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选美比赛本身并不新鲜，但当参赛者是女警察的时候，就显得有些不寻常了。在世界最穷十个国家之一的利比里亚，就举行了一次特殊的选美比赛，背后的理由又是让人意想不到的……
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Beauty and the police --- Arresting development
当美女成为警察——引人注目的发展
A pageant with a feminist cause
一次以女权主义为起因的选美比赛
【1】"THEY want to strike fear into the hearts of their opponents!" remarked anonlooker, tapping his chest. Fighting words, perhaps, for a staff fund-raiser—buthyperbole is the name of the game at the Liberia National Police (LNP) Queen Contest. Trading their uniforms for ballgowns and flanked by raucous entourages rainingconfetti and cash, a half-dozen policewomen peacocked to their seats under a balloon-lined marquee. They vogued, cat-walked and delivered impassioned speeches.
pageant：[ˈpædʒənt] n.盛会；选美比赛；露天表演
feminist：[ˈfɛmənɪst] n.男女平等主义者，女权扩张论者
strike fear into：使…感到害怕
opponent：[əˈpoʊnənt] n.对手；敌手；反对者 adj.对立的；敌对的
He beat his opponent in the election.
他在选举中击败了对手。
onlooker：[ˈɑ:nlʊkə(r)] n.旁观者，目击者；观众
hyperbole：[haɪˈpɜ:rbəli] n.夸张法
the name of the game：一项活动的主要目的，最重要的方面
ballgown：['bɔ:lgaʊn] （女士出席正式舞会时穿的）长舞裙
flank：[flæŋk] n.侧翼，侧面，侧边 v.位于…之侧面；侧面有；守侧面；攻击侧面
raucous：[ˈrɔkəs] adj.刺耳的；粗声的，沙哑的
I heard sounds of raucous laughter upstairs.
我听见楼上传来刺耳的笑声。
entourage：[ˈɑ:nturɑ:ʒ] n.随行人员
confetti：[kənˈfɛti] n.（婚礼时撒在新娘新郎身上的）五彩纸屑
peacock：['piː.kɒk] v.炫耀；招摇过市 n.雄孔雀
marquee：[mɑ:rˈki:] n.选取框；大帐篷；大天幕；门罩
Strawberries and cream are in the marquee.
大帐篷内有草莓和奶油。
vogue：[vəʊ] v.（模仿模特在T形台上的姿态）随音乐跳舞 n.时尚 adj.流行的，时髦的
impassioned：[ɪmˈpæʃənd] adj.慷慨激昂；充满激情的；热烈的；感激的
“她们想让对手心生恐惧！”一名观众轻拍着胸口说道。这样的战斗口号在员工筹款上也许合适，但用于“利比里亚国家警察(LNP)女王大赛”还是太夸张了。在一个气球环列的大帐篷里，六名女警脱下制服换上礼服，摇曳生姿地走到自己的席位前，边上有随行人员大声喊叫着，五彩纸屑和现金雨点般撒落。她们时而随着音乐起舞，时而踩着猫步，发表充满激情的演说。
［2］This was no normal beauty pageant. The contestants were chosen for their professional ambitions, their appearances almost incidental. For all its pomp, the contest is a practical affair to raise money to send policewomen to Australia for training. Guests and officers of all ranks put banknotes into the basket of the nominee they support. The winner is not the queen judged most beautiful, but the one who raises the most cash.
contestant ：[kənˈtɛstənt, ˈkɑnˌtɛstənt] n.竞争者，争论者;（对选举结果）有异议者
Please welcome our next contestant.
请欢迎我们的下一位竞赛选手。
incidental：[.ɪnsɪ'dent(ə)l] adj.附带发生的；次要的；非有意的；作为自然结果的 n.附带的次要事情
pomp：[pɑ:mp] n.盛况，盛大的仪式；壮丽，壮观
The king was crowned with great pomp.
国王加冕，典礼极为壮观。
banknote：[ˈbæŋknəʊt] n.钞票；纸币
nominee：[ˌnɒmiˈniː] n.被提名人；候选人
这并不是一次普通的选美大赛。参赛者是按照职业理想进行筛选的，不看重外表。尽管这场大赛盛况空前，其目的却非常实际——筹集资金送女警去澳大利亚接受培训。所有的来宾和各级警官在自己支持的选手篮子里放入钞票。胜出的“警花”不是大家认为最美的，而是筹得现金数最多的。
［3］The money is then pooled and is meant to help send ten policewomen abroad. The previous year, they sent two. Yet the need is as great as ever. The LNP force has ashortfall of about 3,000 police officers and it is particularly in need of trained policewomen. Last year the UN Mission in Liberia sent most of its soldiers and policemen home, putting the LNP in charge of national security. It left an unmet target of having women make up a quarter of the force: they now comprise less than a fifth. That matters because women avoid reporting crimes such as rape to male officers when they might do so to policewomen.
shortfall：['ʃɔrt.fɔl] n.差额；缺口；亏空
unmet：[ˌʌnˈmet] adj.未满足的
comprise：[kəmˈpraɪz] v.包含，包括；由…组成；由…构成
rape：[reɪp] n.强奸罪；强奸案 v.强奸；强暴
这些钱之后会集中起来，用于送10名女警出国。去年，利比里亚送了两名女警出国培训。现在这种需求依然迫切。利比里亚国家警力缺额大约3000，尤其需要训练有素的女警。去年，联合国驻利比里亚维和团将大部分维和士兵和警察撤回各自的国家，利比里亚警方负责国家安全。然而，这种情况使得让女警占到警力四分之一的目标难以实现：她们现在只占不到五分之一的比例。女警的占比非常重要，因为强奸一类案件的受害者不会向男警员报告案情，更愿意向女警说明情况。
［4］On this sweltering afternoon in May, a contestant hoped to win favour both by wearing adiamante-encrusted pink gown and by impressing potential donors with her ambition to be promoted to senior office in the LNP.
sweltering：['sweltərɪŋ] adj.闷热的；热得没气力的
diamante：[ˌdi:əmɑ:nˈteɪ] adj.镶人造钻石的，镶人造钻石装饰的
encrusted：[ɪnˈkrʌstɪd] adj.包外壳的，镶饰的
donor：[ˈdoʊnə(r)] n.捐赠者
在这个闷热的五月下午，一名选手穿着镶有钻石的粉色礼服，怀着渴望被提拔为高级警官的雄心壮志，她希望给捐款者留下好印象，赢得他们的青睐。
［5］Wielding a big bag with labels showing it contained money, an officer from thePatrol Unit knelt before his department’s nominee and unloaded stacks of Liberian dollars into her basket. In a direct counter another threw down several wads of cash before his pick. One donor was lambasted for throwing money not at one queen, but at two.
wield：[wiːld] v.使用；运用；挥舞；掌握
patrol：[pə'trəʊl] n.巡逻；巡逻队；巡查；巡逻车队 v.巡逻；巡查；闲逛
wad：[wɑːd] n. 填料；大量；一叠（钞票） v. 填塞；使 ... 成一团
lambaste：[læm'beɪst] v.不断地狠打某人，鞭打；严厉斥责某人
巡逻队的一名警员挥舞着一个装了钱的大袋子，跪在自己部门候选人的面前，把一堆利比里亚元倒进了她的篮子里。另一个人也在一个直属柜台前向他支持的选手扔了几打现金。一位捐款者因同时向两位选手都投了钱而遭抨击。
［6］As night fell over Monrovia and the crowd thinned, officials counted the equivalentof $8,350 raised. It is not quite enough for ten tickets to Australia. Where would the rest of the money come from? One officer pondered an inverse scenario. “A King Contest? I don’t think so.”
equivalent：[ɪ'kwɪvələnt] adj.等价的 相等的 n.相等物
scenario：[səˈnɛrioʊ] n.方案；前景；(可能发生的)情况
随着夜幕降临蒙罗维亚（Monrovia），人群慢慢散去，官方统计收集的资金达8350美元，还不够10张去澳大利亚的机票。那剩下的钱从哪儿来呢？一名官员考虑了一个相反的方案。“警草大赛吗? 大概不行吧。”
这个选美比赛浮华喧嚣的背后，是贫穷的土壤上人们对美与和平不灭的期望。利比里亚的内战不久前结束了，但是维和部队的撤离使得其国内警力严重不足，短时间内无法补全，治安问题仍然严峻。
虽然处境艰难，希望依然存在。如女警人数的增加尽管缓慢，毕竟也是进步。
英文原文：
http://www.economist.com
讲解：霞姐 / Tiassa / Angel
翻译 / 校对：Angel
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