2015年考研英语一阅读 Text 1 原文翻译及答案解析

King Juan Carlos of Spain once insisted "kings don't abdicate, they die in their sleep." But embarrassing scandals and the popularity of the republican left in the recent Euro-elections have forced him to eat his words and stand down. So, does the Spanish crisis suggest that monarchy is seeing its last days? Does that mean the writing is on the wall for all European royals, with their magnificent uniforms and majestic lifestyles?

西班牙国王胡安·卡洛斯曾坚称“国王不会退位，他们会死在睡梦中。”但令人尴尬的丑闻以及最近欧洲选举中左翼共和派的受欢迎程度，迫使他收回前言并退位。那么，西班牙危机是否意味着君主制正走向末路？这是否预示着所有欧洲王室成员，连同他们华丽的制服和奢华的生活方式，都已时日无多？

The Spanish case provides arguments both for and against monarchy. When public opinion is particularly polarised, as it was following the end of the Franco regime, monarchs can rise above "mere" politics and "embody" a spirit of national unity.

西班牙案例为支持和反对君主制都提供了论据。当公众舆论特别两极分化时，就像佛朗哥政权结束后那样，君主可以超越“纯粹”的政治，并“体现”国家团结的精神。

It is this apparent transcendence of politics that explains monarchs' continuing popularity as heads of state. And so, the Middle East excepted, Europe is the most monarch-infested region in the world, with 10 kingdoms (not counting Vatican city and Andorra). But unlike their absolutist counterparts in the Gulf and Asia, most royal families have survived because they allow voters to avoid the difficult search for a non-controversial but respected public figure.

正是这种表面上的超越政治，解释了君主作为国家元首持续受欢迎的原因。因此，除了中东，欧洲是世界上君主制最集中的地区，有10个王国（不包括梵蒂冈城和安道尔）。但与海湾和亚洲的专制君主不同，大多数王室家族之所以存续下来，是因为他们让选民避免了寻找一个既无争议又受尊重的公众人物的困难。

Even so, kings and queens undoubtedly have a downside. Symbolic of national unity as they claim to be, their very history - and sometimes the way they behave today - embodies outdated and indefensible privileges and inequalities. At a time when Thomas Piketty and other economists are warning of rising inequality and the increasing power of inherited wealth, it is bizarre that wealthy aristocratic families should still be the symbolic heart of modem democratic states.

尽管如此，国王和王后无疑也有缺点。尽管他们声称是国家团结的象征，但他们的历史——以及有时他们今天的行为方式——体现了过时且无法辩护的特权和不平等。在托马斯·皮凯蒂和其他经济学家警告不平等加剧和继承财富力量增长的当下，富裕的贵族家族仍然成为现代民主国家的象征核心，这实在令人费解。

The most successful monarchies strive to abandon or hide their old aristocratic ways. Princes and princesses have day-jobs and ride bicycles, not horses (or helicopters). Even so, these are wealthy families who party with the international 1%, and media intrusiveness makes it increasingly difficult to maintain the right image.

最成功的君主制努力摒弃或隐藏其旧有的贵族方式。王子和公主有日常工作，骑自行车而不是骑马（或直升机）。即便如此，这些是与全球1%富人交往的富裕家族，媒体的侵扰使得维持正确形象变得越来越困难。

While Europe's monarchies will no doubt be smart enough to survive for some time to come, it is the British royals who have most to fear from the Spanish example.

虽然欧洲的君主制无疑足够聪明，能存续一段时间，但英国王室从西班牙案例中受到的威胁最大。

It is only the Queen who has preserved the monarchy's reputation with her rather ordinary (if well-heeled) granny style. The danger will come with Charles, who has both an expensive taste of lifestyle and a pretty hierarchical view of the world. He has failed to understand that monarchies have largely survived because they provide a service -as non-controversial and non-political heads of state. Charles ought to know that as English history shows, it is kings, not republicans, who are the monarchy's worst enemies.

只有女王以她相当普通（尽管富足）的祖母风格维护了君主制的声誉。危险将来自查尔斯，他既追求奢华的生活方式，又持颇为等级制的世界观。他未能理解君主制之所以存续下来，很大程度上是因为他们提供了一项服务——作为无争议且非政治化的国家元首。查尔斯应该知道，正如英国历史所示，君主制的最坏敌人是国王，而不是共和主义者。