经济学人:纽约政治 褪去光环的西尔弗

 　　New York politics

　　纽约政治

　　Tarnished¹ Silver

　　褪去光环的西尔弗

　　A prosecutor² takes on New York state's culture of corruption³

　　一个检查官呈现出纽约腐败文化

　　The six-million-dollar-man

　　拥有六百万美元的男人

　　“CORRUPTION'S such an old song that we can sing along in harmony/ And nowhere is it stronger than inAlbany.” These lines from “Hamilton”, a musical about Alexander Hamilton now playing inNew York, got an especially loud laugh on January 22nd. That morning Sheldon Silver, the long-serving and powerful Speaker of theNew Yorkstate Assembly, was arrested by the FBI and indicted⁴ in a federal court on five corruption charges. Each charge could carry a sentence of 20 years.

　　“腐败是一首如此古老的歌曲，以至于我们可以独自娓娓唱来，并且这里的腐败之风比奥尔巴尼更强。”这些句子来自于“汉密尔顿”，一个有关亚历山大·汉密尔顿的音乐剧1月22日就在在纽约上演，并反响强烈。那天早晨，长期就职于议会并且拥有强大发言权的纽约州众议院议长谢尔顿·西尔弗，被美国联邦调查局逮捕，并在联邦法庭上被指控五项腐败事实，每项罪名均面临最高20年刑期。

　　褪去光环的西尔弗 可可英语.jpg

　　According to the complaint, Mr Silver, a Democrat⁵ who has served in the Assembly for 38 years and has been Speaker for 21, received more than $6mfrom two law firms. This included $700,000 in“bribes and kickbacks” for inducing “real-estate developers with business before the state” to use a particular property-law firm; $5.3mfrom Weitz and Luxenberg, a law firm that handles personal-injury cases.

　　根据投诉，在议会任职了38年并且担任发言人21年的民主党人西尔弗先生，从两个律师事务所收受了超过600万美元的资金。这其中包括，通过给一个律师事务所介绍房地产商而获得的70万美元回扣。以及从一家处理人身伤害案件的法律公司韦茨卢森博格那里获得的530万美金。

　　Among other things, he allegedly directed state grants to a doctor who then referred clients to an unsuspecting Weitz for asbestos lawsuits⁶. Preet Bharara, the prosecutor, said that Mr Silver had amassed⁷ “a tremendous personal fortune—through the abuse of his political power”. He denies it all. The law firms are not accused of wrongdoing.

　　在其他方面，他涉嫌直接将州资金支持给予一位医生，而这位医生后来又涉及了石棉诉讼案。检察官普里特·巴拉拉说，西尔弗已经“通过滥用他的政治权利积累了巨额的个人财富。”他否认了这一切，这个律师事务所没有因为任何不法行为而受到指控。

　　In 2011 Citizens Union, a watchdog, reported that legislators in Albanywere more likely to leave office under a cloud than in a coffin⁸. Since 2000, 28 have left in disgrace and four have been indicted. The New York Post reported that Mr Silver regularly sent a $100 cheque to the campaign fund of a former district attorney. The story goes that if the cheque was cashed, Mr Silver would joke that he knew he was not in any trouble.

　　在2011年，监督者公民联盟，报道说奥尔巴尼的议员活在强权政治的阴影下而不是走向垮台。自2000以来，28位立法者已经引咎辞职并且有四位已经被起诉。纽约邮报报道，西尔弗定期会向前检察官的竞选基金发送一张100美元的支票。故事是这样的，如果支票兑现，他会开玩笑说他知道他不会有任何的麻烦。

　　That cavalier attitude was hardly surprising, given the power he had. Most legislators were firmly under his thumb. He could advance or kill legislation with a nod. Sensible ideas like congestion⁹ pricing did not even make it to the Assembly floor. Power inAlbanyis entrenched¹⁰ in the hands of the governor, the Senate majority leader (usually a Republican) and the Assembly Speaker (usually a Democrat). These “three men in a room” often give their underlings just a few hours to review bills the size of encyclopedias¹¹; lawmakers then vote as they are told, for fear of being denied money for their districts.

　　那傲慢的态度并不奇怪，因为他有权力。大多数的议员们坚定地服从于他。他可以轻松地将立法提前或者扼杀。诸如堵车费这样的明智想法是不可能进入议会议题中的。在奥尔巴尼，权力总是牢牢掌握在参议院多数党领袖（通常是共和党人）和议会议长（通常是民主党）这些执政者手中。“三个人在一个房间里“，经常只会给下属只有小时的时间来审查各式各样的票据，议员们因为担心其所在的区域失去加薪机会而不得不按照他们的指示投票。

　　The once-obedient rank-and-file of the Assembly at first appeared to stand by their leader, but then abandoned him. On January 27th they announced that a new Speaker would be appointed in February. The Assembly is now in chaos¹², while lawmakers elbow each other aside for his job. Meanwhile, important budget negotiations¹³ simply have to wait.

　　这个井然有序的议会一开始由他们的领导者建立，而领导者在后来却被议会遗弃。1月27日，他们发表声明称将在二月份选出新的发言人。议会现在一片混乱，议员们互相推诿工作。同时，重要的预算谈判也只能等待了。

　　The affair has caused some to call for term limits for lawmakers. Such calls have been heard before, but most changes have been token. During his campaign for governor ofNew Yorkin 2010, Andrew Cuomo vowed¹⁴ to clean upAlbany. But his anti-corruption law and an ethics¹⁵ task-force did not go far enough. Later Mr Cuomo went one better, setting up the Moreland Commission to root out public corruption. But he disbanded it last March with, curiously¹⁶ enough, Mr Silver's enthusiastic backing.

　　该事件也引起了一些有关对国会议员的任期进行限制的呼吁。这样的倡议在之前就已经提出来过电话已经听说过，但绝大部分的改变已经被实施。2010年，在他竞选纽约州州长的期间内，安德鲁发誓要肃清奥尔巴尼。但是他的反腐败法和道德工作推动力远远还不够。后来科莫想到了一个更好的办法，建立莫兰委员会来根除社会腐败。但奇怪的是，在三月份他就在西尔弗的大力支持下将委员解散了。译者:王巍

　　1.accuse of 控告；指责；指控

　　I hate it when people accuse us of that.

　　我讨厌别人就那件事指责我们。

　　Some people accuse the tax inspectors¹⁷ of bully-boy tactics.

　　有些人指控税务稽查员使用了流氓手段。

　　2.appear to 似乎，好像

　　By all accounts, Rodger would appear to be a fine fellow.

　　据说，罗杰是个好小伙。

　　Most doctors appear to recognize homeopathy as a legitimate¹⁸ form of medicine.

　　大多数医生似乎都接受顺势疗法是一种合理的医疗手段。

　　3.call for 需要；提倡；要求

　　A call for a vote of no-confidence in the president was rejected.

　　对总统进行不信任投票的请求被否决。

　　The Finance Minister has renewed his call for lower interest rates.

　　财政部长再次呼吁降低利率。

　　4.according to 根据；按照；依照；依据

　　The route that the boatmen choose varies according to the water level.

　　船夫选择的路线会随水位的变化而有所不同。

　　He advocates streaming children, and educating them according to their needs.

　　他提倡把学生按能力分班，因需施教。

1 tarnished   

（通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏

参考例句：

• The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
• His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。

2 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。

3 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。

4 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

7 amassed   

v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He amassed a fortune from silver mining. 他靠开采银矿积累了一笔财富。
• They have amassed a fortune in just a few years. 他们在几年的时间里就聚集了一笔财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

9 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

10 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

11 encyclopedias   

n.百科全书， （某一学科的）专科全书( encyclopedia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• However, some encyclopedias can be found on the Web. 同时，一些百科全书能也在网络上找到。 来自互联网
• Few people think of encyclopedias as creative enterprises; but they are. 鲜少有人想到百科全书是创意的工作，但它确实是。 来自互联网

12 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。

13 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

14 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

15 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

16 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

17 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。