同学们大家好，今天头条推荐的书单大家都记下了来，暑期学习，除了多读书，也可以来“读外刊学英语”哦！
今日主题：Black Lives Matter
新闻来源：The Economist
原标题：Black America in Peril
种族歧视一直是美国社会的痼疾。在新冠病毒疫情的冲击下，黑人的弱势地位尤为明显：相对于白人，黑人失业率更高，新冠肺炎病死率更高。乔治·弗洛伊德惨遭“跪杀”成了积压已久的社会不满情绪的爆发点，引起了美国反对种族主义的新浪潮。Black Lives Matter的口号针对的是警察的*力暴**执法，也适用于黑人群体接受医疗服务的深厚壁垒。
今天我们看看《经济学人》文章 Black America in Peril 如何分析美国黑人的生活和医疗困境。
"THE MOST difficult social problem in the matter of Negro health", wrote the sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois in 1899, was to understand why so few white Americans were bothered by it. The poor black lives Du Bois described in his pioneering study, "The Philadelphia Negro", were spent "in the most unhealthy parts of the city and in the worst houses", with minimal medical attention. They tended to be sickly and short. Yet he could think of “few other cases in the history of civilised peoples where human suffering has been viewed with such peculiar indifference."
1899年社会学家杜波依斯(W.E.B. Du Bois)写到“在黑人健康方面(in the matter of…)最困难的社会问题”是理解为什么几乎没有白人在意这件事。杜波依斯在他的先驱性的研究中描述的可怜黑人，“费城黑人”，“在城里最不健康的地方，在最糟的房子里”精疲力竭(spent)，极少得到医疗关注(medical attention)。他们容易(tend to)疾病缠身，寿命短暂。然而他想到“人类文明史上(the history of civilized peoples)，几乎没有类似的案例，即人类的痛苦(human suffering)被如此异常冷漠(indifference)地对待。”
威廉·爱德华·伯格哈特·杜波依斯（W.E.B Du Bois），泛非运动的创始人，也是美国有色人种协会的创建者之一，终其一生全力对抗差别待遇及种族歧视。
1. spent /spent/
- adj. 用过已废的；失效的；筋疲力尽的
After the gruelling test, he felt totally spent.
紧张的考试过后，他感觉筋疲力尽了。
2. minimal /ˈmɪnɪməl/
- adj. 极小的；极少的；最小的
The chances of losing money are minimal.
赔钱的机会微乎其微。
3. suffering /ˈsʌfərɪŋ/
- n. 疼痛；痛苦；折磨；苦难；苦恼
Death finally brought an end to her suffering.
死亡终于结束了她的痛苦。
4. view /vjuː/
- n.（个人的）看法，意见，见解；态度
- v. 把…视为；以…看待；看；观看
A reporter asked the minister how he viewed recent events.
记者询问部长如何看待最近的事件。
5. indifference /ɪnˈdɪfrəns/
- n. 漠不关心；冷淡；不感兴趣；无动于衷
Their father treated them with indifference.
他们的父亲对他们漠不关心。
Modern medicine has since transformed the life expectancy of all Americans. But many of the disparities Du Bois observed remain. African-Americans are still the country's poorest, poorest-housed and unhealthiest large group, with high incidences of asthma, diabetes, hypertension, cancer and obesity. In 1899 infant mortality was almost twice as high among blacks as among whites; now it is 2.2 times higher. If anything. African-American diets are unhealthier now than the rations of milk, bread and fried pork Du Bois described. So-called "food deserts" are a modern phenomenon. The 160,000 people who live in the District of Columbia's two poorest and overwhelmingly black wards, 7 and 8, east of the polluted Anacostia river, have only three supermarkets. They also have the sparsest health care in the city, with no major hospital.
现代医学自那之后已经改变(transform)了所有美国人的平均预期寿命(life expectancy)。然而，杜波依斯观察到的很多差异(disparity)依然存在。非裔美国人(African-American)仍然是这个国家最贫穷，居住环境最差，也是最不健康的群体；哮喘、糖尿病、高血压(hypertension)、癌症和肥胖(obesity)的发病率(incidence)很高。1899年，黑人儿童死亡率(infant mortality)几乎是白人的2倍；现在2.2倍。甚至正相反(if anything)，非裔美国人现在的饮食还不如杜波依斯描述的由牛奶、面包和煎猪肉构成的定量口粮(rations)健康。所谓“食物荒漠”是一个现代现象(phenomenon)。哥伦比亚区两个最贫穷而且绝大多数为黑人的选区(ward)，第7和第8选区，位于受污染的(polluted)阿纳科斯蒂亚河东边；那里居住着160,000人，却只有三个超市。这些居民也是城中得到医疗服务(health care)最稀少(sparse)的，没有大型医院(major hospital)。
食物荒漠：缺乏健康食品零售点，居民食品来源通常为便利店或加油站的社区，甚至社区居民必须到至少一英里以外的地方才能买到新鲜的肉类、奶制品和蔬菜。
1. disparity /dɪˈspærəti/
- n. (尤指因不公正对待引起的)不同，不等，差异，悬殊
the wide disparity between rich and poor
贫富悬殊
2. incidence /ɪn·sə·dəns/
- n. 发生范围；影响程度；发生率；入射(角)
an area with a high incidence of crime
犯罪率高的地区
3. ration /ˈræʃn/
- n. (食品、燃料等短缺时的) 配给量，定量；定量口粮；正常量；合理的量
Once these latest rations run out, the country will again face hunger and starvation.
最后这批口粮一旦用完，国家又要面临饥荒。
4. phenomenon /fəˈnɒmɪnən/
- n. 现象；杰出的人；非凡的人(或事物)
Globalization is a phenomenon of the 21st century.
全球化是21世纪的现象。
5. sparse /spɑːs/
- adj. 稀少的；稀疏的；零落的
The information available on the subject is sparse.
这个题目资料匮乏。
Little wonder blacks have been so stricken by covid-19. The disease kills in tandem with the ailments they suffer from the most. The latest data suggest one in 2,000 African-Americans has died of it, even though the southern states, where over half live, have been relatively spared. Partly for that reason, black Americans are not unusually likely to catch the virus. Yet those who do are 2.4 times likelier to die than whites and 2.2 times likelier than Asians and Latinos. In Washington, DC, blacks are less than 47% of the population, but account for 80% of its 445 coronavirus deaths.
难怪(little wonder)黑人遭到新冠病毒猛烈攻击。病毒和其他疾病一起(in tandem with)造成了大部分的死亡。最新数据表明(suggest)每两千个非裔美国人中就有一个死于(die of)新冠病毒，即便南方诸州疫情相对缓和(relatively spared)，而有一半以上的黑人生活在南方。部分由于这个原因，美国黑人十分(unusually)不可能感染病毒(catch the virus)。然而那些被感染的黑人患者死亡的可能性是白人患者的2.4倍，是亚裔和拉丁裔的2.2倍。在首都华盛顿，黑人不到人口总数的47%，但却占(account for)了445个新冠死亡人数中的80%。
1. strike (struck, stricken) /straɪk/
- v. 突击；攻击; 侵袭；爆发
Police fear that the killer may strike again.
警方担心杀人犯可能再次下手。
2. tandem /ˈtændəm/
- n. 双座自行车；双人自行车
in tandem
并行；并驾齐驱；同时实行
This director and composer have worked in tandem on several films.
导演和创作者合作了几部电影。
3. ailment /ˈeɪlmənt/
- n. 轻病；小恙
The pharmacist can assist you with the treatment of common ailments.
药剂师能帮你治疗一般的病痛。
4. spare /speə(r)/
- v. 抽出；拨出；留出；匀出；省得；免去；饶恕；赦免；放过；使逃脱
During the bombing only one house was spared.
在轰炸中，只有一座房子幸免。
Though there are many causes of black ill-health, the solution probably starts with improving blacks' access to health care. There have been three significant efforts to do so since slavery, which all to varying degrees spluttered in the face of a backlash from whites.
尽管黑人健康状况欠佳(ill-health)有很多原因(cause)，解决方案(solution)可能从改善黑人获取医疗服务(access to health care)开始。自从奴隶制(slavery)结束之后，已经有三次重要的努力(significant effort)，然而在白人的集体反对(backlash)下，这些努力都不同程度地(to varying degrees)偃旗息鼓(splutter)。
段落中提到的三次试图改善美国黑人医疗状况的努力：
1. 美国重建时期(Reconstruction)，即1863到1877年，南方联邦与奴隶制度一并被摧毁时，试图解决南北战争遗留问题的尝试；
2. 1964-65年美国通过了《民权法》，并为穷人设立的医疗补助制度(Medicaid)，使非裔美国人第一能够享受常规的医疗服务；
3. 奥巴马执政期间推行的“平价医疗法案”(Affordable Care Act)，使包括黑人在内的两千万美国人享受到医疗保险。
1. access /ˈækses/
- n. 通道；通路；入径；(使用或见到的)机会，权利
Students must have access to good resources.
学生必须有机会使用好的资源。
2. significant / sɪɡˈnɪfɪkənt/
- adj. 有重大意义的；显著的；有某种意义的；别有含义的；意味深长的
Marriage is a significant commitment.
婚姻是一个重要的承诺。
3. splutter /ˈsplʌt.ər/
- v. 气急败坏地说；慌张地说；发噗噗声；发噼啪声
Her father spluttered with indignation.
她父亲气得说话都语无伦次了。
4. backlash /ˈbæklæʃ/
- n. (对社会变动等的)强烈*制抵**，集体反对
the backlash against feminism
对女权主义的强烈反对
Covid-19 has also made clear that such an intervention should not be considered ideological. Perhaps government action is not the best way to raise blacks economically, as conservatives argue; but their poor health cannot be improved otherwise. The virus afflicts the industrious and work-shy alike — a point made by Mr Trump's trim African-American surgeon-general, Jerome Adams, when he acknowledged his own asthma, high blood pressure and heart disease. Indeed the most industrious blacks are likeliest to expose themselves and succumb to the virus. Poor black health is a disincentive to work that work alone cannot fix.
新冠病毒已经使这样一个道理清晰可见，即此种干预(intervention)不该和意识形态扯上关系。也许政府行为(government action)不是提高黑人经济地位的最佳方式，正如保守派认为的；然而除此之外黑人恶劣的健康状况无从改善。病毒感染(afflict)勤奋的(industrious)人，也同样感染懒惰的(work-shy)——这一点特朗普健康的(trim)非裔卫生局局长(surgeon-general)杰罗姆·亚当斯(Jerome Adams)在承认(acknowledge)自己患有哮喘、高血压和心脏病的时候已经讲清楚了。确实，最勤奋的黑人最有可能将自己暴露于(expose oneself to…)病毒，甚至死于(succumb to)病毒。黑人健康状况差是工作的障碍(disincentive)，光靠工作是解决不了的。
1. intervention /ˌɪntəˈvenʃn/
- n. 干涉；干预
Repeated interventions on the currency markets failed to prevent the currency's value falling.
对货币市场的不断干预也没能阻止货币贬值。
2. ideological /ˌaɪdiəˈlɒdʒɪkl/
- adj. 思想体系的；意识形态的；观念形态的
Some have minimized the importance of ideological factors.
有些人淡化了意识形态因素的重要性。
3. afflict /əˈflɪkt/
- v. 折磨；使痛苦
He was afflicted with severe asthma.
他患有严重的哮喘。
4. trim /trɪm/
- adj. 苗条的；修长的；健康优雅的；整齐的；精心照管的；井然有序的
You're looking very trim - have you lost weight？
你看上去很苗条，减肥了吗？
5. succumb /səˈkʌm/
- v. 屈服；屈从；抵挡不住(攻击、疾病、诱惑等)
His career was cut short when he succumbed to cancer.
他的事业随着他死于癌症而中断。
6. disincentive /ˌdɪsɪnˈsentɪv/
- n. 起抑制作用的事物；遏制因素
High taxes are a disincentive to business.
高税收遏制商业发展。
读完选刊，你是不是和小编一样，对美国黑人的处境有了更深切的理解呢？美国黑人的医疗困境只是种族问题的一个侧面，绝非一朝一夕可以根治。然而我们大胆希望这次疫情会推动美国黑人获得更好的医疗服务，也希望21世纪能见证非裔美国人得到越来越多的公平。
