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進入《中英對照讀新聞》Beijing’s quick response to disaster won’t cover cracks of corruption 北京迅速因應災變 掩飾不了貪污破綻
◎陳成良
Beijing’s quick response to disaster won’t cover cracks of corruption
北京迅速因應災變 掩飾不了貪污破綻
Earthquake’s don’t destroy strong, well-built buildings, they destroy weak ones. As China reels from its biggest earthquake in 30 years, public anger is mounting.
地震摧毀不了堅固、施工完善的建築，它們摧毀的是脆弱建築。在中國遭逢其30年來最大地震而踉蹌蹣跚之際，民眾的怒火正在上升中。
A third of the 20,069 confirmed dead were children trapped in the 6,900 classrooms that the government says were destroyed - weaker than other buildings in withstanding the shock. It has also said that as many as 390 dams could be at risk.
在已證實的20,069名死者中，1/3是被困在據政府稱已遭摧毀之6,900間教室中的孩童—（這些教室）比其他建築更不耐震。政府宣稱有多達390座水壩可能岌岌可危。
China is earthquake prone, Sichuan in particular experiencing a similar scale earthquake in 1933. China’s geologists had warned there was a one-in-10 chance of a recurrence within 50 years and buildings and dams should have been built to strict regulatory standards. They weren’t, especially those built most recently.
中國易遭地震侵襲，特別是曾於1933年經歷一場類似規模地震的四川省。中國地質學家曾警告，50年內地震再現的機率達1/10，建築物與水壩的興建應符合嚴格規範標準，（但）它們並沒有，特別是那些最近才興建的。
This is not just corner cutting in the quest for fast growth, or the kind of loose practice that comes to light after disasters everywhere. It is the consequence of systemic non-enforcement of regulations in return for bribes - and everyone in China knows it.
這不僅是為追求快速成長而走捷徑，或震災後在各處曝光的那種偷工減料作法，而是整個體系都不執行規定來換取賄賂的後果——對此中國每個人都心知肚明。
新聞辭典 Dictionary
prone：形容詞，易於…的；有…傾向。例句：Children of poor health are very prone to colds in winter.（體弱的孩子在冬天易患感冒）。
corner cutting：原意是「裁角」（截彎取直）。 cut corners的意思是圖快而不按正常方式做事；節省。例句：You cannot cut corners if you want to do it in a complete and thorough way.（你若想完整與徹底地做這件事，你就不能草率。）
