每天学一点英文：Espresso（20210814）

今天一起来认识这位塞拉利昂弗里敦市长，看看她是如何重建埃博拉疫情后的城市。以下纯干货，预计阅读时长14分钟。

Saturday profile: Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr

周六简介：Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr

Part Ⅰ

第一段

Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, the 53-year-old mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, never wanted to be a politician.

53 岁的伊冯娜·阿基-索耶尔 (Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr) 是塞拉利昂首都弗里敦的市长，她从未想过成为一名政治家。

⊙ 句子主干

Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr never wanted to be a politician.

Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr 从未想过成为一名政治家。

⊙ 重点词汇

★ mayor

n. 市长

★ Sierra Leone

n. 塞拉利昂。是一个非洲国家，盛产血钻。血钻并不是指血色的钻石，而是指沾满了鲜血的钻石。相关背景的电影《血钻》。

（截图取自百度百科）

（截图取自维基百科）

The daughter of an academic and a midwife, she trained as a chartered accountant.

作为学者和接生员的女儿，她接受了注册会计师的培训。

⊙ 句子主干

She trained as a chartered accountant.

她接受了注册会计师的培训。

⊙ 重点词汇

★ midwife

n. 接生员。合成词，mid+wife。

★ chartered accountant

n. 注册会计师

But four years ago today the side of a mountain above the city collapsed.

但四年前的今天，这座城市上方的一座山坡倒塌了。

⊙ 句子主干

The side of a mountain above the city collapsed.

城市上方的一座山坡倒塌了。

⊙ 重点词汇

★ collapse

v. 倒塌，崩溃

例句：

Thousands of buildings collapsed in the earthquake.

数以千计的建筑物在地震中倒塌了。

He thought his whole world had collapsed when his wife died.

妻子去世后他觉得自己的整个世界都坍塌了。

A torrent of water, mud and rocks tore down hundreds of houses, sweeping them into a river.

泥石流冲毁了数百座房屋，将它们冲入河中。

⊙ 句子主干

A torrent of water, mud and rocks tore down hundreds of houses.

泥石流冲毁了数百座房屋。

⊙ 重点词汇

★ a torrent of water, mud and rocks

n. 泥石流。torrent 就是指激流。

★ tear down

v. 冲毁，摧毁。tear 作名词是指眼泪，作动词是指摧毁，过去式 tore。

例句：

They"re going to tear down the old hospital and build a new one.

他们要拆掉旧医院，再建个新的。

★ sweep into

v. 冲入，攻入

例句：

Then the bridge gave way, and tyrande was swept into the river and out of sight.

接着，桥突然倒塌，泰兰德掉进河中，不见踪影。

Around 1,000 people were killed in five minutes.

5 分钟内大约有 1000 人死亡。

That, along with Freetown’s sanitation and deforestation problems, prompted Ms Aki-Sawyerr to run for office.

这一点，再加上弗里敦的排污设施和森林砍伐问题，促使 Aki-Sawyerr 女士竞选公职。

⊙ 句子主干

That prompted Ms Aki-Sawyerr to run for office.

这一点促使她竞选公职。

⊙ 重点词汇

★ sanitation

n. 卫生设备，排污设施

例句：

Many illnesses in these temporary refugee camps are the result of inadequate sanitation.

这些临时难民营中许多疾病都源于排污设施不完善。

★ deforestation

n. 森林砍伐。forest 意思是森林 ，de- 是表否定的前缀，所以 deforest 就是指砍伐森林。

例句：

Deforestation is destroying large areas of tropical rain forest.

滥伐森林毁掉了大面积的热带雨林。

★ run for office

v. 竞选公职。run for 指竞选。

例句：

He declared his intention to run for office.

他宣布了自己参加竞选的想法。

Part Ⅱ

第二段

Born and raised in Freetown, Ms Aki-Sawyerr studied economics at Fourah Bay College before doing a Master’s degree at the London School of Economics.

Aki-Sawyerr 女士出生于弗里敦，在富拉湾学院学习经济学之后，又在伦敦经济学院获得硕士学位。

⊙ 句子主干

She studied economics.

她学习经济学。

Afterwards she worked in Britain as an investment director for a company that runs development projects in Sierra Leone.

之后，她在英国一家公司担任投资总监，这家公司在塞拉利昂经营开发项目。

⊙ 句子主干

Afterwards she worked in Britain as an investment director.

后来她在英国一家公司担任投资总监。

When the country suffered an Ebola outbreak in 2014 she rushed home to help the response, eventually receiving an OBE for her efforts.

2014 年塞拉利昂爆发埃博拉疫情时，她赶回家帮助应对，最终因她的努力获得了 OBE 勋章。

⊙ 句子主干

She recieved an OBE.

她获得了 OBE 勋章。

⊙ 扩展知识

★ OBE

全称是 Most Excellent Order of the British Empire，大英帝国勋章，授予对英国产生重大影响的人。金庸先生也曾获得 OBE 勋章。

Part Ⅲ

第三段

On returning, she was shocked by the rapid deforestation in and around Freetown and the city’s terrible sanitation.

回国后，她被弗里敦的滥砍滥伐和糟糕的排污设施震惊了。

⊙ 句子主干

She was shocked by ...

她被弗里敦的滥砍滥伐和糟糕的排污设施震惊了。

Ms Aki-Sawyerr spent 2016 and 2017 working with the government on a post-Ebola recovery project, under which she helped to launch “Operation Clean Freetown”.

Aki-Sawyerr 女士在 2016 年和 2017 年与政府合作开展了埃博拉疫情后的重建项目，在这个项目中她帮助启动了“清洁弗里敦行动”。

⊙ 句子主干

She worked with the government on a post-Ebola recovery project.

她和政府合作开展了埃博拉疫情后的重建项目。

She installed the city’s first-ever sewage treatment plant and launched a scheme to plant 1m trees in two years.

她部署了该市有史以来第一个污水处理厂，并启动了一项在两年内种植 100 万棵树的计划。

⊙ 句子主干

She installed the first sewage treatment plant and launched a scheme.

她部署了第一个污水处理厂，并启动了种树计划。

⊙ 重点词汇

★ sewage treatment plant

n. 污水处理厂。sewage 指污水，音标/su.d/。plant 在这里是指工厂，而不是我们一般理解的“植物”。

★ launch a scheme

v. 启动计划。scheme 和 plan 是同义词。两个词的区别在于，scheme 是系统的计划，相对而言是长远计划。plan 是比较具体的计划，通常会体现技术细节，比如建筑行业的施工计划。

（截图取自wikidiff）

Many of them are now sprouting on the city’s once-balding hills.

现在许多树木正在这座城市曾经光秃秃的山丘上发芽。

⊙ 句子主干

Many of them are sprouting.

许多树木正在发芽。

⊙ 重点词汇

★ sprout

v. 发芽

例句：

It takes about three days for the seeds to sprout.

这些种子大概要3天时间才会发芽。

★ once-balding

adj. 曾经光秃秃的。合成词，once+balding。balding 也形容头秃。

例句：

Eammon was plump and balding.

埃蒙发福了，头发也日渐稀疏。

Part Ⅳ

第四段

Since being elected mayor in 2018, it has not always been plain sailing.

自从 2018 年她被选为市长，并不总是一帆风顺。

⊙ 句子主干

It has not always been plain sailing.

并不总是一帆风顺。

⊙ 重点习语

★ plain sailing

n. 一帆风顺。sail 是航行的意思，在之前讲迪士尼游轮的文章中我们遇到过这个词语。这里的 plain sailing 是一个形象化的说法，很平静的航程，也就是指一帆风顺。

例句：

The roads were busy as we drove out of town, but after that it was plain sailing.

我们开出市区时路上很拥挤，再往后就一路顺畅。

Shortly after taking office, a stranger attacked Ms Aki-Sawyerr with a plank.

上任后不久，一个陌生人用木板袭击了 Aki-Sawyerr 女士。

⊙ 句子主干

A stranger attacked her.

一个陌生人袭击了她。

⊙ 重点词汇

★ plank

n. 木板

Her party is in the opposition at the national level, which can lead to deadlock.

她所在的政党 APC 在国家层面处于反对党，这可能导致僵局。

⊙ 句子主干

Her party is in the opposition.

她所在的政党 APC 处于反对党。

（截图取自外交部官网）

（截图取自维基百科）

⊙ 重点词汇

★ deadlock

n. 僵局。合成词，dead+lock，可理解成“死结”，引申为僵局的意思。

例句：

Once again the talks have ended in deadlock.

谈判再次以僵局告终。

And attempts to push reforms are often met with resistance in Sierra Leone.

在塞拉利昂，试图推动改革经常会遇到阻力。

⊙ 重点词汇

★ push reforms

v. 推动改革。form 的意思是“形式”，re- 前缀表示再次、推翻，所以 reform 就是推翻形式，也就是“改革”。

★ resistance

n. 阻力，阻止。和前面遇到的 opposition 是同义词。

例句：

There"s a lot of resistance (=opposition) to the idea of a united Europe.

很多人反对欧洲大一统的想法。

Part Ⅴ

第五段

Ms Aki-Sawyerr’s star is rising.

Aki-Sawyerr 女士的“明星”正在冉冉升起。

This autumn, she will attend COP26, the UN climate summit in Glasgow, where she will emphasise that while richer countries might have higher emission rates, poorer countries are the first to be hit by climate change.

今年秋天，她将出席在格拉斯哥举行的联合国气候峰会 COP26，她将在会上强调，虽然富裕国家的排放率可能更高，但较贫穷的国家将首先受到气候变化的影响。

⊙ 句子主干

She will attend COP26.

她将出席 COP26 峰会。

⊙ 相关文章

之前读过的关于 COP26 峰会的新闻也讲到了气候变化的严重影响。

There are few better suited to convey such a crucial message.

几乎没有其他场合比 COP26 峰会更适合传达这么重要的信息。