《经济学家》读译参考：痛并快乐着－意大利足球悲喜两重天

文章作者 100test 发表时间 2007:09:06 13:08:42
来源 100Test.Com百考试题网

Blues delight
痛并快乐着

（译注：blue作名词，原意为“蓝色”，或“蓝色衣服”，而意大利的队服颜色恰好为蓝色。复数形式blues则有“忧郁、沮丧”之意。本标题直译可为“蓝衣军团的快乐”，但显然无法突出文章中心思想——意大利足球的痛苦与欢乐。）

（1）HE MAY be lumbered[1] with a nine-party coalition and a one-seat majority in the upper house of parliament. But Italys prime minister, Romano Prodi, seems to have something that could yet offset these h________①: luck. As he himself noted, Italys win against France in the World Cup final on July 9th was as narrow as his own victory in the election in April. Tied 1-1 after extra time, the Italians won a penalty shoot-out when a Frenchman (who ironically plays for an Italian club, Juventus) hit the crossbar. That gave Italys captain, Fabio Cannavaro, the trophy—and Mr Prodi a boost, politically and maybe even economically.

无论是九党联盟，还是参议院中仅一个席位的领先优势，也许都让意大利总理罗马诺·普罗迪感到憋屈。不过他现在似乎拥有了某种可以消除这些不利影响的东西——运气。他指出，7月9日世界杯决赛中意大利队战胜法国队，其过程之艰险，与他自己4月份在选举中胜出毫无二致。加时赛后双方1比1战平，点球决战中一名法国队员（具有讽刺意味的是，该队员效力于意大利的尤文图斯俱乐部）击中横梁，意大利人获胜。这场胜利为意大利队的队长法比奥·卡纳瓦罗带来了大力神杯，而对普罗迪而言，从政治上甚至从经济上看，也是一种鼓舞。

Analysts at ABN Amro, a Dutch bank, have estimated that a World Cup victory adds 0.7% to the winners GDP, mostly through e_______② demand. Research by another bank, JPMorgan, has found that consumption in European countries that won the cup in recent decades rose afterwards by more than the EU average. Some analysts remain sceptical of a “World Cup effect”, arguing that it merely brings forward spending. But Mr Prodis own finance minister, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, thinks （2）Italys win will have a positive effect “because it has an impact on confidence and signifies that ambitious goals are within our reach”.

荷兰ABN Amro银行的分析人士估计，在世界杯上每胜一场，就会使获胜国的GDP增长0.7％，主要是通过扩大消费需求。另一家银行JPMorgan的研究显示，最近几十年获得过世界杯冠军的欧洲国家的消费均超过欧洲平均水平。但有些分析人士对“世界杯效应”仍持怀疑态度，认为它仅仅是拉动提前消费而已。不过普罗迪的财政部长托马索·帕多阿－斯基奥帕相信，意大利胜利的效应将是积极的，因为“它不但增强了信心，也意味着我们雄心勃勃的目标是可以实现的。”

（3）Yet the benefits of Italys victory could be offset by the loss of esteem it would suffer were it to use the triumph as an excuse for taking the easy way out of another challenge. Not the least remarkable aspect of Italys success is that it was achieved against a background of spectacular footballing strife back home. Thirteen of the 23 members of the Italian squad in Germany play for clubs that are threatened with relegation[2] over a match-fixing scandal. Most at risk is Juventus, a publicly quoted club that supplied five of the players (including Mr Cannavaro). It could be relegated from the first to the third division by a sports tribunal in Rome. The v_______③ were expected to be handed down by the end of this week.

然而，假如意大利以为胜利了就能轻易走出它目前面临的另一个困境的话，就会让人瞧不起，其夺冠带来的利好效应也会因此消失一空。意大利队的成功最非凡之处在于，它是在国内发生声势浩大的足球纠纷的情况下获得的。参加世界杯的意大利23名队员中，有13人效力于因假球丑闻而面临降级的球队。情况最为不妙的是尤文图斯，这支饱受争议的俱乐部为意大利队输送了5名队员（包括卡纳瓦罗）。罗马的体育法庭有可能把它从甲级降到丙级。判罚结果有望在本周末前公布。

The justice minister, Clemente Mastella, had suggested that the national teams victory might earn the clubs a reprieve[3]. （4）Encouragingly, Mr Prodi would have none of it. His sports minister, Giovanna Melandri, branded the proposal “idiocy”. Just as importantly, some of the players themselves rejected the idea. Gennaro Gattuso, a midfielder who plays for AC Milan, the club owned by Silvio Berlusconi that could also be relegated, said: “_____________________________.（犯了错就应该受到惩罚。）” That is a welcome new thought in Italy.

司法部长克莱门特·马斯特拉暗示说，国家队的胜利也许能为俱乐部赢得喘息之机。好在普罗迪并不同意这么做。（译注：would have none of something表示“不允许，不同意”）他的体育部长乔瓦纳·梅兰德里认为这一提议纯属“白痴行为”。有些队员本人也反对这一提议，这同样重要。效力于AC米兰（前总理贝鲁斯科尼的球队，这次也有可能降级）的中场队员热纳罗·加图索说：“犯了错就应该受到惩罚。”这种新观念在意大利受到了一致欢迎。