Some years bring disorder, others a resolution. This one asked questions
Dec 20th 2022

IT WAS A year that put the world to the test. From the invasion of Ukraine to covid-19 in China, from inflation to climate change, from Sino-American tensions to pivotal elections, 2022 asked hard questions. The ordeal has not only sent the world in a new direction, but also shown it in a new light.
inflation
n. 膨胀;通货膨胀;充气
pivotal
adj. 关键性的, 核心的
ordeal
n. 折磨, 磨难, 煎熬, 严酷的考验
这是对世界进行考验的一年。从乌克兰入侵到中国新冠肺炎疫情,从通货膨胀到气候变化,从中美紧张关系到关键的选举,2022年提出了尖锐的问题。这场严峻的考验不仅使世界走向了新的方向,而且使世界呈现出新的面貌。
The biggest surprise—and the most welcome—has been the resilience of broadly liberal countries in the West. When Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine on February 24th, he expected the government of a corrupt state to buckle. After a humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, the decadent, divided West would surely fail to match condemnation of Russia with real backing for Ukraine.
resilience
n. 适应力, 弹力, 快速恢复的能力, 还原能力
troop
n. 部队,军队;一群,一队
v. 群集,结队,成群前行
buckle
v. (使)搭扣扣住, (被)压垮, 双腿发软
n. (皮带等的)搭扣
humiliating
adj. 献丑的
v. “humiliate”的现在分词
withdrawal
n. 撤回, 取款, 收回, 撤走
decadent
adj. 堕落的, 颓废的, 贪图享乐的
n. 颓废派艺术家[文人]
condemnation
n. 谴责, 指责
最大的惊喜——也是最受欢迎的——是西方广泛自由主义国家的韧性。当弗拉基米尔·普京在2月24日下令俄罗斯军队进入乌克兰时,他以为这个腐败的国家会屈服。在2021年耻辱地从阿富汗撤军后,颓废、分裂的西方肯定无法将对俄罗斯的谴责与对乌克兰的真正支持相提并论。
In fact Volodymyr Zelensky and his people affirmed that self-determination and liberty are worth dying for. They became an inspiration. After an upsurge in popular support, Western governments threw their weight behind democracy’s new champion. Led by the Biden administration, the West is providing arms and aid on a scale even hawks had not imagined.
upsurge
n. 急剧上升, 飙升, 猛增
v. 高涨, 增长
scale
n. 规模;刻度;级别;比例尺;鳞;(scales) 秤,磅秤
v. 改变…的尺寸大小;攀登
事实上,弗拉基米尔·泽伦斯基和他的人民肯定,自决和自由值得为之牺牲。他们成为了一种灵感。在民众支持率高涨之后,西方政府纷纷支持这位民主的新冠军。在拜登政府的领导下,西方正在提供武器和援助,规模之大甚至连鹰派都无法想象。
At home voters also made themselves heard, siding against taboo-busting populists. In America, despite the awful approval numbers of Joe Biden, centrists used their ballots to preserve fundamental rights, including in some states the right to an abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. In competitive races hard-core election-deniers endorsed by Donald Trump almost all lost.
populist
n. 平民主义者, 平民论者;人民党党员
adj. 平民主义的;民粹主义的
despite
prep. 尽管,虽然
n. 轻视,轻蔑(旧用)
awful
adj. 可怕的,骇人的;难过的;极坏的,糟糕的,极讨厌的;非常的,极大的;使人敬畏的,庄严的
adv. 极其,非常
centrist
n. (政治上的)中间派
overturn
v. 倾覆, 倾倒, 翻掉, 推翻
n. 毁灭, 推翻, 垮台
endorse
v. 支持, (尤指在支票背面)签名,背书, (在广告中)宣传, (在驾驶执照上)记录违章事项
在国内,选民们也发表了自己的意见,反对打破禁忌的民粹主义者。在美国,尽管乔·拜登(Joe Biden)的支持率很高,但中间派利用选票来维护基本权利,包括在最高法院推翻罗诉韦德案(Roe v Wade)后的一些州堕胎权。在竞争激烈的竞选中,唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)支持的铁杆选举否认者几乎都输了。
In France Marine Le Pen camouflaged her far-right origins, but was still beaten by Emmanuel Macron, a centrist. After Giorgia Meloni became Italy’s first far-right post-war prime minister, she leaned to the centre. Even in stumbling Britain, both Labour and the governing Conservatives are calculating that victory in elections lies away from the populist extremes of right and left.
camouflage
n. 隐蔽, (动物的)保护色, 隐瞒
v. 伪装, 掩饰
lean
v. 倾斜, 倚靠, 前俯(或后仰), 靠在
adj. 瘦且健康的;〔肉〕瘦的,脂肪少的;高效精干的;回报少的;贫乏的
n. 瘦肉
stumble
v. 绊倒;跌跌撞撞地走,蹒跚而行; 演奏;无意中发现;犯错,失策
n. 绊倒, 失足, 失误, 失败
在法国,马琳·勒庞掩饰了自己的极右翼出身,但仍被中间派埃马纽埃尔·马克龙击败。梅洛尼(Giorgia Meloni)成为意大利战后首位极右翼总理后,她倾向于中间立场。即使在步履蹒跚的英国,工党和执政的保守党都在盘算,选举的胜利不在于极右和极左的民粹主义。
As messy democracies show unexpected resolve, so seemingly steady autocracies have had feet of clay. Mr Putin is the prime example, doubling and redoubling his catastrophic gamble. But he is not the only one. After three months of protests following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for failing to follow the rules in wearing her hijab, the security forces in Iran have taken to shooting female protesters in the face, breasts and genitals. Now that the mullahs have forfeited the faith of their people, they have no other lever but violence.
messy
adj. 凌乱的, 难以应付的
autocracy
n. 专制制度,独裁政体,独裁国家,专制国家
clay
n. 黏土, 陶土
catastrophic
adj. 大突变(灾难)的, 悲惨结局的, 灾难性的
gamble
v. 冒风险;碰运气;以…为赌注
n. 赌博;打赌;冒险”
custody
n. 羁押, 保管, 保护, 【法】抚养权
hijab
n. 盖头, 头巾制度(规定戴头巾的宗教制度)
genital
adj. 生殖的, 生殖器的
n. 外阴部
mullah
n. 毛拉(穆斯林宗教和教法的教师)
forfeit
v. (因犯错)丧失
n. 罚金, 没收物
adj. 被罚的, 被没收的
当混乱的民主国家展现出出人意料的决心时,看似稳定的专制国家也有了问题。普京就是最好的例子,他的灾难性赌博一倍又一倍。但他不是唯一一个这样做的人。马赫萨·阿米尼(Mahsa Amini)因未遵守佩戴头巾的规定而被捕,在拘留期间死亡,此后抗议活动持续了三个月,伊朗安全部队开始对女性抗议者的面部、乳房和生殖器开枪。现在毛拉们已经丧失了人民的信仰,除了暴力,他们没有别的手段。
Those who admire strong leaders for getting things done should be careful what they wish for. Xi Jinping has extended the dominance of the Chinese Communist Party, installing himself as its permanent chief and the most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. But his steps to cool the property market, rein back consumer tech and block covid did grave harm to the economy. Today, as the virus spreads, it is clear that his government wasted months when it should have been vaccinating the elderly, stockpiling drugs and creating intensive-care beds.
rein
n. 控制, 缰绳, (幼儿佩带以防走失的)保护带, 主宰
v. 控制, 箝制, 抑制(情欲等), 给(马)套上缰绳
grave
n. 坟墓, 墓地, 墓穴, 死
adj. 重要的, 严重的, 〔意大利语〕【音乐】沉重的, 极慢的
v. 刻, 对(船底)作清洗并涂上沥青等涂料, 铭记
adv. 庄重地;严肃地
那些钦佩强有力的领导者把事情做好的人应该小心他们的愿望。习近平扩大了中国共产党的统治地位,将自己任命为永久领导人和自毛泽东以来最有权势的领导人。但他为房地产市场降温、控制消费科技和阻止新冠肺炎的措施对经济造成了严重损害。今天,随着病毒的传播,很明显,他的政府浪费了数月时间,而本应为老年人接种疫苗、储备药物和建造重症监护病床。
Even China’s all-encompassing social control showed cracks. Although the Chinese security services swatted down widespread protests last month, these had been triggered partly by the sight of maskless crowds in Qatar enjoying the World Cup.
encompass
v. 包含, 包围, 围绕, 围住
crack
v. (使)破裂,断裂;重击,猛击
n. 裂缝;缝隙;(突然的)爆裂声;笑话,俏皮话
adj. 训练有素的;技艺高超的;优秀的;一流的
swat
v. 拍
n. 〈美口〉拍, 猛击
甚至中国无所不包的社会控制也出现了裂痕。尽管中国安全部门上个月镇压了广泛的抗议活动,但这些抗议活动的部分原因是看到卡塔尔不戴口罩的人群欣赏世界杯。
For all those who embrace classical liberal values, including this newspaper, Western resilience is heartening—and an important change after a long retreat. But the good news goes only so far. The tests of 2022 have also revealed the depths of the world’s divisions and have set big government on the march.
hearten
v. 激励, 鼓励
对于包括本报在内的所有拥护古典自由主义价值观的人来说,西方的复原力令人振奋——这是长期撤退后的重要变化。但好消息仅限于此。2022年的测试也揭示了世界分裂的深度,并让大政府踏上了征程。
To gauge the divisions, compare the almost universal support for America after the attacks of September 11th 2001 with the global south’s determination to stay neutral in the fight over Ukraine. In the most recent UN vote to reprimand Russia, 35 countries abstained. Many understandably resent how the West asserts that its worries are issues of global principle, whereas war in Yemen or the Horn of Africa, say, or climate-related droughts and floods, always seem to be regional.
gauge
v. 估计, 判定, 估算, (用仪器)测量
n. 厚度, 标准, 测量仪器(或仪表), 计量器
neutral
adj. 中立的,中性的
A judge must remain neutral.
裁判必须要保持中立。
reprimand
v. 斥责, 训斥, 申斥
n. 惩戒, 申斥
understandably
adv. 可以理解地, 正常地, 合乎情理地
要衡量这些分歧,可以将2001年9月11日恐怖袭击后对美国几乎普遍的支持与全球南方在乌克兰战争中保持中立的决心进行比较。在联合国最近一次谴责俄罗斯的投票中,35个国家弃权。可以理解的是,许多人对西方声称其担忧是全球原则问题感到不满,而也门或非洲之角的战争,或与气候有关的干旱和洪水,似乎总是地区性的。
In much of the world liberal values are embattled. Despite the defeat of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, democracy is under strain in Latin America. As he presides over ruinous inflation in Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is prosecuting potential opponents in the election in 2023. In Israel Binyamin Netanyahu is trying to avoid jail for corruption by forming a coalition with the Arab-hating, gay-bashing far right. Indonesia adopted an illiberal criminal code in December that threatens to ban sex outside marriage, stifle free speech and impose religious orthodoxy. India’s economy is brimming over with tech-inspired enterprise, but its politics are majoritarian, ugly and cruel.
embattle
v. 布阵, 设防于, 在…造城垛
ruinous
adj. 毁灭性的;被毁坏的;负担不起的;贵得离谱的
prosecute
v. 起诉, 控告, 检举, 担任控方律师
coalition
n. 联盟, 联合, 结合, (两党或多党)联合政府
bashing
n. 猛烈抨击, 严厉批评, (对某人或群体的)殴打
v. “bash”的现在分词
illiberal
adj. 不容言论(或行动)自由的, 不开明的
stifle
v. 扼杀, 抑制, 压制, 阻止, 使窒息
n. (马,狗的)后腿膝关节(病)
orthodoxy
n. 正统观念, 普遍接受的观点, 正统的信仰(或做法), 正教会
brim
n. (东西的)边缘, 边; 帽檐
v. 满溢; 溢出; 充满[某种事物、品质或情感]
majoritarian
adj. 多数主义的
n. 多数主义者
All around the world, the idea of limited government is taking a beating. Because of the post-invasion energy shock, European governments are pouring money into fixing prices. They are also powering the transition from fossil fuels, itself a welcome goal, using industrial policy rather than markets. America’s answer to the security threat from China is to deploy trade barriers and subsidies to decouple its own economy and boost home-grown industries. If that harms America’s allies, too bad.
在世界各地,有限政府的理念正在遭受打击。由于美国入侵后的能源冲击,欧洲各国政府正投入大量资金来固定价格。它们还在利用产业政策而非市场,推动从化石燃料的转型,这本身就是一个受欢迎的目标。面对来自中国的安全威胁,美国的应对办法是设置贸易壁垒和补贴,让自己的经济脱钩,促进本土产业的发展。如果这损害了美国的盟友,那就太糟糕了。
Economic nationalism is popular. The largesse during the pandemic changed expectations of the state. Creative destruction, which reallocates capital and labour, may be unpalatable to ageing populations that put less store by economic growth and to younger voters who embrace the politics of identity.
largesse
n. 慷慨解囊, 施舍, 赠款
destruction
n. 破坏,毁灭
unpalatable
adj. 令人不快的, 难以接受的, 难吃的, 不可口的
经济民族主义盛行。大流行期间的慷慨改变了国家的期望。重新分配资本和劳动力的创造性破坏可能不适合不太重视经济增长的老龄化人口和拥护身份政治的年轻选民。
But big-government capitalism has a poor record. Given decades-high inflation, caused partly by ill-judged fiscal and monetary policy, especially in America, it is odd that voters want to reward politicians and officials by giving them power over bits of the economy they are not suited to run. State-backed champions in energy and tech sometimes succeed, but the more that countries pile in, the more waste and rent-seeking there will be.
suited
adj. 合适, 适宜, 适当, 般配的
v. “suit”的过去分词和过去式
pile
n. 一堆; 大量; 高大建筑; 建筑群; 电池组
v. 堆积; 拥, 挤
但大政府资本主义的记录并不好。考虑到几十年的高通货膨胀,部分原因是财政和货币政策的错误判断,尤其是在美国,选民们想要奖励政治家和官员,让他们在不适合他们管理的经济领域获得权力,这是很奇怪的。在能源和科技领域,政府支持的领军企业有时会成功,但国家越多,浪费和寻租就会越多。
The chips were down
Judged by the liberal yardstick of limited government, a respect for individual dignity and a faith in human progress, 2022 has been mixed. However, there is hope. The West was arrogant after the collapse of Soviet communism. It paid the price in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global financial crisis of 2007-09. In 2022, having been rocked by populism at home and China’s extraordinary rise, the West was challenged and it found its footing. ■
chip
n. 集成电路片,芯片;炸薯条,炸薯片;碎屑,碎片;缺口
v. 打破;弄缺;(使)掉碎片
n. [名]奇普
yardstick
n. 准绳, 码尺, (好坏或成败的)衡量标准
dignity
n. 尊贵, 高贵; 庄严, 端庄; 尊严
arrogant
adj. 傲慢的, 自大的
populism
n. 平民政治, 民粹主义, 民意论
extraordinary
adj. 意想不到的,不平常的;非凡的;特派的;临时的
footing
n. 基础,地位; 立足,立足点;平衡,站稳
v. 支付(账单或费用)(“foot”的现在分词)
筹码下降了
从有限政府的自由主义标准、对个人尊严的尊重和对人类进步的信念来看,2022 年喜忧参半。然而,还是有希望的。苏联共产主义垮台后,西方变得傲慢自大。它在伊拉克、阿富汗和 2007-09 年的全球金融危机中付出了代价。 2022 年,在国内民粹主义和中国非凡崛起的冲击下,西方受到挑战并站稳脚跟。■
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