时代周刊:美国的分裂(1)

Long Division

长期分裂

Why America's rifts¹ are only deepening

美国的分裂为何日益严重

The car horns blared as Joe biden Took The stage just before 1 a.m.—not to proclaim victory, but to urge his supporters not to lose hope, no matter what President Donald Trump² might say. "We believe we are on track to win this election," the former Vice³ President told the crowd in Wilmington, Del., on Nov. 4. "It ain't over until every vote is counted. Keep the faith, guys."

凌晨1点左右，当拜登登上舞台，汽车喇叭随之鸣响——不是在宣告胜利，而是鼓励他的支持者无论唐纳德·特朗普总统说什么，都不要失去希望。这位前副总统于11月4日在特拉华州威尔明顿市对着人群说道：“我相信我们就快赢了！选票还没有清点完，选举还没有结束，大家千万不要放弃。”

As the new day dawned and dragged on, it increasingly looked as though Biden was right. Having flipped⁵ Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin, Biden appeared to be inching toward victory. Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina remained too close to call as of the evening of Nov. 4. Independent forecasters believed Biden was likely to eke⁶ out the requisite⁷ 270 electoral votes when all the votes were counted, over the President's noisy objections.

随着第二天的到来和拉长，拜登的话也逐渐得到了验证。在拿下密歇根、亚利桑那和威斯康辛州之后，拜登离胜利越来越近。但截至11月4日晚，宾夕法尼亚州、乔治亚州、内华达州和北卡罗来纳州仍然势均力敌，难分胜负。这时有独立预测人士认为，在所有选票清点完毕后，拜登很有可能顶住总统的强烈反对而勉强获得所需的270张选举人票。

Even with the White House nearing their grasp, Biden's supporters could be forgiven if they found it hard to keep the faith. The 2020 election did not go according to plan for the Democrats⁸. It was a far cry from the sweeping⁹ repudiation¹⁰ of Trump that the polls had forecast and liberals craved¹¹. After all the outrage¹² and activism, a projected $14 billion spent and millions more votes this time than last, Trump's term is ending the way it began: with an election once again teetering on a knife's edge, and a nation entrenched¹³ in stalemate, torn between two realities, two cultural tribes, two sets of facts.

就算白宫已经触手可及，拜登的支持者们仍会忐忑不安，这是可以理解的。因为2020年大选并没有按照民主党人的计划进行，而是与民意调查所预测的、自由派所渴望的对特朗普的彻底否定大相径庭。在所有的愤怒、激进、140亿美元的花销和比上次多出的几百张选票烟消云散之后，特朗普的任期只能以它开始时的方式结束：又一场胜负难分的选举令美国再一次深陷僵局、再一次被两种现实、两种文化群体和两种事实撕裂。

Even if he has lost, a President who trampled¹⁴ the rule of law for four years was on pace to collect millions more votes this time. And though they braced¹⁵ for a bloodbath, the congressional Republicans who enabled him instead notched¹⁶ gains across the board. The GOP appeared poised¹⁷ to retain the majority in the Senate and cut into the Democratic House majority, defying the polls and fundraising defcits. Republicans held onto states such as Florida, South Carolina, Ohio and Iowa that Democrats had hoped to flip⁴. They cut into Democrats' margins¹⁸ with nonwhite voters, made gains with Latinos in South Florida and the Rio Grande Valley, and racked up huge turnout among non-college-educated white people, while halting what many conservatives feared was an inexorable slide in the suburbs.

即使他输了，这位将法治践踏了四年的总统也有望在这次选举中多获数百万张选票。他们已经准备好进行一场大血洗，支持他的国会共和党人相反也令他在各方面都有所斩获。共和党无视民意调查和筹款赤字，似乎准备保住参议院的多数席位，同时削弱民主党在众议院的多数席位。共和党人保住了佛罗里达、南卡罗来纳、俄亥俄和爱荷华等民主党人曾意图策反的州。他们在非白人选民中削减了民主党的优势，在南佛罗里达和格兰德河谷赢得了拉美裔选民的支持，在未受过大学教育的白人中获得了极多投票，同时还阻止了许多保守派所担心的郊区支持率必定下滑的趋势。

1 rifts   

n.裂缝( rift的名词复数 )；裂隙；分裂；不和

参考例句：

• After that, through the rifts in the inky clouds sparkled redder and yet more luminous particles. 然后在几条墨蓝色云霞的隙缝里闪出几个更红更亮的小片。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文
• The Destinies mend rifts in time as man etches fate. 当人类想要再次亵渎命运的时候，命运及时修正了这些裂痕。 来自互联网

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

5 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

6 eke   

v.勉强度日，节约使用

参考例句：

• They had to eke out a livinga tiny income.他们不得不靠微薄收入勉强度日。
• We must try to eke out our water supply.我们必须尽量节约用水。

7 requisite   

adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品

参考例句：

• He hasn't got the requisite qualifications for the job.他不具备这工作所需的资格。
• Food and air are requisite for life.食物和空气是生命的必需品。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

10 repudiation   

n.拒绝；否认；断绝关系；抛弃

参考例句：

• Datas non-repudiation is very important in the secure communication. 在安全数据的通讯中，数据发送和接收的非否认十分重要。 来自互联网
• There are some goals of Certified E-mail Protocol: confidentiality non-repudiation and fairness. 挂号电子邮件协议需要具备保密性、不可否认性及公平性。 来自互联网

11 craved   

渴望，热望( crave的过去式 )； 恳求，请求

参考例句：

• She has always craved excitement. 她总渴望刺激。
• A spicy, sharp-tasting radish was exactly what her stomach craved. 她正馋着想吃一个香甜可口的红萝卜呢。

12 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

13 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

14 trampled   

踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• He gripped his brother's arm lest he be trampled by the mob. 他紧抓着他兄弟的胳膊，怕他让暴民踩着。
• People were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit. 有人在拼命涌向出口时被踩在脚下。

15 braced   

adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• They braced up the old house with balks of timber. 他们用梁木加固旧房子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The house has a wooden frame which is braced with brick. 这幢房子是木结构的砖瓦房。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 notched   

a.有凹口的，有缺口的

参考例句：

• Torino notched up a 2-1 win at Lazio. 都灵队以2 比1 赢了拉齐奧队。
• He notched up ten points in the first five minutes of the game. 他在比赛开始后的五分钟里得了十分。

17 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

18 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。