上周末的伦敦大桥恐怖袭击之后，我们来看一下《经济学人》对于这件事的报道和评论。恐怖主义的恐怖之处在于，它潜伏在人心深处，你不知道它什么时候会爆发出来，而且一次恐怖袭击可能会滋生更多的恐怖袭击。文章最后的讽刺还是很尖刻的，质问英国首相不应该说“适可而止”，因为恐怖主义的行径一次都不能原谅。

Terror in LondonBritain suffers its third deadly terrorist attack in as many months

The attack on London Bridge marks a return to crude, low-tech assaults

不到三个月的第三起恐怖袭击

1. THE attack in London on June 3rd, which left seven people dead and 48 injured, was the third deadly terrorist incident in Britain in less than three months. At about 10pm a van was driven at speed into pedestrians on London Bridge, before three men got out and began stabbing people around Borough Market, just south of the Thames. The men, who one witness said had shouted “This is for Allah,” were shot dead by police.

at speed: chiefly British fast, rapidly

1）6月3日伦敦的袭击造成7人死亡，48人受伤，这是不到三个月的英国第三起致命恐怖事件。在晚上十点左右，一辆厢式货车快速驶入伦敦大桥的行人中，三名男子随即跳出车外开始在泰晤士河以南的自治市镇周围刺伤人们。一名目击者称这些人叫着“这是为了真主”，警方将他们击毙了。

2. Although the three suspects wore what looked like suicide-bombers’ vests, they turned out to be fake. Knives and a large van were the only murder weapons involved. Police believe that no other attackers were involved.
   2）虽然这三名嫌疑人穿着看起来像是自杀式的炸弹背心，但最后证明它们是假的。刀和大型货车是涉案的唯一谋杀武器。警方认为没有其他涉案的袭击者。

3. The crude attack bears some similarities to the assault on March 22nd in which Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old British convert to Islam, mowed down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing four, before getting out to stab a policeman to death. In that attack the target was the Houses of Parliament. This time it appears that the terrorists honed in on people drinking in bars.

mow down: to kill someone by driving into them fast
** hone in on something**: to find and go directly toward (someone or something)

3）这次残忍的袭击与3月22日的袭击有一些相似之处，那次一名52岁皈依伊斯兰教的英国人哈立德·马苏德（Khalid Masood）在威斯敏斯特大桥上（开车）撂倒行人，造成四人死亡，接着下车刺死了一名警察。那次的目标是议会大厦。这一次，似乎恐怖分子针对的是在酒吧喝酒的人们。

4. The simplicity of the latest assault is in contrast to the attack on May 22nd at the Manchester Arena, in which a relatively sophisticated bomb was used to kill 22 people and injure more than 100. The perpetrator of that attack, Salman Abedi, a 22-year-old British Muslim, may have undergone training in Libya.

perpetrator: someone who does something morally wrong or illegal = culprit

4）最近这次袭击的简单性与曼彻斯特体育场5月22日的攻击形成对比，那次一个相对复杂的炸弹被用来杀死22人、伤害超过100人. 该次袭击的罪犯萨勒曼·阿贝迪（Salman Abedi）是一名22岁的英国穆斯林，可能在利比亚进行过训练。

5. Britain’s run of attacks demonstrates the dual nature of the terrorist threat. On the one hand are complex plots such as the Manchester attack, which have the potential to kill many but whose multiple strands give the security services a better chance of disrupting them. On the other are low-tech attacks like the latest one, which tend to have fewer casualties (in large part because of Britain’s strict gun laws) but are harder to anticipate and prevent.

run of: A sustained state or condition: 连续：持续的状态或情况：
e.g. a run of good luck.
strands: one of the different parts of an idea, a plan, a story, etc

5）英国连续的袭击表明恐怖主义威胁的双重特点。一方面是复杂的阴谋，如曼彻斯特的攻击，它们有可能杀死许多人，但是它们涉及多人的各部分给安全部门更好的机会扰乱它们。另一方面是像最近这次一样的低技术袭击，往往有更少的伤亡（在很大程度上是因为英国严格的控枪法），但是更难预见和预防。

6. The arrest of 12 men in the Barking area of east London in the aftermath of the attack does not at this point suggest that there was “network” behind the perpetrators, as police believe there was behind Abedi. It is almost certain that the identity of the three men is known, although not yet whether, as is likely, they had appeared previously on the “radar screen” of the security services. One of them is believed to have been a married man and a father of two children. The arrests are likely to be part of a normal information-gathering operation involving raids of the perpetrators’ homes and interviews under caution of anyone who might have been close to them. The fact that the terrorist-threat level, which was briefly raised to “critical” after the Manchester attack, has remained at “severe”, the next rung down, indicates that investigators are not looking for accomplices who may be planning a follow-up attack.

aftermath: the period of time after something such as a war, storm, or accident when people are still dealing with the results
under caution: a spoken official warning given to someone who has been arrested or who has done something wrong that is not a serious crime
rung: informal a particular level or position in an organization or system

6）在袭击事件之后，在伦敦东部的巴金地区逮捕了12名男子，目前还没有证据表明在犯罪者背后存在“网络”，就像警方认为阿贝迪袭击背后存在的那样。几乎可以肯定的是，三名男子的身份是已知的，尽管还不知道（但是很可能）他们以前是否曾经出现在安全部门的“监测雷达”上。其中一人被认为是已婚男子和两个孩子的父亲。这些逮捕行动很可能是正常的信息搜集行动的一部分，包括突然搜捕罪犯的家和对任何可能接近他们的人出于警告的谈话。事实上，在曼彻斯特攻击之后恐怖主义威胁级别被短暂地升到“危急”，其他时间都一直处于“严重”阶段，即“危急”的低一级，这表明调查人员并不在寻找可能正在规划后续行动的同谋。

7. What is worrying the security services most is the possibility that low-tech simple attacks of the kind that have now struck London twice in just over two months may be attracting imitators. This was one of the suggestions made by the prime minister, Theresa May, in her response to the horror of Saturday night. “Terrorism,” she said, “breeds terrorism”. She also went on to say that there was too much tolerance of Islamist extremism. In particular, she demanded that more pressure be put on internet firms such as Google and Facebook to be made accountable for material they publish that may aid terrorism.
   7）最令安全部门感到担忧的是，在短短两个月内已经袭击伦敦两次的低科技简单性攻击可能会吸引模仿者。这是首相特蕾莎梅在回应周六晚上的恐怖袭击时所表明的观点之一。“恐怖主义”，她说，“滋生恐怖主义”。她还说，对伊斯兰极端主义过于容忍了。她特别地要求对谷歌和Facebook等互联网公司施加更大的压力，让他们对发布的可能有助于恐怖主义的材料负责。

8. Quite what she has in mind is not clear. Mrs May used the odd expression that “enough is enough” as if any level of political violence were acceptable. It seems probable that after the general election on Thursday, a major review of counter-terrorism policies will be an urgent priority. Among the measures likely to be recommended are: longer prison sentences for terrorist offences; the issuing of many more “Tpims” (terrorism prevention and investigation measures) to tag and curfew some suspects; more use of powers to confiscate passports; a beefing up the “Prevent” anti-radicalisation strategy; and even more resources for the security service (MI5) and counter-terrorism police.

tag: to give sb/sth a name that describes what they are or do = label
curfew: a law that forces people to stay indoors after a particular time at night, or the time people must be indoors 词典里只有名词用法，这里应该是活用当动词
confiscate: to officially take sth away from sb, especially as a punishment

8）很多她的想法不为人知。梅女士用了这种奇怪的表达说“该适可而止了”，好像有些级别的政治暴力是可以接受的。周四大选后对反恐政策进行重大检讨似乎很可能是当务之急。可能推荐的措施包括：对犯恐怖主义罪行的人进行更长时间的监禁；颁布更多的“Tpims”（恐怖主义预防和调查措施）来识别并 宵禁一些嫌疑犯；更多使用权力来没收护照；加强“预防”反激进化战略；以及为安全部门（MI5）和反恐警察提供更多的资源。

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原文出处：经济学人

翻译：七呵夫

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