2015年经济学人 世界杯决赛教训 巴西需要新思路

Bello

Lessons of a footballing Armageddon

Brazil needs new ideas, on and off the pitch

THE only previous time that Brazil hosted the World Cup, in 1950, it famously lost the final 2-1 to Uruguay,

after shipping¹ two goals in 13 minutes late in the second half. So deflated² were Brazilians that Nelson Rodrigues,

a playwright³ and journalist, described the occasion as a “national catastrophe…our Hiroshima”.

If that is the benchmark, then the 7-1 semi-final thrashing on July 8th at the hands of Germany in Belo Horizonte's Mineir?o stadium was Brazil's Armageddon.

It was not just the scale of defeat—the worst since 1920.

It was also the manner in which Germany's fast and technically⁴ superior players cut through the home defence, as easily as a machete through cassava.

To rub salt in a gaping⁵ wound, it is Argentina—Brazil's arch-rivals—who will face Germany in the final on July 13th.

This humiliation⁶ has left Brazilians shell-shocked. No other country in the world has a closer identification with football, as Rodrigues's hyperbole highlights.

That may partly be because Brazil has no real Hiroshimas to fear: apart from brief engagement on the Allied⁷ side in Italy in 1944-45,

it has not fought a war since the 1860s (against Paraguay). Through good fortune and tolerance⁸, it faces neither military threats, nor terrorism,

nor ethnic⁹ or religious tensions.

But this identification with football is also because the sport has provided a national narrative¹⁰ and a social glue.

In a country that for long periods has failed to live up to its potential, prowess at the game provided “a confidence in ourselves that no other institution has given Brazil to the same extent”,

as Roberto DaMatta, an anthropologist¹¹, wrote in the 1980s. Brazil has won five World Cups but no Brazilian has won a Nobel prize.

In winning the right to host this year's World Cup (and the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016) Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva,

Brazil's then president, wanted to highlight that the country now has other reasons for confidence beyond football.

The tournament would showcase the planet's seventh-largest economy, a vibrant¹² democracy and remarkable¹³ social progress that has seen poverty and income inequality fall steadily¹⁴ in this century.

But the tournament has taken place just as Brazilians are feeling less confident about their country's course.

The economy has slowed to a crawl; inflation is at 6.5%, despite a succession of interest-rate rises.

The 11 billion of publicly financed spending on stadiums helped to trigger huge protests last year over poor public services,

corruption¹⁶ and the misplaced priorities of politicians.

The last-minute rush to complete the stadiums, and the tragic¹⁷ collapse¹⁸ of a newly-built flyover¹⁹ in Belo Horizonte this month,

have highlighted Brazil's difficulties with infrastructure²⁰ projects.

Contrary to some forecasts, the event itself has gone smoothly²¹, without transport breakdowns²² or significant protests.

Predictably, most fans have had a great time. Polls showed that Brazilians were warming to the idea of hosting the tournament.

Despite being booed at the opening ceremony, Dilma Rousseff, Lula's successor and protégée, had felt emboldened²³ to announce that she would attend the final.

Brazil's shattering defeat has robbed Ms Rousseff of any hope she might have nurtured²⁴ that the World Cup would provide her with a boost in an election in October at which she will seek a second term.

But in itself it will not help the opposition²⁵ either. Things are not as simple as that.

Brazilians were always going to have other matters on their mind when they vote in three months' time.

The incumbent²⁶ president won in 1998 when Brazil lost badly in the World Cup final, after all; and his chosen successor lost in 2002 when Brazil won.

At a deeper level, however, the humiliation of the Mineir?o is likely to reinforce the country's negative mood.

And that is potentially dangerous for Ms Rousseff. Though polls still make her the favourite, the campaign will only now start in earnest.

Her approval rating hovers²⁷ barely above 40%, and polls consistently show between 60% and 70% of Brazilians wanting change.

With her centre-left Workers' Party having been in power for 12 years, can she offer it?

Her appeal is in essence to past achievements—to a huge rise in employment and real wages, both of which are only just starting to move into reverse.

Similarly, the Mineir?o disaster showed that Brazilian football is no longer a source of national confidence.

It too needs changes that go far beyond building shiny new stadiums. Its officials are corrupt¹⁵ and its domestic league poorly run.

Living on past glory, it is inward-looking and tactically outdated²⁸.

Brazilians may end up concluding that they need new management and new ideas, both on and off the pitch.

1 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

2 deflated   

adj. 灰心丧气的

参考例句：

• I was quite deflated by her lack of interest in my suggestions.他对我的建议兴趣不大，令我感到十分气馁。
• He was deflated by the news.这消息令他泄气。

3 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

4 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

5 gaping   

adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大

参考例句：

• Ahead of them was a gaping abyss. 他们前面是一个巨大的深渊。
• The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

7 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

8 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

9 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

10 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

11 anthropologist   

n.人类学家，人类学者

参考例句：

• The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
• The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。

12 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

13 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

14 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

15 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

16 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

17 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

18 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

19 flyover   

n.立交桥，天桥

参考例句：

• It took workers more than one year to build this flyover.建造这座立交桥破费工人一年多时间。
• All that came to his bakery should go over a flyover first.所有来他店的人都必须先经过一座立交桥。

20 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。

21 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

22 breakdowns   

n.分解( breakdown的名词复数 )；衰竭；（车辆或机器的）损坏；统计分析

参考例句：

• Her old car was unreliable, so the trip was plagued by breakdowns. 她的旧车老不听使唤，一路上总是出故障。 来自辞典例句
• How do we prevent these continual breakdowns? 我们如何防止这些一再出现的故障？ 来自辞典例句

23 emboldened   

v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Emboldened by the wine, he went over to introduce himself to her. 他借酒壮胆，走上前去向她作自我介绍。
• His success emboldened him to expand his business. 他有了成就因而激发他进一步扩展业务。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 nurtured   

养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物。
• Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。

25 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

26 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

27 hovers   

鸟( hover的第三人称单数 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovers in the sky. 一只老鹰在天空盘旋。
• A hen hovers her chicks. 一只母鸡在孵小鸡。

28 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。