2021年经济学人 总能逆风翻盘的欧盟怎么折在了疫情上?(1)

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The pandemic in Europe

欧洲疫情

What has gone wrong?

问题究竟出在哪里？

The European Union has handled covid-19 poorly. Why, and what does it mean for the union?

欧盟在新冠疫情上处理不力。为何如此？这对欧盟又意味着什么？

Look around the world at the devastation¹ wrought² by the covid-19 pandemic and something odd stands out. The European Union is rich, scientifi?cally advanced and endowed with excellent health-care and welfare systems and a political consensus³ tilted⁴ strongly towards looking after its citizens. Yet during the pandemic it has stumbled.

环顾新冠疫情对世界各地造成的破坏，一些奇怪的现象十分引人注目。富有的欧盟科学发达，拥有完善的医疗和福利体系以及强烈倾向于体恤其公民的政治共识。然而，疫情期间的欧盟却步履维艰。

In the brutal⁵ and blunt league table of fatalities⁶, the EU as a whole has done less badly than Britain or America, with 138 recorded deaths per 100,000, compared with 187 and 166 respectively— though Hungary, the Czech Republic and Belgium have all fared worse than either. However, it is in the grip of a vicious surge fuelled by a deadly variant⁷. That underlines the peril⁸ of Europe’s low rate of vaccination⁹. According to our tracker, 58% of British adults have had a jab, compared with 38% of Americans and just 14% of EU citizens. European countries are also behind on the other criterion of a covid-19 scorecard, the economy. In the last quarter of 2020 America was growing at an annualised rate of 4.1%. In the euro area the economy was still shrinking. A year ago Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s prime minister, called covid-19 the worst crisis to affl?ict the EU since the second world war. How has its response gone so wrong?

在残酷而直率的死亡人数排行榜上，欧盟整体表现要落后于英国或美国，欧盟每10万人中有138人死亡，而英国和美国分别为187人和166人。尽管匈牙利、捷克共和国和比利时的情况都比这两个国家差。然而，一种由致命变种病毒引发的恶性激增正笼罩着欧盟。这也使疫苗接种率本来就很低的欧盟雪上加霜。根据我们的跟踪调查，58%的英国成年人接种过新冠疫苗，相比之下，美国成年人的接种率为38%，欧盟成年人的接种率只有14%。欧洲国家在新冠记分卡的另一个标准——经济方面也落后。2020年最后一个季度，美国的经济年化增长率为4.1%。欧元区的经济仍在萎缩。一年前，西班牙首相佩德罗·桑切斯称新冠病毒是第二次世界大战以来欧盟面临的最严重危机。欧盟对新冠的应对上怎么会出了这么大岔子？

1 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

3 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

4 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

5 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

6 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

8 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

9 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。