2018年经济学人 正当其时(1)

 

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正当其时

Recep Tayyip Erdogan deserves to lose the election on June 24th

雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安理应在6月24日的选举中失败

What does a president have to do to destroy the trust of Turks?

总统要做什么才能摧毁土耳其人民的信任?

Debauching the currency, poisoning relations with Europe and America, locking up tens of thousands of innocent people,

稀释货币、僵化与欧美的关系、把成千上万无辜的人关进监狱、

muzzling¹ the press, reigniting a civil war and fiddling² with the constitution to gain the powers of a sultan surely ought to be enough.

控制媒体的言论、重燃内战之火、改动宪法，如此所作所为都是为了获得苏丹（某些穆斯林国家的统治者的称法）的权力，而做这些用以摧毁其人民信任已经足够。

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has done all that and more in recent years.

近年来，雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安已经做了所有这些，甚至更甚。

When voters cast their ballots³ in presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24th,

选民在6月24日的总统及议会选举中投票时，

they should show him the door of his vast new palace in Ankara.

应该让这位总统好好看看他在安卡拉新建宫殿的大门。

There was much to admire in Mr Erdogan when his Justice and Development (AK) party first took power in 2002.

在2002年，其领导的正义与发展党（AK）首次掌权时，埃尔多安身上的确有很多可圈可点之处。

He showed that an Islamist party could govern with moderation; women in Turkey are free to wear what they like.

他表明了一个伊斯兰政党可以适度执政；土耳其女性有自由穿自己喜欢的衣服。

The economy has boomed.

经济蓬勃发展。

GDP has more than doubled, and the results, in terms of roads, bridges and,

国内生产总值增长了一倍多,修路、建桥，

above all, plentiful⁴ and cheap housing, are plain for all to see.

重中之重是保证了供应充足、价格低廉的住房，在这些方面所取得的成果是显而易见的。

The army was tamed, Kurdish language rights were recognised and accession talks to join the European Union began in 2005.

军队政治有序，库尔德人的语言权利得到承认，自2005年以来加入欧盟的谈判有序进行。

But power rots leaders.

但权力会让领导者腐败。

As he becomes more autocratic, Mr Erdogan is reversing his own achievements.

随着埃尔多安变得更加独裁，他正在逆转之前所取得的成果。

Artificially low interest rates have caused a slump⁵ in the lira (down 55% in the past four years),

人为操纵的低利率导致里拉大幅贬值(在过去四年下降了55%)，

pushed inflation up to double digits⁶ and led firms to overload⁷ themselves with debt.

将通货膨胀推高至两位数，导致公司负债累累。

After a period of breakneck growth, a hard landing seems imminent⁸.

在经历了一段高速增长之后，“硬着陆”似乎即将来临。

The war against Kurdish militants⁹ has resumed, both in the south-east of the country and across the border in Syria.

和库尔德武装分子的战争继续进行，在土耳其东南部和叙利亚边境都已重燃战火。

As relations with NATO and the EU deteriorate¹⁰, Mr Erdogan has struck up an alliance of convenience with Russia.

随着与北约以及欧盟关系的恶化，埃尔多安先生与俄罗斯结成了便利联盟。

1 muzzling   

给（狗等）戴口套( muzzle的现在分词 )； 使缄默，钳制…言论

参考例句：

• They accused the government of muzzling the press. 他们指责政府压制新闻自由。

2 fiddling   

微小的

参考例句：

• He was fiddling with his keys while he talked to me. 和我谈话时他不停地摆弄钥匙。
• All you're going to see is a lot of fiddling around. 你今天要看到的只是大量的胡摆乱弄。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦

3 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 plentiful   

adj.富裕的，丰富的

参考例句：

• Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
• Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。

5 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

6 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 overload   

vt.使超载；n.超载

参考例句：

• Don't overload the boat or it will sink.别超载，否则船会沉。
• Large meals overload the digestive system.吃得太饱会加重消化系统的负担。

8 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

9 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

10 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。