21世纪英语报
比如：
CHINA'S youngest mayor may be in for a load of trouble. Zhou Senfeng, 29, has a master's degree from Tsinghua University. He was elected mayor of Yicheng, Hubei province about a week ago, but has already found himself in a web of controversy. People are questioned the legitimacy of his prestigious Tsinghua degree, his family background and his administrative style.
As soon as news of Zhou's election hit the Web, netizens started digging into his background and, soon they hit dirt. A thesis that Zhou "wrote" in 2005 seemed to resemble, in many parts, a paper written by three other authors, three years earlier. A storm soon broke out over the possibility that Zhou had plagiarized other people's academic work, leading to questions about the validity of his Tsinghua degree.
Even before Zhou could respond directly to these charges, more unflattering material surfaced. One photograph posted on many websites showed Zhou, apparently inspecting crops in a field, standing with several other people who looked like government officials. One of them was holding umbrellas over Zhou's head. "He's 29 and already looks like a self-important bureaucrat," some people said.
Tsinghua University has announced an investigation into possible academic misconduct by Zhou in the case of his thesis. While the public are eagerly awaiting the results, Zhou has declined to comment and has asked to be left alone. "From the point of view of protecting the growth of a young man, I wish that the media would pay less attention to me," he told the press.
That, of course, led to even more skepticism. We believe, however, that Zhou should not be presumed guilty of plagiarism before an official investigation can be completed. The media and public should respect his privacy.
Nonetheless, while Zhou pleads for protection and privacy as a "young man", he should bear in mind the primary fact that he is a government official, a public servant, and, given those circumstances, a public figure. There is no clear law in China regarding the protection of a public figure's privacy, still Zhou's status and position put him in the public eye. And his achievement at such a young age makes the public even more curious. The photo may not indicate anything negative about him, and may just make it clear that he's respected and treated as a senior official by his colleagues.
In this regard, we believe that the attention given Zhou isn't particularly excessive or unjustified, especially given the skepticism regarding his honesty and background. Whatever the results of Tsinghua's investigation, and whatever the future brings for Zhou's career, he should learn to get used to being questioned and doubted without losing the drive in his primary mission – serving the people who trusted him with power. Maybe that's a good way for a young man to grow up fast.
英语词汇解析
administrative 管理的
bureaucrat 官僚
casualty 伤亡
detain 拘留
freak 奇异的
geological 地质的
grossly 非常
idol 偶像
legitimacy 正统性
negligence 疏忽
obscure 无名的
offspring 儿女
plagiarize 剽窃
prematurely 过早地
prestigious 有名望的
princeling 小王公,高干子弟
residential 住宅的
skepticism 怀疑
speculation 推测
thesis 论文
unflattering 不利的
validity 合法性
willful 故意的
BONUS
a barrage of
一连串
She was greeted with a barrage of questions from her roommate, about the new boyfriend, when she came back from her date.
她约会回来后室友问了她一连串关于她新男友的问题。
at one's disposal
由某人处置
I told the police that our employees were at their disposal to help them with their investigation of the break-in.
我告诉警察我们的雇员会尽力协助他们调查非法入室的案子。