时代周刊:反省2020 糟糕的一年(3)

Because face it: humans can often be terrible, making rash, selfish decisions at best and murdering one another at worst. Through most of 2020, to be locked inside and looking out was to feel peculiarly powerless. And even as we grew to feel more remote from the world as individuals, it also seemed that individual nations had begun to curl in on themselves, motivated by misguided notions of their own power and self-sufficiency. What does an "America first" agenda mean in a country that fails its own citizens when it comes to protecting them from a deadly virus? In the worst months of 2020, we were a nation that could barely take care of itself, let alone help anyone else through a crisis. Worse yet, we were on our way to becoming a nation that didn't want to help anyone else, even when it was in our own interest to do so. And democracy—not a badge you can earn, Scout-style, but a practice and a discipline that needs careful tending—came to seem wobbly and fragile even in places that have long professed¹ to believe in it. As if it were a previously² fashionable fad³ we'd all become tired of.

因为，面对现实吧：人类往往很可怕，最好的情况下他们会做出草率、自私的决定，最坏的情况下他们会互相残杀。我们在2020年的大部分时间里都被关在屋里，看着外面，感觉特别无力。作为个人，感觉自己离世界越来越远，似乎就连单个国家也开始蜷缩在自己的圈子里，被自己的力量和自给自足的错误观念所驱使。对于一个在保护本国公民免受致命病毒侵害方面无能为力的国家来说，“美国优先”议程意味着什么？在2020年最糟糕的几个月里，我们的国家连自己都顾不了，更不用说帮助别人度过危机了。更糟糕的是，我们正在成为一个不想帮助别人的国家，即使这样做符合我们的自身利益。民主——不是童子军式的徽章，而是一种需要小心呵护的实践和纪律——民主在那些即便长期宣称相信民主的地方也变得摇摇欲坠、不堪一击，就好像民主是一种我们都已经厌倦了的过时了的时尚。

The pages on this strange calendar just kept turning, with the menace of the pandemic bleeding through all of it. Public figures who meant a great deal to us— Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Lewis, Kobe Bryant, Chadwick Boseman—were wrested⁴ away. And in May, the killing⁵ of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis ignited righteous anger not just across the country but around the world. The ruthlessness of that act revived attention to similar outrages⁶ earlier in the year, particularly the killings⁷ of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. It also reminded us how often, throughout history, Black people had suffered similar injustices⁹, with no recourse, no means of changing the status quo. And then in August, even with the whole world watching, police in Kenosha, Wis., shot and partially¹⁰ paralyzed another Black man, Jacob Blake, as three of his children watched from the backseat of his car.

这台奇怪的日历一页一页地翻着，到处都是病毒的威胁。那些对我们很重要的公众人物——露丝·巴德·金斯伯格、约翰·刘易斯、科比·布莱恩特、查德威克·博斯曼——都被病毒夺走了。今年5月，乔治·弗洛伊德在明尼阿波利斯市被警察枪杀，引发了全国乃至全世界正义的愤怒。这一残忍行径再次引起人们对今年早些时候类似暴行的关注，尤其是对布伦娜·泰勒和艾哈迈德·阿伯里的杀害。它还提醒我们，黑人在历史上一直遭受类似的不公待遇而无力改变现状。再之后是8月，即便全世界都在关注，威斯康星州基诺沙的警察还是朝另一名黑人男子开了枪并致其瘫痪，而他的三个孩子坐在车后座目睹了这一切。

The toxic¹¹ traditions of injustice⁸ and inequality in America are no secret. A sequence of tragic¹² events finally caused more white people to wake up. Whether this heightened awareness¹³ of the racism¹⁴ that has plagued our country since its founding translates into actual change remains¹⁵ to be seen. That's just one of many question marks waiting for us in 2021 and beyond. After a year of so many changes, will we change radically¹⁶ too?

不平等和不公正是美国的一种有毒的传统，这已经不是什么秘密了。一系列的悲剧事件最终令更多的白人醒悟过来。这种对自建国以来一直困扰我国种族主义的高度认识能否转化为实际的变化还有待观察。这只是2021年及以后等待我们的众多问题中的一个。一年多经历了如此多的变化，我们也会彻底改变吗？

1 professed   

公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的

参考例句：

• These, at least, were their professed reasons for pulling out of the deal. 至少这些是他们自称退出这宗交易的理由。
• Her manner professed a gaiety that she did not feel. 她的神态显出一种她并未实际感受到的快乐。

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

3 fad   

n.时尚；一时流行的狂热；一时的爱好

参考例句：

• His interest in photography is only a passing fad.他对摄影的兴趣只是一时的爱好罢了。
• A hot business opportunity is based on a long-term trend not a short-lived fad.一个热门的商机指的是长期的趋势而非一时的流行。

4 wrested   

（用力）拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去…

参考例句：

• The usurper wrested the power from the king. 篡位者从国王手里夺取了权力。
• But now it was all wrested from him. 可是现在，他却被剥夺了这一切。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 outrages   

引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• People are seeking retribution for the latest terrorist outrages. 人们在设法对恐怖分子最近的暴行进行严惩。
• He [She] is not allowed to commit any outrages. 不能任其胡作非为。

7 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

8 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

9 injustices   

不公平( injustice的名词复数 )； 非正义； 待…不公正； 冤枉

参考例句：

• One who committed many injustices is doomed to failure. 多行不义必自毙。
• He felt confident that his injustices would be righted. 他相信他的冤屈会受到昭雪的。

10 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

11 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。

12 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

13 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

14 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

15 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。

16 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。