2018年5月翻譯資格考試三級筆譯模擬題：巴拿馬運河
英譯漢
PANAMA CITY: Voters were expected Sunday to approve the largest modernization project in the 92-year history of the Panama Canal, a $5.25 billion plan to expand the waterway to allow for larger ships while alleviating traffic problems.
The government of President Martín Torrijos has billed the referendum as historic, saying the work would double the capacity of a canal already on pace to generate about $1.4 billion in revenue this year. Critics claim the expansion would benefit the canal's customers more than Panamanians, and worry that costs could balloon, forcing this debt- ridden country to borrow even more.
The project would build a third set of locks on the Pacific and Atlantic ends of the canal by 2015, allowing it to handle modern container ships, cruise liners and tankers too large for its locks, which are 33 meters, or 108 feet, wide.
The Panama Canal Authority, the autonomous government agency that runs the canal, says the project would be paid for by increasing tolls and would generate $6 billion in revenue by 2025.
There is nothing Panamanians are more passionate about than the canal. "It's incomparable in the hemisphere," said Samuel Lewis Navarro, the country's vice president and foreign secretary. "It's in our heart, part of our soul."
Public opinion polls indicate that the plan would be approved overwhelmingly. Green and white signs throughout the country read "Yes for our children," while tens of thousands of billboards and bumper stickers trumpet new jobs.
"The canal needs you," television and radio ads implore.
"It will mean more boats, and that means more jobs," said Damasco Polanco, who was herding cows on horseback in Nuevo Provedencia, on the banks of Lake Gatún, an artificial reservoir that supplies water to the canal.
The canal employs 8,000 workers and the expansion is expected to generate as many as 40,000 new jobs. Unemployment in Panama is 9.5 percent, and 40 percent of the country lives in poverty.
But critics fear that the expansion could cost nearly double the government's estimate, as well as stoke corruption and uncontrolled debt.
"The poor continue to suffer while the rich get richer," said JoséFelix Castillo, 62, a high school teacher who was one of about 3,000 supporters who took to Panama City's streets to protest the measure on Friday.
Lewis Navarro noted that a portion of the revenue generated by each ton of cargo that passes through the waterway goes to education and social programs.
"We aren't talking about 40 percent poverty as a consequence of the canal," he said. "It's exactly the opposite."
參考譯文：
巴拿馬市：巴拿馬周日將就巴拿馬運河改造計劃舉行全民公投，這將是巴拿馬運河開通 92 年以來最大規(guī)模的一次改造，項目預(yù)計斥資 52.5 億美元，旨在緩解交通壓力的同
時，擴(kuò)寬航道，提高可通行船舶噸位。巴拿馬總統(tǒng)馬丁·托里霍斯(Martin Torrijos)稱此次公投具有重要歷史意義。今年巴拿馬運河將創(chuàng)收約 14 億美元，托里霍斯政府稱改造后運河的通行能力有望翻番。而批評人士則稱，運河擴(kuò)建的主要受益者將是運河使用者而非巴拿馬人民，同時，運河擴(kuò)建成
本將會激增，迫使早已債臺高筑的巴拿馬進(jìn)一步舉債。
按照項目設(shè)計，到 2015 年前，將分別在運河的太平洋和大西洋兩端建造第三組水閘。運河現(xiàn)在的水閘僅為 33 米寬，很多大型船只無法通行，改造項目竣工后，可通行現(xiàn)代大型集裝箱船、郵輪和油輪。
負(fù)責(zé)巴拿馬運河運營的自治機(jī)構(gòu)巴拿馬運河管理局稱，將通過提高通行費來收回項目成本，運河改造后的年創(chuàng)收能力到 2025 年將達(dá) 60 億美元。
巴拿馬人對運河可謂情有獨鐘/有強烈的運河情結(jié)。巴拿馬副總統(tǒng)兼外長薩穆埃爾·萊維斯·納瓦羅說，“在這個半球，巴拿馬運河是無與倫比的，它已扎根人民心中、融入巴拿馬民族之魂�！陛浾撜{(diào)查顯示，運河擴(kuò)建計劃將以壓倒性優(yōu)勢獲得通過。在巴拿馬到處都張貼有寫著“為子孫后代投下贊成票(運河擴(kuò)建，利在千秋)”的綠色和白色的標(biāo)語，數(shù)以萬計的廣告牌和車尾貼上也都大肆宣揚運河擴(kuò)建對增加就業(yè)的影響。廣播電視廣告詞也采取溫情攻勢，“運河需要你”。在運河補給水庫加通湖兩岸的努埃沃·普羅維登斯(Nuevo Provedencia)騎馬放牛的達(dá)瑪斯克·波蘭科(Damasco Polanco)說，“運河擴(kuò)建后會有更多的船只通行，會帶來更多的就業(yè)機(jī)會�！�
運河現(xiàn)有工作人員 8,000 人，擴(kuò)建后將會新增 4 萬個就業(yè)崗位。巴拿馬失業(yè)率為 9.5%，貧困率為 40%。但是，批評人士擔(dān)心運河擴(kuò)建最終成本可能超出政府預(yù)估成本一倍，致使腐敗滋生，債務(wù)失控。周五約 3,000 人走上巴拿馬市街頭抗議運河擴(kuò)建，何塞·費利克斯·卡斯蒂略(JoséFelixCastillo)也參加了抗議游行。現(xiàn)年 62 歲的卡斯蒂略是一名高中教師，他說，“運河擴(kuò)建后富人將變得更加富有，而窮人將繼續(xù)生活在水深火熱之中。”
副總統(tǒng)兼外長萊維斯·納瓦羅稱，運河通行費收入中有一部分用于教育和社會各項事業(yè)。“40%的高貧困率不能歸咎于運河，”他說道，“恰恰相反(，正因為貧困率如此之高，所以才要擴(kuò)建運河)�！�
