美国国家公共电台 NPR--Sri Lankan lawmakers chose 6-time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as president

Sri Lankan lawmakers chose 6-time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as president

Transcript¹

Sri Lanka has been struggling to buy essential imports such as fuel and medicine, and feed its population. The new president has numerous challenges ahead of him.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Sri Lanka's new president will try to end up better than his predecessor² did.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Indeed. The new president is the former prime minister. His name is Ranil Wickremesinghe, and he takes over one week after the former president fled the country. Last week, protesters crowded the presidential mansion³, celebrated⁴ the old president's departure, even swam in his pool. They were demonstrating against a shortage of essentials, like food, medicine and fuel.

INSKEEP: Reporter Raksha Kumar is following this story from nearby India. Welcome to the program.

RAKSHA KUMAR, BYLINE⁵: Thanks, Steve.

INSKEEP: How did the new president get the job?

KUMAR: Well, Sri Lanka's parliament voted in the acting⁶ president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, as their new president. But the problem is that this is exactly what the protesters did not want. Now, primarily because he was known to be close to the former president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who, as you said, was forced to flee. And Wickremesinghe will remain in office, at least in theory, until 2024, which was the end of Rajapaksa's term.

INSKEEP: You said, at least in theory, meaning that there might be some doubt as to whether he can endure the protesters.

KUMAR: Yeah. I mean, protests are reportedly under way in certain parts of Colombo and certain other parts of Sri Lanka. I spoke⁷ to some of the protesters, and they were extremely unhappy with the decision that their parliament has taken. They are voicing their displeasure on social media, as we can see. And they are promising⁸ further chaos⁹.

INSKEEP: And this is a guy who has been part of the government for many years prior, even if he was not president previously¹⁰. If he manages to stay in the job, if he manages to calm the streets enough to do something, what is it that he needs to do to address the wrecked¹¹ economy?

KUMAR: You're right. Wickremesinghe has been the prime minister of the country for six terms, so he is no newbie in the office. But what he needs to do - experts in Sri Lanka and in other parts of South Asia that I spoke to were saying that he needs to liaise with the International Monetary¹² Fund. And if the IMF pitches in with their help, then other countries might pitch in, too. So he would need to liaise with them as well - Japan, China, etc. - who are actually waiting to see if the IMF trusts the country's leadership. The IMF, of course, will, you know, come to the aid of any country only on certain conditions. So it would be his job to bring in austerity measures. So this means that he might further alienate¹³ the already alienated¹⁴ population.

INSKEEP: How does this economic and political crisis in Sri Lanka fit in with what's going on throughout the region that you cover, South Asia?

KUMAR: Well, 1 in 4 people in the world lives in South Asia. So any blow to the economies of this region will have lasting¹⁵ effects on millions of people across the region. And that is to say that Sri Lanka's crisis is not an isolated¹⁶ one. There are several other countries that are down the similar trajectory¹⁷. So last week, Pakistan reached an agreement with the IMF to resume its loan program. So they were forced to raise fuel and electricity prices. And the country's economy is not in a great shape at all. The Maldives has actually seen a tremendous rise in public debt. Nepal has cut imports of luxury goods, you know, to save on their foreign exchange. So as a whole, the region is in crisis.

INSKEEP: Country after country. Reporter Raksha Kumar, thanks so much.

KUMAR: Thanks, Steve. Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 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。

3 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

4 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

9 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。

10 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。

11 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

12 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

13 alienate   

vt.使疏远，离间；转让(财产等)

参考例句：

• His attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith.他离间那两个朋友的企图失败了，因为他们彼此完全信任。
• We'd better not alienate ourselves from the colleagues.我们最好还是不要与同事们疏远。

14 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

16 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

17 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。