时代周刊 祖马下台 南非翻开历史新篇章(1)

South Africa is ready to turn the page on an era of misrule

南开准备翻开暴政时代的新篇章

IT’S THE BEGINNING OF THE END IN SOUTH Africa.

南非一个时代的终结即将来临。

Or the end of the beginning.

也可以说是一次开始的结束。

Either way, scandal-plagued President Jacob Zuma is on his way out after eight years in power.

无论如何，在位8年之后，丑闻缠身的南非总统雅各布·祖马就要卸任了。

After he resigned on Feb.14 amid attempts by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party to dislodge him,

祖马于2月14日提交了辞呈，在此之前，执政党非洲人国民大会（简称ANC）就意欲将其赶下台，

one thing is clear: South Africa is ready to turn the page.

有一点是可以肯定的：南非已经准备好翻开新的一页了。

And given how abysmally¹ run the country has been over much of the past decade, that’s unqualified good news.

鉴于这个国家在过去10年的大部分时间里都是一败涂地，这一消息可谓十足的好消息。

Compared with other countries whose economies are fueled by entrenched² patronage³ networks, South Africa is much more pluralistic.

相比其他经济由牢固的盟友网络推动的国家相比，南非的问题要多元得多。

Information about corruption⁴ at the top political levels is readily available,

政府高层的腐败证据随手可得，

so few South Africans will be unaware⁵ that Zuma still faces 783 corruption, fraud, racketeering and money-laundering charges relating to a pre-presidency arms deal.

很少有南非人不知道祖马至今仍面临着783起关于他在就任总统之前进行军火交易时腐败、欺诈、勒索和洗钱的指控。

In that respect, South Africa is much like Brazil, which is undergoing its own political convulsions.

在这方面，南非非常像也正经历着政治动荡的巴西。

And like Brazil, South Africa will emerge all the stronger for it.

和巴西一样，南非也会变得更加强大。

Strong rule of law and a robust⁶ media environment can cause short-term political chaos⁷ but often prove steadying in the long run.

强硬的法治，强健的媒体环境可能会引起短期的政治混乱，但通常都会最终稳定下来。

1 abysmally   

adv.极糟地；可怕地；完全地；极端地

参考例句：

• But the two-and-a-half-year-olds, much to my and their parents' surprise, failed abysmally. 但是两岁半的孩子根本不会找，我们与孩子的父母都很意外。 来自互联网
• Research and development spending by existing firms is abysmally low. 该数据能衡量新增的商业业务量和对创业的态度。 来自互联网

2 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

3 patronage   

n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场

参考例句：

• Though it was not yet noon,there was considerable patronage.虽然时间未到中午，店中已有许多顾客惠顾。
• I am sorry to say that my patronage ends with this.很抱歉，我的赞助只能到此为止。

4 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

5 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

6 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

7 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。