2015考研英语阅读英文原刊《经济学人》：南非城市现状

　　2015考研英语复习正是强化复习阶段，考研英语阅读在考研英语中占了40分，所以考研英语阅读是英语科目中重要的一项。新东方名师范猛老师曾建议过考研生需要坚持每天泛读10-15分钟的英文原刊。强烈推荐了杂志《经济学人》.杂志中的文章也是考研英语的主要材料来源.希望考研考生认真阅读，快速提高考研英语阅读水平。

　　South African cities

　　南非城市现状

　　Still worlds apart

　　支离破碎

　　Urban communities remain divided along raciallines. Can that be changed?

　　城市社区依然按照种族划分。这种状况是否有所转变?

　　DRIVING throughSouth Africacan be like taking adisheartening trip back in time. Twenty years after introducing full democracy, the racistgeography of the apartheid era is stubbornly unchanged.

　　在南非境内驾车，犹如一场时空倒退的旅行。二十年前，南非就倡导完全民主，二十年后，南非的种族歧视和种族隔离并未得到一丝一毫改变。

　　Most towns start with a collection of shacks, or perhaps rows of tiny matchbox houses,inevitably inhabited by blacks. A swathe of wasteland follows and then, further along,comes the town proper. Between the two, black people walk through fields or alongroads—there are no proper pavements—or sometimes pile in and out of dilapidated minibustaxis en route from home to work. The effects of the Group Areas Act, which physicallypushed non-whites to the margins of towns in 1950—at a distance, yet close enough toprovide cheap labour—are still evident.

　　多数城镇郊区都是成片破旧的、极其狭窄的房屋，这无疑是黑人的住所。周围是一大片荒地，再远处就是城区了。市区和郊区间并没有人行道，出门工作时，黑人们只能穿过田地或者道路，有时候还要挤破烂不堪的面包车。1950年族群住区法将非白种人驱赶至城市边缘地带—有一定距离，但这距离也足够提供廉价劳动力—这种状况如今并无任何转变。

　　In sprawlingJohannesburg, the biggest city inSouth Africaand its economic heartland,government officials are trying to break down this “spatial apartheid”. City planners haveembarked on an ambitious project to “restitch”Johannesburg, aiming to narrow the greatdistances between the black majority's homes and their places of work. Getting communitiesto live side by side with each other will be no easy task. Income inequality and fear ofviolent crime have the effect of keeping races apart. Government efforts to provideelectricity, water and housing to the poor have had the unintended consequence ofstrengthening apartheid geography by encouraging people to stay put. But the scheme canstill make a big difference to people's lives.

　　约翰尼斯堡被分割的七零八碎，却是南非最大的城市和经济中心，政府官员们正在努力打破这种“种族隔离”状态。城市规划者们已经着手实施一项伟大工程—“重新使约翰尼斯堡成为一个整体”，缩短黑人住所和工作地点的距离。但是，让人们挨着彼此近距离生活、挨着彼此并不容易。收入不均和对犯罪的担忧也对种族隔离造成影响。政府努力给穷人们供应电力、水源和住房，鼓励人们待在原地不动，这也造成了种族隔离的意外结果。但是这种体制也大大改变了人们的生活。

　　The flagship project inJohannesburgis a stylish pedestrian bridge that will link Alexandratownship, where Nelson Mandela once lived and where the slum-like conditions haven'tchanged much since, with Sandton, the city's wealthiest suburb, where a statue of MrMandela is dwarfed by upscale shopping malls. These two areas are close as the crow flies,but cut off from each other by the country's busiest highway. The bridge should have greatpractical benefits. According to a traffic study, at least 10,000 people walk between Alexandraand Sandton every day. Construction is expected to start next month.

　　约翰尼斯堡大张旗鼓的工程就像个时尚的人行天桥，链接着曼德拉曾住过的亚历山大小镇，那儿的贫民窟什么的至今并未得到改变，该城镇最富有的郊区桑顿屹立着曼德拉的雕像，但却因一座座拔地而起的购物商场而显的矮小。这两个地方像两条平行线，距离非常近，但却被中间繁忙的高速公路隔离开来。该工程应该有些实际利益。根据一项交通调查，每天至少有10000人步行在亚历山大和桑顿之间。预计下个月开始着手建设。

　　Johannesburg's “Corridors of Freedom” plan also includes a major expansion of the city's busnetwork and dedicated walking and cycling paths, linking areas slated for“mixed-use”development. Low-income workers typically spend many hours and big chunks oftheir salaries on transport.

　　约翰尼斯堡的“自由走廊”计划也包括扩宽城市的公交网，建设人行道和自行车道，发展“共用空间”。尤其是工作时间长的低收入人群，交通费用较大。

　　The mayor, Parks Tau, speaks of “a comprehensive transformation of our spatial destinyand a break from our apartheid past.” The city's promotional material has a more pragmaticpromise: “Gone will be the days of being forced to rise at dawn to catch a train, bus or taxi toa place of work.” Some residents in neighbourhoods along the planned corridors havecomplained of a lack of consultation from the city, and are fearful that crime may worsenas the masses pass by. But these changes are long overdue. A more efficient,people-friendlyJohannesburgwill be a far better city.

　　市长帕克斯在谈到“我们的生存空间将会全方位转型，摆脱过去的种族隔离状态。”该城市的宣传资料中有这么个务实的承诺：“压迫的日子将一去不复返了，早起赶火车、公交、出租车去工作的日子也不再有了。” “自由走廊”附近的居民都抱怨与城区缺乏沟通，每天有大量人群路过怕不安全，加大犯罪率。但其实这些担忧都是没必要的，约翰尼斯堡的人们将会过上美好的生活。

　　1.start with 从…开始

　　What choices? So I start with leading what.

　　什么选择?我以领导什么开始。

　　You can start with one of them and add the othersas you have time.

　　你现在就可以开始只用其中之一，如果你有时间的话，还可以加上其它的。

　　2.enough to 足以，足够做

　　The sale of the house should fetch in enough to pay our debts.

　　出售这栋房子足以付清欠我们的债。

　　She was unlucky enough to draw kitchen cleanup twice in one week.

　　她够倒霉的，在一周内两次抽签得下厨打扫。

　　3.break down 发生故障;失败

　　The car broke down

　　汽车坏了。

　　The bridge broke down in last earthquake.

　　那座桥在上次地震中坍塌了。

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