都能讲述旧日友谊逐渐冷淡的故事。

The presidency may change hands, but the fundamental reality of American politics and culture remains¹⁹ the same. Our nation is deeply divided, our partisans²⁰ are very angry, and there is no immediate²¹ prospect²² for change.

总统职位可能会易手，但美国政治和文化的基本现实依然如旧。我们的国家已经严重分裂，我们的党派非常愤怒，而且目前还没有改变的希望。

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 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

3 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。

4 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》

5 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。

6 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

7 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

8 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

9 expended   

v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽

参考例句：

• She expended all her efforts on the care of home and children. 她把所有精力都花在料理家务和照顾孩子上。
• The enemy had expended all their ammunition. 敌人已耗尽所有的弹药。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 incremental   

adj.增加的

参考例句：

• For logic devices, the incremental current gain is very important. 对于逻辑器件来说，提高电流增益是非常重要的。 来自辞典例句
• By using an incremental approach, the problems involving material or geometric nonlinearity have been solved. 借应用一种增量方法，已经解决了包括材料的或几何的非线性问题。 来自辞典例句

11 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

12 consequential   

adj.作为结果的，间接的；重要的

参考例句：

• She was injured and suffered a consequential loss of earnings.她受了伤因而收入受损。
• This new transformation is at least as consequential as that one was.这一新的转变至少和那次一样重要。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

14 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

15 antipathy   

n.憎恶；反感，引起反感的人或事物

参考例句：

• I feel an antipathy against their behaviour.我对他们的行为很反感。
• Some people have an antipathy to cats.有的人讨厌猫。

16 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》

17 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

18 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

19 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。

20 partisans   

游击队员( partisan的名词复数 )； 党人； 党羽； 帮伙

参考例句：

• Every movement has its partisans. 每一运动都有热情的支持者。
• He was rescued by some Italian partisans. 他被几名意大利游击队员所救。

21 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

22 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。