Overthrowing Rulers is Not Enough

    The president of the World Bank cautioned on Monday that much remains¹ to be done to improve the economies in countries in the Middle East and North Africa where popular uprisings have removed repressive leaders. Regional experts at a conference(会议,讨论) sponsored by the World Bank discussed recent events in the Arab world.
    World Bank President Robert Zoellick noted² that many of the uprisings in Arab countries were triggered by social and economic grievances³.
    He cited lack of access to good jobs and economic opportunities. He also cited lack of good governance, not enough transparent⁴ and accountable public policy institutions and few places where "citizens' voices can be heard and counted.""While many of these issues are complex and will take time to be addressed, they are nevertheless, issues that will not go away just because one government fell, or one leader replaced another," he said.
    Zoellick, a former U.S. trade representative under President George W. Bush, added that the World Bank had produced a number of reports on governance, youth unemployment, education and other problems in the region.  "But the record of action has been spotty. Like others, we also have much to learn," he said.
    Much of the discussion that followed dealt with the role of social media in the uprisings, and why so few people predicted them.
    Samer Shahata of Georgetown University recalled that, from 2004 until the beginning of this year, Egypt was being lauded⁵ for its economic growth rates and levels of foreign investment. "But in fact anyone who would have visited the country for two weeks during this period would have seen a different Egypt," he said.
    That different Egypt, he said, was marked by high inflation, increasing income inequality and what he called "a tsunami⁶" of labor⁷ and economic unrest.
    Reema Ali, a lawyer at the Washington firm of Ali and Partners which specializes in Middle East law, said that in Arab countries, a culture of "us and them" still separates the government from the people. "In the Middle East, the average person really thinks that he has opinions about very big, general foreign policy issues, but does not have an opinion about the traffic light that goes into his street because there is no mechanism⁸ for him to do so," she saidShe said Arab countries need to develop a body of administrative⁹ law like in the West. She said that by regulating lower and middle levels of government, it gives ordinary citizens a feeling of empowerment in their daily lives.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

5 lauded   

v.称赞，赞美( laud的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They lauded the former president as a hero. 他们颂扬前总统为英雄。 来自辞典例句
• The nervy feats of the mountaineers were lauded. 登山者有勇气的壮举受到赞美。 来自辞典例句

6 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

9 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。