时代周刊:美国的分裂(3)

Whoever takes the oath of office on Jan. 20 will be tested by a historic set of challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has just entered its worst phase yet, rampaging across the country virtually unchecked. The economic fallout from the virus continues to worsen without new federal aid. Trump¹ has given few hints of what his next months in office may hold, but few expect them to be smooth. An urgent set of policy problems, from climate change to health care to the nation's crumbling² infrastructure³, may run into the wall of divided government. America's democratic institutions will continue to teeter. "If in fact Biden wins, it's still the case that an openly bigoted⁴ aspiring⁵ authoritarian⁶ not only won the presidency⁷ but captured the complete loyalty⁸ of one of two major political parties, and—but for a once-in-a-century pandemic—he might have been re-elected," says Ian Bassin, co-founder of Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan legal group. "If that doesn't tell you that something is completely rotten in the foundations of our democracy, I don't know what would."

不管是谁在明年1月20日宣誓就职，他都将面临一系列历史性挑战。新冠才刚进入最糟糕的阶段，正任意肆虐着整个美国。在没有新的联邦援助的情况下，新冠对经济的影响将持续恶化。特朗普并未对他下个月的任期给出太多提示，但预计不会太顺利。从气候变化到医疗保健再到国家破旧的基础设施等一系列紧迫的政策问题可能会撞到分裂的政府的墙上，美国的民主制度将继续摇摇欲坠。无党派法律组织“保护民主”的联合创始人伊恩·巴辛说：“如果拜登真的赢了，那么意味着一个公开偏执的有抱负的独裁主义者不仅赢得了总统职位，还赢得了民主党的绝对忠诚，并且对于百年一遇的大瘟疫来说，今后他有可能再次当选。没有什么能比此更能说明我们民主的基础已经彻底腐烂了。”

The story of American politics in the 21st century has been one of escalating⁹ polarization and gridlock, a nihilistic feedback loop that has made the country all but impossible to lead. For years, a chaos¹⁰-ridden nation has waited to deliver its verdict on Trump's unorthodox presidency. But this is 2020—the year when up was down and real was fake, the year of the plague, the year of the unexpected: of course it would not be that easy. Both sides hoped for a knockout blow, a landslide¹¹ that would forever settle the question of which version of America is the true one. Instead, our identity crisis continues.

21世纪的美国政治故事充斥着两极分化和不断升级的僵局，虚无主义的反馈环路让这个国家变得很难领导。多年来，这个混乱不堪的国家一直在等待对特朗普异端的管理做出裁决。但是今年是2020年，这一年混乱不堪、真假难辨，这一年是瘟疫之年、意外丛生之年。这一年当然不会简单渡过。双方都希望能有一场压倒性的胜利，从而永远解决“哪个版本的美国才是真正的美国”这个问题。但是相反，我们的身份危机仍在继续。

The campaign unfolded over a year so convulsive that the third presidential impeachment¹² in history now seems a distant memory. COVID-19 upended Americans' lives and drained their bank accounts. Millions of people, from all walks of life, took to the streets to protest police violence. The West Coast's sky was blotted¹³ by fire for weeks, while the East was battered¹⁴ by a record hurricane season. And yet, against this backdrop of chaos there was an odd political stasis: Trump's standing¹⁵ in polls remained about where it had been when Biden first entered the race—a sign, Democrats¹⁶ believed, that Trump had little chance of persuading an electorate¹⁷ that had long since rejected him.

这场竞选持续了一年多，如此惊心动魄，以致历史上第三次总统弹劾似乎已经成为遥远的过去。新冠把美国人民的生活搞得乱七八糟，吸干了他们的银行账户；千百万来自各行各业的人们走上街头抗议警察的暴力；西海岸的天空被大火笼罩了数周，而东边则遭受了创记录的飓风季节的袭击。然而，在这种混乱的背景下，却出现了奇怪的政治停滞：特朗普在民调中的支持率与拜登第一次参

1 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。

2 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

3 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。

4 bigoted   

adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的

参考例句：

• He is so bigoted that it is impossible to argue with him.他固执得不可理喻。
• I'll concede you are not as bigoted as some.我承认你不象有些人那么顽固。

5 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

6 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

7 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

8 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

9 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

10 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

11 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

12 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

13 blotted   

涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干

参考例句：

• She blotted water off the table with a towel. 她用毛巾擦干桌上的水。
• The blizzard blotted out the sky and the land. 暴风雪铺天盖地而来。

14 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

15 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

16 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》

17 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。