纽约时报 英国的抗疫路线(1)

Britain, which had stood apart from other nations in the relaxed nature of its response to the coronavirus,

面对新冠疫情，英国采取的原本是有别于其他国家的松弛态度，

hardened those measures significantly on Monday, urging people to stop going to pubs or restaurants,

到了周一，英国却突然大幅收紧防疫措施，敦促民众勿要前往酒吧、餐厅等公共场所，

and putting in place strict quarantine policies for those infected by the virus.

对已经感染的患者也推出了严格的隔离政策。

The shift, announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson after a meeting of a government crisis committee,

英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊在政府危机委员会会议后宣布了这一政策转变，

brought Britain closer in line with Italy, France and Germany,

至此，英国终于同意大利、法国，德国等

which have closed borders and shut down large parts of their countries.

已经关闭边境，封锁境内大部分地区的国家站到了同一队伍。

But Britain is still putting off some steps, most conspicuously¹ the closing of schools.

尽管如此，英国还是推迟了部分措施，尤其是关闭学校政策的落地。

With reported cases of the virus surging to 1,543, an increase of 171 in a single day,

鉴于报告确诊病例已激增至1543例，当日新增已经高达171例，

Mr. Johnson said Britain was on the cusp of a rapid spread that demanded more draconian² countermeasures.

约翰逊表示，英国已经处于疫情迅速蔓延的风口浪尖，需采取更为严厉的应对措施才行。

He likened the latest steps to the kinds of changes the British people were asked to make in wartime.

他将英国最新推出的举措比作战争年代英国人民被要求做出的那种改变。

"I can't remember anything like it in my lifetime," said Mr. Johnson,

约翰逊在首相办公室所在的唐宁街10号召开了新闻发布会，在场的还有医疗顾问和科学顾问。

flanked by his medical and scientific advisers³, at a news briefing at 10 Downing Street, the prime minister's offices.

“在我印象中，我这辈子都还没有遇到过类似的情况，”约翰逊说道。

"I don't think there's been anything like it in peacetime."

“在我看来，整个和平时期都还从未出现过这样的情况。”

The prime minister's remarks, at the first of what he said would be daily briefings,

首相在他所谓的每日例会的开场便说出了这席话，

were meant to reset⁴ the government's communication strategy,

意在重新调整政府此前的沟通策略，

which had come under fire for being muddled⁵, opaque⁶ and failing to justify⁷

因那些策略十分混乱、不透明，

why Britain was out of step with other countries facing major outbreaks.

且未能充分说明英国为何要与陷入重大疫情的其他国家步调不一致而颇受民众批评。

But the measures still left plenty of unanswered questions.

然而，这些措施仍然遗留了诸多悬而未决的问题。

The government is not ordering pubs, restaurants or clubs to close,

比如，尽管政府强烈劝阻人们不要光顾，

even though it is strongly discouraging people from patronizing them.

却并没有命令酒吧、餐馆或俱乐部关门。

While Mr. Johnson said he "emphatically" opposed public gatherings⁸, he did not ban them either.

约翰逊说他“强烈”反对公开集会，却也没有明令禁止这一行为。

1 conspicuously   

ad.明显地，惹人注目地

参考例句：

• France remained a conspicuously uneasy country. 法国依然是个明显不太平的国家。
• She figured conspicuously in the public debate on the issue. 她在该问题的公开辩论中很引人注目。

2 draconian   

adj.严苛的；苛刻的；严酷的；龙一样的

参考例句：

• You can't expect the people to obey such draconian regulations.你不能指望人民服从如此严苛的规定。
• The city needs a draconian way of dealing with robbers.这个城市需要一个严苛的办法来对付强盗。

3 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

4 reset   

v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物

参考例句：

• As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。
• He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。

5 muddled   

adj.混乱的；糊涂的；头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的过去式)；使糊涂；对付，混日子

参考例句：

• He gets muddled when the teacher starts shouting. 老师一喊叫他就心烦意乱。
• I got muddled up and took the wrong turning. 我稀里糊涂地拐错了弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 opaque   

adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的

参考例句：

• The windows are of opaque glass.这些窗户装着不透明玻璃。
• Their intentions remained opaque.他们的意图仍然令人费解。

7 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

8 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。