#dailydigest
今天读的是The Economist 2018年4月21日刊的封面文章《What has become of the Republican Party》，打算分几天选几段精华把阅读笔记分享给大家。
众所周知，作为liberal旗舰杂志，The Economist 对特朗普一直不怎么瞧得上，这篇文章也不例外，主要是攻击特朗普搞个人崇拜、任人唯亲、美帝药丸，呼吁有良知的共和党人进行反思和反击。当然，立场问题向来是狗咬狗，不作讨论，主要关注本文中满满的几乎要溢出来的、姿势多样的嘲讽。
[正文]
All presidents, Republican and Democrat, seek to remake their party in their own image. Donald Trump has been more successful than most. From the start, the voters he *mesmerised* in the campaign embraced him more *fervently* than congressional Republicans were ready to admit. After 15 months in power, as our briefing explains, he has taken ownership of _their_ party. It is an extraordinary achievement from a man who had never lived in Washington, DC, never held public office, who boasted of groping women and who, as recently as 2014, was a donor to the hated Democrats.
[Section 1: Words]
mesmerize (v.) BrE /ˈmezməraɪz/ - mesmerizing (adj.)
(usually passive) mesmerize somebody to have such a strong effect on you that you cannot give your attention to anything else; 迷住，吸引，迷惑
fervently (adv.) BrE /ˈfɜːvəntli/ - fervent (adj.)
in a way that shows very strong and sincere feelings about something;热忱地;热烈地
[Section 2: Sentences]
S1: All presidents, Republican and Democrat, seek to remake their party in their own image.
所有的总统，无论是共和党人还是民主党人，都追求以他们自身的形象重塑党派形象。
第一句话呼应标题‘what has become of the Republican Party’。假惺惺地提了一下‘all presidents’，实际上暗藏杀机，暗示下文是特朗普执政会给共和党的形象带来怎样（毁灭性的）影响。
S2: From the start, the voters he mesmerised in the campaign embraced him more fervently than congressional Republicans were ready to admit.
从一开始，在大选中为特朗普所迷住的选民拥戴特朗普的狂热程度就已令国会共和党人都不愿意承认。
‘mesmerise’ 有被催眠、被迷惑之意，用词辛辣；‘were ready to admit’中‘ready’ 一词表现出特朗普在大选中受欢迎对共和党人来说也是猝不及防，暗含也非他们所乐见的, ‘admit’ 嘲讽满分。
S3: After 15 months in power, as our briefing explains, he has taken ownership of _their_ party.
执政15个月之后，正如简报中所介绍的，特朗普已经夺走了共和党的主宰权。
为什么用 take ownership of 而不是 ’control‘（控制）或 ’dominate‘ （统治）？原因在后面的 ’their‘，指代的是上文中 ’were not ready to admit (trump’s popularity)’ 的 ‘congressional republicans’。因此，本句的意思衔接上文，指特朗普从这些不乐见特朗普受欢迎的国会共和党人手中【夺走】（take ownership of)了共和党的控制权。再次嘲讽满分。
S4: It is an extraordinary achievement from a man who had never lived in Washington, DC, never held public office, who boasted of groping women and who, as recently as 2014, was a donor to the hated Democrats.
对于一个从未在华盛顿居住过、从未执掌过公职、吹嘘自己玩弄女性、且近在2014年还是民主党捐款者的人来说，这是一项非比寻常的成就。
这个句子很长，但主要是一连串的嘲讽。拆解下结构，典型的 ‘who…, who…, and who…’ 平行并列，第一个who里内含一个’never… never…’的小平行（学了Gmat SC的同学看了这句话可能特别有亲切感）。
第一个who：两个never攻击特朗普的政治资历不足
第二个who：攻击特朗普性别歧视，”grab her by the pussy’的梗
第三个who：攻击特朗普精分，感受下‘hated’里的傲娇
三个who攻击角度各不相同，平行并列，非常完美，学习了！
小小一段话只有四句话，每一句话每一个词都尽嘲讽之能事。高级知识分子吵架，真是可怕～