赏析版2012年1月经济学人文章（英汉双语对照）汇集
Contents
[2012.01.31]Libya bitten, Syria shy一朝被利比亚咬,十年怕叙利亚 (1)
[2012.01.28]Ant tribes and mortgage slaves 蚁族与房奴 (2)
[2012.01.28]Who goes to the gallows? 谁该上绞架？—公众关注吴英案 (4)
[2012.01.28]Black, white and blood red 黑色白色与血色 (5)
[2012.01.25]Phew, the Oscars are still irrelevant 奥斯卡奖还是不靠谱 (8)
[2012.01.23]Gender & tennis: Coming up short 女网的不足 (9)
[2012.01.23]China's labour force 中国的劳动力大军 (12)
[2012.01.21]Not quite too late 还不算太晚 (13)
[2012.01.21]Guatemala's new president: Quick march 新总统必须加快改革 (16)
[2012.01.21]Party of two，二人成双 (18)
[2012.01.19]The Nordic cure for a hangover治疗宿醉的北欧疗法 (21)
[2012.01.16]IN SEARCH OF SERENDIPITY 寻找偶遇 (22)
[2012.01.07]The dangers of demonology 妖魔化的风险 (28)
[2012.01.07]A murder that changed Britain 改变英国的凶杀案 (31)
[2012.01.07]Dutchmen grounded 搁浅的荷兰人 (34)
[2012.01.07]New film: "The Iron Lady‖ 新电影：《铁娘子》 (39)
[2012.01.07]Chinese condoms: Reds in the bed 床上的红色安全套 (40)
[2012.01.05]A World of Mist 照片散文－雾的世界 (42)
[2012.01.02]Take five 目标：攻克五种癌症 (46)
[2012.01.31]Libya bitten, Syria shy一朝被利比亚咬,十年怕叙利亚
Syria and the UN
叙利亚和联合国
Libya bitten, Syria shy
一朝被利比亚咬，十年怕叙利亚
Jan 31st 2012, 20:59 by R.L.G. | NEW YORK
IN 2005 all the world's countries signed up, in theory, to a new norm called the "responsibility to protect". In short, the idea is that a government is sovereign because it protects its people. When it cannot do so—or worse, is the perpetrator of mass violence against its own—the responsibility to protect them may devolve to the international community. For a while, this norm was mostly airy, referred to when other countries or United Nations diplomats got involved to stop violence in its earliest phases. But some construe the "responsibility to protect" as a mandate for "liberal interventionism": the right of outside countries to step in militarily when abuses get serious enough.
2005全世界所有的国家从理论上签订了一种新的国际规则，名曰―保护责任‖。一言以敝之，这个概念就是指政府的主权在于其对人民的保护。一旦政府不再保护人民，或者更糟——它开始对其人民进行大规模暴行时，保护其人民的责任就自动移交给国际社会了。在一段时间里，这种规则基本上是纸上谈兵，当其它国家或联合国外交家在暴行开始之初进行干涉阻止时加以引用。但是有人把―保护责任‖解读为―自由干涉‖的一种委任：即当暴行过于严重时，外部国家有用军事力量干涉的权利。
Now outsiders are clamouring to do something serious about Syria. No one is pushing a military intervention—not even the Western countries sounding the harshest notes about Bashar Assad, Syria's dictator. But two of the veto-wielding members of the Security Council, China and particularly Russia, feel that the "responsibility to protect" has already gone far enough, thank you very much. Last year, they signed on to a resolution that authorised "all necessary means" to protect Libyan civilians from Muammar Qaddafi. That intervention became a NATO-led air war against Libya's regime, and ended with Qaddafi's bloody death at the hands of the rebels. The Russians felt duped.
现在外部国家们正在争论要在叙利亚问题上做点实事。现在还没人主张军事干涉，即使那些对叙利亚的独裁者巴沙尔·阿萨德最为斥责的西方国家也还没有提出要付诸武力。但即使这样两个安理会持有一票否决权的常任理事国——中国，以及尤其是俄罗斯已经觉得―保护责任‖这个概念有点过头，不能再进一步扩展了。去年，它们签订了一项决议，准许动用―所有必需手段‖来保护利比亚平民不受穆阿迈尔·卡扎菲迫害。最终这种干涉演变成了北约领导的对利比亚当局的空袭，之后以卡扎菲惨死于叛军之手而告终。俄罗斯人感到上当了。
This is behind the Russian reticence, this week, to sign on to a draft resolution that would have Mr Assad delegate power to his deputy. This is despite strong support not only from a unified West, but from the Arab League, which has suspended Syria. The assertiveness of the league, once a do-nothing talking shop for tyrants, has been striking. It suspended its observer mission in Syria
because of threats to its personnel and inability to do a proper job monitoring. Observers hope that a personal briefing by league representatives about the bloodshed will sway the recalcitrant Security Council members.
正是因为这样，本周各国试图签订一份决议草案，其中涉及让阿萨德将权力转交给他的副手时，俄罗斯对其持保留态度，尽管对此草案的支持不仅来自立场一致的西方，也包括暂停了叙利亚成员资格的阿拉伯联盟。阿盟过去一度被认为是独裁者之间光说不干的一个形式组织，但其最近在多方问题上表现出来的主见令人惊讶。它暂停了其赴叙利亚的观察行动，原因在于观察机构人员受到威胁，且无法正常开展其监察职务。观察机构希望阿盟代表们亲自对于叙利亚目前血腥现状的陈述可以最终说服倔强的安理会成员国。
But the Russians, citing Syria's sovereignty, have shown no sign of budging (which suits the Chinese, who do not like vetoing resolutions alone). The frustrated other members of the 15-seat council are still trying to craft a resolution everyone can agree to. But if they cannot, they have hinted that they will force a vote anyway, to get a Russian veto on the record at least. For those dying in Syria, the manoeuvring must seem absurdly abstract, and Russia's desire for "a peaceful settlement without foreign intervention and with respect to the sovereignty of Syria" somewhere between cynical and downright ridiculous.但是俄罗斯人援引叙利亚的主权，目前还没有流露出任何退让的迹象。这对中国来说正好，因为中国并不想成为唯一否决该决议的国家。15席的安理会中那些倍感挫折的其它成员国现在还在试图起草一份所有人都能接受的决议。但是如果最后无法达成共识，它们也暗示会强迫对决议进行投票，至少要让俄罗斯的否决正式记录在案。对于那些正在被屠杀的叙利亚国民来说，这些外交程序抽象地近乎愚蠢，而俄罗斯希望―寻求无外界干涉和尊重叙利亚主权的和平解决途径‖听上去既讽刺又荒谬。
https://www.doczj.com/doc/014363975.html,/thread-62971-1-1.html译者：nayilus
[2012.01.28]Ant tribes and mortgage slaves 蚁族与房奴
China‘s new tribes
中国新群落
Ant tribes and mortgage slaves
蚁族与房奴
The subdivisions of urban China
中国城市城市人口的诸多分支
Crush crush
―捏捏族‖
WHO knew China was tribal? The diversification of Chinese society has seen a flowering of a new vocabulary. Perhaps most fascinating has been the division of people into tribes (zu in Mandarin). The travails of the yi zu, or ant tribe, have been well-chronicled—recent graduates from outside the main cities who move to urban areas, live cheaply and work hard, often in
low-paid jobs. Perhaps less well-known are the ken lao zu, the bite-the-old tribe, those between 25 and 35 who are underemployed or out of work, still at home and sponging off mum and dad.
你知道中国也有很多群落吗？中国社会的多元化创造了很多丰富多彩的新词。也许最有趣的当属公民所被划分的群落了（普通话称为―族‖）。大量的文章在描绘―蚁族‖的辛劳。毕业不久的大学生从外地来到大城市，他们辛勤地工作，却挣着微薄的钱、住着廉价的房。也许另一个没这么有名的是―啃老族‖。这些介于25到35岁间的年轻人要么半失业，要么完全失业。他们还赖在家里靠着父母过活。
Many of the tribes, inevitably, are made up of people looking for love. There is the jia wan zu, the marry-the-bowl tribe. These are young women searching for that most stable of husbands, the one who holds a government job (still known as the iron rice bowl). The shan hun zu, or lightning-marriage tribe, marry fast and sometimes divorce faster. They should not be confused with the yin hun zu, the hidden-marriage tribe. These are women in their 20s who hide the fact that they are married, knowing they will not be hired or promoted if there is even the whiff of the possible need for maternity leave—socialist gender-equality does not offer much protection in the Wild East of modern China. And if you can only afford a postage stamp of an apartment, you‘re probably a member of the wo ju zu, the snail-house tribe.
如人所料，很多―族‖由一些寻找爱情的人组成。―嫁碗族‖指一群寻找拥有稳定工作的意中人的年轻姑娘，稳定的工作指政府公务员（依旧被称为铁饭碗）。―闪婚族‖——嫁得快，有时离得更快。不要把他们和―隐婚族‖混了:二十多岁的年轻姑娘隐瞒了已婚的事实，深知一丁点儿要休产假的需要就会让她们丧失雇用和晋升的机会。社会主义国家的性别平等在位于奇异东方的现代中国尚不能给她们提供足够的保护。如果你只能负担得起公寓里的弹丸之地，那你就差不多算是―蜗居族‖中的一员了。
You can belong to more than one tribe. Most members of the ant tribe also belong to the ben ben zu, the rush-rush tribe, to which, in fact, most urban Chinese belong. All that rushing around can create a lot of pent-up anger, giving rise to thenie nie zu, the crush-crush tribe, so named because they go into supermarkets and take out their frustration by standing in the aisles crushing packets of instant noodles (yes, really).
你可以同时属于多种―族‖。―蚁族‖成员多数也是―奔奔族‖，事实上，多数城市人口都算得上―奔奔族‖。整日奔忙就会产生郁积的愤怒，他们继而变成了―捏捏族‖——站在超市过道里，通过捏方便面袋来发泄沮丧（真是这样的）。
Many tribal members are also slaves (nu in Mandarin). There are the fang nu (mortgage slaves) and hun nu (marriage slaves, who are also, by definition, mortgage slaves) and all Chinese parents are of course haizi nu (slaves to the only child).
许多人既是―族‖又是―奴‖。有―房奴‖也有―婚奴‖，都是指为按揭所累的人。当然，所有的中国父母都被称作―孩奴‖。
Perhaps the group China needs most as it tries to stimulate its domestic consumer economy is the yue guang zu, or moonlight tribe, so named because the Chinese characters for ―moonlight‖ sound the same as the ph rase ―spend all your monthly salary‖. Their parents saved every yuan, but life for these youngsters is just spend, spend, spend. Now, that‘s patriotic consumption.
也许中国在极力扩大内需经济的同时，最需要的当属―月光族‖了。中文里―月光‖听上去和―花
光了所有的月薪‖一样。父母虽省吃俭用，子女却只懂得花、花、花。不过，现在他们是在为了祖国而消费。
https://www.doczj.com/doc/014363975.html,/thread-62783-1-1.html译者：字邦卓
[2012.01.28]Who goes to the gallows? 谁该上绞架？—公众关注吴英案
Attitudes towards capital punishment
对死刑的态度
Who goes to the gallows?
谁该上绞架? —中国公众对吴英案的关注
Concern over a high-profile death penalty
中国公众对一宗高曝光度死刑案的热议
IT IS rare for China‘s 500m internet users to defend the filthy rich. But a provincial court‘s decision on January 18th to uphold a death sentence imposed on one of China‘s wealthiest businesswomen has created an unusual outpouring of sympathy. It has also led to criticism of a legal system seen to treat private citizens far more harshly than errant officials.
在拥有五亿用户的中国互联网上，很少能见到网民们为―龌龊的‖富人说话。但是，当中国一个省级法院于1月18日作出决定，维持对全国最富有的女人之一吴英的死刑判决时，却引发了异乎寻常的广泛的同情之声。这件事还引发了人们对中国法律体系的批评，这个体系看起来对待普通公民比对待那些不轨的官员要严厉得多。
The case of 31-year-old Wu Ying, who was convicted of ―illegal fund-raising‖, has also stirred debate about the fairness of the economic system. State-owned enterprises can borrow money from (state-owned) banks, whereas private businesses are often left to fend for themselves in an informal market of moneylending, such as the one in which Ms Wu thrived.
31岁的吴英被指控的罪名是―非法集资‖。[注]她的案子还激起了人们关于经济制度公平性的辩论。国有企业可以从国有银行借钱，但民营企业常常需要在非正规的借贷市场上筹资。吴英就是在这种市场上发的财。
Ms Wu‘s youth and humble origins, as well as an absence of real evidence that her activities caused harm to anyone, except possibly some rich investors, have also helped endear her to a general public informed by internet chatter. She began her career working in h er aunt‘s beauty salon in coastal Zhejiang province, and went on to run other beauty parlours before building up a conglomerate, the Bense Group, with a wide range of interests from property to lending. Amazingly, in 2006, aged just 25, she was named China‘s sixth-richest woman by Hurun Report, a wealth researcher.
吴英的年龄和贫苦的家庭背景，以及缺乏损害他人的确切证据（除了一些富有的投资者外），都有助于她得到公众的同情，这些公众人士通常是从互联网的聊天中得知各种信息的。吴英在浙江省她姑母的美容院开始职业生涯，之后开过一些其它的美容院，逐渐建立起一个综合
性的大企业—―本色集团‖，经营从地产到借贷各种广泛的业务。令人惊叹的是，当时年仅25岁的吴英，在2006年被胡润报告（一个富豪研究公司）列为中国最富的女人中第六位。Ms Wu‘s extraordinary rise is hard to imagine without her doing some dodgy deals. Possibly the wrong ones, for her fall was even more rapid than her rise. She was arrested, sentenced to death in 2009 for illegally raising $120m in funds from illicit sources (ie, not official banks). Chinese press reports said Ms Wu gave information that led to the arrests of officials and bankers. Some wonder whether the death sentence was aimed at stopping her from revealing more.
吴英能如此迅速的暴发，恐怕是得益于一些巧妙的交易。这些交易很可能是违规的，因为她的衰落比她的暴发更迅速。2009年，她被逮捕并以通过非法渠道（不是通过官方银行）集资1.2亿美元的罪名被判死刑。中国媒体报道说，吴英交代的信息导致了一些政府和银行官员被捕。有些人怀疑死刑判决是为了阻止她进一步暴露更多内幕。
Since 2007 China has required that all death sentences be reviewed by the supreme court, which now represents Ms Wu‘s final chance of r eprieve. Last year the number of capital crimes was reduced for the first time since 1979. The number of executions in China is a state secret, but the Dui Hua Foundation in California, which promotes improved legal rights in China, estimates that it fell from around 8,000 in 2007 to 4,000 last year.
自2007年以来，中国要求所有死刑判决必须经过最高法院的审核，这是吴英免死的最后机会。去年，中国的死刑案件自1979年以来第一次减少。被执行死刑的人数是国家的机密，但加州的Dui Hua基金会(旨在推进中国人法律权利的组织)估计，这个数字已从2007年的大约8,000人降到了去年的4,000人。
Reforming spirits in China groaned when Wang Shengjun, a man with no legal training, was appointed president of the supreme court in 2008. Mr Wang has been a strong advocate of President Hu Jintao‘s idea of the ―three supremes‖ in judicial affairs: the supremacy of the Communist Party‘s interests, of the public‘s i nterests and (in third place) of the law. Global Times, an English-language paper in Beijing, said public support for the death penalty for non-violent crimes was falling, and expressed hope that the supreme court would take heed of this. But it lamented t hat public opinion may affect what it coyly called ―judicial independence‖ in the case of Ms Wu.
2008年，当没受过法律训练的王胜俊被任命为最高法院院长后，司法改革的声音就喑哑了。王胜俊是胡锦涛主席关于司法工作―三个至上‖说法的坚定支持者。这―三个至上‖是：党的事业至上、人民利益至上，以及排在第三位的宪法法律至上。北京的一家英文报纸《环球日报》说，公众对非暴力犯罪的死刑判决的支持率正在降低，希望最高法院注意到这一点；但又表示遗憾说，在吴英的案子上，公众意见可能会影响到―司法独立‖(这个词是文章羞答答地说出来的)。
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[注]据报道，吴英获死刑罪名为―集资诈骗罪‖。
https://www.doczj.com/doc/014363975.html,/thread-62799-1-1.html译者：西米
[2012.01.28]Black, white and blood red 黑色白色与血色
Weegee’s photographs
维吉的照片
Black, white and blood red
黑色白色与血色[注1]
The sordid beauty of the city 纽约市那迷离暗淡的凄美
Jan 28th 2012 | NEW YORK | from the print edition
WEEGEE‘S photographs of the seamy side of New York are luridly fascinating: car crashes, tenement fires and lifeless bodies sprawled across pavements. He always carried a Speed Graphic camera with a massive flash in his nocturnal prowls around the city, which made his night-time shots both intelligible and distinctive. The extreme contrasts in black and white were perfectly suited to the extreme situations he depicted, with people who were generally weeping, leering or dead.
维吉拍摄了纽约市丑陋的一面，照片极具戏剧性，让人入迷：车祸、贫民区合租屋起火，还有横卧人行道、四肢伸展的死尸。他总是在城市的夜色中四处潜行，那台记者照相机[注1]辅以硕大的闪光灯，让他的夜景照片鲜活而又独特。黑与白的极度反差能够完美地凸现他所表现的极端场景，那里的人物通常是在痛哭、在偷看或者已经死去。
Born Usher Fellig in 1899 in a part of the world that is now Ukraine, Weegee moved with his family to New York‘s Lower East Side in 1909. Hi s nickname came either from an early stint as a ―squeegee boy‖ (ie, a darkroom assistant) or from his Ouija-like ability to get to a crime scene faster than the authorities—though this clairvoyance owed much to his police radio.
1899年维吉生于现在的乌克兰（当时属于奥地利），原名尤瑟尔?费利克（Usher Fellig），1909年他随家庭来到纽约下东区[注2]。维吉是他的绰号，或许是他早期当过的―斯奎基练习生‖（即暗室助理）的简写，或许是因为他能比当局更快地来到犯罪现场的那种灵应牌[注3]式的能力（实际上，他这种千里眼式的能力很大程度上归功于他收听的警察无线通话）。
―Murder Is My Business‖, a new exhibition at the International Center of Photography (ICP), takes its nam e from two shows Weegee held at the Photo League in 1941. Drawn from the ICP‘s vast archive of his work—a gift from his longtime companion, Wilma Wilcox, in 1993—these photos are from the first decade of his career. Weegee would later give up tabloid snaps and experiment with film and art photography. He died in 1968. But these early images, crafted for maximum effect and immediate consumption, as in ―Hold-up Man Killed, November 24th 1941‖ (pictured above), show him at his popular and populist best.
―我与谋杀打交道‖，是在国际摄影中心（International Center of Photography (ICP)）举行的新展览，得名于1941年维吉在―摄影联盟‖的两次展览。1993年，他多年的伴侣维尔玛?威尔科克斯把他庞大的作品文档作为礼物赠送给ICP，新展的照片便选自其中，是他职业生涯头十年的创作。后来维吉不再从事小报摄影，而是尝试进入影坛与拍摄艺术照。他死于1968年。但如上图中那幅《1941年11月24日：被杀的拦路抢劫者》所表达的那样，这些具有最强烈效果和直接使用价值的早期照片最能让人清楚地看到，他受到人们的欢迎的原因以及他贴近普通人的一面。
These photos are displayed against a soundscape of police sirens and jazz, with a selection of the newspaper clippings where they first appeared. Viewing Weegee‘s shots with the accompanying
text grants a sense of the social and economic ferment of the time. New Yorkers could open the paper and read about three women who had been trampled to death in a stampede. Another 1941 shot, ―Killing for a Warm Glass of Beer‖ includes a dog hovering indifferently over a dead body in a bar.
这些照片以警笛与爵士音乐为背景音展出，周围是一些最早登载这些照片的报纸剪贴。观赏维吉照片的同时阅读这些报章内容，能令人感受当时的社会与经济动乱。那时候的纽约人打开报纸，时常可以读到―三名妇女被践踏而死‖一类新闻。在另一祯1941年的照片，《一瓶温啤酒引起的谋杀》中的画面里，可以看到一只狗在酒吧里的一具尸体上顿足四望，一副毫不在乎的样子。
Weegee considered himself a journalist first, peddling his wares to the city‘s seedier dai lies, but he was also an artist with a keen sense of composition. Although his subject was crime, his pictures often included the craned necks and gawking looks of bystanders. Weegee‘s fascination with the voyeurs who crowd murder scenes is given pride of place in a 1941 clipping from PM Daily, ―Brooklyn School Children See Gambler Murdered in Street‖. His large photo of the ogling schoolchildren dwarfs a much smaller shot of the murdered body on the page. A girl in front angles her neck to get a better look, her eyes wide; a blond boy beams with what looks to be sheer joy. The newspaper‘s editors cropped the image around the faces, whereas Weegee‘s wider shot includes the menacing silhouettes of several low-slung buildings against a darkening sky.
维吉认为他首先是一个向城市中的二流日报兜售作品的新闻记者；但他也是一个具有敏锐创作感的艺术家。尽管他以犯罪为主题，但在他的照片中经常可以看到引颈张望、目瞪口呆的旁观者。维吉热衷于表现谋杀现场周围的成群围观者，这一点在1941年的一份PM Daily[注4]剪报上的照片，《布鲁克林的学童观看街头被害赌徒》中显得十分突出。他以大幅画面着力刻画了凝视现场的学童，这与死者无足轻重的小镜头恰成对照。前排的一个女孩瞪大了眼睛，偏着头让自己看得更清楚；一个浅色头发的男孩面露微笑，一副兴奋的表情。报纸的编辑绕着人物的面部裁剪了照片，而维吉更大的照片中包括几所低矮建筑物阴沉沉的剪影，背后是正在暗淡下去的天空。
Weegee lacked formal training, but he knew how to give people what they want: naked emotions, grisly details. It is illuminating to view these images now, when tabloid photography has become no less garish and closer to ubiquitous. Weegee understood the difference between a cheap image and a sensational one. His photographs keep us looking.
维吉没有受过正规的训练，但他知道如何表现人们想看的东西：不加掩饰的情感、狰狞可怖的细节。当此小报摄影依旧华而不实、更接近于无所不在的情况下，重温这些照片让人深省。维吉很清楚拍摄手法平庸的照片与令人震撼的照片之间的差别。他的照片无不令我们凝眸良久。
[注1]Black，white，and blood red 是Bodean乐队的一首歌的名字（详见19楼），这里用以表示用黑白照相表现血腥更为清晰。
[注2]Speed Graphic是纽约Rochester的Graflex公司的产品，是最著名的记者用照相机。[注3]纽约下东区在纽约市曼哈顿区沿东河南端一带，为犹太移民聚居地。
[注4]灵应牌（Ouija）是术士在行术时使用的招魂牌，上有字母与数字；其英文发音类似于Weegee。
[注5]PM Daily 是一份美国纽约的左翼日报，存在于1940年6月与1948年6月之间。
有《踏莎行》歪词一首为证：
雾锁青天，云遮翠岭，帘垂万里春不醒。
愁城紧闭恨难消，戏鱼随手敲金井。
月色初晴，梅雨时令，东风一度春无影。
却看桃李泪行行，千秋送目空山景。
https://www.doczj.com/doc/014363975.html,/thread-62875-1-1.html译者：悠悠万事97
[2012.01.25]Phew, the Oscars are still irrelevant 奥斯卡奖还是不靠谱
Film awards
电影奖
Phew, the Oscars are still irrelevant
吁，幸好奥斯卡还是不靠谱
Jan 25th 2012, 10:38 by N.B. | LONDON
WHAT a difference a year makes. Last year‘s Oscar nominees showcased the American movie industry at its most confident. The Best Picture category was stuffed with films that combined intelligence and quirkiness with sheer entertainment: ―The Social Network‖, ―Inception‖, ―True Grit‖, ―Winter‘s Bone‖, ―Toy Story 3‖, ―The Kids Are All Right‖, ―Black Swan‖, etc. Of course, they were all beaten on the night by ―The King‘s Speech‖, but you can‘t have everything. Twelve months on, it‘s a different matter. Sca nning the 2012 nominations, you might suspect that Hollywood had used up its best and boldest films in one splurge a year ago, leaving it with little in reserve to get excited about now.
一年的时间里可以有太多变化了！去年奥斯卡提名展示了美国电影界一些最自信的大作。最佳影片奖的提名挤满了集智慧，离奇与纯粹的娱乐为一体的影片：《社交网络》，《盗梦空间》，《大地惊雷》，《冬天的骨头》，《玩具总动员3》，《孩子们都很好》，《黑天鹅》等等。当然，在颁奖之夜它们都被《国王的演讲》击败了，不过鱼与熊掌，不可兼得嘛。十二个月之后，完全不一样了。过一遍2012年的提名名单，你可能会怀疑好莱坞一年前一口气用光了它最优秀，最大胆的电影，以致现在没什么像样的存货。
Dotted among the categories, there are nominations for several films which were widely panned, including ―Transformers: Dark Of The Moon‖, ―Albert Nobbs‖, Madonna‘s dreadful ―W.E.‖, and ―Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close‖, surely one of the worst reviewed films ever to get a Best Picture nomination. There are nominations for decent but frequently clichéd dramas: ―Moneyball‖, ―Warrior‖. There are nods to directors who may be at thei r most likeable, but who aren‘t at their strongest: Martin Scorsese‘s ―Hugo‖ and Woody Allen‘s ―Midnight in Paris‖. And some of the Best Picture nominations recall the bad old ―Driving Miss Daisy‖ days w hen the Oscars went to any film which dealt with human cruelty in the most soft and sentimental fashion: ―The Help‖ and ―War Horse‖.
在各个提名奖项中掺杂了几部恶评如潮的影片，像是《变形金刚：月黑之时》，《变装男侍》，麦当娜执导的那部糟透了的《W.E》，还有《心灵钥匙》——这肯定是历史上最佳影片提名作品中影评最差的一部片子了。也有一些拍得不错，但是情节过于老套的剧情片：像是《点球成金》，《勇士》。提名中点到的一些导演拍的片子可能颇为讨喜，却没有很好展露他们的强项，像是马丁·斯科西斯的《雨果》，还有伍迪·艾伦的《午夜巴黎》。另几部最佳影片提名则让我们回想起《为戴茜小姐开车》那个糟糕的时代，当时任何以最柔和煽情方式讨论人性残忍的电影都能拿下大奖，今年这样的片子包括《相助》和《战马》。
To be fair, Hollywood has acknowledged its falling off in standards by giving more prominence than u sual to films from other countries. Two of the five ―Best Animated Feature‖ nominees are from outside America (for once, there‘s no Pixar cartoon in the running). Iran‘s ―A Separation‖ is a surprising but deserving honoree in the Original Screenplay category. The frontrunner in the Best Picture category, among others, is ―The Artist‖, which may be set in Hollywood, and which may not have any French dialogue, but which is definitely a French film. You could even argue that ―Hugo‖, ―War Horse‖ and ―Midnight in Paris‖ are honorary foreign films, in that they‘re all love letters to Europe.
凭心而论，好莱坞承认了这次其电影水准不足，因此提名中比往常更多地突出了外国电影。五部―最佳动画片奖‖的提名中有两部来自美国以外（这一次居然没有皮克斯的动画片）。伊朗电影《伊朗式分居》提名原创剧本奖有点令人意外，却是实至名归的。最佳影片奖提名中一部被广为看好的影片是《艺术家》，这部片子的背景可能是好莱坞，全片可能没有任何法语对话，但它毋庸置疑是一部法国电影。你甚至可以争辩说《雨果》，《战马》和《午夜巴黎》都是名义上的外国片，因为它们都情系欧洲。
It‘s just a pity that the Academy didn‘t cast its net even wider. It‘s bewildering that the nominations don‘t acknowledge ―Melancholia‖, ―Shame‖ or ―We Need To Talk About Kevin‖, or even some of the more interesting American films of the past ye ar, such as ―Drive‖, ―Margaret‖, or ―Martha Marcy May Marlene‖. But maybe we can take comfort in all of this. After a year when the Oscars seemed dangerously close to being relevant, it‘s almost reassu ring to see that normal service has been resumed.
很可惜电影艺术与科学学院没有把网子再撒大一些。这次提名没有点到《忧郁症》，《耻辱》或者《凯文怎么了》，或甚至像是《亡命驾驶》，《玛格丽特》，《双面玛莎》等去年一些较有趣的美国电影，这很让人不解。但是凡此种种，也许可以让我们松一口气。在经历了奥斯卡居然变得几近靠谱的一年之后，看到它恢复老样子还是很让人放心的。
https://www.doczj.com/doc/014363975.html,/thread-62974-1-1.html译者：nayilus
[2012.01.23]Gender & tennis: Coming up short 女网的不足
Gender and tennis
性别和网球
Coming up short
女网的不足
Jan 23rd 2012, 13:50 by I.M.
IF MEN‘S tennis is enjoying a golden age, with Switzerland‘s Roger Federer and Spain‘s Rafael Nadal already established among the all-time greats, then women‘s looks in a slump. Its younger generation of players includes few recognisable champions. Denmark‘s Caroline Wozniacki has been ranked number one in the world for over a year without winning a single grand slam tournament. Above all, women‘s tennis is criticised for being one-dimensional and dull to watch. Could its format be at least partly to blame?
如果说男子网球正处于黄金时期，瑞士的罗杰·费德勒和西班牙的拉菲尔·纳达尔已经跻身网球史上最伟大的球员行列，那么女子网球似乎正在下滑。年轻一代球员中很少有总所周知的冠军球员。丹麦的卡洛琳·沃兹尼亚奇现在已占据女网排行榜首超过一年了，却还没拿下过任何大满贯赛事冠军。更糟的是，女子网球一直被批评打法过于单一，观赏性较差。这至少有一部分原因要归咎于其比赛形式。
Tennis may be the only high-profile sport that still has different rules for women than men. This is only the case in the four grand slams, or majors, where men play best-of-five-sets matches and women contend best-of-threes. But those tournaments are the most prestigious. When Wimbledon, the oldest, was first played in 1877, it was strictly a men-only contest. Conventions of the day meant women were deemed too frail to play a five-set match. So when the women‘s competition did begin seven years later, its design was not the same.
网球可能是所有热门体育运动中唯一男女规则有别的。虽然这种差别只体现于四项大满贯赛事，其中男子采用五盘三胜制，女子采用三盘两胜制，但恰恰这些赛事代表了网球的最高水平。最古老的网球职业赛事——温布尔顿于1877年开始举办，只限男选手参加。当时的一般观念认为女选手身体过于赢弱，无法撑足五盘比赛。因此当七年后女子赛事开始举办时，赛规被设计成和男子比赛不同。
Introducing best-of-fives into women‘s majors would have numerous benefits. For a start, it should boost athleticism. That has been perhaps the most exciting development in the men‘s game over the past decade. As modern tennis has retreated to the baseline and rallies have lengthened, the need to prepare for a punishing, five-set encounter has made fitness a priority. The supreme conditioning of Mr Nadal and Serbia‘s Novak Djokovic, who have split all of the last seven slams between them, has allowed them to perform acrobatics that would have been unimaginable a few years ago. This has replaced the court craft of the 1970s as the visual treat for spectators.
在女子大满贯赛事中引入五盘三胜制会有很多好处。首先，这会提高女网的身体素质。这可能是男网在过去十年里最为振奋人心的发展。随着现代网球逐渐退到底线，多拍回合时间拉长，要准备好应付艰苦的五盘比赛使得身体素质变得至关重要。纳达尔和塞尔维亚选手诺瓦克·德约科维奇两人瓜分了过去的七次大满贯头衔，他们两人的身体都锻炼得极好，使得他们可以在比赛中作出一些在几年前还是不可想象的高难度动作。这取代了70年代的技巧性打法，给观众带来视觉上的盛宴。
By contrast, without best-of-fives, the fading of serve-and-volley tennis has arguably led to a setback for athleticism in the women‘s game, which probably peaked with Germany‘s Steffi Graf in the 1980s and 1990s. Players approach the net less frequently than ever before, and yet they have never had to build much stamina. Even some of the higher-ranked players—such as France‘s Marion Bartoli, ranked ninth in the world, or Russia‘s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (pictured), now 16th—sometimes look notably out of shape. Meanwhile, the fitter women have little opportunity
in a best-of-three to make their physical superiority count.
相对的，没有五盘三胜制的配合，可以说发球上网打法的逐渐过时反而拖累了女网的身体素质。80年代和90年代德国的施特菲·格拉芙可能是女网身体素质巅峰时期的代表。现在的球员比以前更少主动上网，却无需培养底线厮杀应有的体力。即使一些排名很高的球员，例如排名第九的法国球员玛丽安·巴托丽，以及排名16的俄罗斯球员安娜斯塔西娅·帕芙柳琴科娃（上图）有时候看上去都很明显的身材走样。同时，身体素质更好的女选手在三盘两胜中几乎没有机会好好利用她们的身体优势。
That is also, partly, because best-of-threes give weaker players more chance to cause an upset. A brief lapse in concentration or a lucky mishit can determine the outcome of a set and put a player firmly in control of a match. Best-of-fives, on the other hand, reward consistency. They also favour more cerebral players, who can adapt their game plans to counter troublesome opponents. That makes them more interesting to watch as well as harder to win. It is notable that over the past three years, eight different men have won Masters 1000 tournaments, where best-of-threes are played, but just four have triumphed at majors. Although the element of chance is not always unwelcome in sport, it exacerbates one of the current problems in the women‘s game: the absence of a marketable star or, better still, a rivalry.
这有一部分原因在于三盘两胜更利于较弱球员爆出冷门。短暂的注意力涣散或是一次幸运的错击就能决定一盘比赛的结果，让一名球员掌控整场比赛。相反的，五盘三胜则更看重发挥稳定，它也更青睐那些智慧型球员，可以在面对麻烦的对手时临场改变自己的应战计划。这意味着五盘三胜不但观赏性更强，也更难取胜。值得注意的是，过去三年内，共有八名男球员在采用三盘两胜制的1000大师赛中夺冠过，但是只有四人拿下过大满贯赛事的冠军。虽然运气的因素在体育运动里并不一定是不好的，在女网中过多的运气因素加剧了一个大问题：缺乏一名具有市场号召力的明星球员，或者更恰当的说法是，缺乏精彩的一流高手交锋。In itself, the shorter format demeans women. It gives ammunition to opponents of equal pay, who argue that women put in fewer hours and attract less interest than men. And the discrimination is unusually sexist. While most of the twentieth-century Olympic Games did not include women‘s distance-running events because of similar old-fashioned prejudice, amends were made in the 1980s. Since then, women have competed in events as gruelling as the marathon with no ill effects. In tennis, meanwhile, the influence of the Victorian mindset is still apparent.
不管这些因素，单就本身来说，较短的赛规是一种对女性的鄙视。这赋予那些反对男女同酬者弹药，让他们可以辩称女子球员在场上打球时间较短，吸引到的观众兴趣也不如男网。这透露着性别歧视的意味，很是不同寻常。虽然二十世纪大多数时间内奥运会都因为同样的老派思想而没有引入女子长跑项目，但是最终奥委会在80年代作出了相关修改。从那之后，女选手在很多像是马拉松这样的艰苦项目中竞技，而并没有任何不良反应。而同时，在网球圈子里维多利亚时代的老旧想法仍然很是明显。
Reform will not happen unless women demand it, however. And the leading players remain silent on the issue. That is hardly surprising. Having enjoyed success as things stand, they have little incentive to call for a physically taxing change, especially as tournaments like Wimbledon now pay them equal prize money to the men. Tournament organisations are unlikely to back an overhaul, either. The scheduling of early-round matches during a slam is tricky even now. Extending the duration of women‘s matches could make it impossible to fit a tournament into a two-week period. It would also run against the trend: men‘s tournaments have been phasing out
best-of-fives in attempt to prevent injuries caused by wear and tear. Not least, organisations dominated by men must be wary of interfering in what is, essentially, an issue for women. But unless women‘s tennis gets some fresh impetus, its slump may well persist.
除非女子网球主动提议，不然改革是不会发生的。但是一流球员在这个问题上保持沉默。这一点也不让人惊讶。在保持现状下赢取了成功，她们没有什么动力呼吁一些会让她们更加辛苦的改变，尤其考虑到像是温布尔顿这样的赛事现在发给她们的奖金和男球员一样就更好理解了。赛事组织者也不太可能支持改革。大满贯前几轮赛事的赛程安排现在都已很让人头痛了。把女子比赛的时间拉长将会使整个赛事无法在两星期的规定时间内完成。这也是在逆现在的大趋势而行，男子赛事正在逐渐取消五盘三胜的赛制，其目的是为了减少疲劳累积引起的伤病。另一个很大的原因在于男性主导的网球组织不太乐意对这个本质上的女性问题进行干涉。但是除非女网获得一些新的动力，这项运动将会处于持续下滑的状态。
https://www.doczj.com/doc/014363975.html,/thread-62970-1-1.html译者：nayilus
[2012.01.23]China's labour force 中国的劳动力大军
Free exchange 自由贸易
China's labour force 中国的劳动力大军
One billion workers 十亿工人
Jan 23rd 2012, 9:47 by S.C. | HONG KONG
CHINA'S working-age population fell last year as a proportion of the total, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics last week. Chinese aged 15-64 represented 74.4% of the population in 2011, compared with 74.5% the year before. The statistic prompted one or two stories speculating about the end of cheap China.
根据国家统计局（National Bureau of Statistics（NBS））上周公布的数据，中国的适龄劳动人口占总人口的比率去年有所下降。2011年，15-64岁年龄段的中国人口占总人口数的74.4%，而前一年的这一比率是74.5%。这一统计资料引发了一两则猜测廉价中国不复存在的报道。
But how useful is this ratio as a guide to wage pressures? Note, first of all, that China's working-age population is NOT yet falling in absolute terms. Judging by the NBS figures, it increased by about 3.45m in 2011. In fact, China's working-age population numbered over 1 billion (74.4% of 1,347,350,000) in 2011 for the first time.
但以这一比率考察工资压力会有多大的指导意义呢？首先应该注意，中国适龄劳动人口的绝对数量并没有减少。根据NBS的数据，2011年这一数量增加了大约345万。实际上，中国的适龄劳动人口数2011年首次超过10亿（13.4735亿的74.4%）。
China's dependency ratio (the number of Chinese not of working age as a percentage of those who are) is still low, compared with its past or its peers. It was lower in 2011 than in any recent year except 2010. It was also lower than the ratio in all but five countries, according to UN figures.
无论与中国的过去或者与现在的其他国家相比，中国的抚养比率（以百分数表示的中国非适龄劳动人口数与适龄劳动人口数之比）并不高。近年来，2011年的这一比率是除2010年以外最低的。根据联合国的数据，除了5个国家外，这一比率也是最低的。
This is largely because China's one-child policy restricts the number of young dependants a family can add. (The ratio of elderly Chinese, relative to those aged 15-64, has been rising steadily since the mid-1960s.) The one-child policy has kept China's dependency ratio artificially low, but it has also begun to slow the flow of new entrants into the workforce. The number of 15-29 year olds--the nimble-fingered youngsters who man China's assembly lines, stitching, twisting, fixing and stamping--peaked in 2011 at 326.6m, according to UN estimates. That number will fall this year, the UN projects.
这主要是因为中国的独生子女政策限制了一个家庭的子女生育数。（自上世纪60年代中期开始，中国老龄人口相对于15-64岁的人口比率便一直在持续上升。）独生子女政策人为地保持了中国的低抚养比率，但它也同时开始降低了新人涌入劳动力大军的速度。据联合国估计，中国15-29岁年龄段的人口数，即那些可以在装配流水线上工作、缝纫刺绣、纺纱织布、修理和操纵机床的手巧年轻人们，会在2011年达到3.266亿的峰值。联合国预计，这一数字将在今年回落。
Another telling statistic was divulged by the NBS earlier in the week. It noted that the number of migrant workers (living outside their home province) increased by 3.4% last year. That's a slower rate of increase than the 5.5% recorded in the previous year. As a consequence perhaps, the income of migrant workers rose by 21.2%, the NBS reckons, to 2,049 yuan a month. If true, that's an extraordinary surge. The average increase from 2005 to 2010 was only about 14.1%. Some migrants, at least, had good news to boast about on their return home for the Spring Festival holiday.
上周早些时NBS还披露了另一个引人注目的统计数字。它注意到，流动工人（即不住在家乡省份的工人）数目去年增加了3.4%。这低于2010年5.5%的增长速度。NBS认为，这或许造成了流动工人收入的增加：他们的月工资增加了21.2%，达到了2049元。如果确实如此，这是一个异乎寻常的高增长。2005-2010年的平均增幅只有大约14.1%。至少有一部分流动工人可以在回家过年时夸耀一番了。
https://www.doczj.com/doc/014363975.html,/thread-62735-1-1.html译者：悠悠万事97
[2012.01.21]Not quite too late 还不算太晚
Nuclear Iran 伊朗核问题
Not quite too late还不算太晚
Against a rising tide of warlike rhetoric, negotiation must still be the aim of sanctions
尽管好战的喧嚣一浪高过一浪，制裁的目的仍然必须是谈判
Jan 21st 2012 | from the print edition
IRAN is facing sanctions of unprecedented severity. On December 31st Barack Obama signed into law measures demanded by Congress to punish any foreign financial institution transacting business with Iran‘s central bank, the co nduit for most of its oil contracts. On January 23rd the European Union, which buys about a fifth of Iran‘s exported oil, is ban future purchases. Under
American prompting, Japan and South Korea, which together take a similar amount of Iran‘s oil, are look ing for alternative supplies. These measures follow November‘s report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN‘s watchdog, detailing aspects of Iran‘s nuclear activity that make sense only if the aim is to be able to make nuclear weapons. The sanctions are also meant to show a jumpy Israel that there is an alternative to a military attack.
伊朗正面临前所未有的严厉制裁。美国国会要求惩罚任何与伊朗中央银行有交易业务的外国金融机构；巴拉克?奥巴马去年12月31日已签字让这些措施成为法律。伊朗大多数石油合同是通过伊朗央行进行的。1月23日，大约购买伊朗石油出口总量五分之一的欧盟将会明令禁止将来的购买。日本和韩国加起来大约购买同一数量的伊朗石油，但在美国怂恿下也在寻找替代来源。在采取这些措施前，联合国监察机构国际原子能组织（International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)）去年11月发表报告，详细叙述了伊朗核活动的各个方面，这些活动的唯一合理解释是制造核武器。这些制裁也是为了告诉精神紧张的以色列：除了军事行动之外还有别的选择。
This newspaper has favoured sanctions because an Israeli assault might start a regional conflagration, dragging in America—and even then might not succeed. But given that a variety of sanctions over the past 30 years has failed to change Iran‘s behaviour, sceptics, and not just those in Israel, are entitled to ask if sanctions, or indeed anything short of an attack, is really likely to stop Iran getting a bomb now. That is the question posed by Republican candidates in America‘s presidential campaign, sensing a chance to depict Mr Obama as weak.
本报支持制裁，因为以色列的袭击可能引起会把美国卷进去的地区战火，况且即便如此也不一定会成功。但过去30年间，各种制裁都未能改变伊朗的行径；因此不单以色列人，所有怀疑制裁的人都会问：制裁或者任何非战争手段现在是否真能阻止伊朗得到核武器？这也是那些觊觎总统宝座的共和党竞选人提出的问题，他们感觉有了可以将奥巴马描绘成软弱人物的机会。
There is no certain way of getting Iran to drop its quest for nuclear weapons. The latest sanctions will cause it more pain, but in the short run are unlikely to weaken its resolve. China, which is Iran‘s biggest trading partner and has little truck with sanctions, will probably take up much of the slack created by Europe and by America‘s Asian allies. Barter deals will get around restrictions on Ir an‘s central bank. And the fragile economies of Europe and America would suffer if Iran‘s oil exports disappeared from the world market. Libya‘s oil may be flowing strongly again and the Saudis, ever eager to do Iran down, may pump a bit more. But a jittery oil market is likely to send prices higher, helping Iran but not oil consumers.
谁也说不准怎样可以让伊朗放弃追求核武器。最新的制裁会让它更有切肤之痛，但可能不会在短期内减弱它的决心。伊朗的最大贸易伙伴中国不参与制裁，它可能会购买欧洲及美国的亚洲盟友不再购买的许多原油。易货贸易可以绕过对伊朗央行的限制。如果伊朗的石油出口退出世界市场，欧洲与美国脆弱的经济会受到打击。利比亚的石油可能会再度强劲涌入，一直想打压伊朗的沙特也可能会多生产一些。但石油市场的紧张情绪可能会推高油价，这样会更有利于伊朗而不是石油消费者。
Yet the latest sanctions are nevertheless worthwhile. Their impact may be cumulative and psychological rather than sudden and material. Iran‘s rulers may regard any sacrifice for the sake of the nuclear programme as bearable, but ordinary Iranians, even if they patriotically support it,
may feel differently and find ways to express their dissatisfaction. Iran‘s threats to close the Strait of Hormuz and punish Gulf producers who make up the oil shortfall suggest a regime under strain. 但最新的制裁毕竟还是值得进行的。它们的冲击可能是心理上的、逐步积累的，而不是物质上的、一蹴而就的。伊朗的统治者们可能认为，为了他们的核武计划，任何牺牲都是可以忍受的；尽管出于爱国主义信念，普通的伊朗人民支持这一计划，但他们却可能不会这样忍受，并通过某种方式发泄不满。伊朗发出警告，说要封锁霍尔木兹海峡、惩罚那些填补它减产的石油的海湾石油生产国，这正说明这一政权的紧张。
Moreover time may not be on Iran‘s side (see artic le). Though Israel says that the recent movement of centrifuges to a facility in a mountain near Qom suggests that Iran could produce a device this year, American intelligence apparently reckons that Iran, however close to a breakout capacity, is still several years away from having the right sort of missile warheads. Iran has been slowed by the sabotage campaign being waged, presumably by Israel and assorted Western agencies. It has also been rattled by the Arab spring.
而且拖下去可能对伊朗不利（见另文）。尽管以色列认为，伊朗最近把离心机转移到库姆（Qom）附近山中的设施的行动说明，今年伊朗可能会制造一颗核弹，但美国情报机构显然认为，无论伊朗已经多么接近于取得突破[注]，它还是需要几年时间才会拥有适用于导弹的核弹头。由于据推测是以色列与西方各国特务机构采取的破坏活动，伊朗的核计划进程受到了延误。阿拉伯之春也让伊朗感到惊慌。
Don’t forget the carrots
别忘了胡萝卜
Iran‘s divided regime has yet to reach the point of asking itself whether sti cking to its nuclear guns is really worth the pain. It may never do so. Yet the West should persist in reminding it of the gains it would enjoy if it were to eschew deceit and show flexibility, say by letting spent fuel from reactors be taken to neutral th ird countries. A ―grand bargain‖, seemingly forgotten, is still worth tabling. In exchange for Iran abjuring nuclear weapons, the West would stop seeking regime change. An end to Iran‘s theocracy is desirable, but the West is unlikely to get a nuclear deal unless it offers carrots as well as sticks. A bargain will be hard for Mr Obama to sell to voters; but he should ask the Republicans if they really want to start a war.
尽管伊朗政权四分五裂，但政争还没有发展到能使其反思这个问题的地步：不惜代价坚持研发核武究竟值不值得。也许它永远都不会发展到这个地步。但西方应该不懈地提醒他们，如果放弃欺骗并愿意妥协（例如把反应堆中用过的核燃料运往中立的第三国），他们会享有什么样的好处。一项似乎已经为人遗忘的―有重大便宜的交易‖仍旧值得提交讨论。为换取伊朗放弃核武装，西方可以不再谋求推翻伊朗现政权。结束伊朗的神权统治确实令人神往，但除非西方同时使用大棒与胡萝卜，要达成核武协议是不大可能的。要让奥巴马向选民兜售这样一种交易自然不容易；但他不妨问问共和党人，他们是否真想发动战争。
[注]Breakout capacity 系指无核国家得到了足够的原料和专门技术知识，从而可以在相对短的时间内成功制成核弹的能力。
https://www.doczj.com/doc/014363975.html,/thread-62681-1-1.html译者：悠悠万事97
[2012.01.21]Guatemala's new president: Quick march 新总统必须加快改革
Guatemala’s new president
危地马拉新总统
Quick march
急行军
A former general must move fast to meet expectations
退役将军必须快速行动，才不至辜负人们对他的期望
Jan 21st 2012 | GUATEMALA CITY | from the print edition
―THE change has begun. The change has arrived,‖ declared Otto Pérez Molina as he donned Guatemala‘s presidential sash on January 14th. Quoting Mayan astronome rs who set the start of a new 5,125-year epoch in 2012, Mr Pérez, a former general, vowed to save the country from its ―crisis‖ of crime and poverty.‖
―改变已经开始。改变已经到来。‖ 1月14日，奥托?佩雷斯?莫利纳（Otto Pérez Molina）在披上危地马拉总统绶带时这样宣告。玛雅天文学家认为一个历时5125年的新纪元将在2012年开始；退役将军佩雷斯引用了他们的话，并发誓要从―犯罪与贫困的危机中‖拯救这个国家。
Guatemala has grave problems and feeble means to combat them. Its murder rate of 39 per 100,000 people, partly spurred by drug gangs, is among the world‘s highest. Slow violence is done on a bigger scale by malnutrition, which stalks half the country‘s children, the worst rate in the Americas. Government revenues are just over a tenth of GDP, the region‘s lowest share.
危地马拉有着严重的问题，但解决手段贫乏。毒品黑帮是让这个国家的谋杀率——每10万人39起——几乎居全球榜首的部分原因。而营养不良则在更大程度上成为―慢性折磨‖；它让该国一半的儿童身受其害，这是美洲各国中比例最高的。政府税收只占GDP的十分之一多一点，是这一地区最低的。
Mr Pérez won the election by pledging an ―iron fist‖ against crime and corruption, which he says have ―infected‖ the state. Supporters hope for army-style efficiency. Critics worry that as head of military intelligence durin g some of the country‘s 36-year civil war, he must have known of the atrocities committed by his side. Mr Pérez‘s backers note that he negotiated the 1996 peace accords, which shrunk the army.
在竞选中，佩雷斯发誓以―铁拳‖打击―毒化‖了这个国家的犯罪和腐败，因此赢得了选举。他的支持者希望他能带来军队式的效率。批评他的人担心，这位在该国36年内战中的部分岁月里担任军事情报首脑的总统一定知道他的部下的许多暴行。拥护他的人强调，是佩雷斯促成了1996年的和平协议，该协议裁减了军队。
The president has promised results fast. Mauricio López Bonilla, the interior minister, says he hopes to cut the murder rate to 30-35 per 100,000 by July. He plans to increa se the police force‘s ranks by 40% and the army‘s by 22%. Claudia Paz y Paz, the attorney-general, will stay on,
despite pursuing several of Mr Pérez‘s former army colleagues. The UN-sponsored anti-impunity commission, CICIG, is likely to be invited to stay after its mandate expires in 2013.
总统承诺要迅速取得成效。内务部长Mauricio López Bonilla说他希望到7月份将谋杀率降低到每10万人30到35起。他计划扩充警力40%，兵员22%。司法部长Claudia Paz y Paz 将留任，但将起诉佩雷斯过去在军队里的几位同僚。联合国赞助的反免罚委员会CICIG可能会在2013年结束使命后受邀留驻该国。
Mr Pérez has promised to reduce the share of children who are malnourished to 40%. That requires cash. He hopes to find some money by cutting ties to publicly funded NGOs with opaque accounts, on which the previous government relied. But the necessary sums can only come from raising the tax take, via reforms that business leaders have delayed for years. The appointment as finance minister of Pavel Centeno, who has an academic rather than corporate background, is a first step.
佩雷斯已承诺将营养不良儿童的比例降至40%。这需要现金。他希望通过与非政府组织（NGOs）脱钩的方式筹得一些资金；前任政府依赖这些组织，并从国家的非透明帐户中出资赞助它们。但必要的大量款子只能通过增加税收获得，这就要进行商界领袖们多年拖延的改革。任命拥有学术资历但企业背景不足的Pavel Centeno担任财政部长就是为此而采取的第一步措施。
Congress will be a trial for Mr Pérez, whose Patriot Party has only about 60 of the 158 seats (politicians change allegiance at will, so the total will vary). Some congressmen from the left-leaning UNE and populist Líder parties skipped his inauguration. The Patriots should be able to form a majority via a rickety alliance. But Guatemala‘s disposable parties and footloose politicians mean he may only have a few months to pass a fiscal reform.
国会将是对佩雷斯的一个考验，他的爱国党（Patriot Party）只占158个席位中的大约60席（政客们可以随意改变效忠对象，因此计数会改变）。一些来自左翼的全国统一希望党（UNE）与平民主义的自由党的议员没有参加他的就职典礼。爱国党应该能够通过一种不稳定的同盟形成多数。但危地马拉有着易于变节的政党和立场不稳的政治家，这意味着，他可能必须在几个月之内通过一项财政改革方案。
Mr Pérez might take heart from the oppos ition‘s woe s. Líder‘s Manuel Baldizón, a businessman from lawless Petén, campaigned on promises of the death penalty and unaffordable handouts. But Líder now controls just 24 seats. One of its congressmen was killed on January 13th, as he was reportedly set to defect. UNE did not field a presidential candidate after its hopeful, Sandra Torres, was disqualified for being only recently divorced from the then-president. Her sister Gloria, a former party secretary, is wanted for money-laundering.
佩雷斯可能会因反对派的灾难受到鼓舞。来自没有法律约束的佩滕（Peten）地区的自由党人，商人Manuel Baldizón在竞选时承诺设立死刑和他实际上无法给与选民的好处。自由党现在只剩下了24个议会席位。有报道说他们的一位议员决定跳槽，接着他就在1月13日被杀。UNE原来的总统候选人珊德拉?托雷斯（Sandra Torres）因为最近才跟当时的总统离婚而被取消了参选资格，此后他们没有新人替补上阵。她的姐姐格罗利亚（Gloria）过去是党的书记，现在因洗钱受到通缉。
Mr Pérez‘s iron fist is unlikely to crush all of Guatemala‘s problems. But if he can make his mark,
today‘s unhappy epoch may at least be shorter than 5,125 years.
佩雷斯的铁拳不大可能解决危地马拉所有的问题。但如果他能够打开局面，今天这一不幸的纪元至少不会延续5125年之久。
https://www.doczj.com/doc/014363975.html,/thread-62714-1-1.html译者：悠悠万事97
[2012.01.21]Party of two，二人成双
The American presidency
美国总统
Party of two
二人成双
The challenges of peeling open a political marriage
揭开一位政治家婚姻面纱的挑战
Jan 21st 2012 | from the print edition
The Obamas: A Mission, a Marriage.By Jodi Kantor. Little, Brown; 368 pages; $29.99. Allen Lane; ￡14.99. Buy from https://www.doczj.com/doc/014363975.html,, https://www.doczj.com/doc/014363975.html,
《奥巴马夫妇：一份使命，一段婚姻》，裘迪·坎特著。美版由立特布朗出版，368页，29.99美元；英版由埃伦雷恩出版，14.99英镑。购买两个版本分别点击美国亚马逊, 英国亚马逊
IN 2009 Jodi Kantor, a reporter for the New York Times, spent 40 minutes in the Oval Office with Barack and Michelle Obama. The topic was their marriage. It was bound to be awkward. At one point she asked how it is possible to have an equal marriage when one partner is the president. Their answer, she would later write, suggested some ―subtle tension‖.
2009年纽约时报的一位记者，裘迪·坎特在椭圆办公室内对巴拉克·奥巴马和米歇尔·奥巴马进行了40分钟的采访。那次采访的主题是他们的婚姻，因此注定会气氛尴尬。在采访中她曾提出这么一个问题：另一半是总统的婚姻怎么可能平等呢。她之后在报道中写道，奥巴马夫妇的回答透露出一种―微妙的紧张气氛‖。
After that article was published, Ms Kantor mulled. She had been trying to understand how Mr Obama‘s presidency had affected their relationship. But that, she realised, was only part of the story. ―The more difficult question was the reverse one,‖ Ms Ka ntor writes now. Even if it is not an equal marriage, it is a marriage of equals. Certainly their union has informed his presidency.
那篇报道发表之后，坎特女士对这个问题进行了仔细的思考。她这次采访本来的目的是理解奥巴马上任总统对他们夫妇的关系有什么影响。但是她后来醒悟到这并不是全部。坎特女士现在在书中写道：―更困难的一个问题应该是反过来问他们夫妇的关系对总统任职的影响。‖即使他们的婚姻不能说是平等的，奥巴马和米歇尔在婚姻中的地位也是平等的。当然他们的婚姻对奥巴马的总统任职有所影响。
―The Obamas‖ addresses the question from both sides. The book has been received with curiosity, partly because of a tetchy reaction from the White House. Mrs Obama herself responded in a
televised int erview: ―That‘s been an image that people have tried to paint of me since…the day Barack announced [his candidacy], that I‘m some angry black woman.‖
《奥巴马夫妇》一书从两个方面来回答了这个问题。该书出版后引起了广泛好奇，一部份原因是白宫对该书的懊恼反应。奥巴马夫人自己在电视采访中对该书作出了回应：―这本书把我描绘成一个愤怒的黑人女性，自从巴拉克宣布（他竞选总统）以来，人们一直试图这么描述我。‖
It is easy to understand Mrs Obama‘s frustration. Every presidential couple is under pressure, if only because the job of being president is so demanding. The spouse has no official chores or salary, but she is the partner, and she has access to the power. In the modern context, as women have entered the workforce and asserted greater rights, several first ladies have made ambitious use of the role. At times, Eleanor Roosevelt seemed practically the president; Hillary Clinton would go on to campaign for the job herself. The contemporary First Ladies who adopt a more demure profile have drawn less criticism, but all of them have taken up various causes; some, like Jackie Kennedy, are now seen as having been canny backstage operators.
很容易理解奥巴马夫人为什么这么懊恼、所有的总统夫妇都承受一定压力，光是总统工作的强度就已经够受了。总统的配偶没有官方工作，也没有薪水可拿，但是她是总统的伴侣，她接近权力。在妇女已经进入职场，坚持获取更大权利的现代，有好几位第一夫人利用她们的身份大展手脚。有很多时候埃莉诺·罗斯福看上去几乎就是总统，希拉里·克林顿则在之后亲自角逐总统一职。当代那些较为低调的第一夫人遭到外界诟病的就较少，但是她们也都曾主持不同的社会活动。现在的看法认为其中杰奎琳·肯尼迪等几位是精明的幕后操纵者。
For the Obamas, the scrutiny has been especially intense. They are singular individuals, controversial in some quarters, and they head the first black First Family. Ms Kantor‘s book is quite clear about how annoying this must be, and there is nothing scurrilous about her work. She interviewed more than 200 people, including most of the principal players. None of the scenes she describes has been seriously disputed, although she can be prone to over-interpretation. ―He hated posing for pictures with strangers in restaurants, bu t she did not let him off the hook,‖ writes Ms Kantor. ―?Do your job,‘ she would say. The instruction carried a whiff of revenge: this is what you wanted. Smile!‖
对于奥巴马夫妇，这种审视特别尖锐。他们夫妻两人都是杰出人物，都在某些问题上惹人争议，而他们两人是美国首个黑人第一家庭的家长。坎特女士的书特别清楚描述了这一点对夫妇两人来说有多烦心，且并没有对奥巴马夫妇任何不敬的成分。她采访了200多个人，包括大多数在他们的婚姻中扮演重要角色的当事亲朋好友。她描述的情景没有一处受到严肃的质疑，不过她确实有过度解读的倾向。坎特在书中写道：―他讨厌在餐馆里和陌生人拍照，但她从不放过他。她会说：?这是你份内的事‘。这句话里面带有一丝报复的意味，好像在说：当初你自己想要做这份工作的。快微笑！‖
The portrait is largely sympathetic. There are some sore spots in the marriage, but that is normal, and the Obamas have said as much. ―Our society has not necessarily equipped us to sustain relationships,‖ Mr Obama said in a speech at his sister‘s wedding in 2003. The candour is unusual, but perhaps not surprising. During the 20 years the Obamas have been married, millions of Americans have taken a critical look at the institution.
整本书对奥巴马夫妇的描述基本上是持同情态度的。在两人的婚姻中有一些污点，不过那是