摘要：《经济学人》一直是考研阅读的命题来源之一，平日里我们可以利用碎片时间稍加阅读一些文章，领会经济类文章的写作手法，适当拓展自己的词汇量，也是不错的选择。

　　Italy's illegal immigrants

　　意大利非法移民

　　Tidal wave

　　海啸

　　More horrific deaths in the Mediterranean

　　地中海发生耸人听闻的惨案

　　FEW images of immigrant traffic across the Mediterranean have been as harrowing. Italian TV viewers this week saw the lifeless bodies of 45 African men being lifted, like animal carcasses, from the hold of a fishing boat in which they had tried to reach Europe. Others on the vessel said the men begged to be let out but, for fear of it capsizing, they were forcibly kept below and suffocated.

　　每次发生在地中海的移民惨案都令人异常痛心。这周，意大利电视台播报了一组新闻。54个非洲人乘坐一艘渔船想前往欧洲，却不想在船上命丧黄泉。船上的人说这些人祈求将他们放出来，但是为了防止船只颠覆，他们被关在舱底窒息而死。

　　Around 5,000 people were picked up by patrol boats on June 28th-29th, the busiest weekend of the year so far. On July 2nd another 70 migrants were reported lost at sea in a separate incident. All this comes after Italy began a search-and-rescue effort called Operation Mare Nostrum, in response to the tragedy last October in which 360 people drowned off Lampedusa, an island half-way between Sicily and the North African coast. On July 1st the police arrested five Eritreans who prosecutors said were part of a ring, with bases in Sudan, Libya and Italy, that arranged the latest ill-fated journey. In a wiretapped phone call, one was heard disowning responsibility for their deaths because “it was their fate”.

　　6月28、29日两天，巡逻船逮捕了大约5000人，这是今年截至目前最忙碌的一周。7月2日，据报道70个移民在另一场事故中葬身海底。这些都是在意大利开始称作《地中海运营条例》的搜救工作之后发生的。该项搜救工作是针对去年十月份360人在蓝佩杜萨岛（意属地中海岛屿，位于西西里岛和北非海岸之间）溺亡的事件提出的。7月1日，警察逮捕了5名厄立特里亚人。其检察官说这些人属于一个组织，基地在苏丹、利比亚和意大利，就是他们策划了近期的这些惨案。警察通过窃听器听到其中一个人说否认将他人致死的罪行，因为“这就是他们的命运”。

　　The latest horrors produced more agonised hand-wringing, but no sign that Italian or European Union leaders are any closer to agreeing what should be done. Mare Nostrum completed a U-turn for a country that until 2011 blocked immigrants at sea, returning many to Libya, their main point of departure. Some Italians believe this policy deterred people from attempting the perilous crossing, whereas Mare Nostrum encourages them. Matteo Salvini, leader of the xenophobic Northern League, said Italy's prime minister, Matteo Renzi, and his interior minister, Angelino Alfano, were “stained with blood”.

　　最近的恐怖事件引起了更多令人苦恼的绝望情绪，但是意大利或欧盟领导人对应做的措施没有表现出明确的赞同意向。地中海国家的态度有了180度的大转弯，直至2011年，它们拦截了海上的移民，大多数都遣返回到了利比亚——人们主要想逃离的国家。有些意大利人认为这项政策阻止人们尝试这项危险的越境行动，另一方面又在鼓励他们。排外北方战线联盟的领导人Matteo Salvini表示意大利总理Matteo Renzi和司法部长安杰利诺·阿尔法诺“双手沾满了鲜血”。

　　It is true that, since Operation Mare Nostrum began, arrivals in Italy have soared (more than 65,000 so far this year, against around 8,000 in the first half of 2013). But Greece also saw a large rise, of 142%, in the first four months of 2014, as fighting in Syria intensified. The “cruel to be kind” argument for returning migrants has become harder to sustain as Libya lurches from dictatorship to anarchy.

　　自从地中海运营条例开始投入实施，意大利的移民人数确是激增（2013年的上半年只有大约8000人，而今年目前已经超过65000人）。而在叙利亚内战激烈进行时，希腊的移民人数也是大幅上涨，2014年的前四个月增长率高达142%。随着利比亚独裁政权解体陷入无政府状态，就遣返移民的“善良就是残忍”的话题很难得到人们的认同。

　　In ever harsher tones, Italian officials have protested that the EU is not helping enough. Mr Alfano has threatened unspecified reprisals if Cecilia Malmstrom, the European commissioner responsible, skips a meeting in Rome to launch Italy's six-month EU presidency. But the real obstacles to burden-sharing lie not in Brussels but in national capitals. Italian efforts to put immigration at the top of the agenda for last month's EU summit came to nought.

　　意大利官员以发表了更激烈的言辞，抗议欧盟帮助不够。阿尔法诺曾威胁欧盟称如果欧洲委员会的负责人马姆斯壮不出席在罗马举行的意大利6个月的欧盟轮值主席国的就任会议的话，将对其进行报复。但是真正的分担负担的障碍并非来自布鲁塞尔，而是在国家资本。上个月欧盟峰会上，意大利将移民提上日程的头号事件的努力无济于事。

　　Italy's partners argue that they deal with proportionately far more asylum-seekers. In the fourth quarter of 2013 Germany received proportionally three times as many applications as Italy. But none of the others is mounting, for humanitarian reasons, a naval operation comparable to Operation Mare Nostrum. The cost, initially put at 1.5m ($2m) a month, has exploded to 9.5m. As it grows, the Italian government can expect to come under mounting pressure from public opinion to use its EU presidency to force the club to lend it a hand.

　　意大利的伙伴们认为他们自己做出的努力比寻求政治庇护者的努力要多得多。2013年的第四个季度，德国收到的移民申请是意大利的三倍。但是出于人道主义，没有哪个国家的政策可以与《地中海运营条例》相比。搜救费用从最开始的每月150万欧元（折合200万美元）激增到950万欧元。随着费用上涨，意大利政府迫于压力希望能利用担任欧盟轮值主席国的权利强迫其他国家向自己伸出援手。

　　1、fear of 对…恐惧

　　例句：Ignorance of people brings fear, fear of the unknown.

　　人们的无知会带来恐惧，对未知事物的恐惧。

　　2、in response to 对…做出反应

　　例句：Sudan even threat-ened to mobilize in response to the ultima-tums.

　　作为对最后通牒的回应，苏丹甚至威胁说要动员军队。

　　3、come to 苏醒；到达；共计

　　例句：I do hope you'll be able to come to the wedding.

　　我确实希望你能来参加婚礼。

　　4、deal with 处理；对付；应付

　　例句：The deal with Chelsea may not, however, be dead.

　　不过，与切尔西的交易或许还有戏。