今天其实英语给大家分享英语美文，这篇英语文章介绍到阿尔及利亚新总统竟然不能说话也不能动，大伙是不是很好奇？

　　Decrepit rulers are holding back a country with enormous potential

　　衰老的统治者正在阻碍一个拥有巨大潜力的国家

　　How to revive Algeria

　　如何复兴阿尔及利亚

　　IN MOST COUNTRIES candidates for president must prove that they are in command of their senses.In Algeria,for example,they are required to register in person.But that rule apparently does not apply to Abdelaziz Bouteflika,the ailing president,

　　在大多数国家，总统候选人必须证明他们能掌控自己的感知觉（即要求总统候选人身体健康）。例如，在阿尔及利亚，他们必须亲自登记注册总统职位。但这一规定显然不适用于身体欠佳的总统阿卜杜勒-阿齐兹•布特弗利卡。

　　who was lying in a Swiss hospital bed when his campaign manager filed papers this month for him to run for re-election.Mr Bouteflika—or his coterie—is hoping he will win a fifth five-year term on April 18th.

　　当他的竞选经理本月提交竞选连任文件时，他还躺在瑞士一家医院的病床上。布特弗利卡——或者他的圈内人士——希望他能在4月18日赢得第五个五年任期。

　　He probably does not remember his fourth.The 82-year-old suffered a stroke in 2013 and has rarely been seen since.Occasionally the government releases video of Mr Bouteflika looking confused,as aides fawn over him.

　　他可能不记得他的第四次竞选了。这位82岁的老人于2013年中风，此后就很少露面。政府偶尔会发布一段视频，视频中布特弗利卡看起来很困惑，而他的助手们则对他拍马屁。

　　The old man can hardly speak or walk.Yet he still ran away with the last election.The secretive cabal known as le pouvoir(the power)that really rules Algeria,and grows rich from it,is planning another stitch-up.

　　这位老人几乎不能说话或走路。然而，他仍然在上次选举中获胜。真正统治阿尔及利亚并从中致富的阴谋集团le pouvoir(权力集团)正在策划又一次的局势操纵。

　　Algerians have had enough of this farce.Tens of thousands of them have taken to the streets in cities across the country,demanding one thing:that Mr Bouteflika not run again(see article).Algeria is in desperate need of renewal.

　　阿尔及利亚人已经受够这场闹剧了。成千上万的抗议者走上全国各地的街头，只要求一件事：不让布特弗利卡再次参选，因为阿尔及利亚迫切需要复兴。

　　But the ruling clique of generals,businessmen and politicians has proved incapable of reform,unable even to pick a successor to the cadaverous Mr Bouteflika.It is time it handed power to a new generation,which might unlock Algeria’s vast potential.

　　但事实证明，由将军、商人和政客组成的统治集团无力进行改革，甚至无法为枯槁的布特弗利卡挑选继任者。但是，是时候把权力交给新一代了，因为这可能会释放阿尔及利亚的巨大潜力。

　　What critics call stagnation,le pouvoir calls stability.The last time the country held a free and fair parliamentary election,in 1991,Islamists won the first round and the generals cancelled the rest.That led to civil war,which raged for most of the 1990s and killed 200,000 people.

　　批评家们所称的萧条，权利集团则称之为稳定。该国上一次举行自由公正的议会选举是在1991年，当时伊斯兰主义者赢得了第一轮选举，其余的选举则被军方取消。这导致了内战，在20世纪90年代的大部分时间里，内战的肆虐造成了20万人的死亡。

　　Mr Bouteflika guided the country out of the“dark decade”.Algeria has avoided the unrest that shook many of its neighbours since 2011.Today it is one of the safest countries in the Arab world.

　　布特弗利卡带领国家走出了“黑暗的十年”。自2011年以来，阿尔及利亚避免了许多邻国发生的动乱。如今，它是阿拉伯世界最安全的国家之一。

　　But the price has been high.The elite evokes the civil war,and the threat of jihadism,to justify a ruthless regime.A 19-year-old state of emergency was lifted in 2011,but political speech is still restricted,the media are muzzled and critics of the government are harassed.

　　但这样的和平代价太高了。精英阶层唤起了内战和圣战主义的威胁，为一个无情的政权正名。2011年，为期19年的紧急状态被解除，但政治言论仍然受到限制，媒体被钳制，政府的批评者受到骚扰。

　　The authorities lock up people using vaguely worded bans on“inciting an unarmed gathering”and“insulting a government body”.State institutions,such as the parliament and judiciary,are rubber stamps.

　　当局使用措辞含糊的禁令将人们关押，这些禁令包括禁止“煽动非武装的集会”和“侮辱政府机构”。议会和司法等国家机构就如同橡皮图章。

　　Following the old rules,the army chief of staff,General Ahmed Gaid Salah,claims:“There are parties who wish to bring Algeria back to the years of violence.”Perhaps,but not the protesters.They shout“silmiya,silmiya”(peaceful,peaceful)and even clean up after themselves.

　　按照旧的规则，军队参谋长艾哈迈德·盖德·萨拉赫将军声称:“有些党派希望将阿尔及利亚带回暴力年代。“也许吧，但抗议者不会。他们大喊“silmiya,silmiya”(和平，和平)，甚至会自己打扫残局。

　　Many feel disconnected from the likes of General Salah,who fought in the country’s war of independence from France.Most Algerians were born three or more decades after that conflict ended in 1962.While officials communicate by fax,protesters are organising on social media.

　　许多人感到与萨拉赫将军等这些曾参加过法国独立战争的人脱节：大多数阿尔及利亚人出生在1962年那场冲突结束后的30多年。当官员们通过传真沟通时，抗议者们则在社交媒体上组织起来。

　　Le pouvoir worries that it can no longer afford to buy the public’s obedience with government jobs and subsidies.The state’s budget relies on oil and gas revenues.Since 2014,when the price of hydrocarbons tumbled,it has burned through cash.

　　权利集团担心，它再也无法用政府职位和补贴来收买公众的顺从。该州的预算依赖于石油和天然气收入。自2014年碳氢化合物价格暴跌以来，该公司一直在烧钱。

　　The unemployment rate hovers above 11%.Nearly a third of young people are looking for a job.Rampant corruption completes the dismal picture.Rich in natural resources,teeming with cheap labour and just across the sea from Europe,Algeria should be doing much better.

　　而整个国家的失业率徘徊在11%以上，近三分之一的年轻人正在找工作。猖獗的腐败使这幅惨淡的画面更加完整。阿尔及利亚拥有丰富的自然资源，大量的廉价劳动力，与欧洲隔海相望，理应做得更好才对。

　　Le pouvoir does not have la solution.Mr Bouteflika,or whoever is using his pen,recently promised that,if he wins in April,he will organise an“inclusive national conference”and hold another election,which he would not contest.But playing for time will not resolve Algeria’s underlying problems.

　　权利集团并没有相关解决方案。布特弗利卡最近承诺，如果他在4月份获胜，他将组织一次“包容性的全国会议”，并举行另一场他不会参加竞选的选举。但是拖延时间并不能解决阿尔及利亚的根本问题。

　　The regime treats Mr Bouteflika like El Cid,an 11th-century Spanish nobleman whose dead body was supposedly strapped on a horse and sent into battle to inspire his troops.

　　政府对待布特弗利卡就像对待11世纪的西班牙贵族埃尔•熙德一样，据说熙德的尸体被绑在马背上，并被派往战场，以激励他的军队。

　　To most Algerians,however,he is an object of derision or pity.Algeria cannot say what will happen when the strongman dies.Far from preventing another civil war,the regime risks stoking one.

　　然而，对大多数阿尔及利亚人来说，他是嘲笑或怜悯的对象。阿尔及利亚无法预测这位铁腕人物死后会发生什么。该政权非但没有阻止另一场内战的爆发，反而有引发内战的风险。

　　Sending Mr Bouteflika to a care home should be just the start of reform.A temporary government could then oversee a transition to a more open system,creating that national conference to come up with reforms;presidential and parliamentary elections would be held after the opposition,which is weak and divided,had been able to organise.

　　把布特弗利卡送到疗养院应该只是改革的开始。然后，一个临时政府可以监督向一个更加开放的体系的过渡，创建一个全国会议来提出改革方案；总统选举和议会选举将在虚弱和分裂的反对派能够组织起来之后举行。

　　The country’s next leader could improve things by encouraging entrepreneurs,rather than standing in their way,breaking up the government’s business empire and inviting in foreigners.Like Mr Bouteflika,Algeria has been ailing for some time.Unlike him,it can still be saved.

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