VOA慢速英语2015 斯里兰卡选举考验占星师水平

 

AS IT IS 2015-01-20 Sri Lankan Election Tests the Power of the Planets 斯里兰卡选举考验占星师水平

Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected president of Sri Lanka in 2005 and won re-election in 2010. In 2014, he called for elections again – two years early.

Most people expected him to win another term, including his trusted astrologer. Sumandasa Abeygunawardena has been advising Mr. Rajapaksa for 30 years on how the planets and stars would affect the president’s life.

The astrologer called the Sri Lankan leader an “invincible personality and a blessed man.” The astrologer said Mr. Rajapaksa would win a great victory on the January 8, 2015 election.

The astrologer was wrong.

Instead, a member of Mr. Rajapaksa’s party unexpectedly sought the presidency¹. Maithripala Sirisena reached out to the opposition² and won an easy victory.

Now, the former president’s astrologer is out of favor, too. Mr. Abeygunawardena has surrendered his official car. He has resigned as a director of a government bank. Before, he was called the “royal astrologer.” Today, few people believe his power to read the planets.

Mr. Abeygunawardena told Agence France Presse that he knew the former president would lose. But, the astrologer said he felt too bad about the news to tell him.

Mr. Abeygunawardena also said that even Nostradamus -- the famous 16th century French astrologer -- had some incorrect predictions.

Many people in Sri Lanka believe the position of the planets and stars influences their lives. But one professor says the country’s politicians put even greater faith in astrology than most other people.

Harini Amarasuriya teaches in social sciences at Sri Lanka’s Open University.

“When you are in those kinds of positions, it is a very isolating³ place to be in, and you kind of, you know, cling to these kind of mystical practices in order to get some sense of security.”

In recent days, many people on social media have been making jokes about those who predicted the former president’s victory. The unexpected election results have also started a debate in the country about how much power astrology should have.

Sasanka Perera is a Sri Lankan anthropologist⁴ at the South Asian University in New Delhi.

“This is a country that has a lot of these kind of beliefs going on on a day-to-day basis. But this time, because this is such a high profile thing, it is also getting a lot of flak and I think that is a reasonable thing to happen. Because you cannot have a situation where a country that is, you know, in this time of the 21st century cannot really doing something this serious, depending this much on something like astrology.”

Even so, the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa and his astrologer’s failure to predict the future will probably not shake most people’s beliefs in the power of the planets.

Words in This Story

out of favor – phrase no longer popular

cling – v. continue to believe in or depend on something

mystical – adj. having a spiritual meaning that is difficult to see or understand

flak – n. harsh criticism

1 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

2 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。

3 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句

4 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。