托福词汇之“默克尔时代Merkel era”

 　　At the beginning of this year, Angela Merkelhad a good claim to be the mostsuccessful politician in the world. The German chancellor¹ had won threesuccessive election victories. She was the dominant² political figure in Europeand hugely popular at home. But the refugee crisis that has broken over Germanyis likely to spell the end of the Merkel era.

　　今年初，安格拉·默克尔有很好的理由号称世界上最成功的政界人士。这位德国总理已连续三次胜选。她是欧洲最具影响力的政治人物，在国内也广受欢迎。然而，冲向德国的难民危机很可能预示着"默克尔时代"的终结。

　　But the refugee crisis that has broken over Germany is likely to spell theend of the Merkel era. With the country in line to receive more than a millionasylum-seekers this year alone, public anxiety is mounting — and so is criticismof Ms Merkel, from within her own party. Some of her close political alliesacknowledge that it is now distinctly possible that the chancellor will have toleave office, before the next general election in 2017. Even if she sees out afull term, the notion of a fourth Merkel administration, widely discussed a fewmonths ago, now seems improbable.

　　由于仅今年就要接收超过100万寻求庇护者，德国公众的焦虑情绪正在上升，党内对默克尔的批评也越来越多。几位与她关系密切的政治盟友承认，现在看来很有可能的是默克尔不得不在2017年下届大选前下台。即使她做完这一任期，几个月前还被广泛讨论的第四届默克尔政府如今看来已不太可能。

　　In some ways, all this is deeply unfair. Ms Merkel did not cause the Syriancivil war, or the troubles of Eritrea or Afghanistan. Her response to the plightof the millions of refugees displaced by conflict has been bold andcompassionate. The trouble is that Ms Merkel’s government has clearly lostcontrol of the situation. German officials publicly endorse⁴ the chancellor’sdeclaration that "We can do this". But there is panic just beneath the surface:costs are mounting, social services are creaking, Ms Merkel’s poll ratings arefalling and far-right violence is on the rise.

　　从某些方面看，这一切对默克尔非常不公。叙利亚内战、厄立特里亚或阿富汗的困境并非默克尔造成。她对数百万因冲突而流离失所的难民的回应是大胆而富有同情心的。问题是默克尔政府显然已经失去了对局势的控制。虽然德国官员公开支持总理的声明——"我们可以做到"，但表面之下隐藏着恐慌：开支越来越大，社会服务体系不堪重负，默克尔的民意支持率正在下滑，而极右暴力事件正在增多。

　　Could Ms Merkel still turn the situation around? If the German governmentgets lucky, the coming of winter will slow the flow of refugees, providing abreathing space to organise⁵ the reception of asylum³ seekers and to come up withnew arrangements with transit⁶ countries, particularly Turkey. Regardless of thechancellor’s personal fate and reputation, the refugee crisis marks a turningpoint.

　　默克尔还能扭转局势吗?如果德国政府幸运的话，冬天的到来将减缓难民流入，可以为安排收容寻求庇护者，并与难民过境国家(尤其是土耳其)一起制定新的安排提供喘息空间。姑且不论默克尔的个人命运和声誉，这场难民危机标志着一个转折点。

1 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

2 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

3 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

4 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

5 organise   

vt.组织，安排，筹办

参考例句：

• He has the ability to organise.他很有组织才能。
• It's my job to organise all the ceremonial events.由我来组织所有的仪式。

6 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。