2016年考研英语阅读材料:NIMBYism and the election
ON first glance, the constituency of Brentford & Isleworth, in west London, looks like a typical Conservative Party heartland. It is full of boutique shops and cafés. The back streets are lined with pretty Victorian terraced houses.
Yet Mary Macleod, the Conservative incumbent, has a fight on her hands to hold the seat. This is partly down to demographics. Along with plenty of middle-class residents the seat is dotted with council estates, and is also home to large Pakistani and Indian populations who have tended to vote for the Labour Party. But one of the biggest problems for Ms Macleod is not on the ground but in the air.
Each day dozens of aeroplanes fly over the constituency, which is near Heathrow airport. And depending on the outcome of the Airports Commission, which was set up by the coalition government to look into airport expansion, and which will report after the election, even more could criss-cross over the area.
Ms Macleod first won the seat in 2010 with a majority of 1,958 by campaigning heavily against airport expansion. And although Heathrow is not the only issue worrying local voters, winning the seat could still hinge on how effectively the Conservative incumbent can distinguish herself from Ruth Cadbury, the Labour candidate, who is also against a bigger airport. Ms Macleod's plight points to a larger problem for the Conservatives. Too often for comfort, well-meaning plans to improve the country's roads, airports and railways clash with the NIMBYish instincts of their core supporters.
The country's infrastructure is creaking. Sir Howard Davies, who heads the Airport Commission, estimates that Heathrow is full to capacity while Gatwick, the other option for airport expansion, will be full by 2020. According to the World Economic Forum British roads rank a lowly 30th in the world for quality, just above Chile and Sri Lanka. David Cameron, the prime minister, acknowledges the problem. The Conservative Party manifesto, launched on April 14th, commits to previous plans to splash out 15 billion ($22 billion) on the road network and 38 billion on the railways over the next parliament. Mr Cameron also reiterated support for HS2, a shiny new 42 billion high-speed railway from London to Manchester.
Yet in doing so, Mr Cameron has infuriated many natural Conservative voters. HS2, which runs through a series of safe blue seats in Buckinghamshire, is particularly divisive. The railway is a “headache” on the doorstep, admits one Conservative MP seeking re-election, as he is often limited in how vocally he can oppose it. To add to Tory woes, the UK Independence Party, which scooped up six council seats in 2013 along the route, is making hay on the issue. It claims to be the “only” party against the “construction disruption” HS2 will bring (although the Green Party also opposes it).
NIMBYs pose difficulties for any government, but particularly for Mr Cameron's, which has often trumpeted the notion that it is investing in Britain's infrastructure to levels not seen since the Victorian era. If economic growth is to be sustainable, then more infrastructure will be needed to support it. But if Heathrow is given the go-ahead for expansion, for instance, it will be “campaign, campaign and campaign again,” warns Barbara Reid, a local resident and former Conservative councillor. Getting Britain moving will require a big push from the next government―especially if the Tories win.
参考译文:
乍一看，位于西伦敦的布伦特福德和艾尔沃思选区像是典型的保守党中心地带。这里的精品店和咖啡店星罗密布。后街是一排排漂亮的维多利亚连栋房屋。
然而保守党人玛丽?麦克劳德要想赢得这个地区的选票还得苦战一番。这部分与人口统计有关。连同大量的中产阶级居民，该中心地带散布着地方所属地产，同时也是倾向于为工党投票的巴基斯坦人、印度人的家乡。但麦克劳德面临的最大问题不在地面上而是在空中
该选区位于希思罗机场附近，每一天都有几十架飞机掠过其上空。联合政府设立了机场委员会来调查机场扩张情况，具体情况将在选举后进行报告，根据其结果，也许会有更多的飞机在这片区域上空穿梭。
2010年，麦克劳德以强烈反对机场扩建开展竞选活动，以1958的多数票赢得了席位。尽管希思罗机场不是当地选民唯一担忧的事，但麦克劳德的当选仍取决于这位保守党人在与同样反对建设大机场的工党候选人露丝?凯德波里相比时，能多有效地提高自己的辨识度。麦克劳德的困境指出了工党存在的一个更大问题。通常为了提高舒适度、意图良好的升级城市道路、机场和铁路等计划会触动邻避主义核心支持者的敏感神经。
英国的基础设施正在咯吱作响。领导机场委员会的霍华德?戴维斯阁下预计希思罗容量已达到饱和，而机场扩建的另一选址盖特威克将在2020年达到饱和。根据世界经济论坛数据显示，英国道路质量在世界排名低至30名，仅略高于智利和斯里兰卡。大卫?卡梅伦首相意识到了这个问题。于4月14号发表的保守党宣言承诺要坚持原有计划，花费150亿英镑(220亿美元)在道路网建设上，下一届议会将花费380亿在铁路建设上。卡梅伦也重申了对HS2(花费420亿英镑新建的从伦敦到曼彻斯特的高铁)的支持。
然而这样做，卡梅伦激怒了很多保守派选民。HS2虽在白金汉宫里赢得了一众议员的支持，但特别有争议性。一保守党人承认，该铁路确实是家门口的“麻烦”，他正在试图重新当选，因为他能发出的反对之声是有限的。新晋的托利党敌人、2013年在沿线捞得了6个议会席位的英国独立党正借此事获取私利。它声称是“唯一”反对HS2带来的“建筑破坏”的政党(尽管绿党同样也反对HS2)。
邻避主义者给任何政府都带来了麻烦，但对卡梅伦政府来说尤其如此，它经常吹嘘在为英国基础建设投资上，其规模之大自维多利亚时代以来都十分罕见。如果经济增长稳定的话，就需要更多的基础设施来支持。当地居民且曾为保守党议员的芭芭拉?瑞德警告，如果希思罗的扩建得到许可，它将演化成“竞选，竞选，再竞选”。要让英国继续前进需要下一届政府大力推一把――特别是托利党当选的话。
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