雅思全新推出每日雅思閱讀精選欄目，我們將為大家精心挑選國外網站上的優秀文章供考生們進行閱讀練習，幫助大家提高雅思閱讀水平，每天讀幾篇文章，每天有一點提高，相信不久之后，雅思閱讀考試將不再是困擾考生們的難題。

　　推薦閱讀方法：首先快速閱讀全文，掌握文章大意，提高閱讀速度;再進行精讀訓練，學習其中的詞匯和語言的用法。

　　2023年12月26日雅思閱讀精選：背道而馳

　　Egypts referendum

　　Going the wrong way

　　Muhammad Morsi must accommodate the secular opposition; if necessary, the West should push him

　　IT LOOKS pretty certain that the constitution which Muhammad Morsi, Egypts president, has presented to the people will win their endorsement in a referendum that is being held in two stages . On December 15th a majority of voters in the ten provinces polled said yes, though 57% of Cairos 6m voters said no. On December 22nd the remaining voters, who are likely to be more conservative, will probably grant their approval, too. Mr Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party may conclude they have a mandate to guide Egypt in an Islamist direction, away from more open, permissive ways.

　　They would be wrong to do so. This line of thinking threatens to plunge Egypt into a protracted period of impoverishing instability, which in the end will hurt Islamists as much as everyone else. The more pragmatic Islamists, perhaps including Mr Morsi, should change course while they still have time.

　　Even if the constitution gets popular approval, it will not have a ringing endorsement. Less than one-third of eligible voters are reckoned to have turned out in the first round of the referendum, and the margin of assent has been slim. Coptic Christians, who make up about a tenth of Egypts 85m people, are unnerved by the documents Islamist flavour, as are many Egyptians with secular, liberal or left-wing views. And despite the referendum results, the Brothers may be losing favour. Since winning a clear plurality in a general election nearly a year ago, their popularity has been dipping.

　　Hardline Brothers may be tempted to respond by gripping onto power even more tightly. But the organisation that suffered so many decades of persecution under President Hosni Mubarak should surely realise where that may lead. Instead, Mr Morsi and his allies would do better to respect alternative opinions and stop treating political opponents as mortal enemies conspiring with godless Westerners to do them down.

　　Time to leave the streets

　　As a conciliatory gesture, Mr Morsi could use his powers of appointment to ensure that parliaments upper house, the Shura Council, becomes more representative. Elected with only 10% of the vote, when it was widely assumed to be a mere talking shop that would be abolished by the new constitution, 83% of its members are Islamists, a far higher proportion than they would win in a fair election today. Given that the Shura Council will now be the sole legislature until fresh elections to the lower house take place in two months time, it would be wise to bring in more secular sorts and Christians. The Shura Council should also amend the new constitutions most blatantly sectarian and anti-democratic clausessuch as the ones allowing the religious establishment to meddle in legislation and giving the army exorbitant political and budgetary perks.

　　The opposition, for its part, should start relying more on negotiation and less on demonstration. Street protests were a force for good before democracy prevailedthey toppled Mr Mubarak, after allbut if they become a routine way to change the law and remove governments, then Egypt will never learn how to reconcile interests and settle disputes through everyday politics. The non-Islamist opposition, which is coming together for the first time in a broad front, should concentrate on preparing for the imminent general election. To compete with Islamists at a local level, they must start tackling the urgent bread-and-butter concerns of poor people.

　　The West has rightly stayed out of Egyptian politics. But, once written, a constitution is hard to change back, so outsiders should now voice their anxieties about the direction Mr Morsi is taking. Germanys government was right recently to postpone a dollop of aid until Mr Morsi shows a greater willingness to pass the test of real democracy. The Americans, who hand over $1.6 billion a year, should do the same.

　　At the start of the Arab spring, optimists hoped that liberal democracy would sweep the region and pessimists predicted that Islamists would grasp power and keep hold of it. Recent events have taken Egypt a step in the pessimists direction. But the old system failed, in the end, because oppressive governments that ignore their peoples views risk getting violently overthrown. It is not too late for Mr Morsi to show he has learned that lesson.

　　穆罕默德穆爾西必須照顧到世俗反對派的需求;如若需要，西方應該對其施加壓力

　　現在看上去是很確定的事情了--埃及總統穆罕默德穆爾西展現在民眾面前的那部憲法將會在一個分兩階段舉行的全民公投中獲得通過。在12月15日，被調查的10個省份中大多數選民支持該憲法;盡管在開羅，6百萬選民中有57%表示反對。在12月22日，剩下的那些選民也很可能會投下他們的贊成票。穆爾西總統和他的政黨穆斯林兄弟會可能會因此認為他們得到民眾的授權，要將埃及朝著伊斯蘭方向領進，馳離較為開放放任的道路。

　　要是這么做他們就錯了。這種思路會使埃及墮入一個越發不穩定的漫長時期，而最終結果就是伊斯蘭派會受到與其他人一樣的同等傷害。更加實際的伊斯蘭派人員，或許這也包括穆爾西總統，應該盡早改轍易途，以免為時過晚。

　　即使這部憲法得到民眾支持，這種支持也不會是強有力的。在第一輪公投中，有投票資格的民眾中參與投票的不到三分之一，而且贊成票數只是稍稍高出那么一點。占埃及8500萬人口十分之一的科普特基督徒對于這部憲法的伊斯蘭色彩感到不安，而同樣不安的還有很多持世俗、自由主義或是左翼觀點的埃及人。另外，盡管公投結果看似傾向穆斯林兄弟會，而兄弟會實則可能正在漸漸失去民眾的擁護。自差不多一年前在大選中獲得絕大多數選票以來，他們的歡迎度是每況愈下。

　　對于這種情況，強硬派兄弟會成員的回應可能是想去更緊地把握權力。但是作為一個在穆巴拉克總統執政期間，遭受了數十年苦難的組織來說，他們應該很清楚這么做的結果會是什么。穆爾西總統和其盟友不尊重異見，并將政治對手看作自己的死敵，認為他們和沒信仰的西方勢力勾結在一起，以把自己推下臺;如果穆爾西總統他們能夠改變這種做法，那么反而會取得較好的結果。

　　上街游行應該剎剎車了

　　為作出和解姿態，穆爾西總統可行使其任命權，來確保議會上院，舒拉委員會更具代表性。這個只有10%的選民參與投票選出的委員會，當時普遍被人們認為只是一個高談闊論，無權決策，會被新憲法廢除的機構;舒拉委員會中83%的委員是伊斯蘭派，這個比例在今天的一個公正選舉中是絕不會達到的。考慮到直到兩個月后下院新選舉舉行前，舒拉委員會將會是唯一的立法機關，那么引入更多世俗派和基督教派的人員便是明智之舉。舒拉委員會還應該修改新憲法中一些明目張膽寫在那的派系條款和反民主條款，比如說新憲法中允許宗教機構干預立法，以及給予軍隊政治和預算上過分的特殊待遇的一些內容。

　　就反對派來說，他們應開始更多地依賴于磋商，慢慢減少通過游行來解決問題。在民主盛行前，上街游行是一種正義的力量--不管怎么說，它推翻了穆巴拉克政權;但是，如果這成為一種變更法律、推翻政府的常規方法的話，那么埃及將永遠無法學會如何通過日常的政治手段去協調利益、解決爭端。如今第一次算真正團結起來的非伊斯蘭反對派，應該把注意力放在即將舉行的大選的準備工作上。要和伊斯蘭派在地方層面上競爭，反對派必須開始去解決窮人們迫切關注的吃飯問題。

　　西方沒有插手埃及政治的做法無可非議。但是，一部憲法一旦寫成，再要更改并非易事。所以，就穆爾西總統現在的這個行動方向，外界應該表達出他們對此的焦慮。德國政府最近的做法就很正確：德國延遲了一筆援助資金的發放，直到穆爾西總統更有誠意地表現出他愿意接受真正民主體制的考驗。每年向埃及捐助16億美金的美國政府也應效仿。

　　阿拉伯之春伊始，樂觀人士希望自由民主之風可以吹遍阿拉伯，而悲觀人士則預測伊斯蘭派會奪取權力并且攥緊不放。最近的一系列事件讓埃及向悲觀人士的預測走近一步。但是舊體系最終之所以垮臺，是因為魚肉人民的政府忽視了民眾的看法，而這樣的政府就有被暴力推翻的危險。穆爾西總統如果想告訴人們他明白這一點，那現在采取行動還為時不晚。

　　雅思全新推出每日雅思閱讀精選欄目，我們將為大家精心挑選國外網站上的優秀文章供考生們進行閱讀練習，幫助大家提高雅思閱讀水平，每天讀幾篇文章，每天有一點提高，相信不久之后，雅思閱讀考試將不再是困擾考生們的難題。

　　推薦閱讀方法：首先快速閱讀全文，掌握文章大意，提高閱讀速度;再進行精讀訓練，學習其中的詞匯和語言的用法。

　　2023年12月26日雅思閱讀精選：背道而馳

　　Egypts referendum

　　Going the wrong way

　　Muhammad Morsi must accommodate the secular opposition; if necessary, the West should push him

　　IT LOOKS pretty certain that the constitution which Muhammad Morsi, Egypts president, has presented to the people will win their endorsement in a referendum that is being held in two stages . On December 15th a majority of voters in the ten provinces polled said yes, though 57% of Cairos 6m voters said no. On December 22nd the remaining voters, who are likely to be more conservative, will probably grant their approval, too. Mr Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party may conclude they have a mandate to guide Egypt in an Islamist direction, away from more open, permissive ways.

　　They would be wrong to do so. This line of thinking threatens to plunge Egypt into a protracted period of impoverishing instability, which in the end will hurt Islamists as much as everyone else. The more pragmatic Islamists, perhaps including Mr Morsi, should change course while they still have time.

　　Even if the constitution gets popular approval, it will not have a ringing endorsement. Less than one-third of eligible voters are reckoned to have turned out in the first round of the referendum, and the margin of assent has been slim. Coptic Christians, who make up about a tenth of Egypts 85m people, are unnerved by the documents Islamist flavour, as are many Egyptians with secular, liberal or left-wing views. And despite the referendum results, the Brothers may be losing favour. Since winning a clear plurality in a general election nearly a year ago, their popularity has been dipping.

　　Hardline Brothers may be tempted to respond by gripping onto power even more tightly. But the organisation that suffered so many decades of persecution under President Hosni Mubarak should surely realise where that may lead. Instead, Mr Morsi and his allies would do better to respect alternative opinions and stop treating political opponents as mortal enemies conspiring with godless Westerners to do them down.

　　Time to leave the streets

　　As a conciliatory gesture, Mr Morsi could use his powers of appointment to ensure that parliaments upper house, the Shura Council, becomes more representative. Elected with only 10% of the vote, when it was widely assumed to be a mere talking shop that would be abolished by the new constitution, 83% of its members are Islamists, a far higher proportion than they would win in a fair election today. Given that the Shura Council will now be the sole legislature until fresh elections to the lower house take place in two months time, it would be wise to bring in more secular sorts and Christians. The Shura Council should also amend the new constitutions most blatantly sectarian and anti-democratic clausessuch as the ones allowing the religious establishment to meddle in legislation and giving the army exorbitant political and budgetary perks.

　　The opposition, for its part, should start relying more on negotiation and less on demonstration. Street protests were a force for good before democracy prevailedthey toppled Mr Mubarak, after allbut if they become a routine way to change the law and remove governments, then Egypt will never learn how to reconcile interests and settle disputes through everyday politics. The non-Islamist opposition, which is coming together for the first time in a broad front, should concentrate on preparing for the imminent general election. To compete with Islamists at a local level, they must start tackling the urgent bread-and-butter concerns of poor people.

　　The West has rightly stayed out of Egyptian politics. But, once written, a constitution is hard to change back, so outsiders should now voice their anxieties about the direction Mr Morsi is taking. Germanys government was right recently to postpone a dollop of aid until Mr Morsi shows a greater willingness to pass the test of real democracy. The Americans, who hand over $1.6 billion a year, should do the same.

　　At the start of the Arab spring, optimists hoped that liberal democracy would sweep the region and pessimists predicted that Islamists would grasp power and keep hold of it. Recent events have taken Egypt a step in the pessimists direction. But the old system failed, in the end, because oppressive governments that ignore their peoples views risk getting violently overthrown. It is not too late for Mr Morsi to show he has learned that lesson.

　　穆罕默德穆爾西必須照顧到世俗反對派的需求;如若需要，西方應該對其施加壓力

　　現在看上去是很確定的事情了--埃及總統穆罕默德穆爾西展現在民眾面前的那部憲法將會在一個分兩階段舉行的全民公投中獲得通過。在12月15日，被調查的10個省份中大多數選民支持該憲法;盡管在開羅，6百萬選民中有57%表示反對。在12月22日，剩下的那些選民也很可能會投下他們的贊成票。穆爾西總統和他的政黨穆斯林兄弟會可能會因此認為他們得到民眾的授權，要將埃及朝著伊斯蘭方向領進，馳離較為開放放任的道路。

　　要是這么做他們就錯了。這種思路會使埃及墮入一個越發不穩定的漫長時期，而最終結果就是伊斯蘭派會受到與其他人一樣的同等傷害。更加實際的伊斯蘭派人員，或許這也包括穆爾西總統，應該盡早改轍易途，以免為時過晚。

　　即使這部憲法得到民眾支持，這種支持也不會是強有力的。在第一輪公投中，有投票資格的民眾中參與投票的不到三分之一，而且贊成票數只是稍稍高出那么一點。占埃及8500萬人口十分之一的科普特基督徒對于這部憲法的伊斯蘭色彩感到不安，而同樣不安的還有很多持世俗、自由主義或是左翼觀點的埃及人。另外，盡管公投結果看似傾向穆斯林兄弟會，而兄弟會實則可能正在漸漸失去民眾的擁護。自差不多一年前在大選中獲得絕大多數選票以來，他們的歡迎度是每況愈下。

　　對于這種情況，強硬派兄弟會成員的回應可能是想去更緊地把握權力。但是作為一個在穆巴拉克總統執政期間，遭受了數十年苦難的組織來說，他們應該很清楚這么做的結果會是什么。穆爾西總統和其盟友不尊重異見，并將政治對手看作自己的死敵，認為他們和沒信仰的西方勢力勾結在一起，以把自己推下臺;如果穆爾西總統他們能夠改變這種做法，那么反而會取得較好的結果。

　　上街游行應該剎剎車了

　　為作出和解姿態，穆爾西總統可行使其任命權，來確保議會上院，舒拉委員會更具代表性。這個只有10%的選民參與投票選出的委員會，當時普遍被人們認為只是一個高談闊論，無權決策，會被新憲法廢除的機構;舒拉委員會中83%的委員是伊斯蘭派，這個比例在今天的一個公正選舉中是絕不會達到的。考慮到直到兩個月后下院新選舉舉行前，舒拉委員會將會是唯一的立法機關，那么引入更多世俗派和基督教派的人員便是明智之舉。舒拉委員會還應該修改新憲法中一些明目張膽寫在那的派系條款和反民主條款，比如說新憲法中允許宗教機構干預立法，以及給予軍隊政治和預算上過分的特殊待遇的一些內容。

　　就反對派來說，他們應開始更多地依賴于磋商，慢慢減少通過游行來解決問題。在民主盛行前，上街游行是一種正義的力量--不管怎么說，它推翻了穆巴拉克政權;但是，如果這成為一種變更法律、推翻政府的常規方法的話，那么埃及將永遠無法學會如何通過日常的政治手段去協調利益、解決爭端。如今第一次算真正團結起來的非伊斯蘭反對派，應該把注意力放在即將舉行的大選的準備工作上。要和伊斯蘭派在地方層面上競爭，反對派必須開始去解決窮人們迫切關注的吃飯問題。

　　西方沒有插手埃及政治的做法無可非議。但是，一部憲法一旦寫成，再要更改并非易事。所以，就穆爾西總統現在的這個行動方向，外界應該表達出他們對此的焦慮。德國政府最近的做法就很正確：德國延遲了一筆援助資金的發放，直到穆爾西總統更有誠意地表現出他愿意接受真正民主體制的考驗。每年向埃及捐助16億美金的美國政府也應效仿。

　　阿拉伯之春伊始，樂觀人士希望自由民主之風可以吹遍阿拉伯，而悲觀人士則預測伊斯蘭派會奪取權力并且攥緊不放。最近的一系列事件讓埃及向悲觀人士的預測走近一步。但是舊體系最終之所以垮臺，是因為魚肉人民的政府忽視了民眾的看法，而這樣的政府就有被暴力推翻的危險。穆爾西總統如果想告訴人們他明白這一點，那現在采取行動還為時不晚。