美国国家公共电台 NPR 巴西参议院就政府的疫情应对情况展开调查

In many parts of the United States, it can seem like the pandemic is just about over and things are maybe returning to normal.

在美国许多地方，新冠疫情似乎即将结束，情况可能正在恢复正常。但巴西的情况却截然不同。

But it's a very different picture in Brazil. The South American country recently reached the grim milestone¹ of 500,000 deaths from COVID-19.

这个南美国家最近达到了50万人死于新冠肺炎这一严峻里程碑。

That's the second highest death toll² in the world after the U.S.

这是继美国之后全球第二高的死亡人数。

Last week, Brazil also set a new record with over 100,000 new daily coronavirus cases.

上周，巴西还创下了一项新纪录，即日增冠状病毒病例超过10万例。

Authorities there are also dealing³ with low oxygen supplies, a highly transmissible variant⁴, and only 11% of the country being fully⁵ vaccinated⁷.

同时，该国有关部门处理的问题还包括氧气供应不足、具高度传染性的病毒变种，以及全国只有11%的人口接种了疫苗等。

Joining us now from Florianopolis, Brazil, is journalist Michael Fox. Welcome to the program, Michael.

下面记者迈克尔·福克斯将从巴西弗洛里亚诺波利斯和我们连线。欢迎你，迈克尔。

Thanks so much.

非常感谢。

How would you describe the state of Brazil's COVID crisis right now?

你如何描述巴西目前的危机状况？

I think the best way to describe it is it's as if we're walking on a very thin tightrope⁸.

我认为最好的形容方式是我们就像走在一条很细的钢索上。

And it's not clear exactly if we're going to make it to the other side or how quickly we're going to make it to the other side.

目前尚不清楚我们是否能到达另一边，或者我们能以多快的速度到达另一边。

You know, people don't know, are we going to be able to vaccinate⁶ enough people in the coming days

人们不知道的是，我们能否在未来几天为足够多的人接种疫苗，

to ensure that cases don't continue to rise and the death count stays where it is?

以确保病例不会继续上升，死亡人数保持不变？

Or are we going to see a third wave, which is what many people have been talking about and many people are really concerned with?

还是我们会看到第三波疫情来袭？这是许多人一直在谈论和真正关心的问题。

How'd it get to this point? I mean, why are so few Brazilians vaccinated, for instance?

情况为何会发展这个地步？为什么接种疫苗的巴西人如此之少？

Everybody — most of the country is really pointing at President Jair Bolsonaro.

每个人——巴西大多数人都在指责总统雅伊尔·博索纳罗。

You know, he's been spreading fake news for the longest time,

他传播假消息的时间最长，

pushing unproven drugs like hydroxychloroquine instead of, you know, really trying to push the vaccines⁹.

他一直在推销羟基氯喹等未经证实的药物，而没有努力推动疫苗接种。

And, in fact, there is a Senate investigation¹⁰ that's been happening.

事实上，参议院正在进行调查。

And wrapped up in this, they've been looking at Bolsonaro's mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.

他们一直在关注博索纳罗对冠状病毒疫情的错误处理。

And, in fact, they've seen — there were over 14 times which the Bolsonaro government failed to purchase or rejected offers to sell Brazil vaccines early on.

事实上，他们已经看到，博索纳罗政府在早期有14次未能购买或拒绝出售巴西疫苗。

And that's something that people have been really talking about.

这是人们一直在谈论的话题。

That's just been disastrous¹¹ for the country, and that's why the vaccination¹² program has been so slow.

这对这个国家来说是灾难性的，这就是疫苗接种计划进展如此缓慢的原因。

And particularly, this is important for a country that has a long, long history and a very robust¹³ vaccination program, much better than all the rest of Latin America.

尤其是，这对巴西来说非常重要，因为这个国家的疫苗接种计划不仅历史悠久而且非常强大，远远好于比拉丁美洲其他国家多。

And so, you know, it's really been just exasperating¹⁴ for so many Brazilians.

因此，这令很多巴西人感到恼火。

And as you've mentioned, President Bolsonaro has long been downplaying the seriousness of the pandemic.

正如你所提到的，博索纳罗总统长期以来一直在淡化这场疫情的严重性。

He called it a little flu, for example, and refused to be vaccinated despite getting COVID last summer.

比如，他将疫情称为小流感，而且尽管他本人在去年夏天感染了冠状病毒，但他拒绝接种疫苗。

Now that there is this rising death toll there in Brazil, how is the government responding to that?

现在巴西的死亡人数仍在上升，政府对此有何回应？

What's so shocking is the fact that it has just continued on the same tune¹⁵. There really hasn't been a response or a mea culpa.

最让人震惊的是，这种论调仍在继续。政府没有回应，也没有承认过失。

In fact, he continues to blame governors for trying to push lockdown or social restriction¹⁶ measures.

事实上，总统仍在指责州长试图推行封锁或社会限制措施。

And this is why we're seeing such chaos¹⁷ in this country right now and why —

这就是我们现在看到这个国家如此混乱的原因，

you know, if there were greater social restrictions¹⁸ at the same time as increasing vaccines, then you might see decreasing cases and then decreasing deaths.

如果在增加疫苗的同时实施更大规模的社会限制，那我们可能会看到病例减少，死亡人数也随之减少。

But because we don't have that, that is not a policy from the federal government and has never been,

但因为我们没有这样做，联邦政府没有实施这种政策，准确地说是从未实施，

then that's why we're seeing things potentially get out of control again.

所以我们看到情况有可能再次失控。

Despite all of this, does Bolsonaro still have some measure of support?

尽管如此，博索纳罗仍然得到了支持？

Right. So he has 23%, according to the latest polls. His people are definitely with him, and they're with him until the very end.

对。根据最新的民意调查，他的支持率是23%。他的选民肯定会支持他，而且会一直支持他。

At the same time, he's been cozying up to more centrist figures in Congress and the Senate in order to shore up his own support in those areas in order to pass legislation

同时，他一直在讨好议会和参议院中更加中立的人士，以巩固他在这些领域的支持，继而通过立法，

but also ensure that there isn't an impeachment¹⁹ attempt against his own government.

同时也确保不会有针对自已政府的弹劾企图。

That's Michael Fox, freelance journalist based in Brazil. Michael, thanks for sharing your reporting with us.

以上是自由记者迈克尔·福克斯从巴西带来的报道。迈克尔，谢谢你和我们分享你的报道。

Thanks for having me.

谢谢你们邀请我。

1 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

2 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

7 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

8 tightrope   

n.绷紧的绳索或钢丝

参考例句：

• The audience held their breath as the acrobat walked along the tightrope.杂技演员走钢丝时，观众都屏住了呼吸。
• The tightrope walker kept her balance by holding up an umbrella.走钢丝的演员举着一把伞，保持身体的均衡。

9 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

10 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

11 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

12 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

13 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

14 exasperating   

adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Our team's failure is very exasperating. 我们队失败了，真是气死人。
• It is really exasperating that he has not turned up when the train is about to leave. 火车快开了， 他还不来，实在急人。

15 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

16 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。

17 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。

18 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

19 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。