2014年经济学人 柏林映像 风华渐失

Berlin's image

Losing its cool

The German capital, famous for its edgy¹ urbanity and quality of life, looks tired

A disappointing missed opportunity?

WHEN a magazine proclaims on its cover that a city is the world's “coolest”, it is often a sign that it has peaked. Newsweek did it to London in 1996, just as the city was becoming unaffordable for many cool people. Now it is Berlin's turn. In October Stern, a German magazine, declared the city the coolest, giving special attention to its many great clubs for partying.

The party scene is thriving, drawing tourists from Tel Aviv toStockholmwho fly in for long insomniac³ weekends. The most famous venue⁴, Berghain, notorious for its arbitrary bouncers, is a world hub for techno music. But true cognoscenti are nostalgic for the rougher, anarchic days just after the Berlin Wall fell, when clubs popped up in abandoned spaces along the former no-man's-land, always several steps ahead of tedious fire regulations. A new book, “Berlin Wonderland”, documents the “wild years between 1990-96” with black-and-white photographs.

Some Berliners' nostalgia⁵ goes further back. The hottest museum exhibition is about West Berlin as a freedom-loving, libertine⁶ and yet parochial island surrounded byEast Germany. These days, by contrast, locals are annoyed by throngs⁷ of expats and westerners gentrifying formerly⁸ edgy neighbourhoods like Prenzlauer Berg.

Berlinis still fascinating. Nowhere are the scars of history—holocaust, war, destruction, division—so visible. And rents and prices remain low. A Facebook post by an Israeli expat in Berlin, called Olim le Berlin (“ascend to Berlin”), has launched a small exodus⁹ of Israelis who come for affordable² fun and find Germany's dark past more intriguing¹⁰ than repulsive¹¹.

Yet rents have been rising for years, and locals and creative types complain about being priced out (even as they oppose any attempts to build new housing). Worse, much of the city has been made unusable or ungainly because of construction. The most notorious project of all isBerlin's new airport, originally due to open in 2011 but repeatedly delayed (to 2017 on the latest estimate). It is now the butt¹² of jokes.

Even more telling is a huge building-site in the city centre, where the former castle of the Prussian kings (damaged in the war, razed¹³ by the communists) is being rebuilt to house a cultural forum¹⁴. After years of controversy¹⁵, most Berliners have decided¹⁶ that it is boring, retrograde and a missed opportunity. And there may be too little money left to make three of the fa?ades look like the old castle, so the edifice¹⁷ could end up disappointing even its fans.

For Berliners with children, schools are the biggest problem. The centre-left Social Democrats¹⁸ who runBerlin's government have fiddled¹⁹ about with no fewer than 23 school reforms, most of them ideologically²⁰ tinged²¹ to level down rather than foster excellence²².Berlincomes last in the school rankings amongGermany's 16 states. Now the government is harassing²³ the international (ie, English-taught) schools with new regulations, which will anger many expats and cosmopolitan²⁴ locals.

It is symbolically²⁵ fitting that Klaus Wowereit, the gay and flamboyant²⁶ Berliner who famously described his city as “poor but sexy”, has just retired²⁷ after 13 years as mayor, to be replaced by a relatively²⁸ grey protégé, Michael Müller. After decades of being subsidised byGermany's richer states,Berlinnow balances its budget. It is like an adolescent who has grown up and wants to prove he's responsible. Hence its bid to host the Olympics in either 2024 or 2028. WithinGermanyand evenEuropeit is still hard to find a more exciting city. And yet, as the new nostalgia suggests,Berlin's best days may already be behind it.

1 edgy   

adj.不安的；易怒的

参考例句：

• She's been a bit edgy lately,waiting for the exam results.她正在等待考试结果，所以最近有些焦躁不安。
• He was nervous and edgy, still chain-smoking.他紧张不安，还在一根接一根地抽着烟。

2 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

3 insomniac   

n.失眠症患者

参考例句：

• She's an insomniac ; she only sleeps for two or three hours a night. 她患失眠症，每晚只睡两三个小时。 来自辞典例句
• The insomniac is habitually afflicted with wakefulness at times when he wishes to sleep. 失眠症患者，这种病人在他想睡觉时经常特别清醒。 来自互联网

4 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

5 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

6 libertine   

n.淫荡者；adj.放荡的，自由思想的

参考例句：

• The transition from libertine to prig was so complete.一个酒徒色鬼竟然摇身一变就成了道学先生。
• I believe John is not a libertine any more.我相信约翰不再是个浪子了。

7 throngs   

n.人群( throng的名词复数 )v.成群，挤满( throng的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She muscled through the throngs of people, frantically searching for David. 她使劲挤过人群，拼命寻找戴维。 来自辞典例句
• Our friends threaded their way slowly through the throngs upon the Bridge. 我们这两位朋友在桥上从人群中穿过，慢慢地往前走。 来自辞典例句

8 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

9 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

10 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 repulsive   

adj.排斥的，使人反感的

参考例句：

• She found the idea deeply repulsive.她发现这个想法很恶心。
• The repulsive force within the nucleus is enormous.核子内部的斥力是巨大的。

12 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

13 razed   

v.彻底摧毁，将…夷为平地( raze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The village was razed to the ground . 这座村庄被夷为平地。
• Many villages were razed to the ground. 许多村子被夷为平地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

15 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

16 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。

17 edifice   

n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室)

参考例句：

• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。
• There is a huge Victorian edifice in the area.该地区有一幢维多利亚式的庞大建筑物。

18 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》

19 fiddled   

v.伪造( fiddle的过去式和过去分词 )；篡改；骗取；修理或稍作改动

参考例句：

• He fiddled the company's accounts. 他篡改了公司的账目。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He began with Palestrina, and fiddled all the way through Bartok. 他从帕勒斯春纳的作品一直演奏到巴塔克的作品。 来自辞典例句

20 ideologically   

adv. 意识形态上地，思想上地

参考例句：

• Ideologically, they have many differences. 在思想意识上，他们之间有许多不同之处。
• He has slipped back ideologically. 他思想退步了。

21 tinged   

v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• memories tinged with sadness 略带悲伤的往事
• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣

22 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

23 harassing   

v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人）

参考例句：

• The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近，不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句

24 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

25 symbolically   

ad.象征地，象征性地

参考例句：

• By wearing the ring on the third finger of the left hand, a married couple symbolically declares their eternal love for each other. 将婚戒戴在左手的第三只手指上，意味着夫妻双方象征性地宣告他们的爱情天长地久，他们定能白头偕老。
• Symbolically, he coughed to clear his throat. 周经理象征地咳一声无谓的嗽，清清嗓子。

26 flamboyant   

adj.火焰般的，华丽的，炫耀的

参考例句：

• His clothes were rather flamboyant for such a serious occasion.他的衣着在这种严肃场合太浮夸了。
• The King's flamboyant lifestyle is well known.国王的奢华生活方式是人尽皆知的。

27 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

28 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。