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巴西社会不满为世界杯赛蒙上阴影

With days to go until the start of football’s (soccer’s) World Cup tournament, excitement is building in host country Brazil.  This, despite a transit¹ strike in Sao Paulo, the site of the opening match, and social discontent in parts of the country.

世界杯足球赛即将开幕了，主办国巴西到处洋溢着兴奋。但是举办开幕式的圣保罗发生了公交罢工，在巴西其地区也出现社会不满事件。

Copacabana beach, on the last Sunday before the World Cup.  Families, beachgoers and fitness lovers are strolling Copacabana’s famous seaside promenade².

在世界杯开幕前的最后一个星期天，游人以及海滩和健身爱好者们漫步在科帕卡巴纳著名的海滨公园。

Work is finishing up on the fan park where thousands will gather during the matches. An estimated 800,000 foreign visitors will join millions of Brazilians to watch 64 matches in 12 cities around the country.

公园里的设施建设接近完工，比赛期间，将有大批人聚集在这里。据估计，80万游客将同数千万巴西人一道在全国12个场地观看64场比赛。

The excitement is building, says seamstress Teresa Christina, although it was slow to start because there is a lot of popular discontent.

裁缝克里斯蒂娜说，兴奋情绪在增长，但不够快，因为有很多民众感到不满的事情。

“There is, but it’s relative. There’s a lot of disbelief because there’s a lot of violent crime," she said. "They say there’s no money for certain social needs yet there’s money for the Cup. Of course there should be a World Cup but there should be money for other things. But people need some fun, too.”

The run-up to one of the world’s greatest sporting events has been marred³ by social protests over corruption⁴ and a lack of social services. A transit strike in Sao Paulo, which is hosting Thursday’s opening match, has disrupted traffic for days.

世界最大体育赛事之一的筹备工作受到反腐抗议活动和缺乏社会服务的影响。在举办星期四开幕式比赛的圣保罗，公交系统罢工使交通中断了好几天。

The government has budgeted $11 billion for stadium and infrastructure⁵ construction. But people complain about poor public services, low pay and the high cost of living.

政府为体育场馆和基础设施建设拨款110亿美元Rio resident Alexandre Oliveira says these problems run very deep.

圣保罗居民奥利维拉说，这些问题已经根深蒂固。

“I think in these 30 days, the Cup is not really going to help," he said. "It’s more people’s mentality⁶ that will determine what happens afterwards. Maybe with the [national] elections at the end of the year [October], things will change. But these 30 days are just a seed being planted.”

圣保罗居民奥利维拉说： “我认为世界杯这30天不会有什么帮助。人们的心态更能决定以后的事态走向。可能随着今年年底举行的选举，事情会发生一些变化。但是这30天仅仅是埋下种子而已。”

Foreign visitors seem aware of the situation. Newlyweds Anne-Kathrin Hattels and her husband, Lasse, have come from Denmark for their honeymoon⁷. They say they understand the anger over the high cost of the Cup.

外国游客似乎理解这种局面。丹麦新婚夫妇安妮-凯斯琳和莱希在这里度蜜月。他们表示理解人们对世界杯赛的高昂成本所产生的不满。

“I kind of agree with that but it [the Cup] also brings a lot of tourists to the country, so they will get money from it. I know they spend a lot, but they also get a lot,” Anne-Kathrin said.

丹麦游客安妮-凯斯琳说： “我同意这种看法，但世界杯吸引了许多游客到巴西，所以巴西也挣到钱了。我知道巴西为此花了许多钱，但它也挣到许多钱。”

The protesters say they want to use the World Cup to press for change. Others say they prefer to showcase the good side of the country, its culture and its people. Many say they just want to have fun.

他们希望利用世界杯促使国家发生变化。另一些人说，他们更愿意向外展示巴西好的一面，包括其文化和人民。许多人则表示，他们只是想要乐趣。