《经济学家》读译参考：居心叵测－加拿大为“人头税”事件道歉

文章作者 100test 发表时间 2007:09:06 13:08:54
来源 100Test.Com百考试题网

Ulterior motives
居心叵测

IN ONE of the more shameful episodes of its past, Canada imposed a hefty head tax _______① all Chinese immigrants in 1885, then banned their entry altogether from 1923 to 1947. For the 15,000 or so Chinese men who had come to build Canadas transcontinental railway and the many more that came thereafter, it became first prohibitively expensive and then impossible to send for their wives and children.

1885年，加拿大开始向所有华人移民征收沉重的人头税，后来又在1923年至1947年间完全禁止华人移民入境，这是该国历史上发生的较不体面的事件之一。对于到加拿大修建横跨大陆铁路（即太平洋铁路）的大约15000名以及其后到来的更多中国男子而言，要想把他们的妻小接到加拿大，先是代价高得令其望而却步，后来连一点可能也没有了。

_______② decades, Canadians of Chinese descent have demanded an apology and redress[1]. Successive federal governments ignored them, apologising to various other groups, including 14,000 Japanese-Canadians, who also received C$21,000 each for their internment and property expropriation during the second world war. Fearing this might open the floodgates, a Liberal government declared in 1994 that the past was the past and that no further compensation would be forthcoming.

数十年来，加拿大华裔一直要求道歉和赔偿，可继任的各届联邦政府都置之不理，倒是向其它许多种族进行了道歉，其中包括14000名日裔加拿大人，并给每人发放了21000加元，作为对其在二战时期身遭拘禁和财产被征用的赔偿。由于担心一发不可收拾，1994年自由党政府宣布，过去归过去，以后不会再有进一步的赔偿了。

Given this, the decision this week by Stephen Harper, the Conservative prime minister, to offer both an apology and compensation to Chinese-Canadians might seem surprising—but not if the politics behind it are taken into account. While only about 20 of those who paid the head tax are still alive and fewer than 300 of their widows, Chinese-Canadians now form a community of around 1m with considerable political and economic clout. And its members form a crucial link _______③ Canadas burgeoning trade with China.

若果真如此，本周保守党总理斯蒂芬·哈珀关于要对华人进行道歉和赔偿的决定就有点出人意料，但要想想其背后隐藏的政治因素，就一点也不会感到奇怪了。虽然当年缴纳人头税的只有大约20人和不到300名遗孀仍健在，但如今加拿大华人已经构成了一个拥有100万左右成员的社团，有着相当大的政治和经济影响力。而且，这些人已成为中加贸易发展的重要纽带。

Before Januarys general election, the former Liberal government angered the group by offering a programme of acknowledgment and education to cover all wronged ethnic groups, but no explicit apologies. Mr Harper, whose party lacks support in urban and immigrant communities, adroitly[2] stepped in with a campaign promise both to apologise and to compensate.____________________.（他说到做到。）

在一月份的大选前，上一任自由党政府提出了一项面向所有曾遭受不公平待遇的种族的承认（历史）和教育计划，但并未明确表示歉意，这让华人社团很是愤怒。哈珀的保守党本来是得不到城市居民和侨民团体支持的，这一次他灵机一动站了出来，在竞选中许诺要进行道歉和赔偿。他说到做到。

Whether this will set a precedent for many other aggrieved[3] groups is doubtful. Some, like the Canadian Jewish Congress, want only acknowledgment rather than financial compensation (for the governments refusal to allow the 907 German Jewish refugees _______④ board the St Louis to land in Canada in 1939). The federal government did set aside C$2.2 billion in the last budget to compensate the children of aborigines[4] who were taken from their parents and abused in residential schools. But that was to resolve a mountain of lawsuits that it was in danger of losing.

这是否会成为其它许多受过不公平对待的种族的先例尚且无法确定。有些团体比如加拿大犹太人代表大会就不需要赔款，只希望政府承认曾于1939年拒绝让圣·路易斯号船上的907名德裔犹太人登陆加拿大。联邦政府确实从上年度财政预算中划拨了22亿加元，用以赔偿那些被强迫离开父母并在寄宿学校遭到虐待的原住民儿童，可这么一来它就要处理一大堆极有可能输掉的官司。（译者注：第一个that指代的是上一句所提到的赔款，第二个that引导的是一个定语从句，修饰a mountain of lawsuits，后者作为从句中lose的宾语，it指代上一句中的the federal government，即the government was in danger of losing a mountain of lawsuits. lose a lawsuit意为“败诉”。）

Still, there is hope for others if they follow the Chinese-Canadians lead. A federal election is expected as early as next spring, when Mr Harper hopes to turn his minority _______⑤ a majority. An immigrant group concentrated in an urban area is certain to get the ear of any Conservative candidate. And perhaps an apology too.

其他人如果步加拿大华人的后尘，也是有希望的。联邦选举预计最早将在明年春天举行，哈珀希望到时自己能从少数派成为多数派。所有保守党的候选人肯定都会洗耳恭听市区聚居的侨民团体的诉说，也许还要道个谦吧。（译者注：“get/have somebodys ear”表示“to be trusted by someone so that they will listen to your advice, opinions etc”，即“得到某人信任从而愿意听取你的意见和建议”。第二句为省略句，省略了上句中的主语和谓语以及定语，可还原为“…… is certain to get an apology of any Conservative canditate too”。）

[QUIZ]

1. 在文中空白处填入适当的介词：

2．汉译英（根据译文提示和上下文，在空白处填入相应英文）：

[NOTES]

1.redressn.money that someone pays you because they have caused you harm or damaged your property [= compensation]赔款；赔偿

2. adroit adj. clever and skilful, especially in the way you use words and arguments （用词、论辩）机敏的；熟练的

3. aggrieved adj. having suffered as a result of the illegal actions of someone else 受虐待的，受侵害的

4. aborigines n.原住民；土著

[KEY TO QUIZ]

1. ①on；②For；③in；④on；⑤into