2021年经济学人 有人愿意出价买毒枭矮子的房子吗

The Americas

美洲板块

Mexico's raffle¹

墨西哥的抽奖活动

A bad lot

坏掉的奖品

Will anyone bid for El Chapo's house

有人愿意出价买毒枭矮子的房子吗

If the popularity of the Netflix series "Narcos: Mexico" is anything to go by, people would jump at the chance to own a former abode² of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, a notorious Mexican drug lord better known as "El Chapo".

如果网飞电视剧《毒枭:墨西哥》的人气可以作为参照的话，人们会欣然接受这个机会，买下乔奎因·古兹曼·洛埃拉的旧居。乔奎因·古兹曼·洛埃拉是墨西哥的一个臭名昭著的毒枭，人们更为熟知的是他的绰号“矮子”。

It was from this house in Culiacán, in the north-western Mexican state of Sinaloa, that the kingpin escaped capture in 2014, fleeing through a tunnel under the bathroom floor as the Mexican marines stormed in.

2014年，正是在这座位于墨西哥西北部锡那罗亚州库利亚坎的房子里，当墨西哥的海军陆战队冲进来时，该头目通过浴室地板下的一条隧道逃跑了。

(He was subsequently captured and extradited to the United States, where he is serving a life sentence.)

(之后他被捕并被引渡到美国，被判终身监禁。)

The house is among a bunch of prizes up for grabs in a special draw run by the Mexican National Lottery³ to be held in September, along with 20 other properties and a vip box at Azteca stadium, the home of the national football team.

墨西哥国家彩票将于9月举行特别抽奖活动，这栋房子是奖品之一，另外奖品还包括其它20处房产以及国家足球队主场阿兹特克体育场的一个贵宾包厢。

Many of the items are the confiscated⁴ property of criminals and corrupt⁵ former officials, put up by the Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the People, a public body that also auctions⁶ off recovered booty.

其中许多奖品是从罪犯和腐败的前官员那里没收的财产，由“将赃物归还人民协会”提供，该协会是一家公共机构，还负责拍卖被追回的赃物。

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has a penchant⁷ for showy acts that suggest his government is fighting corruption⁸.

墨西哥总统安德烈斯·曼努埃尔·洛佩斯·奥夫拉多尔喜欢炫耀，通过这些举动来表明他的政府正在打击腐败。

(On August 1st he held a referendum on whether to prosecute⁹ his five predecessors¹⁰. A paltry¹¹ 7% of voters turned out, far short of the legally binding¹² 40%.)

(8月1日，他就是否起诉他的五位前任总统进行了全民公投。仅有7%的选民参加了投票，而达到40%才具备法律约束力。)

He says the money raised from the raffle will be spent on things to improve life for the poor, including medicines, scholarships and roads.

他说，从抽奖活动中筹集到的资金将用于改善穷人的生活，包括药品、奖学金和道路。

Yet it is unclear how many people will shell out 250 pesos ($12.45) for one of the 2m tickets.

该抽奖活动共设200万张门票，然而，目前还不清楚有多少人会花250比索(12.45美元)购买这样一张门票。

El Chapo's two-bedroomed house has repeatedly failed to attract interest at auction—perhaps less because of fear that one of his sicarios might not look kindly¹³ on a new tenant¹⁴, than because the property is now decidedly rough round the edges.

毒枭矮子的两居室房子在拍卖会上屡屡未能引起人们的兴趣，不是因为担心他的某个边境杀手会对新房客不友好，而是因为这套房子已经破败不堪。

When Mr Lopez Obrador, who flies economy class, failed to find a buyer for the presidential plane after taking power in 2018, he offered it as the main prize in a similar draw.

乘坐经济舱的洛佩斯·奥夫拉多尔于2018年掌权后尚未为总统专机找到买家，于是他将这架专机作为令一个类似的抽奖活动的主要奖品。

When it dawned on the authorities that the average Mexican would not be able to house or maintain a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, they replaced the prize with the cash equivalent.

当当局意识到普通墨西哥人无法拥有或维护一架波音787-8梦幻客机时，他们把奖品换成了等值的现金。

Despite the riches on offer, about a quarter of tickets remained unsold.

尽管门票数量很多，但仍有约四分之一的门票未售出。

1 raffle   

n.废物，垃圾，抽奖售卖；v.以抽彩出售

参考例句：

• The money was raised by the sale of raffle tickets.这笔款子是通过出售购物彩券筹集的。
• He won a car in the raffle.他在兑奖售物活动中赢得了一辆汽车。

2 abode   

n.住处，住所

参考例句：

• It was ten months before my father discovered his abode.父亲花了十个月的功夫，才好不容易打听到他的住处。
• Welcome to our humble abode!欢迎光临寒舍！

3 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

4 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

5 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

6 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

7 penchant   

n.爱好，嗜好；（强烈的）倾向

参考例句：

• She has a penchant for Indian food.她爱吃印度食物。
• He had a penchant for playing jokes on people.他喜欢拿人开玩笑。

8 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。

9 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

10 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 paltry   

adj.无价值的，微不足道的

参考例句：

• The parents had little interest in paltry domestic concerns.那些家长对家里鸡毛蒜皮的小事没什么兴趣。
• I'm getting angry;and if you don't command that paltry spirit of yours.我要生气了，如果你不能振作你那点元气。

12 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

13 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

14 tenant   

n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用

参考例句：

• The tenant was dispossessed for not paying his rent.那名房客因未付房租而被赶走。
• The tenant is responsible for all repairs to the building.租户负责对房屋的所有修理。