美国文化：美国大选乱象凸显制度弊端

 　　The chaotic¹ 2016 presidential election has highlighted the defects in the US election system and the dysfunction of democracy. The "email-gate" uncovered by the release of the Democratic National Committee emails stunned² the world, and showed that the so-called fair selection of candidates was anything but. Meanwhile, whether the outspoken³ and reckless real-estate mogul Donald Trump⁴ wins the race or not, he has irreversibly damaged US democracy already.

　　2016年总统选举乱象已经凸显了美国选举制度的弊端和民主障碍。民主党全国委员会邮件泄露揭开的“邮件门”震惊了全世界，并表明所谓的候选人公平选举只不过是一场幻象。同时，无论口无遮拦、不计后果的房地产大亨唐纳德·特朗普是否赢得竞选，他早就一发不可收拾地损害了美国民主。

　　The email scandal revealed the black box of how party elites⁵ manipulate the presidential election, as it showed the party establishment and the Democratic National Committee violated the neutrality principle by working with the Hillary Clinton campaign team to help her clinch⁶ the Democratic nomination⁷. For this purpose, they attempted to attack her rival Bernie Sanders’ ethnic⁸ identity as a Jew. And they went so far as to plan cyberattacks on the supporters of Sanders. When the scandal was uncovered, the supporters of Sanders were furious but the candidate himself was calm, as if unsurprised by the shenanigans against him.

　　邮件丑闻揭露了党派精英操纵总统选举的黑暗内幕，党派机构和民主党全国委员会违法中立原则，与希拉里阵营勾结以帮助希拉里赢得民主党提名。为了达到目的，他们试图拿伯尼·桑德斯(希拉里的对手)的犹太人民族身份进行攻击。同时，他们还计划网络攻击桑达斯的支持者。当这一丑闻被曝光，桑达斯的支持者感到十分愤怒，但是他本人却十分镇定，好像对这一针对他的鬼把戏并不感到意外。

　　Meanwhile, the Democratic camp has made great efforts to defame Trump by highlighting his discriminatory words against women, the disabled and minority groups, his past bankruptcies⁹, and his edgy¹⁰ temperament¹¹ that the Democrats¹² say make him unfit to be the president. Interestingly this is the very image he wants to present to voters.

　　同时，民主党阵营还大力损坏特朗普的名誉，突出强调她对女性、残疾人和少数民族的歧视性言论、曾经的破产经历以及他那暴躁的脾气，民主党人表示，这些都使得他不配当总统。有趣的是，这正是他想要展示给选民们的形象。

　　Second, the de facto two-party system and the winner-takes-all delegates counting system make extreme candidates stand out in the primaries. Therefore, moderate and rational candidates are at a disadvantage.

　　第二，事实上的两党制度以及胜者为王的的代表们掌控着该制度，这使得极端候选人在初选中显得十分耀眼。因此，温和、理性的候选人便处于弱势。

　　Third, democracy had to yield to populism when the party was hijacked¹³ by the radical¹⁴ politician. The nomination of Trump clearly showed that GOP was not able to control the election process. Nor could the GOP abandon the radical candidate, rather it had to flow with the populist trend. Thus, democracy has been distorted and does not accurately¹⁵ reflect the people’s will.

　　第三，当激进的政治家夺过党派大权之时，民主不得不让步于民粹主义。特朗普的提名就清楚地表明共和党无法控制选举过程。共和党不能抛弃激进候选人，它不得不跟随民粹主义潮流。因此，民主被损，也无法准确反映出人民的意愿。

　　The 2016 presidential election has made one thing clear, the US needs political reform.

　　2016年总统选举已经使得一件事情明确，美国需要进行政治改革。

1 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

2 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

3 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。

6 clinch   

v.敲弯，钉牢；确定；扭住对方 [参]clench

参考例句：

• Clinch the boards together.用钉子把木板钉牢在一起。
• We don't accept us dollars,please Swiss francs to clinch a deal business.我方不收美元，请最好用瑞士法郎来成交生意。

7 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 bankruptcies   

n.破产( bankruptcy的名词复数 )；倒闭；彻底失败；（名誉等的）完全丧失

参考例句：

• It's a matter of record that there were ten bankruptcies in the town last year. 去年这个城市有十家破产是事实。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Business bankruptcies rose 50 percent over the previous year. 破产企业的数量比前一年增加５０％。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

10 edgy   

adj.不安的；易怒的

参考例句：

• She's been a bit edgy lately,waiting for the exam results.她正在等待考试结果，所以最近有些焦躁不安。
• He was nervous and edgy, still chain-smoking.他紧张不安，还在一根接一根地抽着烟。

11 temperament   

n.气质，性格，性情

参考例句：

• The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
• Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。

12 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

14 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

15 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。