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Файл:Speak and Write like The Economist говори и пиши как The Economist
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Russia, USSR, mysterious Russian soul, communism, vodka, fatalism
drown out genuine online discourse. They also employ armies of “trolls”
to fi ght on their behalf in Western comment sections and Twitter feeds.
J. K. Galbraith, an economist, argued that there was not much difference
between state planning as practised by the Russians and corporate planning as practised by General Motors.
A mild winter and robust European Union policy have blunted
the edge of what was once Vladimir Putin’s most effective foreign-policy weapon: the politicised export of gas.
By Khrushchev’s death in 1971, more than 125m lived in the Khrushchevki buildings. Most were not meant to last more than 25 years (bythen,
presumably, the bright communist future would have dawned.
Lenin is said to have sneered that a capitalist will sell you the rope to hang
him. The quote may be spurious, but it contains a grain of truth. Capitalists
quite often invent the technology that destroys their own business.
Biographies of Stalin and Mikhail Gorbachev abound, but nobody
has written seriously about Leonid Brezhnev, on whose watch
the Soviet Union sank into drunken decay.
A fortuitously placed wart on the penis of the “mad monk” Rasputin,
whose scandalous behaviour and bad advice helped bring about the dynasty’s downfall, is cited as a possible reason for his success with aristocratic women.
Ukrainian president must choose between a rich Russian dinner
with lots of vodka and with the risk of discovering that he has
been captured and his car stolen.
In pre-war Russia, for example, the central bank was called the “Red
Cross of the bourse” Mr Obama is using measures associated with Soviet
central planning out of desperation: he cannot get climate laws through
Congress, so executive orders are his only weapons.
Surely no true, law-abiding Russian could side with the enemies
of his country?
Dick Cheney, or so his critics aver, became George W. Bush’s Rasputin.
The Russians are a sentimental lot.
161
Часть I
On switching off the light after reading “War and Peace”, Edmund Wilson,
an American critic, would fi nd his bedroom magically “full of people”.
Dostoevsky wrote about the Amur region: “If only Englishmen or
Americans lived in Russia instead of us!.. Oh, they would have
opened up everything: the metal ores and minerals, the countless
deposits of coal.”
Homo Sovieticus.
Young Alexander Pushkin disports himself Odessa brothels,
scandalising society fi rst with his impromptu dinner-party versifying and then with a too-public affair with Lise Vorontsov, wife
of the governor. As a punishment Pushkin, nominally a civil servant, was asked to do some work: to write a report on a plague of
locusts that was paralysing the city. Outraged, Russia’s greatest
poet left town.
A novelist writing about a novelist writing about an editor reading
anovel: these Russian dolls might come across as merely cute.
The rule of law means the law of the ruler in Russia.
Although they seem a godless lot, many Russians subscribe to an old religious fatalism. How else— in this well-educated nation— to explain the
universal scorn for seatbelts, the epidemic of poisonings during every
mushroom-picking season or the amazing number of winter fi shermen
who die each year after falling through the ice? (More than 400, some
drunk, were rescued from a fl oating slab off Sakhalin last month; some
refused to go.) There is little pressure for better safety standards. “Life
is dangerous,” a Siberian tour guide said recently, when asked if the extreme sports he recommended were risky. “No one has survived it yet.”
A retailer could legally sell a second-hand “Gone with the Wind”
DVD, but could not buy it cheaply in Russia, bring it to America
and sell it for a low price. With the Supreme Court’s ruling, that
protection has been swept away.
Russian immigration offi cer— usually sporting peroxide blond hair, sixinch heels and an abbreviated skirt.
At a minimum a potential vice-president needs to look capable
of taking over as president. This was the test Mrs Palin is deemed
162
Russia, USSR, mysterious Russian soul, communism, vodka, fatalism
to have failed, despite all the knowledge of Russia she gleaned by
being able to see it from Alaska.
When Dmitri Mendeleev devised his periodic table in 1869, it contained
63 elements; a similar chart in a chemistry classroom now has up to
118entries.
Nowhere in the world matches North Korea for forced disappearances. Victims are held incommunicado, rendering the level of
inhumanity even worse in the North Korean gulag than in that of
the former Soviet Union.
Gazprom, the trading name of the gas division of the Kremlin.
The Soviet model kept capitalistic titans on their best behaviour.
Now that it has gone, capitalism, with no incentive to contribute
towards social purpose, is running wild. Ihad to teach my children the value of sharing and that lesson should not be lost on
those who reap disproportionate gains that to me look like nothing more than psychopathic hoarding.
Words for work, money, sex, death and horrible personal habits may
well tell you more about national attitudes than anything else. Why
would Russian have a special word, koshatnik, for someone who deals
in stolen cats and Turkish another, cigerci, for a seller of liver and lungs,
or Central American Spanish a particular name, aviador, for a government employee who shows up only on payday?
Yet, throughout the cold war, Russia remained a reliable gas supplier. Why should things be different now? The Soviet Union was
politically more predictable than its successor. “It was run by
geriatrics, but we knew that one geriatric would succeed another.” Russia’s political stability is ephemeral. It relies on Mr Putin’s
will, not on an institutional transfer of power. With nationalism
on the rise, it is anybody’s guess who will be in charge of Russia
in ten years’ time.
There is an old Soviet joke that where common sense ends railways begin.
Russia could benefi t hugely from a bit of warming: large parts
of the country that are currently uninhabitable could become
comfortable enough to live. The 25% of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas reserves that are reckoned to be in the Arctic,
163
Часть I
much of them in Russia, would become easier to get at. According to one estimate of the costs and benefi ts of climate change,
by Robert Mendelssohn, a professor at Yale University, a 2.5C
increase in temperature would increase GDP of the former Soviet Union by 11%.
Medvedev either earn a place in history or a footnote in the story of his
predecessor.
Russian government left enough crumbs on the table to keep foreign businesses happy.
The Russian tactic, it seems, is to keep Mr Lukashenka just above the
surface, occasionally dipping him in and then pulling him out to make
sure he is still breathing. But if the Kremlin miscalculates and keeps
MrLukashenka under a moment too long, it could inadvertently provoke amore serious revolt.
Russia’s rapprochement is fragile since it hinges on an idea of
modernisation that is unlikely to succeed without liberalisation.
The risk is that when modernisation fails, Russia will blame the
West for sabotaging it.
There are 4 types of capitalism: state-guided (Japan), oligarchic (Russia),
big-fi rm (US), entrepreneurial.
Mr Bell was right that the ideology of communism was doomed.
In China it has given way to market Leninism. In Russia it has
been replaced by kleptocracy.
There is no such thing as a point of no return in the Moscow—Minsk battle, because both sides are represented not by noble knights, but cynical
traders.
Legal ivory sells for around $900 a kilogram in China’s wholesale
market, with the average tusk weighing between fi ve and nine
kilograms. A cheaper sort comes from extinct woolly mammoths,
which are periodically excavated from Siberia’s tundra.
By the mid-1930s Hemingway found it easier to catch huge marlin than
to write. “Iam supposed to lay back and come in with ‘War and Peace’ or
be considered a bum,” he said.
164
Russia, USSR, mysterious Russian soul, communism, vodka, fatalism
Scandal that speaks volumes about Russia has snowballed recently.
If America did not exist, Russia would have to invent it. In a sense it already has: fi rst as a dream, then as a nightmare. No other country looms
so large in the Russian psyche.
As a former Turkish president put it, “building relations with big
states is like getting into bed with a bear.” When that bear is Russia, it is best to stay wide awake.
Часть II
A
The ultra-violence that saw the deaths of 60,000 civilians over the
past decade has abated somewhat— ослаблять, умерять.
Even its campaign against banks that abet tax evasion, the one
fi nancial crime it is widely reckoned to have tackled with fi rmness—
поощрять, содействовать.
The old stuffed-shirt politics might also be in abeyance; Facebook’s policy of prohibiting hate speech was apparently in abeyance:
drawings of pigs urinating on the Koran— and worse— were posted—
состояние неопределенности, неизвестности.
Even uglier was the stampede, of governors and congressmen as
well as presidential candidates, to insist that Barack Obama abjure his
(rather paltry) plan to take in some 10,000 Syrian refugees next year—
отказываться, отрекаться.
Politics abhors a vacuum and the gap between the elite and the
public will eventually be closed— не выносить, не терпеть.
Widespread abhorrence of it enabled the eventual rise of pragmatists led by Deng Xiaoping— омерзение; ненависть.
It is inherent in human nature to seek security via special status,
and it necessarily increases with time, as so ably explicated by Mancur
Olson— умело; квалифицированно.
166
Часть II / abstemious
To fulfi l millennial Jewish yearning to restore the tabernacle, the
company is also repairing what it says are ancient ablution pools—
омовение; обмывание.
European culture has been diminished by a mixture of self-abne-
gation and political correctness, while declining Christian values have
left most western European countries unmoored— отрицание учения.
Examples abound, from Barack Obama’s online campaign to ac-
tivism on Twitter— кишеть, изобиловать.
Sexually insatiable, she had two husbands and countless lovers,
and neglected her children abominably; some of the book’s most striking passages are about “well-oiled feudal barbarity”, the abominable
treatment that was meted out to those who tried to escape— грязно,
мерзко.
Iran is prepared under ANY circumstances to recognize this abom-
ination to Islam and more specifi cally its Imperial Designs for the Middle East— отвращение, мерзость.
Three states have banned doctors from prescribing abortifa-
cient medicine remotely, as is often done in rural areas— средство,
вызывающее аборт.
The government has hounded the Brotherhood, referring to its
loyalists as “terrorists”, to the point of removing them from above-board
politics— откровенный, прямой.
Fears spread that the EU, which had found in Mr Davutoglu a sen-
sible interlocutor and a channel to bypass his abrasive boss— резкий,
колкий.
British prisons are not as porous as a recent rash of absconding
suggests— бежать отсуда; скрываться.
A distinguished restaurateur who runs the school, tells me they
come for cooking, rather than golf or abseiling, as a group activity—
спускаться наверевке.
The government will be less abstemious than it claims— воз-
держанный, умеренный (впище, питье).
167
Часть II / abstruse
It also marked the moment when maths began to slip away from
being part of the armamentarium of any educated person and towards
the dizzyingly abstruse fi eld it has become today— глубокомысленный,
серьезный.
China’s coast abuts relatively shallow seas, rendered turbid by
the sediment of China’s east-fl owing rivers— примыкать, граничить.
Europe is abuzz with talk of a growth compact, but nobody agrees
what it means— возбужденный, охваченный деятельностью.
Academe of the Oaks offers a rigorous college preparatory course
of study that prepares students for future academic work— научное
сообщество, мир науки.
For Mr Reddy, the ack-ack guns held no fears— зенитные орудия,
зенитная артиллерия.
A vote for independence almost impossible in a region of low literacy and abysmal infrastructure— ужасный.
Before such honours were bestowed, many worthy of the accolade
were fellows of the Royal Society— похвала, хороший отзыв.
Obama has all the accoutrements of a president-in-waiting—
антураж; внешние атрибуты.
The resulting minuscule fi bres accrete into a dense mesh— срас-
таться.
An ever larger share of the benefi ts of growth accrues to owners
of capital— вступать всилу (оправах, требованиях).
Mr Capriles, who came within an ace of winning a snap presidential election on April 14
th
— наволосок от, награни.
Нe has an ace in the hole— преимущество, козырь вкармане.
It takes time for an institution based in the Anglophone world to
be acculturated in Asia or Latin America— интегрироваться.
Without such total acculturation, managing distant operations
with few communications would have been all but impossible— слияние
разных культур.
168
Часть II / adduce
He is an acidulous critic of the incumbent administration and its
military servants— едкий, язвительный.
There are wealthy people who contribute, and wealthy people who
just accrete— обрастать, прикрепляться.
Vladimir Chizhov, Russia’s clever and acerbic ambassador to the
EU, wonders what European values really are— едкий, язвительный.
Calvin Klein underpants may not exactly represent the acme
of spiritual, political or even material freedom— кульминация, точка
наивысшего подъема.
The Hamas government that then briefl y held power gave aco-
lytes jobs administering government mosques— ассистент, помощник.
China will acquiesce to another round of sanctions on Iran—
уступать, молча соглашаться.
After acrimonious debates over Barack Obama’s appointments
to head the Treasury, there was little energy left in the Senate this week
for a fi ght— язвительный; злой.
The uproar this provoked only grew when a state-appointed ac-
tuary concluded that the fi rm’s justifi cation for the hike was bogus—
актуарий, специалист постраховой математике.
Low olfactory acuity portends a curtailed lifespan— тонкость,
резкость (восприятия).
And conservative pundits are people of adamantine principle com-
pared with conservative politicians— неколебимый, несокрушимый.
John Kennedy’s adage that “a rising tide lifts all boats”— афоризм,
изречение.
His memories are addled, but the young member of Cocaine Ano-
nymous can just about recall his formal drug education— сбивать столку,
запутывать.
Slow jurisdictions, like Italy, let lawyers adduce new evidence
whenever they want, allowing them to prolong a case with new submissions— представлять, приводить (вкачестве доказательства).
169
Часть II / adept
Al-Qaeda is still dangerous and is adept at changing its shape—
эксперт, специалист.
Hyperconnectivity exaggerates some of the most destabilising
trends in the modern workplace: the decline of certainty (asorganisations
abandon bureaucracy in favour of adhocracy), the rise of global supply
chains and the general cult of fl exibility— адхократия (модель организации, вкоторой текущие проблемы решаются группами специалистов сразличными профессиональными знаниями, подобранными
всоответствии сситуацией).
Chinese companies don’t want to be mere adjuncts to foreign
fi rms— придаток; случайное свойство.
A curious admixture of civic conscience (support of many green
initatives) and Standard Oil-type monopoly practices— примесь.
Delivering the same stump speech ad nauseum; He had already
spoken ad nauseam on this very subject— доотвращения.
Good fortune and adroit political management have marked Mr
Howard’s four wins since 1996— ловкий, проворный; искусный.
He was using “adscititious”, correctly, in letters home from his
military academy at 17— дополнительная, неосновная часть.
On her tour of Europe last month, she was swaddled in praise
verging on adulation— низкопоклонство; лесть.
Between detours through nanotechnology, robotics and military
strategy, he adumbrated a resilient society of “Odyssean” citizens—
предзнаменовать, предрекать.
Heckling politicians is rarely an effective form of advocacy— пропаганда, активная публичная защита.
The order described by the Guardian, which was issued under the
aegis of section 215 of the Patriot Act, doesn’t let the NSA see the content
of individual calls— эгида (щит Зевса).
Barry Cunliffe has scoured those aeons of under-achievement for
signs of promise and hints towards an explanation— бесконечность,
вечность.
170
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