2014年考研《经济学人》：非洲崛起 中英文对照

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　　根据历年真题研究发现考研的阅读理解的文章一般都是从国外的期刊上摘抄下来的，像The Economist 《经济学家》、Newsweek 《新闻周刊》、Times《时代周刊》、Now York Times 《纽约时报》等，下面太奇考研英语辅导老师整理了《经济学人》阅读周刊，希望能对同学们的阅读带来更大的视野。
        　　Africa rising
        　　非洲崛起
        　　A hopeful continent
        　　希望的大陆
        　　African lives have already greatly improved over the past decade, says Oliver August. The next ten years will be even better
        　　非洲人的生活状况在过去十年有了极大的改善，Oliver August说。这十年将会更好。
        　　Mar 2nd 2013 |From the print edition
        　　THREE STUDENTS ARE hunched over an iPad at a beach café on Senegal’s Cap-Vert peninsula, the westernmost tip of the world’s poorest continent. They are reading online news stories about Moldova, one of Europe’s most miserable countries. One headline reads: “Four drunken soldiers rape woman”. Another says Moldovan men have a 19% chance of dying from excessive drinking and 58% will die from smoking-related diseases. Others deal with sex-trafficking. Such stories have become a staple of Africa’s thriving media, along with austerity tales from Greece. They inspire pity and disbelief, just as tales of disease and disorder in Africa have long done in the rich world.
        　　在塞内加尔的佛得角半岛，世界最贫穷大陆的最西端，三个学生在一家海边咖啡厅里挤在一起看iPad。他们正在看网上关于摩尔多瓦的新闻故事，而摩尔多瓦是欧洲最糟糕的国家之一。一则头条写着：“四军人醉酒轮奸妇女”。另一则说摩尔多瓦男性19%死于过量饮酒，58%将死于吸烟有关的疾病。其它的则是有关性奴贸易的。此类新闻已经成为蓬勃发展的非洲媒体的重要内容，还有就是有关希腊财政紧缩的故事。这些故事让人感到怜悯与怀疑，正如关于非洲疾病与骚乱的故事长久以来在发达国家中的影响一样。
        　　Sitting on the outskirts of Dakar, Senegal’s capital, the three students sip cappuccinos and look out over a paved road shaded by palm trees where restaurants with white tablecloths serve green-spotted crabs. A local artist is hawking framed pictures of semi-clad peasant girls under a string of coloured lights. This is where slave ships used to depart for the New World. “Way over there, do they know how much has changed?” asks one of the students, pointing beyond the oil tankers on the distant horizon.
        　　这三个学生一边啜着卡布奇诺，一边向外望去。这里是塞内加尔首都达喀尔郊区，平整的马路旁椰树成荫，路边铺着洁白桌布的餐厅里，客人们正享用着海鲜。五彩缤纷的灯光下，一个当地的艺术家正在叫卖有框的画作，画中是半裸的农家女孩。开往新大陆的运奴船曾在这里起航。“远在那边的人们，知道这里有多大变化吗?”其中一个学生问道，一边用手指着远处油轮所在的地平线的另一边。
        　　This special report will paint a picture at odds with Western images of Africa. War, famine and dictators have become rarer. People still struggle to make ends meet, just as they do in China and India. They don’t always have enough to eat, they may lack education, they despair at daily injustices and some want to emigrate. But most Africans no longer fear a violent or premature end and can hope to see their children do well. That applies across much of the continent, including the sub-Saharan part, the main focus of this report.
                               

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        　　本篇特别报道将描绘的画卷，与西方对非洲的印象有所不同。战争、饥馑与独裁者越来越少，然而人们仍要努力养家糊口，正如中国人和印度人一样。他们时常缺衣少食，教育落后，处处可见的不公平让他们绝望，有些人希望移民。但大多数非洲人不再因暴力或早夭而恐惧，可以有望看到自己的后代过得更好。整个大陆的大部分地区都是如此，包括本文所重点关注的撒哈拉以南地区。
        　　African statistics are often unreliable, but broadly the numbers suggest that human development in sub-Saharan Africa has made huge leaps. Secondary-school enrolment grew by 48% between 2000 and 2008 after many states expanded their education programmes and scrapped school fees. Over the past decade malaria deaths in some of the worst-affected countries have declined by 30% and HIV infections by up to 74%. Life expectancy across Africa has increased by about 10% and child mortality rates in most countries have been falling steeply.
        　　非洲的统计数据常不可信，但总体而言，从数据上能看出撒哈拉以南非洲的人类发展发生了巨大飞跃。中学入学人数在2000-2008年间增长了48%，因为许多国家拓展了教育方案，取消了学费。过去十年，一些疟疾最严重国家的死亡率下降了 30%，而艾滋病最严重国家的感染率下降了74%。整个非洲的预期寿命增加了10%，大多数国家的儿童死亡率都大幅下降。
        　　A booming economy has made a big difference. Over the past ten years real income per person has increased by more than 30%, whereas in the previous 20 years it shrank by nearly 10%. Africa is the world’s fastest-growing continent just now. Over the next decade its GDP is expected to rise by an average of 6% a year, not least thanks to foreign direct investment. FDI has gone from $15 billion in 2002 to $37 billion in 2006 and $46 billion in 2012 (see chart).