精读笔记 | 纽约时报：特朗普被起诉，成为首位面临刑事指控的美国前总统
今日这篇推送主要围绕纽约时报的相关报道。中英双语都选自《纽约时报》。笔记为译群人团队原创，非商业用途。
For the first time in American history, a former president of the United States has been indicted on criminal charges. It is worth pausing to repeat that: An American president has been indicted for a crime for the first time in history.
这是美国历史上首次有美国前总统遭受刑事指控。有必要再强调一遍：有史以来第一次，一位美国总统遭到犯罪起诉。
[写作]It is worth pausing to repeat that...字面意思是“值得暂停一下来重复一遍”，通常用于强调之前说过的一句话或重要的观点。可以放在文章开头引出中心思想或结尾总结全文主旨，比如写环保主题：
It is worth pausing to repeat that we need to take action to protect our planet for future generations.
写教育：It is worth pausing to repeat that education is the key to success.
写诚实守信：It is worth pausing to repeat that honesty is the best policy.
So many unthinkable firsts have occurred since Donald J. Trump was elected to the White House in 2016, so many inviolable lines have been crossed, so many unimaginable events have shocked the world that it is easy to lose sight of just how astonishing this particular moment really is.
自特朗普2016年入主白宫以来，发生了太多不可想象的第一次，有太多不可侵犯的界限被逾越，太多难以理喻的事件震惊世界，以至于很容易就会忽视这一特殊时刻到底是多么不可思议。
[写作]So many unthinkable firsts have occurred since... 这句话中，First做名词：[ Cusually sing. ] an achievement, event, etc., never done or experienced before 空前的成就；前所未有的事情
We went on a cruise, a first for both of us. 我俩都是平生第一次去海上旅游。
这个句式可以用来表达某个时间点后发生了很多令人难以想象的首次事件或突破性进展，后面可以用from... to..., such as..., including...等列举这些突破性进展或难以想象的首例。以下是几个例子：
Since the inception of modern physics, so many unthinkable firsts have occurred, from the discovery of the electron to the detection of gravitational waves.自现代物理学创立以来，发生了很多前所未有的事情，包括发现电子和探测引力波。（source: 科学美国人）
写人类对地球的探索永无止境：In the history of human exploration, so many unthinkable firsts have occurred since the first voyage to the New World, from reaching the summit of Mount Everest to diving to the deepest parts of the ocean.
写互联网如何改变了我们的生活：So many unthinkable firsts have occurred since the invention of the internet, such as online shopping and social media.
For all of the focus on the tawdry details of the case or its novel legal theory or its political impact, the larger story is of a country heading down a road it has never traveled before, one fraught with profound consequences for the health of the world’s oldest democracy. For more than two centuries, presidents have been held on a pedestal, even the ones swathed in scandal, declared immune from prosecution while in office and, effectively, even afterward.
此案的种种粗鄙的细节及其涉及的新奇法律理论和政治影响承载了所有关注的目光，但它更广泛的意义还在于，一个国家就这样踏上了从未涉足之路，这将对世界最古老的民主政体的兴衰产生深远影响。两百多年来，总统之位神圣不可侵犯，即便深陷丑闻，总统也能在任职期间——甚至卸任以后——免于起诉。
tawdryadj. /ˈtɔːdri/ ( disapproving) involving low moral standards; extremely unpleasant or offensive 粗俗的；下流的；卑鄙的；卑污的
a tawdry affair 卑鄙下流的勾当
Story: ~ (about/of sth/sb) an account, often spoken, of what happened to sb or of how sth happened （真实情况的）叙述，描述
It was many years before the full story was made public. 许多年之后，事情的全貌才公之于众。The police didn't believe her story. 警方不相信她对事情的描述。
We must stick to our story about the accident. 对事故的说法我们必须一口咬定，再不改口。
I can't decide until I've heard both sides of the story . 双方的说法都听了以后我才能作决定。
It's a story of courage. 这件事真体现了勇气。
Many years later I returned to Africa but that's another story (= I am not going to talk about it now) . 多年以后我又重返非洲，不过这是后话了。
[写作]head down a road it has never traveled before，这个句式可以用于描述一个组织、个人或团队开始探索新的领域或尝试新的事物，进入未知领域。
比如最近的热点ChatGPT，我们可以这样写它的开发者Open AI公司：The company is heading down a road it has never traveled before, as it explores the potential of artificial intelligence and machine learning to revolutionize the industry.
讲到气候问题严峻，能源业要谋求新路子，从化石能源转向可持续再生能源，我们可以写：With increasing concerns about climate change, the energy industry is heading down a road it has never traveled before, as it shifts away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources.
讲到过去几年的疫情对教育方式的影响时，我们可以写：The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the education industry to head down a road it has never traveled before, as remote learning becomes the new normal.
fraughtadj. /frɔːt/ ~ with sth filled with sth unpleasant 充满（不愉快事物）的
a situation fraught with danger/difficulty/problems 充满危险╱困难重重╱问题成堆的局面
[语法] 同位语
the larger story is of a country heading down a road it has never traveled before, one fraught with profound consequences for the health of the world’s oldest democracy.
这句话中，one指代a road，可以看作是与a road互为同位语，fraught with是one的后置定语，进一步修饰one，也就是the road，这是一条怎样的道路？充满了深远影响的道路。值得一提的是，the world’s oldest democracy指代的是美国，英文写作中可以尝试使用这种换词，让文章更好读，语言更丰富。
[写作]To put/place sb on a pedestal: to admire sb so much that you do not see their faults 把某人奉为完人；盲目崇拜某人如果要表达把某人拉下神坛呢？
knock sb off his/her pedestal/perch。比如最近某位冠军先生涉赌还拿明星前女友私密视频还债的丑闻，就可以这么写：
Chinese Olympic gold medalist Zhang Jike has been accused of using intimate videos of his former girlfriend to buy more time to pay off his debts, which has knocked this multi-time winner off his pedestal/perch.
这句话中的this multi-time winner跟上面说的the world’s oldest democracy一样，也是对这位冠军先生的另一种换词描述。
No longer. That taboo has been broken. A new precedent has been set. Will it tear the country apart, as some feared about putting a former president on trial after Watergate? Will it be seen by many at home and abroad as victor’s justice akin to developing nations where former leaders are imprisoned by their successors? Or will it become a moment of reckoning, a sign that even someone who was once the most powerful person on the planet is not above the law?
历史先例不再适用。这一禁忌已被打破。新的先例已经确立。前总统受审是否会使得这个国家分裂，就像水门事件后一些人所担忧的那样？国内外是否会有很多人将其视为胜利者的正义，就像继任领导人将前任投入大牢的发展中国家一样？亦或者，这会成为一个清算时刻，表明即使是这个星球上曾经最有权势的人也不能凌驾于法律之上？
Tear apart或tear to shreds/bits这个词组可以表达很多意思，比如这段话中出现的，令国家分裂，分崩离析：tear a country apart这个词组还可以表示彻底毁灭、彻底击败谁，比如：
We tore the other team apart in the second half. 我们在下半场把对方球队打得落花流水。还可以表示严厉批评，此时：The critics tore his last movie to shreds. 影评家把他最近的一部影片说得一无是处。顺便再复习一下之前提到过的关于“炮轰、批评”的词条：盘一盘“吐槽”的花式英文表达
Reckoning: [ C ] [ usually sing.U ] a time when sb's actions will be judged to be right or wrong and they may be punished 最后审判日；算总账
In the final reckoning truth is rewarded. 在最后算总账的时候，诚实的人会有好报。
Officials concerned with environmental policy predict that a day of reckoning will come. 担心环境政策的官员们预言总有一天人们会受到报应。
If that were not enough to shake the timbers of the republic, the first may not be the last. Mr. Trump could face a second indictment in Georgia and a third from federal prosecutors and potentially even a fourth.
暂不论这是否足以动摇共和国的根基，破天荒的起诉或许不会到此为止。特朗普可能会在佐治亚州面临第二次起诉，以及来自联邦检察官的第三次，甚至第四次起诉。
[语法]虚拟语气
If that were not enough to shake the timbers of the republic,在这个句子中，使用了虚拟语气的形式"were not"，表示一种虚拟的情况，即"如果这还不足以震动共和国的根基"。在这种情况下，这是一种假设的语气，因为现实情况可能与所描述的情况不同。这个句子的意思是，如果之前描述的情况还不足以引起共和国基础的震动，那么接下来描述的事情可能会更加严重或惊人。作者使用虚拟语气是为了强调他所描述的情况的重要性和影响力。虚拟语气的几个常见句型：
条件从句与现在事实不一致，其句型为：
If ＋主语＋过去时，主语＋ should (could, would, 或might) ＋动词原形If I were you, I would study hard.If it rained, I would not be here now.
条件从句与过去事实不一致，其句型为：
If ＋主语＋had＋过去分词，主语＋ should（could, would, 或might）＋ have ＋过去分词If the doctor had come last night, the boy would have been saved.If I had not studied hard, I would have failed in the exam last term.
条件从句与将来事实不一致，其句型为：
If ＋主语＋过去时/ should ＋动词原形/ were to＋动词原形，主语＋ should (could, would, 或might) ＋动词原形If it should rain tomorrow, we would stay at home.If I were to go to the moon one day, I could see it with my own eyes.If you missed the film tonight, you would feel sorry.
There is consternation that the barrier-shattering indictment would involve something as unseemly as paying hush money to cover up a sexual romp. Given that the defendant has been involved in far more earth-shattering events like trying to overturn an election and inspiring an attack on the Capitol to prevent the transfer of power, the allegations by Manhattan prosecutors seem less than epochal.
让人始料未及的是，这场打破藩篱的起诉涉及支付封口费掩盖桃色丑闻这种不体面的事体。考虑到被告人曾经参与的那些更为惊天动地的事件——从试图推翻选举到煽动对国会山发起袭击以阻止权力移交，曼哈顿检方提起的指控似乎没有那么强烈的划时代意义。
consternationn. /ˌkɒnstəˈneɪʃn/ [ U ] ( formal ) a worried, sad feeling after you have received an unpleasant surprise SYN dismay 惊愕；惊恐
The announcement of her retirement caused consternation among tennis fans. 她宣布挂拍告退的消息引起了网球迷的震惊。
unseemlyadj. /ʌnˈsiːmli/ ( old-fashioned formal ) ( of behaviour, etc. 行为等 ) not polite or suitable for a particular situation 不礼貌的；不得体的；不相宜的
hush moneyn. [ U ] money that is paid to sb to prevent them from giving other people information that could be embarrassing or damaging 封嘴钱（用于防止某人透露令人尴尬或有损害的消息）
romp/rɒmp/ ( often used in newspapers 常用于报章 )[ C ] an enjoyable sexual experience that is not serious 风流韵事
politicians involved in sex romps with call girls 与电话应召女郎发生风流艳情的政治人物
注意这个词还可以表示（体育竞赛中的）轻而易举的胜利：They won in a 5–1 romp. 他们以5：1轻松取胜。
But if the issue is accountability, then the case could redraw the lines and make it less daunting for prosecutors in Georgia and Washington to follow suit by charging more serious crimes if they have the evidence, since they will not have to bear the burden of justifying action never taken before. Leave it to the only president ever impeached in Congress twice to face so many prosecutions that lawyers need a scorecard just to keep track.
但重点若在于问责，那此案可能会重新划定界限，减轻佐治亚州和华盛顿检察官跟进的压力，在掌握证据的情况下提出更严重的指控，因为他们无需再承受为前所未有之举辩护的负担。就让这些多到需要律师用记分卡统计的起诉全留给这唯一一位在国会被弹劾两次的总统吧。
daunting/ˈdɔːntɪŋ/ ADJ Something that is daunting makes you feel slightly afraid or worried about dealing with it. 使人畏缩的
He and his wife Jane were faced with the daunting task of restoring the gardens to their former splendour. 他和他的妻子简当时面临着恢复花园昔日风采的艰巨任务。
Justify: ~ sth/yourself (to sb) to give an explanation or excuse for sth or for doing sth 对…作出解释；为…辩解（或辩护）[ VN ]
The Prime Minister has been asked to justify the decision to Parliament. 要求首相就这一决定向议会作出解释。
You don't need to justify yourself to me. 你不必向我解释你的理由。[ also V -ingalso VN -ing ]
scorecardn. /ˈskɔːkɑːd/ a card or piece of paper that people watching or playing a game can use to write the score on, or on which the score can be officially recorded 记分卡
Scorecard的作用是帮助人们更好地理解和比较复杂的信息，并且可以帮助人们更好地做出决策。比如：
The company uses a scorecard to track its progress towards its sustainability goals. 这家公司使用计分卡来跟踪其实现可持续发展目标的进展情况。
The coach uses a scorecard to evaluate the performance of each player on the team. 这个教练使用计分卡来评估团队中每个球员的表现。
The school district uses a scorecard to measure the academic achievement of its students across different subject areas. 这个校区使用计分卡来衡量学生在不同学科领域的学业成就。
The investment firm uses a scorecard to compare the performance of different stocks in its portfolio. 这家投资公司使用计分卡来比较其投资组合中不同股票的表现。
因此，在Leave it to the only president ever impeached in Congress twice to face so many prosecutions that lawyers need a scorecard just to keep track.这个句子中，scorecard一词是为了强调律师们需要面对繁多复杂的起诉，从侧面暗示这个总统面临的法律问题数量之多和严重性。
本专题完。
