2015年经济学人 意大利总统 伦齐如虎添翼（在线收听）

Italy's president

　　意大利总统

　　Matteo gets his man

　　伦齐如虎添翼

　　The choice of Italy's president is good news for the prime minister

　　意大利总统的新人选对首相来说是个好消息

　　SERGIO MATTARELLA, a 73-year-old Sicilian, constitutional-court judge and former government minister, became Italy's 12th president on February 3rd. Matteo Renzi, the prime minister who backed him, said his election would “turbocharge” his reforms. Mr Renzi (shown above with Mr Mattarella) is prone1 to exaggeration: he faces a long, hard climb. But he has again shown formidable political skills.

　　意大利前政府部长兼宪法法庭法官、73岁的西西里岛人塞尔乔·马达莱拉于2月3日成为意大利的第12届总统。这位新总统的忠实支持者、意大利总理马泰奥·伦齐表示，这位总统的当选将“增强”伦齐的改革。伦齐先生（如图，与马塔雷先生一起），常常言过其实：他面对的未来是“路漫漫其修远兮”。但他却再次显示了其高超的政治技巧。

　　When the 89-year-old Giorgio Napolitano stepped down in mid-January, Mr Renzi promised a successor by the end of the month. That he delivered was no mean feat2. Mr Napolitano agreed in 2013 to serve a second term only because parliament could not agree on his successor. This time Mr Renzi managed to unite his fractured Democratic Party (PD) behind Mr Mattarella, and secure the backing of the opposition3 Left, Ecology and Freedom party and of Angelino Alfano, his interior minister, who leads the New Centre Right party. That was enough: after three days of voting in which no candidate won a two-thirds majority, Mr Mattarella was elected on the fourth round, which required a simple majority, by 665 votes out of 1,009.

　　89岁的乔治·纳波利塔诺一月中旬下台，伦齐承诺月底会有新的继任者上台。伦齐所说绝非易事。纳波利塔诺2013年连任仅仅因为他的继任者未能得到国会的通过。这一次伦齐设法联合分裂的民主党（PD）来支持马塔雷拉先生，并确保左翼反对派，左派生态自由党以及领导新中右党派的内政部长安杰利诺·阿尔法诺的支持。这样的形势足矣：前一轮投票所有候选人票数都没达到三分之二的票数，在三天后的第四轮选举中，1009票中马塔雷拉以665票的绝对优势胜出。

　　Silvio Berlusconi, leader of Forza Italia, the main right-wing opposition party, and former prime minister, was against Mr Mattarella.That was mainly because he had not been consulted more carefully, despite his pact4 to support Mr Renzi's constitutional reforms. Most in Forza Italia backed Mr Berlusconi, but quite a few defied him.

　　而主要右翼反对党意大利力量党、前任总统贝卢斯科尼对马塔雷拉持反对态度。这主要是因为虽然贝卢斯科尼同意支持伦齐的宪法改革，但是伦齐在这一方面并没有仔细地咨询他的意见。多数力量党人支持贝卢斯科尼，但是也有不少人藐视他。

　　The result has strengthened Mr Renzi's position both in the PD and in government, weakened Mr Berlusconi, and thrown the right into disarray5. Mr Renzi will press on with his reforms, with or without Mr Berlusconi's backing. He hopes that opponents on both left and right will not risk an early election, since that could produce a more Renzian parliament. A new electoral law should be approved by the lower house by April. The reform of the Senate will take longer, but could be done next year.

　　此次选举结果巩固了伦齐在PD党和政府中的地位，削弱了贝卢斯科尼的力量，并且并让右翼陷入了混乱之中。无论有没有贝卢斯科尼的支持，伦齐先生都将加紧他的改革进程。他希望左、右翼反对党不会冒险提前举行大选，只有这样更为伦齐式的议会才会产生。新的选举法会在四月由下院批准。参议院的改革则需要更长时间，但明年会完成。

　　The economy is at last showing glimmers6 of life. But as Mr Mattarella himself conceded, Italy's prolonged economic crisis has damaged the country's social fabric7. He called for more reform of institutions, of public administration and of the judicial8 system. And he spoke9 of the need to combat corruption10 and organised crime—a highly personal theme, since he entered politics in 1980 only after the assassination11 by the Mafia of his brother, then Sicily's president.

　　经济总是在末路时回光返照。正如马塔雷拉本人所说的，意大利长期的经济危机已经破坏了国家的社会结构。他呼吁更多的机构改革，司法系统改革和公共管理系统改革。马塔雷拉谈到了一个高度的个性化主题—打击腐败和有组织犯罪，因为马塔雷拉是在1980年其担任西西里大区时任主席的兄长被黑手党暗杀之后步入的政坛。翻译：上官喵 校对 王颖

　　1.prone to 易于；倾向于

　　As they shorten, cells become more prone to disease and death.

　　细胞变小后就会更容易感染疾病，也更容易死亡。

　　He's prone to flit between subjects with amazing ease.

　　他往往会轻松自如地转换话题。

　　2.step down 辞职；下台

　　The manager had to step down on account of poor health.

　　那位经理由于身体不好,只能辞职不干。

　　He has decided12 that he doesn't want to embarrass the movement and will therefore step down.

　　他已拿定主意：他不想令运动陷入困窘的境地，因此决心辞职。

　　3.economic crisis 经济危机；金融危机

　　Natural disasters have obvi-ously contributed to the continent's economic crisis.

　　很显然，自然灾害也是造成该大陆经济危机的原因之一。

　　The economic crisis was interpreted in diametrically opposing ways.

　　对于这场经济危机有着截然不同的解释。