CC曬月光

reel [rɪːl] 蹣跚地走, 旋轉

Africa Rising’? ‘Africa Reeling’ May Be More Fitting Now

narrative [nar·ra·tive || 'nærətɪv]

n. 敘述, 故事adj. 敘述的, 故事體的, 敘事的

snappy [snap·py || 'snæpɪ]

adj. 有朝氣的, 精力充沛的

For decades Africa was eager for a new narrative, and in recent years it got a snappy one.

Texas n. 德州

A Texas business school professor published a book called “Africa Rising.”

continent ['con·ti·nent || 'kɑntnənt /'kɒntɪnənt]

n. 大陸, 陸地; 歐洲大陸; 大洲

The Wall Street Journal ran a series of articles about economic growth on the continent

Stroll 漫步，可當名詞用。

behold [be·hold || bɪ'həʊld]

v. 看到, 注視; 看

solar [so·lar || 'səʊlə(r)]

adj. 太陽的, 日光的

pizzeria ['pɪːtsə'rɪːə]

n. 做比薩餅的店

buoy [bɔɪ]

n. 浮標; 救生圈; 浮筒

v. 使浮起; 鼓勵; 支撐

You could simply stroll around Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, or many other African capitals, and behold new shopping malls, new hotels, new solar-powered streetlights, sometimes even new Domino’s pizzerias, all buoyed by what appeared to be high economic growth rates sweeping the continent.

 despair [de·spair || dɪ'speə]

n. 絕望; 令人失望的人; 失望

v. 絕望

doom [duːm]

n. 厄運, 死亡, 毀滅; 判決, 定罪; 末日審判, 世界末日

v. 命中注定, 宣告

Africa had been associated with despair and doom

enrollment [en'roll·ment || -mənt]

n. 登記; 入伍; 入會; 登記人數

enrollment in public universities more than doubled from 2007 to 2012

 expectancy

n. 期望; 期望之事物; 預期

 life expectancy (平均)壽命

mortality [mor·tal·i·ty || mɔr'tælətɪ /mɔː-]

n. 必死的命運, 死亡率, 死亡數目

In many countries, life expectancy was increasing, infant mortality decreasing.

turmoil [tur·moil || 'tɜrmɔɪl /'tɜː-]

n. 騷動, 混亂

optimistic [op·ti·mis·tic || 'ɑptɪmɪstɪk /'ɒp-]

adj. 樂觀的

take a hit 受到打擊

But in recent months, as turmoil has spread across the continent, and the red-hot economic growth has cooled, this optimistic narrative has taken a hit.

 profound [pro·found || prə'faʊnd]

n. 深淵; 深處; 深海

adj. 極深的, 深厚的, 深奧的=>深入

Some analysts are now questioning how profound the growth actually was.

 postdoctoral

adj. 博士後的

a Zambian economist who is a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard

crackpot

n. 瘋子, 狂想家, 怪人

dictator [dic'ta·tor || -tə]

n. 命令者, 獨裁政權執政者, 獨裁者

Africa rising was really good for some crackpot dictators

No place exposes the cracks in the “Africa rising” narrative better than Ethiopia, which had been one of the fastest risers.

be in flames 情勢失控

Ethiopia is now in flames.

convulse [con·vulse || kən'vʌls]

v. 使震動, 使起抽筋, 使震撼

Hundreds have been killed during protests that have convulsed the country.

populous ['pop·u·lous || 'pɑpjələs /'pɒpjʊl-]

adj. 人口多的, 人口稠密的

Africa’s most populous country

fight off

擊退; 竭力避免; 排斥

bloodthirsty

adj. 嗜殺的, 殘忍的

insurgent [in·sur·gent || ɪn'sɜrdʒənt /-'sɜːd-]

n. 暴徒, 叛徒

adj. 謀叛的, 澎湃的, 發生暴動的

it is trying to fight off Boko Haram, one of the most bloodthirsty insurgent groups on the planet.

wrack [ræk]

n. 沖上岸之海草, 破壞, 失事船隻#徹底毀壞

v. 使遇難; 遇難

unrest [un·rest || ‚ʌn'rest]

n. 不安的狀態, 動蕩的局面

South Africa, the continent’s most developed nation, has been wracked by waves of unrest.

assault [as·sault || ə'sɔːlt]

n. 襲擊, 攻擊; 侵犯人身; 抨擊, 譴責; 強姦, 施暴

v. 攻擊; 抨擊, 譴責; 襲擊; 對...施暴; 動武

rifle [ri·fle || 'raɪfl]

n. 步槍, 來福槍; 步槍隊; 膛線炮

v. 在...內做來福線; 用步槍射擊; 洗劫, 劫掠; 偷走, 盜走; 掠奪

 stomp [stɑmp /stɒmp]

n. 頓足爵士舞; 重踩, 重踏; 跺腳

v. 跺, 重踏, 踐踏; 跺腳, 重踏, 踐踏

quell [kwel]

v. 鎮壓; 壓制; 平息; 消除

Troops with assault rifles stomp around college campuses, trying to quell student protests.

currency [cur·ren·cy || 'kʌrənsɪ]

n. 通貨, 通用, 流通=>貨幣

rand

n. 鞋墊皮; 高地; 邊緣

hover [hov·er || 'hɑvə(r) /'hɒv-]

v. 盤旋, 徘徊, 翱翔

The country’s currency, the rand, hovers near a record low.