经济学人精读| 德国也遭洪灾,损失惨重Germany after the floods

发布于 2021-08-05 12:31 ，所属分类：试题库考试资料大全

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导读

近年来，全球气候多变，极端气候灾害频发，洪灾便是人类面临的自然灾害之一。近日，西欧正在经历有记录以来最严重的洪水。洪灾在德国的破坏程度难以想象，其给民众的生命及财产安全造成的损失难以预估。此次洪水在德国民众间引发了一场关于所谓的灾难控制失败的激烈讨论。主要论题包括政府是否低估了洪水的危险程度？相关部门是否太晚发布警告？等。而不久，德国即将进行大选，此次洪灾的处理结果也将影响着选举结果。此次洪灾不仅是一次自然灾害事件，而且对德国政治造成了严重的影响。

学习要点

洪水带来的后果？
各部分对洪水的应对工作做的如何？
长难句分析
推荐背诵或写作的句子

第1部分

原文及译文

Germany after the floods

洪灾后的德国

BERLIN Germany is grappling with the human and political fallout of the devastation

德国（柏林）正在努力削减这场洪灾对人民和政治的不良影响

英文选自0724《经济学人》Europe 板块

译审：Jennifer, Maggie 编辑：Robin

①“The floods and destruction are unimaginable. We cannot even assess the scale of the damage yet," says Carolin Weitzel, the mayor of Erftstadt, a town in North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW), southwest of Cologne. Blessem, a part of her city, was evacuated after a landslide spreading from a nearby quarry created a huge crater that reached the edge of the town. Part of its historic castle collapsed. Streets were smashed and covered with water and mud. Cars were carried away by the torrents and turned upside down. The contents of family homes became piles of muddy rubbish. Even the crosses at the local cemetery were submerged under water.

此次洪灾的破坏力度难以想象。埃夫特施塔特（Erftstadt）是一座位于科隆（Cologne）西南北莱茵-威斯特伐利亚州（North-Rhine Westphalia/NRW）的城镇。其镇长罗琳·韦策尔（Carolin Weitzel）说道，“我们甚至无法评估受灾程度。” 该市的布莱瑟姆区（Blessem）附近的一家采石场发生山体滑坡，在小镇边缘冲击成一个巨大的水坑，因此，该地区民众紧急撤离。该镇的古堡部分被洪水冲垮；街道四分五裂，积水颇深，泥泞不堪；许多车辆被洪水冲走，倒扣在水中；民众家里的用品变成了一摞摞沾泥带水的垃圾；甚至当地墓园里的许多十字架都淹没在洪水中。

②Erftstadt was one of the settlements hit most dramatically by the devastating floods in Europe that have cost more than 200 lives in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, with the toll still rising. In NRW at least 48 people have died. And in the district of Ahrweiler in Rhineland-Palatinate alone at least 122 have died. Across the country, 160 more people are still missing and now feared dead. So far Erftstadt is not mourning any deaths, but not all its inhabitants have been accounted for.

欧洲此次大洪水中，埃夫特施塔特（Erftstadt）是受灾最严重的地区之一。在德国（Germany）、比利时（Belgium）、和荷兰（Netherlands）等地，有200多人在此次洪水中丧生，死亡人数还在上升。在北莱茵-威斯特伐利亚州（NRW），至少有49人死亡。仅在莱茵兰-普法尔茨州（Rhineland-Palatinate）的阿尔韦勒（Ahrweiler）地区，至少有122人死亡。整个德国范围内，仍有160多人失踪，目前恐已丧生。到目前为止，埃夫特施塔特（Erftstadt）没有为任何死者举行哀悼，更何况不是所有的遇难者都被找到了。

③As the worst floods in Germany's post-war history subside, the finger-pointing has started. The disaster has also moved climate change to the heart of debate in the run-up to the general election due on September 26th. Other than the hard-right Alternative for Germany, all political parties agree that man-made global warming is to blame. Naturally, the Greens have long focused on promoting measures to tackle climate change. But in their reaction to the catastrophe they were careful not to seem to profit from tragedy.

随着这场自德国二战以来最严峻的洪灾逐渐平息，指责声初露苗头。9月26号，德国即将进行大选，此次洪灾也推动着气候变化成为大选讨论的中心话题。在德国，除了极右翼政党德国新选择党（Alternative for Germany）之外的所有党派都同意，将此次洪灾归咎于人为全球变暖的影响。长久以来，绿党（the Gtreens）自然而然地去改进气候变化的应对策略。但是，在应对灾难的反应上，他们小心谨慎，避免让人怀疑其似乎会从悲剧中获益。

④Oppositio npoliticians are now calling for the resignation of Horst Seehofer, the federal interior minister, because of what they say was the government’s failure to give people enough warning. Hannah Cloke, a hydrologist at the University of Reading who co-founded the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) developed by the European Commission in the wake of severe floods in 2002, says that the forecasting was adequate but the response to the warnings of local authorities was highly inconsistent. Under Germany’s decentralised system, city and county councils in the 16 states are in charge of natural-disaster prevention. So it was up to them to act upon EFAS warnings, which Germany’s meteorological service indeed passed on several days before the disaster struck.

反对党正要求联邦内政部长霍斯特·泽霍尔(Horst Seehofer)辞职，他们认为政府未能尽职对民众发出警告。欧洲洪水预警系统(EFAS)是由欧洲委员会在2002年发生严重洪水后开发的，雷丁大学(Universityof Reading)的水文学家汉娜·克洛克(HannahCloke)是其创始人之一。她表示，对洪灾的预测是充分的，但地方当局对于降雨的警示及其不到位。在德国的分权体制下，16个州的市县议会负责自然灾害的预防。德国气象部门确实在灾难发生前几天就发出了警告，因此，责任应属地方当局在应对EFAS的警告方面行动不力。

⑤In part owing to a reluctance to order evacuations and the assumption that messages through digital tools would work, officials, media and the public in many affected areas communicated too little, too late. Networks were then knocked out, which meant that the warnings that were given did not reach many of the people who needed them. “In 2002 many people died needlessly, and I fear the same happened again,” says Ms Cloke.

在一定程度上，由于政府不愿下令疏散，且认为通过线上平台传递信息会起作用，导致官员、媒体和许多受灾地区的民众沟通太少、太迟。受灾时网络中断，这意味着许多身处其中的人并没有收到警示。“2002年，许多人白白丧生，我担心同样的事情会再次发生，” 克洛克表示。

⑥As the death toll continues to mount, emotions are raw and can easily turn. When Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the president, and Armin Laschet, the state premier of NRW and head of the Christian Democratic Union(CDU), visited Erftstadt on July 17th, Mr Laschet was filmed joking and sniggering while the president delivered a solemn speech. Faced with a public outcry, the front-runner to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in September was forced to apologise and grovel.

随着死亡人数持续攀升，民众情绪很激烈——也很容易转变。7月17日，总统弗兰克-沃尔特·施泰因迈尔(Frank-Walter Steinmeier)和北威州州长兼基督教民主联盟(CDU)主席阿明·拉谢(ArminLaschet)访问埃夫斯塔特时，在总统发表严肃讲话时，拉谢（Mr Laschet）被拍到在一旁嬉皮笑脸，公众对此强烈抗议。因此这位本来最有希望在今年9月接替安格拉•默克尔(Angela Merkel)出任德国总理的候选者，被迫低声下气道歉。

第2部分

精读讲解

Para.01

Germany after the floods

BERLIN Germany is grappling with the human and political fallout of the devastation

“The floods and destruction are unimaginable. We cannot even assess the scale of the damage yet," says Carolin Weitzel, the mayor of Erftstadt, a town in North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW), southwest of Cologne. Blessem, a part of her city, was evacuated after a landslide spreading from a nearby quarry created a huge crater that reached the edge of the town. Part of its historic castle collapsed. Streets were smashed and covered with water and mud. Cars were carried away by the torrents and turned upside down. The contents of family homes became piles of muddy rubbish. Even the crosses at the local cemetery were submerged under water.

01 精讲

grappling with

动词词组，有“扭打、与...搏斗、努力克服”等意思。在标题中的意思是“努力克服，努力解决”

The new government has yet tograpple with the problem of air pollution.新政府还需尽力解决空气污染问题。

fallout

名词，有两个常见意思：1.dangerous radioactive dust that is in the air after a nuclear explosion（核爆炸后的放射性坠尘）；2.the bad results of a situation or an action.（后果、余波）。标题中的这个词显然不是第一层意思，它更偏向于抽象含义“后果”，在标题中详指德国此次百年一遇大洪水带来的一系列后果。

「知识补充」

Erftstadt

It is a town located about 20km south-west of Cologne in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name of the town derives from the river which flows through it, the Erft. 如果英文里出现了多个地名，不熟悉的地名一定要查阅资料，自行积累背景知识，才能方便大家进行英文阅读。

North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW)

It is the most populous state of Germany, as well as the fourth largest by area. NRW was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia.

Cologne

It is Germany’s fourth-largest city (after Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich). and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area.

evacuated

v.1.to move people from a place of danger to a safer place.（把人从危险的地方疏散、转移、撤离）2.to empty your bowels （排空胃肠）显然，在句中，该单词是撤离、疏散的意思。

Children were evacuated from Londonto escape the bombing.为躲避轰炸，孩子们都撤离了伦敦。

landslide

n.（also landfall/landslip）A mass of earth, rock, etc. that falls down the slape of a mountain or a cliff.（山坡或悬崖的崩塌、滑坡）

Their house was buried by a landslide.他们的房子被一次山体滑坡掩埋了。

该词是一个有关自然灾害的词，同一类型常见的有关自然灾害的词有：

typhoon台风；downpour 暴雨；tsunami 海啸；mudslide 泥石流；earthquake 地震；avalanche 雪崩；hurricane 飓风；tornado 龙卷风，etc.

crater

n.1.a large hole in the top of a volcano 火山口；2. a large hole in the ground caused by the explosion of a bomb or by sth large hitting it. 由炸弹爆炸或巨物撞击形成的坑

该词在句中的意思是第二个意思：坑，在文中是指由于洪水冲击而形成的巨大水坑。

They blasted a huge crater in the runway.他们在飞机跑道上炸了一个大坑。

Blessem, a part of her city, was evacuated after a landslide spreading from a nearby quarry created a huge crater that reached the edge of the town.

该句成分较复杂，大家在翻译此类长句时，首先要注意分析其语法结构，才能尽量避免翻译时逻辑混乱，出现较低级的语法错误。A part of her city 是blessem 的同位语，之前我们也提到过同位语的翻译方法，在此句中，由于同位语较短，我们可以将其处理为名词的修饰语，而不用单独成句。主句比较简单就是：Blessem was evacuated.其余成分都是附加成分。After .....之后的整个句子是一个时间状语，里面又包含着一个定语从句。Spreading from a nearby quarry 是landslide 的后置定语，that reached the edge of the town 是crater的定语从句。

cemetery

n. An area of land used for burying dead people, especially one that is no beside a church.（尤指不靠近教堂的墓地）

She rests beside her husband in thelocal cemetery.在当地的墓地里，她长眠在丈夫的墓旁。

【SYN】graveyard/boneyard/burial site/burial ground/burying ground/memorial park.

Para.02

Erftstadt was one of the settlements hit most dramatically by the devastating floods in Europe that have cost more than 200 lives in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, with the toll still rising. In NRW at least 48 people have died. And in the district of Ahrweiler in Rhineland-Palatinate alone at least 122 have died. Across the country, 160 more people are still missing and now feared dead. So far Erftstadt is not mourning any deaths, but not all its inhabitants have been accounted for.

02 精讲

此句是一个长句、复杂句。hitmost dramatically by the devastating floods 是settlements的后置定语，that have cost more than...是floods的定语从句，with the toll still rising 是一个伴随状语。在翻译此类句子，首先要做的就是分析其语法结构，理清句子逻辑。

mourning

v.mourn for sb/sth. to feel and show sadness because sb has died; to feel sad because sth no longer exists or is no longer the same （因失去...而哀悼）

Today we mourn for all those whodied in two world wars.今天，我们向所有在两次世界大战中死难的人表示哀悼。

【SYN】grieve for

Para.03

As the worst floods in Germany's post-war history subside, the finger-pointing has started. The disaster has also moved climate change to the heart of debate in the run-up to the general election due on September 26th. Other than the hard-right Alternative for Germany, all political parties agree that man-made global warming is to blame. Naturally, the Greens have long focused on promoting measures to tackle climate change. But in their reaction to the catastrophethey were careful not to seem to profit from tragedy.

03 精讲

finger-pointing

n.the act of making explicit and often unfair accusations of blame. 指责、责难

Fragmentation of rule writing, supervision and enforcement led to finger-pointing in place of effective action.法规制定、监管和执行散乱。导致在需要采取有效行动时互相指责。

in the run-up to

v.在......的准备阶段；在......之前；快要...... 固定搭配，翻译时切忌拆开理解。

The company believes the productswill sell well in the run-up to Christmas.该公司相信这些产品在圣诞节前夕将会销的很好。

「知识补充」

Alternative for Germany

It, abbreviated to AFD, is a German political party founded in 2013. It is considered to be in the conservative/economic liberal spectrum. The party thrived the opened up policy space from the CDU/CSU on the political right. 德国新选择党

the Greens

The greenparty, also known as the league 90/green party, emerged from the green movementas early as the second half of the 20^th century. The green party is the first green party to enter the national assembly in national elections and the most famous green party in Europe, which has made great contributions to social development. 该词在文中并不表示“格林一家”，而是德国一个政党的名称“绿党”

Para.04

Opposition politicians are now calling for the resignation of Horst Seehofer, the federal interior minister, because of what they say was the government’s failure to give people enough warning. Hannah Cloke, a hydrologist at the University of Reading who co-founded the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) developed by the European Commission in the wake of severe floods in 2002, says that the forecasting was adequate but the response to the warnings of local authorities was highly inconsistent. Under Germany’s decentralised system, city and county councils in the 16 states are in charge of natural-disaster prevention. So it was up to them to act upon EFAS warnings, which Germany’s meteorological service indeed passed on several days before the disaster struck.

04 精讲

Hydrologist

Hydrologist是名词，表示水文学家，这个还比较常见，大家记忆一下。

The hydrologist figured the water depth along a wharf piling.水文工作者在码头桩上用数字标明水深。
Today we’re speaking with Robert Hirsch, a research hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, or USGS.今天节目的嘉宾是美国地质勘探局水文专家罗伯特·赫希。

in the wake of

in the wake of是紧紧跟随；随着…而来；作为…的结果；仿效的意思，相当于after the manner of。

Dolphins sometimes play in the wake of the boats.海豚有时跟着船只的尾波戏水。
Feelings there have been running high in the wake of last week's killing.紧随上周杀人事件之后，那里已是群情激愤。

be up to

be up to胜任；该由…负责；轮到…；从事，忙于。相当于undertake, address , pursue , have , wage。

It's very quiet upstairs; they must be up to some mischief !楼上很安静。他们一定在搞什么恶作剧。
What kin they be up to?他们在干什么？

Hannah Cloke, a hydrologist at the University of Reading who co-founded the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) developed by the European Commission in the wake of severe floods in 2002, says that the forecasting was adequate but the response to the warnings of local authorities was highly inconsistent.

这句话很长，修饰成分也很多。首先我们来找一下句子的主要成分，也就是Hannah Cloke says…。在主语Hannah Cloke后，有一个同位语a hydrologist at the University of Reading who co-founded the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) developed by the European Commission in the wake of severe floods in 2002，负责对主语Hannah Cloke进行补充说明。同位语中包含一个由who引导的定语从句who co-founded the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS)，依然修饰的主语Hannah Cloke。在该同位语中，还有一个过去分词做后置定语developed by the European Commission in the wake of severe floods in 2002，负责对the European Flood Awareness System补充说明。同位语后面是句子真正的谓语动词says，谓语动词says后面是一个由that引导的宾语从句says that the forecasting was adequate but the response to the warnings of local authorities was highly inconsistent。总体来说，这句话涉及到的语法现象包括同位语，定语从句，过去分词作后置定语，以及宾语从句。

OK，理清了句子的结构之后，我们来看一下这句话应该怎么翻译，如何把这个长句子恰当的组合在一起。我的译文参考如下：“欧洲洪水预警系统(EFAS)是由欧洲委员会在2002年发生严重洪水后开发的，雷丁大学(Universityof Reading)的水文学家汉娜·克洛克(HannahCloke)是其创始人之一”首先，如果我们把同位语放在一起翻译，句子就会变成下面这样，“雷丁大学的水文学家汉娜·克洛克 (Hannah Cloke) 是欧盟委员会在 2002 年发生严重洪水后共同创立了欧洲洪水预警系统 (EFAS)”’，这样处理句子太冗长了。所以，同位语太长，必须进行拆分，而我们学过同位语可以当作定语从句来翻译，所以我把同位语放在了主语前面充当定语成分，并加了谓语动词“是”来连接第一句话，然后单独写一个句子，对该系统进行说明。处理完这些背景信息之后，另起一个句子，说出这句话的关键信息，“她表示，预测是充分的，但对地方当局警告的反应是高度不一致的。”最后，还需要注意的一点是，says我们一般不翻译成“说”，看过政府公文的朋友应该发现，在表示某人说话时，我们一般用某人“表示”，“强调”，“重申”等。

Para.05

In part owing to a reluctance to order evacuations and the assumption that messages through digital tools would work, officials, media and the public in many affected areas communicated too little, too late.Networks were then knocked out, which meant that the warnings that were given did not reach many of the people who needed them. “In 2002 many people died needlessly, and I fear the same happened again,” says Ms Cloke.

05 精讲

In part owing to a reluctance to order evacuations and the assumption that messages through digital tools would work, media and the public in many affected areas communicated too little, too late.

首先，这句话中需要注意的a reluctance to和the assumption that中的两个名词，reluctance和assumption都是有动词词根的，在此我们再一次验证了外国人善用名词，而中国人善用动词的英汉差异。所以，在将英文翻译成中文时，我们就需要将名词翻译成动词，以符合汉语的表达习惯。还需要注意的一点是in part的意思是“部分地，在一定程度上”，所以我觉得开头翻译成“部分原因是”或“在一定程度上，由于”，这两种译法都可以。

In part

In part的意思是部分地；在某种程度上。相当于in a way , in some degree。

Her success was due in part to luck.她的成功在某种程度上是由于运气好。
In part that's because industry is smack in the middle of the city.部分是因为工业恰恰就在该市的中心地带。

knock out

knock out的意思是If something is knocked out by enemy action or bad weather, it isdestroyed or stops functioning because of it. 敲空；击倒；打破；使筋疲力竭，在这里翻译成“网络被切断”即可。

Our bombers have knocked out the mobilelaunchers.我们的轰炸机已经破坏了那些移动发射台。

Para.06

As the death toll continues to mount, emotions are rawand can easily turn. When Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the president, and Armin Laschet, the state premier of NRW and head of the Christian Democratic Union(CDU),visited Erftstadt on July 17th, Mr Laschet was filmed joking and sniggering while the president delivered a solemn speech. Faced with a public outcry, the front-runner to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in September was forced to apologise and grovel.

06 精讲

Raw

Raw我们很熟悉的一个意思是未加工的，例如raw material原材料。但在这句话中，raw的意思是Raw emotions are strong basic feelings or responses which are not weakened by other influences. 强烈直露的 (情感)。例如：