【英语语言学习】乌托邦式的国家

OK. What comes to mind when you think of Scandinavia - great education systems, the world's happiest people, healthy work-life balance, maybe? Well, one man, a British transplant living in Denmark, didn't buy it. So he's trying to set the record straight about his adoptive homeland. Michael Booth is the author of a new book titled "The Almost Nearly Perfect People - Behind The Myth Of The Scandinavian Utopia." And when I spoke¹ with him, he started by telling me the real definition of that word, utopia.

MICHAEL BOOTH: It literally² means, in Greek, does not exist.

MARTIN: Does it?

BOOTH: Yeah. So this is my message to everyone. Utopia doesn't exist, unfortunately.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

BOOTH: And it certainly doesn't exist up here in the chilly³ north.

MARTIN: You are coming to this as an outsider, but you do make your home in this part of the world by choice.

BOOTH: Yeah, almost of my own free will. I'm married to a Danish woman. And Scandinavian women are pretty strong, and you generally just do what they tell you to do. And my wife told me to come and live with her in Denmark. So I did.

MARTIN: So let's walk through a big - a few of the big points in the books. One of things I think Americans, in particular, think of when you talk about Scandinavia is the social welfare system and the correspondingly high taxes that go with it. What about this part of the culture plays into the myth?

BOOTH: Let's take Denmark for example. The income tax is about - the top rate is just over 50 percent, but there's all sorts of other very heavy taxes.

MARTIN: Fifty percent.

BOOTH: Most people reckon about three quarters of your income ends up in the state's coffers.

MARTIN: What do you get for it?

BOOTH: Well, exactly. That's the quid pro⁴ quo, isn't it? What you get is free education, very cheap preschool care, functioning public transport, a free health service - all the things that many Americans dream of. The question is you're paying the highest taxes in the world, is the education system the best in the world? Are the hospitals the best in the world? No, they're not.

MARTIN: Let's just stay in Denmark for the time being. Are Danes satisfied with the status quo?

BOOTH: Actually, that's the perfect word for the Danes. You may have heard they're supposed to be the happiest people in the world.

MARTIN: Yeah.

BOOTH: And they have regularly topped these happiness rankings. They haven't, actually, in the last few years. They've dropped dramatically in line with their economy. So I'm afraid the side message here is money does make you happy. But I've spoken to some of these people who are behind these ranking lists. And they secretly admit it's not about happiness, but they just use the word happy to grab the headlines. It's really, as you said, it's about satisfaction and contentedness⁵. And the Danes are massively content.

MARTIN: You spend a good portion of time in the book talking about the issue of immigration. How have these countries learned to integrate immigrant populations? Which have done it really well and which ones have not?

BOOTH: Oh, that's a long - I mean, how long have you got to talk about this? It's a very complex subject, and it differs, really, from country-to-country because you have Sweden which has had basically an open door policy. They've welcomed many thousands of refugees from Syria - incredibly impressive humanitarian⁶ gesture. On the other hand, they have problems. They have ghettos. They have crime levels that are getting quite excessive. And in the last election, their far right party, the Sweden Democrats⁷, which has its roots in the neo-Nazi party, scored 13 percent of the popular vote. And then we have Norway where there were the tragic⁸ events of the Anders Behring Breivik terrorist attack.

MARTIN: We should just remind people that happened in 2011.

BOOTH: That's right. His kind of beef was with multiculturalism⁹, as he saw it, in Norway.

MARTIN: You take a look at the cultural historic differences among these countries. I mean, we in America, I think, in particular, are guilty of just kind of lumping them all together. I was fascinated to learn that the Norwegians kind of get short shrift.

BOOTH: Yeah. I thought of Scandinavians as just one big homogenous¹⁰ bearded, cycling, maybe with a pipe. But they are radically¹¹ different even within Sweden. You're right. The Norwegians - they are kind - or traditionally, were thought of as the country bumpkin. But then in the '70s, they struck oil. So they are now the Beverly Hillbillies. If there is a God, he has a great sense of humor because he gave the cash to the Norwegians. You know?

MARTIN: (Laughter) When you go back to Britain or visit other parts of the world, what do you end up missing about the North?

BOOTH: I don't miss the licorice and the marzipan which you can't avoid here. What I miss, oh, God. Oh, I do love Denmark. Honestly, it's great. Let me think of something.

MARTIN: (Laughter) The beer?

BOOTH: No, I don't really like beer very much.

MARTIN: No, OK.

BOOTH: There is a fantastic new Nordic food movement here, and I write a lot about food. So there, that's what I miss.

MARTIN: All right. Michael Booth - his new book is called "The Almost Nearly Perfect People - Behind The Myth Of The Scandinavian Utopia." Hey, Michael, thanks so much.

BOOTH: Oh, there's always one question I've never been asked before. You really got me there.

MARTIN: Is that true?

BOOTH: You know, apart from my family, honestly, and friends.

MARTIN: This has really stumped¹² you.

BOOTH: It's terrible. I'm having an existential crisis.

MARTIN: Come on. Are there mountains?

BOOTH: They have nice beaches.

MARTIN: Coffee?

BOOTH: No, I don't drink coffee. (Laughter) But you're right, they have the best coffee in the world. I'll say that next time someone asks me.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

4 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

5 contentedness   

参考例句：

• He relaxed in sleepy contentedness. 他在睡意中放松下来。 来自互联网
• Possession is not important, contentedness is. Be contented in any situation and problems will be away. 拥有什么不重要，最重要的是要有满足心。任何情况下拥有满足心就不会有问题了。 来自互联网

6 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

7 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》

8 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。

9 multiculturalism   

n.多元文化

参考例句：

• Switzerland is well known for cheese fondue, penguin parades and its multiculturalism. 瑞士一向以芝士火锅，企鹅游行和多元文化等特色闻名于世。
• That may be one reason why multiculturalism came easily to it. 这也是多元文化容易适应发展的原因之一。

10 homogenous   

adj.同类的，同质的，纯系的

参考例句：

• Japan is a wealthy,homogenous,developed nation with a stable political system.日本是一个富裕的同质型发达国家，政治体制稳定。
• My family is very homogenous and happy.我们这个家庭很和睦很幸福。

11 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

12 stumped   

僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说

参考例句：

• Jack huffed himself up and stumped out of the room. 杰克气喘吁吁地干完活，然后很艰难地走出房间。
• He was stumped by the questions and remained tongue-tied for a good while. 他被问得张口结舌，半天说不出话来。