经济学人320:无处高速 Going Nowhere Fast

 　　NOT long ago, Barack Obama was hoping that high-speed trains would provide America with the desired “twofer”. First, building the special tracks and locomotives would put a division or two of America’s army of unemployed¹ back to work. Then, once built, the trains would get people out of cars and planes and to their destinations in a way that would be cleaner and use less foreign oil. But those dreams have mostly died. Republicans have decided² that government spending, not outdated³ infrastructure⁴, is the real bogeyman, and Republican governors in Florida, Wisconsin and Ohio have rejected federal money to begin building.

　　前不久，奥巴马希望通过高铁的修建给美国带来梦寐以求的两项实惠。第一，高铁轨道的修建及机车的制造将会让美国的无业人员重获工作。并且，一旦完工，人们的出行方式将从汽车和飞机变成高铁，一种更加清洁环保并且可以减少使用国外石油的出行方式。但这些美好的愿望几乎已全部幻灭。共和党人决定政府的开支不应花在过时的基础设施建设上，这是建造高铁的困难所在，在弗罗里达，威斯康星和俄亥俄州的共和党州长已经拒绝了用联邦州政府的公债基金建设高铁。

　　Only in California does the dream live on. As Governor Jerry Brown, aged⁵ 73 and a Democrat⁶, likes to remember, another big railway project in the 19th century connected the young state to the rest of America. In the 1960s his father, Pat, served as governor and built ambitious aqueducts and highways. In the 1970s Mr Brown himself became governor for the first time, and had visions of his own grand projects. These, as much as his theological bent⁷ and his liking⁸ for meditation⁹, earned him the nickname “Governor Moonbeam”.

　　唯有在加州建造高铁的愿望尚存一丝希望。因为73岁的民主党州长Governor Jerry Brown喜欢回忆19世纪另一项宏伟的铁路工程，该工程使成立不久的加州与美国的其它地区相连通。20世纪60年代，Brown的父亲Pat担任州长时建造了宏伟的水道和高速公路，70年代 Brown首次当选州长，并勾画建造自己宏伟工程的蓝图。以上这些加之他对神学的虔诚及酷爱冥想， 因此人们称之为“月光州长”。

　　Today Mr Brown still sparkles as he mocks the “dystopian journalists” and “declinists” who obstinately¹⁰ fail to see that California’s population will grow from just under 38m now to about 50m in 2030; and that, unless the state has something like Japan’s bullet trains, Californians will choke in traffic jams or go mad waiting for delayed flights in inadequate¹¹ airports. Of late, he has compared his state’s planned high-speed train to the Panama and Suez canals. And he has added that if China, Germany, Spain and Japan can build one, there is no earthly reason why California shouldn’t do so too.

　　现今Brown因嘲弄“反乌托邦记者”和“下滑主义者”仍耀眼于政坛，“下滑主义者”顽固的认为加州现今不足3800万的人口在2030年将无法达到5000万;并且,加州除非有像日本的新干线之类的新型出行方式，否则加州市民在机场为数不多的情况下，不在交通拥堵中窒息就在因航班延误造成的慢长等待中疯狂。最近，Brown把修建高铁的计划比作同修建巴拿马及苏伊士运河一样重要势在必行。他补充道，如果中国，德国，西班牙和日本都可以建造高铁，那么还有什么理由能阻止加州也来建造高铁呢。

　　California’s voters used to agree. In a 2008 ballot¹² measure (before Mr Brown became governor for the second time), they approved $9 billion in bonds to fund just such a train. As advertised, it was to connect the two big population centres, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area. Speeds were to reach 220mph, giving a travel time of less than three hours; the project was to cost $33 billion and be completed as early as 2020.

　　加州的选民之前对此表示支持。在2008年的投票表决中（Brown第二次任州长前），选民同意拿出90亿美元债券基金来建造高铁。如宣传中所描述的那样，该铁路建成后将连接洛杉矶和旧金山海岸地区这两大人口聚集区。到时列车的行驶速度将达到220英里/小时，两地的旅程时间将不到3小时。这项工程将花费330亿美元并预计最早于2020年完工。

　　Then the iron law of infrastructure projects asserted itself. According to current estimates, the train would in fact cost three times as much or more, and take 13 years longer to build. Mr Obama still wants to help; he has asked Congress for $35 billion in railway funding over five years, of which $3.5 billion may go to California. But even with the bond funds, those dollops would cover less than 13% of the estimated cost. Republicans are in no mood to allocate¹³ more. 之后基建工程的魔咒又开始应验。根据目前的估计，这项工程实际支出费用将是预想的三倍或更多，并需耗时长达13年之久。奥巴马对此仍不放弃并给予一定援助;在过去的五年里他已向国会申请了350亿美元用于铁路建设，其中大约35亿美元用于加州。但即便如此，所有这些费用仍不足预计支出的13%。对此共和党人再无心援助更多。

　　It gets worse. After the ballot measure, it was decided that construction should begin not in the two population centres but in the vast and flat farmlands of the Central Valley, where building is much easier. This means that funds could run dry before the big cities are even connected to the network. A high-speed train would then run through sparsely¹⁴ populated countryside, with hardly anybody riding it. Some call this a “train to nowhere”, others a white elephant. Using a rather more original metaphor¹⁵ Richard White, a professor of history at Stanford, calls it “a Vietnam of transportation: easy to begin and difficult and expensive to stop.”

　　更糟糕的是，在投票表决后，政府决定将铁路的起止点改建在中央大峡谷的耕地上，而非原定的两个人口密集区，与之前相比这里幅员辽阔，地势平坦易于施工。这意味着在铁路网与大城市连通前，资金很可能早已用光。那时高铁将穿梭于人迹稀少的乡村地区，当然也基本不会有人乘坐。一些人把它叫做“无所适从的列车”，其它人则说它是华而不实，赘而无用。斯坦福大学历史学教授Richard White用隐喻的方法称其为“越南式交通：开始，容易且简单;停止,昂贵且困难”

1 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

4 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

5 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

6 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。

7 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

8 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

9 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

10 obstinately   

ad.固执地，顽固地

参考例句：

• He obstinately asserted that he had done the right thing. 他硬说他做得对。
• Unemployment figures are remaining obstinately high. 失业数字仍然顽固地居高不下。

11 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

12 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

13 allocate   

vt.分配，分派；把…拨给；把…划归

参考例句：

• You must allocate the money carefully.你们必须谨慎地分配钱。
• They will allocate fund for housing.他们将拨出经费建房。

14 sparsely   

adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地

参考例句：

• Relative to the size, the city is sparsely populated. 与其面积相比，这个城市的人口是稀少的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ground was sparsely covered with grass. 地面上稀疏地覆盖草丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。