2019年经济学人 南非新任总统是否能带来光亮时刻(1)

 

South Africa

南非

Light-bulb moment

开灯时刻

Cyril Ramaphosa has made a good start. But to beat corruption¹, he must relax state control of business 

西里尔·拉马福萨开了个好头。但是要打击腐败，他必须放松国家对企业的控制

Eskom, South Africa’s state-owned electricity monopoly, is in crisis. So said Cyril Ramaphosa, the country’s president, in his annual “state of the nation” speech on February 7th. He was not exaggerating. Four days later cities were plunged³ into darkness as South Africa endured its biggest blackout ever. Some 40%of its total capacity was switchedoff, forcing mines and factories to close and all but the wealthiest to reach for candles. It was an undignified end to Mr Ramaphosa’s first year in office

南非国家电力公司Eskom正处于危机之中。国家主席西里尔·拉马福萨在2月7日的年度“国家状态”演讲中表示。他没有夸大其词。四天后，南非遭遇了有史以来最严重的停电，城市陷入一片黑暗。大约40%的总产能被关闭，矿山和工厂迫使被关闭，除了富翁以外，所有人都去买蜡烛。拉马福萨第一年任期就这样不圆满地结束了。

plunge² into 使突然陷入; 突然陷入

The government's political and economic reforms threaten to plunge the country into chaos⁴.

该政府的政治和经济改革有可能使这个国家陷入混乱之中。

South Africans had grown used to power cuts under his predecessor⁵, Jacob Zuma, whose cronies looted and mismanaged nearly everything the state controls. Mr Zuma hollowed out institutions, appointed crooks⁶ and liars⁷ to senior jobs and ensured that the watchdogs who are supposed to stop corruption were muzzled⁸. Some state-owned firms, such as Eskom and South African Airways⁹, were bled so dry that their debts threaten the stability of South African banks and even the country’s credit rating. South Africans expect better from Mr Ramaphosa. Will he live up to his promises?

在上任总统雅各布?祖玛的领导下，南非人已经习惯了停电。祖玛的亲信几乎掠夺和霸权所有国有机构。祖马掏空了机构，任命骗子和说谎者担任高级职位，并让那些本应阻止腐败的监管机构受到钳制。一些国有企业，如Eskom和南非航空公司，由于血本无归，其债务威胁到南非银行的稳定，甚至该国的信用评级。而南非人对拉马福萨期望更高。他会履行诺言吗?

He has made a good start, cleaning out the boards of state-owned companies and appointing watchdogs with teeth and the inclination¹⁰ to use them. Shamila Batohi, a tough lawyer from the International Criminal Court in The Hague, recently started work as the country’s chief prosecutor¹¹. A judicial¹² commission into allegations of “state capture” under Mr Zuma has heard riveting¹³ testimony¹⁴ about how firm sallegedly funnelled¹⁵ cash to politicians for state contracts. One minister’s daughter was said to have crashed so many freebie sports cars that she was offered driving lessons, too.

他已经开了个好头，洗牌国有企业董事会，任命有能力、愿意效力的监管机构。来自海牙国际刑事法院的强硬律师萨米拉·巴托依最近开始担任该国首席检察官。祖马领导下的一个调查“国家俘获”指控的司法委员会听取了很有信服力的证词，内容坚定认为国家合同向政客们输送现金。据说，一位部长的女儿撞坏了很多免费的跑车，以至于被迫上了驾驶课。

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 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

3 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

4 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

5 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

6 crooks   

n.骗子( crook的名词复数 )；罪犯；弯曲部分；（牧羊人或主教用的）弯拐杖v.弯成钩形( crook的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The police are getting after the crooks in the city. 警察在城里追捕小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cops got the crooks. 警察捉到了那些罪犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 liars   

说谎者( liar的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The greatest liars talk most of themselves. 最爱自吹自擂的人是最大的说谎者。
• Honest boys despise lies and liars. 诚实的孩子鄙视谎言和说谎者。

8 muzzled   

给（狗等）戴口套( muzzle的过去式和过去分词 )； 使缄默，钳制…言论

参考例句：

• The newspapers were effectively muzzled by strict censorship laws. 严厉的新闻审查法有效地使那些报纸沉默了下来。
• Whenever in the street our dog is muzzled. 每当上街时，我们的狗总是戴上嘴套。

9 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

10 inclination   

n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好

参考例句：

• She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。
• I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。

11 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

12 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

13 riveting   

adj.动听的，令人着迷的，完全吸引某人注意力的；n.铆接（法）

参考例句：

• I find snooker riveting though I don't play myself.虽然我自己不打斯诺克，但是我觉得它挺令人着迷。
• To my amazement,I found it riveting.但令我惊讶的是，我发现它的吸引人处。

14 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

15 funnelled   

漏斗状的

参考例句：

• He secretly funnelled credit-card information to counterfeiters. 他偷偷地把信用卡信息传递给造假者。
• The water funnelled through the gorge and out onto the plain. 水穿过峡谷流到平原。