VOA常速英语2015--亚欧大陆的民主现状退步

Freedom House: Democracy Under Attack in Eurasia

WASHINGTON—

Democracy is under attack in Europe and Eurasia. In a new report, the non-profit, watchdog organization Freedom House says worsening corruption¹, abuses of power, and the rise of extremist parties are leaving many countries vulnerable to interference from outside actors.  

The group also says the number of countries receiving the report's worst classification has doubled over the past ten years. Also, it says 12 of the 29 countries it assessed in its new report received downgrades in their level of democracy - especially in parts of Europe and Eurasia.  And the group lays much of the blame on Russia.

欧洲和欧亚大陆的民主现状遇到攻击，自由之家称在其新报告中的29个国家中，有12个国家的民主程度在退步，尤其是欧洲和亚欧大陆部分地区，该组织认为这一现状在很大程度上要归咎于俄罗斯。

“The big story for the 2015 edition is not surprisingly Russia’s escalation² of and new forms of aggression³ internationally and domestically,” says Sylvana Habdank-Kolaczkowska, project director of the report titled "Nations in Transit⁵."

西尔瓦纳是这份名为“转型中的国家”的报告的项目负责人，“2015年报告的重点毫无疑问是俄罗斯在国际上和国内侵略行为的升级和新形态。”

The report uses various factors like the electoral process and independent media in making its determinations.  It says Russia’s ongoing⁶ conflict with Ukraine threatens both.

这份报告使用选举过程和独立媒体等各种因素来确定其观点，称俄罗斯与乌克兰持续不断的冲突威胁到这两个方面。

“Russia is a driver of the decline in Eurasia, particularly in areas of civil society, and that has really accelerated in the last few years,” says Habdank-Kolaczkowska.

“俄罗斯是导致亚欧大陆退步的动力，尤其是在民间团体方面，过去几年内这种退步在加速。”

But that measure of civil society – the people’s ability to gather under a common banner – is something that helps bolster⁷ Ukraine’s standing⁸ in the report, even if only to the level that existed before the regime of ousted⁹ president Viktor Yanukovych.

民间团体是人们在同一个旗帜下聚会的能力，对民间团体的衡量帮助提高了乌克兰在这份报告中的地位，即使这个水平和被废除总统维克多·亚努科维奇政权之前的水平差不多。

“Civil society was always and remains¹⁰ extremely vibrant¹¹ in Ukraine. The fact that that was the one rating that didn’t really decline under Yanukovych is something that other authoritarian¹² leaders have noticed, because they realize you can do everything else right but if you don’t crack down, people will still agitate¹³ for what they deserve,” says Habdank-Kolaczkowska.

“民间团体一直是并且仍然是乌克兰非常活跃的力量，事实上这是亚努科维奇执政期间没有下降的一个评分，其他的独裁领导人也注意到这一点，因为他们意识到你可以做其他任何事，但如果不加以镇压，人们仍然会努力争取他们应得的东西。”

Which, she says, points back to Russia’s involvement in not only the decline of other nations’ rankings but in its own as well.

她说俄罗斯的行为不仅导致其他国家评分降低，也导致本国的评分降低。

“It needs a change in the character of the leadership.  It needs a regime that is no longer aggressively against all forms of democratization,” says Habdank-Kolaczkowska.

“俄罗斯需要改变其领导人的性格，需要一个不再对各种民主咄咄逼人的政权。”

The report also slams Moscow as the lead agitator¹⁴ in Ukraine’s current crisis.

In the Balkans, according to Freedom House, four out of seven countries registered declines, including Serbia and Montenegro for threats to media independence.

In Central and Eastern Europe, the only country to register an overall score improvement was the Czech Republic, where the report said conditions calmed after political scandals and instability in 2013.

Freedom House says conditions remain "dire⁴" in Belarus, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, which had the lowest scores of the report.

Habdank-Kolaczkowska says that to counter the latest negative trends such measures, the European Union and its allies must do more to uphold democratic standards within Europe.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

3 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

4 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

5 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

7 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

10 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。

11 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

12 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

13 agitate   

vi.(for,against)煽动，鼓动；vt.搅动

参考例句：

• They sent agents to agitate the local people.他们派遣情报人员煽动当地的民众。
• All you need to do is gently agitate the water with a finger or paintbrush.你只需要用手指或刷子轻轻地搅动水。

14 agitator   

n.鼓动者；搅拌器

参考例句：

• Hitler's just a self-educated street agitator.希特勒无非是个自学出身的街头煽动家罢了。
• Mona had watched him grow into an arrogant political agitator.莫娜瞧着他成长为一个高傲的政治鼓动家。