The pandemic has reversed years of progress in reducing extreme poverty(赤貧). Once again, politicians bear much blame. 疫情將數(shù)年間消除極端貧困的發(fā)展成果化為烏有纬凤。再一次霉颠，政客們依然難辭其咎。
? fail 辜負(fù)
? the+a. …的人——the well-heeled 有錢人欺嗤，the very poor赤貧人口
? pandemic 大流行病——epidemic 流行病
? bear blame 背鍋——shift blame 甩鍋
? extreme poverty赤貧——extreme poor赤貧的=impoverished
The rich shrug off the economic shock; the poor cannot.富人對(duì)經(jīng)濟(jì)的沖擊可能不屑一顧交掏，但窮人做不到沈条『眩… Using a broader measure(使用更加寬泛的測量方式), including those who lack basic shelter(居所) or clean water and children who go hungry, the ranks of the poor will swell by 240m-490m this year, says the UN. … By then, malnutrition will have stunted a tragic number of children’s bodies and minds.到那時(shí)陰陽不良會(huì)荼毒很多孩子的身心让虐，這數(shù)字令人悲涼紊撕。
? shrug off 擺脫；抖落——shrug off引申“不予理睬”=dismiss
? the ranks (團(tuán)體/組織)的成員——the ranks of the jobless 失業(yè)人口
? swell 腫脹赡突；擴(kuò)大——swell the ranks of sth. …人數(shù)增加
? bounce back 回彈——[economic]bounceback (經(jīng)濟(jì))復(fù)蘇
? malnutrition 營養(yǎng)不良——mal- 壞对扶、差；malicious/malevolent 惡毒的
? stunt v.阻礙生長惭缰；n.發(fā)育不良的人
Safety-nets in low-income countries are cobweb(蜘蛛網(wǎng))-thin. 低收入國家安全保障措施像蜘蛛網(wǎng)一樣薄=低收入國家安全保障措施形同虛設(shè)浪南。Governments there have handed out only $4 extra per person on social programmes-in total, not per day.
? ease the pain=relieve/alleviate the pain 緩解疼痛
? safety net 本意“走鋼絲下面兜著的網(wǎng)”，現(xiàn)指“安全網(wǎng)漱受；社會(huì)保障措施”
? -thin 想…一樣薄——paper-thin薄如紙片络凿，wafer-thin 薄如威化
? hand out 分發(fā)——handout 救濟(jì)品
Rich countries are on course to cut direct aid by a third compared with last year. 相比去年，富裕國家可能會(huì)把直接援助減少1/3昂羡。The IMF and World Bank have raised lending(放貸=loan), but only 31% more of the bank’s money has reached poor countries(, says the Centre for Global Development, a think-tank), about half the increase in the global financial crisis, a much smaller shock.
? on course to do sth. 很可能做成…
? think-tank n.智庫絮记、智囊團(tuán)——economic/foreign policy think-tank 經(jīng)濟(jì)智庫；外交智庫
Too many offer pork for chums(chum哥們兒) and crumbs(面包屑) for the poor. 太多的政府把肉給自己的好哥們吃了紧憾，而給窮人只留下了面包屑->相較于幫助窮人到千，這些國家的政府更愿意幫助大公司渡過危機(jī)。Even when money is earmarked(引申“指定…用途”) for good ends, it is too often wasted or stolen.即使資金的初衷是好的赴穗，也會(huì)被浪費(fèi)或者貪污憔四。 South African investigators are probing possible fraud in 658 contracts worth $300m for covid-fighting(抗疫的) kit. …In a leaked(泄漏的) recording, a voice allegedly belonging to a Ugandan official guffaws as she and her colleagues appear to plot to pocket(中飽私囊) money meant for alleviating suffering in the pandemic.
? hard-up (臨時(shí))缺錢的——the hard-up 臨時(shí)缺錢的人
? tax break 減稅
? money-losing 虧錢的——monkey-making 賺錢的
? aloft ad. 在空中——loft 閣樓；lofty 高聳的般眉；崇高的
? probe 追究了赵、調(diào)查=investigate
? kit 成套用品——first-aid kit 急救用品
? allegedly 據(jù)說…
? guffaw 大小
? plot to do sth. 密謀干某事——plot 情節(jié)；陰謀
The simplicity of this policy makes it less vulnerable to corruption(貪污甸赃、腐敗). … One country that has done well getting cash into poor pockets is Brazil, despite President Jair Bolsonaro’s habit of downplaying the effects of covid-19. A priority for governments should be basic health care, which the pandemic has disrupted(擾亂柿汛、顛覆) so badly that vaccination rates for children have been about 20 years.
? be vulnerable to 易受…影響的
? fire-sale 火災(zāi)后大甩賣——fire+sale，火災(zāi)后物品受損而甩賣
? downplay v. 對(duì)…輕描淡寫=play down——play up 夸大…的重要性
? impecunious 不名一文的——the impecunious 窮光蛋
? set back 耽誤、厭惡——setback 挫折
The crisis requires politicians to make hard choices(困難的決定) quickly.…But some are inexcusable(不可原諒的络断，詞根excuse). India’s sudden lockdown(封城措施) threw millions of migrant workers out of their urban jobs and lodgings(住宿的房間), forcing them to head back to their villages on foot or crowded trains, spreading the virus far and wide(到處). South Africa barred people from leaving home at night but then evicted tens of thousands of squatters from shacks(棚屋) on public land, with no place to go. Politicians governing remotely from their comfortable home offices should think harder about how their decisions might affect those whom covid-19 is plunging back into dire poverty.
? bar … from 阻止=forbid/prohibit/prevent
? evict (依法從房屋里)逐出
? squatter 擅自占用房子的人——詞根 squat 擅自占用(房子)
? plunge into 陷入(不好的事)≈descend into 逐漸陷入(不好的事)
? dire 極其嚴(yán)重的——dire poverty替換“赤貧”的表達(dá)
