Report on Gov't Public Service Capacity Controversial

　　A prestigious¹ Chinese university has recently released a report, assessing the public service capacity of 19 municipal governments across China.

 

　　The government of southern China's Guangzhou city ranks top of the list.

 

　　The result has aroused controversy², as some experts have cast doubts on its authority, suggesting the survey is unilateral and not comprehensive enough.

 

　　CRI's Wei Tong has more.

 

　　The report, issued by China's Sun Yat-sen University was conducted on the basis of three indices, which include the governments' desire and capacity in dealing³ with public demands, the quality of the public service and their efficiency in responding to public opinion.

 

　　The top three cities whose governments have performed the best are Guangzhou in southern China, Nanjing and Ningbo in eastern China. However, Beijing and Shanghai are lag far behind.

 

　　The survey also used the popularity of the government's microblog, an online social network,as an indicator⁴ in its performance evaluation⁵.

 

　　The report shows that the microblog for the Guangzhou government has received comments from over two million bloggers, far outnumbering that of other surveyed cities. This is one of the primary factors enabling Guangzhou to lead the ranking.

 

　　However, according to Zhou Shaojie, a senior researcher from Tsinghua University, judging a government's service ability by the number of microbloggers it has is subjective⁶. It cannot be relied upon to provide conclusive⁷ information.

 

　　"Opinions appearing on microblog cannot be guaranteed as impartial⁸ and unbiased, since many cynical⁹ microbloggers use the online platform to unleash¹⁰ their emotions, especially lopsided resentment¹¹ or hatred¹² on society. What's more, the private microblogs of some movie stars have much more followers¹³ than the government ones. So directly associating the number of followers with the government's performance is not justifiable¹⁴."

 

　　Zhou Shaojie suggests the survey be conducted by door-to-door with written questionnaires to make sure the collected opinions are comprehensive.

 

　　The report will later be delivered to all the 19 surveyed municipal governments.

 

　　Yao Yongling, associate professor at the Renmin University of China, however, notes the report can only serve as a reminder¹⁵ to governments since it cannot be enforced by law.

 

　　"In some western countries, the mayor of a city is hired by the city council. Their relationship is like the manager of a company. City residents voice their demands to the city council, which will then set targets for the mayor to fulfill¹⁶.

 

　　Assessment¹⁷ of what the government has accomplished¹⁸ is carried out through legal process, rather than via an academic report. The report cannot be compulsorily¹⁹ implemented²⁰, so it may not be effective in spurring governments to better serve the public."

 

　　But professor He Yanling from Sun Yat-sen University, who led the survey of the report, argues that competition has been brought in by making comparisons among the city governments, providing an impetus²¹ for them to improve.

 

　　"I believe that in the name of competition, the municipal governments will be motivated to enhance its public service by improving living conditions for the residents. We need to build a city into an eco-friendly homeland instead of just an economic engine. We can only achieve this by raising the governments' capacity to serve."

 

　　He Yanling adds the governments should not care too much about rankings, but rather focus on trying to serve the public well, as the people's servants.

 

　　For CRI, I am Wei Tong.

1 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

5 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

6 subjective   

a.主观(上)的，个人的

参考例句：

• The way they interpreted their past was highly subjective. 他们解释其过去的方式太主观。
• A literary critic should not be too subjective in his approach. 文学评论家的看法不应太主观。

7 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

8 impartial   

adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的

参考例句：

• He gave an impartial view of the state of affairs in Ireland.他对爱尔兰的事态发表了公正的看法。
• Careers officers offer impartial advice to all pupils.就业指导员向所有学生提供公正无私的建议。

9 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

10 unleash   

vt.发泄，发出；解带子放开

参考例句：

• They hope to create allies to unleash against diseases,pests,and invasive species.他们希望创造出一些新群体来对付疾病、害虫和一些有侵害性的物种。
• Changing water levels now at times unleash a miasma of disease from exposed sewage.如今，大坝不时地改变水位，从暴露的污水释放出了疾病瘴气。

11 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

12 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

13 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

14 justifiable   

adj.有理由的，无可非议的

参考例句：

• What he has done is hardly justifiable.他的所作所为说不过去。
• Justifiable defense is the act being exempted from crimes.正当防卫不属于犯罪行为。

15 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

16 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

17 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

18 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

19 compulsorily   

强迫地，强制地

参考例句：

• Five of the company's senior managers have been made compulsorily redundant. 公司的高级经理中有5位已经被强制性地裁掉。
• Imposing discharge fee is a compulsorily economic measure in environmental management. 排污收费是国家环境管理的重要经济手段，具有强制性。

20 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

21 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。