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经济学人:尼日利亚为何感觉完了?

时间:2015-07-24 14:58:54 编辑:mike 可可英语APP下载 | 可可官方微信:ikekenet

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Middle East and Africa Nigeria Why northerners feel done down
中东非洲尼日利亚为何感觉完了？

A terrorist insurgency has deepened a poor region's already grave problems
恐怖叛乱—贫困的北方雪上加霜

THE roads are thick with traffic and pavements throng with hawkers selling phonecards,sunglasses and leather sandals.
主干道上交通甚忙，人行道上也挤满了小摊小贩，有卖电话卡的、太阳镜的、还有皮革凉鞋的。

At night,street corners are lit up with a red glow from grills cooking spicy meat.
到了晚上，街头摆满了烧烤架，红红的炭火甚是明亮。

But the bustle of Kano,Nigeria's second-biggest city and the commercial capital of the north,masks an uncomfortable reality:
但是尽管卡诺是尼日利亚第二大城市和北方商业省会城市，这些喧闹的景象掩盖了不争的事实：

northern Nigeria is in steep decline.
北尼日利亚猛走下坡路。

An increasingly bloody insurgency waged by Boko Haram,an Islamist terrorist group,has sharpened frustration over the disparity between the jobless north and the oil-rich south.
博科圣地是一个伊斯兰教恐怖组织，他们的叛乱越来越残忍，这让本失业人数众多的北方与油多富有的南方差距更大了。

In recent months Kano has been relatively stable,following a military offensive to contain the terrorists.
最近几个月里，军队打击并牵制恐怖分子，卡诺相对稳定多了。

But though the pause in violence has brought people back onto the streets,they have rediscovered other problems.
但是，尽管叛乱暂时平息，人们重新回到了街道上，新的问题又来了。

Stoves are gone,people selling beer have gone,there is no market,there are few customers and I haven't been able to save any money in months,
我们没有炉子，没人卖酒，没有销售，顾客也很少，这几个月里我都没存到钱。

says Chineu Abason,sitting in her wooden-shack restaurant in Sabon Gari,a mainly Christian district,where Boko Haram bombs have killed scores of people this year.
Chineu Abason坐在她自己木棚餐厅里说道。她的餐厅在Sabon Gari，这儿大多数人信奉基督教，仅今年就要大量民众丧生在博科圣地轰炸下。

The fear of terrorism continues to cast a long shadow over the city and across the north.
整个城市以至北方都沉浸在恐怖主义的恐惧中。

Bombings,kidnappings and bloody assaults by Boko Haram,as well as the army's efforts to keep a lid on the fighting,have deterred investment.
不断有来自博科圣地的轰炸、绑架和血腥袭击，还有军队奋力回击抑制恐怖势力，这让人们打消了投资的念头。

Farming,the north's main source of income,has been hamstrung.
作为北方最主要的收入来源的农业也因此荒废。

Consumer-goods companies say that insecurity has forced them to retreat from some areas.
一些日用品公司称因局势不安，他们在很多地区都撤回了公司。

Commercial drivers say dangerous roads and military checkpoints add 5-10% to their costs.
商务车司机说因危险路段以及军事检查点，他们的驱车成本都增加了5-10%。

Despite a construction boom across Nigeria,many foreign companies avoid the north.
虽然建设热潮风靡整个尼日利亚，但是大多数外企自然而然地避开了北方。

In February seven employees of Setraco,an international construction company,were abducted in Bauchi state by Ansaru,a group that splintered from Boko Haram,
二月份，国际建筑公司Setraco的七名员工在包奇州遭到博科圣地分支组织安萨鲁绑架，

prompting an immediate shutdown of the firm's operations up north.
这立即导致公司北上的运营全部瘫痪。

PZ Cussons,the maker of Imperial Leather soap,and Guinness Nigeria are hanging on but have been hit by the conflict,too.
皇皮革浴肥皂制造商卡森国际和英国吉尼斯黑啤虽然站住了阵脚，但也不免受到了冲击。

Even before Boko Haram's insurgency intensified nearly three years ago,the north was struggling.
甚至在三年前，博科圣地叛乱还未像如今越演越烈，北方就处于水深火热之中。

Unreliable electricity,cheap Chinese imports,smuggling and counterfeit goods have made life hard for local companies.
受到电力不稳，便宜的中国进口商品，以及走私和假冒商品的冲击，当地企业生存异常艰难。

Vast spaces on Kano's edges have become industrial graveyards.
卡诺广阔的空间成了工业的墓地。

In rural areas the picture is bleaker still.
农村的场景更加荒凉。

Poor education puts off investors seeking skilled labour.
这里教育程度低，投资者都不在这里找技术工人。

Whereas the literacy rate in Lagos,Nigeria's commercial capital on the coast,is 92%,in Kano it is 49%.
相比而言，在尼日利亚沿海商业首都，92%的人会识字，而卡诺只有49%。

Without better education,the region will struggle to attract investment or create jobs.
东北部的博尔诺州尽力吸引来商投资创造就业机会。

The malaise is a useful recruiting tool for terrorists,as well as politicians with their eye on the top.
在这个经济的萎靡期，恐怖分子正好招兵买马，官员们此时则死死地盯着他们。

Northerners habitually complain that politicians have made personal fortunes from the booming oil industry in the south,while failing to share its benefits.
北方人民常常抱怨官员们从南方石油产业中为自己捞油水，却从来不与人民分享。

Mutterings of a north-south divide have grown louder with the prospect of President Goodluck Jonathan,a southern Christian,running for a second term in 2015.
总统古德勒克·乔纳森是一位南方基督教徒，他很有可能参加2015的总统竞选，这使得南北方分歧的抱怨声更大了。

Northerners resent what they see as a violation of an unwritten rule
在北方主要是穆斯林民族，而南方主要是基督教徒，南北方间有一条不成文的规矩：

that the presidency should rotate every two terms between the largely Muslim north and the mostly Christian south.
总统每两届南北轮换一次，现在完全违背了这个规则，这让北方人民痛恨不已。

A southerner has held the post for 11 of the past 14 years.
过去的14年里，南方人就占了11年。

Nigeria's finance minister,Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,insists that the government recognises the north's need.
尼日利亚财政部长伊卫拉强调政府深知北方人民的需求。

Nigeria has courted 20 billion of foreign direct investment in the past three years,10% of the African total.
过去三年里，尼日利亚获外商直接投资200亿美元，占非洲总额的10%。

Yet most investors set up shop in Lagos.
然而，大多数的投资者都在拉各斯开店。

When we advise investors coming to Nigeria,they don't even talk about the north, says a South African banker in the plush Hilton Hotel in Abuja,the capital,which lies between north and south.
在位于中部的首都阿布贾的豪华希尔顿酒中，一位南方银行家说到我们建议投资者来尼日利亚，但他们并不谈论北方。

It simply isn't a consideration.
这不是简单的考虑，

It's the sad truth and it isn't about to change.
这就是残酷的事实而且暂时改变不了。

There are few signs of revival in Kano,though it is nearly as big as Lagos.
尽管卡诺和拉各斯面积差不多，卡诺却很少有复兴的苗头。

Shoprite OPENING SOON is splashed on a red-and-orange sign where the Ado Bayero Mall,the north's first modern shopping centre,is going up.
红橙相间的Shoprite即将开业字样喷在Ado Bayero购物中心，这是北方的第一个现代购物中心，正逐渐恢复过来。

It has been a long wait:
这是一个漫长的等待：

Shoprite,a South African food distributor,has been operating in Lagos since 2005.
Shoprite作为南非最大的食品经销商，早在05年就进驻拉各斯运营。

Kano's state governor,Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso,has poured millions into infrastructure.
卡诺的州长Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso投入了上百万用于基础设施。

Taxis weave through huge concrete columns that will eventually support a flyover.
巨大的水泥柱下出租车往来穿梭，而上面将支撑起一座立交桥。

But while three-lane highways are being built,feeder roads from rural communities remain decrepit.
但是正当三条高速公路建设时，通往农村社区的支路却还是残破不堪。

A multimillion-dollar development,the Mega Five Projects,will have three posh housing estates and two transport terminals.
投资百万美元的5个大型项目将建成3个豪华住宅区和2个运输站。

Such projects make little sense when many northerners,struggling to make a living,are deciding to leave Kano in search of better prospects—down south.
努力谋生的北方人民决定离开卡诺寻找更好的出路南下，这项工程就没有太大的意义了。

It is the only logical way for the government, says the owner of a big construction company.
一个大型建筑公司的老板说道：看得到的发展才会让人觉得稳定和进步，

Visible development gives the impression of stability and progress.
这才是政府该有的逻辑思维。

But it will not be enough to close the gulf between Nigeria's two halves.
但是，尼日利亚南北方的鸿沟一时还无法消除。

As a result,northerners are increasingly resentful.
因此，北方人民怨恨情绪日益高长。译者：邓于珍

扫描二维码进行跟读打分训练

1.terrorist group 恐怖组织

例句:He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.
他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

2.scores of 很多；几十

例句:Campaigners lit scores of bonfires in ceremonies to mark the anniversary.
参加运动的人们在各种仪式上点起一垛垛篝火以纪念周年庆典。

3.as well as 既…又…；除…之外

例句:As well as many democrats, including jimmy carter.
同时也有很多民主党人，包括卡特。

4.struggle to 努力；奋力

例句:Curiously, the struggle to survive has greatly improved her health.
奇怪的是，她拼命求生的抗争使得她的健康状况大有好转。

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重点单词		查看全部解释
prospects		想一想再看 n. 预期；前景；潜在顾客；远景展望
unreliable	['ʌnri'laiəbl]	想一想再看 adj. 不可靠的
boom	[bu:m]	想一想再看 n. 繁荣，低沉声，帆杠，水栅 vi. 急速增	联想记忆 X 单词boom 联想记忆：读音是一种噪音的象声词
leather	['leðə]	想一想再看 n. 皮革，皮制品 adj. 皮革制的
malaise	[mæ'leiz]	想一想再看 n. 身体不适，莫名的不安	联想记忆 X 单词malaise 联想记忆： mal坏，aise＝ease舒服：不舒服ma妈妈，lai癞，se死：全身长癞－不舒服
commercial	[kə'mə:ʃəl]	想一想再看 adj. 商业的 n. 商业广告	联想记忆 X 单词commercial 联想记忆： commerce商业+ial表形容词，“有…的”→商业的
counterfeit	['kauntəfit]	想一想再看 n. 膺品，伪造品 adj. 假冒的，假装的 v. 仿造	联想记忆 X 单词counterfeit 联想记忆： counter反，feit＝fact做－反着法律做东西－伪造
transport	[træns'pɔ:t]	想一想再看 n. 运输、运输工具；(常用复数）强烈的情绪（狂喜或狂怒	联想记忆 X 单词transport 联想记忆： trans转移+port拿，运→移动着拿→运输
decline	[di'klain]	想一想再看 n. 衰微，跌落; 晚年 v. 降低，婉谢
avoid	[ə'vɔid]	想一想再看 vt. 避免，逃避	联想记忆 X 单词avoid 联想记忆： a朝向，void空－空城计－避开