本期为大家带来的外刊标题是 Southern tiger
选自 The Economist
难度：中等
文章一共有5段
我截取了其中4段进行精读
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"DON'T INVEST beyond Shanhaiguan” is a popular quip in China, referring to a pass in the Great Wall that leads to the north-eastern rust belt. Online pundits have updated the maxim to “don't invest outside the Southern Song", a dynasty that fell almost 750 years ago whose territory was roughly the same as China's southern half today. The joke has a nub of truth: China's southern provinces are outperforming the north in nearly every economic dimension.
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Figures released on January 18th showed that China's GDP grew by 2.3% in 2020. The recovery was unbalanced, with factories at full throttle but consumption subdued.
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Northern officials have tried harder to goose up growth, to the region's detriment. In 2013, the peak of China's building frenzy, investment in assets such as roads and factories reached an eye-watering 66% of GDP in the north versus 51% in the south.
[scode type="blue"]第五段[/scode]
To add insult to injury, the north has also been disrupted more by sporadic covid-19 outbreaks. Geography is part of the problem: a harsher winter makes the virus more transmissible. The north is stuck out in the cold.
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"DON'T INVEST beyond Shanhaiguan” is a popular quip in China.
quip是一个阅读词汇，作为名词表示“俏皮话;谐语;妙语”【A quip is a remark that is intended to be amusing or clever.】
例如：
The commentators make endless quips about the female players' appearance.
评论员们没完没了地拿女选手的容貌打趣。
Online pundits have updated the maxim to “don't invest outside the Southern Song"
pundit也是一个阅读词汇，作为名词表示“行家；权威；专家 ”【A pundit is a person who knows a lot about a subject and is often asked to give information or opinions about it to the public.】
例如：
The pundit disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem.
如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。
“maxim”在这里的发音是“/'mæksɪm/ ”，表示“信条;格言;箴言 ”【A maxim is a rule for good or sensible behaviour, especially one in the form of a saying.】
例如：
I believe in the maxim 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.
我相信这样一条箴言：“不破不修”。
adage n.格言，谚语【An adage is something which people often say and which expresses a general truth about some aspect of life.】
例如：
There's a popular adage that's often attributed to Ernest Hemingway which goes, “Write drunk, edit sober.”
欧内斯特·海明威有句名言：“在喝醉的时候写作，在清醒的时候编辑。
除此之外，再补充一个词汇：saw 也可以表示“格言”
《经济学人》一篇关于太空垃圾的文章 New brooms needed 提到了这个表达：
Everybody's business, an old saw has it, is nobody's business.
The joke has a nub of truth: China's southern provinces are outperforming the north in nearly every economic dimension.
“the nub of sth ”是一个超高频的外刊表达，表示“xxx的本质是xxx ”。
“nub ”本身作为名词可以表示“(局势、问题或争论的)要害，核心，要点 ”【The nub of a situation, problem, or argument is the central and most basic part of it.】
例如：
That, I think, is the nub of the problem.
我想那才是问题的要害。
《经济学人》一篇关于太空垃圾的文章 New brooms needed 出现了: the nub of the problem：
当我们想描述“xxx 表现得比xxx好”，我们可以怎么说？大部分读者可能会想到：xxx is better than xxx, level 高一点的可能会说：xxx outweigh xxx。
这里用到了一个比较亮眼的表达：outperform 仅用一个单词，简洁有力，大家可以把这个词积累起来~
段落翻译：
中国有一句很流行的谐语：“不要在山海关以外的地区投资”，“山海关”指的是位于长城内并通往东北“铁锈地带”的“通行证”。网上的专家把这句格言更新为“不要在南宋以外的地区投资”。宋朝是一个在几乎750年前已经衰落的王朝，它的领土相当于今天中国的南方南部地区。其实这个笑话有一定的真实性：中国的南方省份在经济的几乎各个方面都表现的比北方好。
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解析：
这里的“at full throttle ”是一个固定搭配 。就算不认识“throttle”这个词也没关系，可以根据上下文猜出来。
我们看这句话后面的“but consumption subdued”,这里的“but”表示“转折关系 ”，而“subdue”本身表示“抑制，压制”，所以“at full throttle ”表示“全速地;满怀热情地 ”【If you say that something is done at full throttle, you mean that it is done with great speed and enthusiasm.】
举个栗子：
He lived his life at full throttle .
他过着激情四射的生活。
如果知道“throttle”这个词就更好猜了，“throttle”作为名词可以表示“(汽车、飞机的)节流阀，油门杆，油门踏板 ”想象一下“at full throttle”就可以表示“油门踩满 ”，延伸到人，人“油门踩满”就可以理解为“做事情很有热情”。
除此之外，at full tilt也可以表示相同意思哦~
段落翻译：
在一月十八日发布的数据表明中国的国内生产总值在2020年增长了2.3%。这种经济恢复是不平衡的，因为当工厂在全速发展时，消费却很低迷。这种情况应该在疫情结束后有所转变。然而南北方的不平衡问题，很有可能一直持续。
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解析：
Northern officials have tried harder to goose up growth, to the region's detriment.
“goose”在这里作动词，用法比较小众，牛津词典上的英文解释是：to make sth move or work faster 推动；促进；激励
它可以单独使用，后面也可以加介词up/along
例如 NPR 的一个句子：
So the central bank does have room to lean on the side of goosing the economy.
因此，央行有空间采取鼓励经济的做法。
这里的“goose up economy”就可以理解为“推动经济增长”。当然这个用法不是很正式，所以我们只需要认识就好~
除此之外，关于“goose”，这里补充一个常见的短语：cook someone's goose 阻挠；破坏…的计划 【If you cook someone's goose, you prevent their plans from succeeding.】
例如：
He said that what they were up to would cook Krasky's goose.
他说他们暗中进行的阴谋可能会使克拉斯基的计划流产。
Northern officials have tried harder to goose up growth, to the region's detriment.
解析：
这是一个很常见的固定搭配，表示‘对…有害;有损于 ’【If something happens to the detriment of something or to a person's detriment, it causes harm or damage to them.】
例如：
Children spend too much time on schoolwork, to the detriment of other activities.
孩子把太多的时间用于做作业，影响了他们参加其他活动。
【同义拓展】
这里再补充三个关于“有害”的表达：
①take a toll on 造成恶果(或不利影响、痛苦等)
例如：
Winter takes its toll on your health.
冬天对健康不利。
②inimical adj.有害的;不利的
例如：
The policy was inimical to Britain's real interests.
这项政策有损英国的真正利益。
③deleterious adj.有害的;造成损害的
例如：
Petty crime is having a deleterious effect on community life.
轻微罪行正对社区生活产生有害影响。
比如《经济学人》一篇关于堕胎的文章 Roe-ing back 也出现了这个表达：
In 2013, the peak of China's building frenzy, investment in assets such as roads and factories reached an eye-watering 66% of GDP in the north versus 51% in the south.
解析：
其实我一开始看到这个短语是很疑惑的。因为我联想到了一个很类似的表达“mouth-watering ”。一开始以为是想表达“为什么我的眼里常含着泪水....”（后来发现脑洞太大了）
结果查了一下这个词有被震惊到。它的意思是“（价格）过高的 ”【an eye-watering amount is extremely high or large, and much higher or larger than you would expect】
例如：
The costs are eye-watering.
不过其实联系上下文，也可以猜出这个单词的意思。因为前文提到了“peak”“frenzy” 等字眼，是形容中国经济向好 趋势，所以这里的“eye-watering”属于褒义用法。
除此之外，看到“价格高”这个字眼。我想到更常见的短语“cost an arm and a leg ”（价格）昂贵 【If you say that something costs an arm and a leg, you mean that it is very expensive.】
例如：
A week at a health farm can cost an arm and a leg .
在健身中心呆一个星期的花费会很昂贵。
恰好前几天也看到一个单词：extortionate （价格等）过高的，离谱的 【 If you describe something such as a price as extortionate, you are emphasizing that it is much greater than it should be.】
例如：
The price exacted by the hijackers for redeeming the hostages was extortionate.
劫持者为交换人质而索要的代价太过分了。
再拓展一个：exorbitant （价格）过度的;过分的；过高的/ɪɡ'zɔrbɪtənt/ 【an exorbitant price or amount of money is much more than is reasonable】
例如：
Exorbitant housing prices have created an acute shortage of affordable housing for the poor.
过高的房价已经造成了穷人能够买得起的住房严重短缺。
再补充一个：inflated （价格）过高的 【inflated prices or amounts are higher than they should be】
例如：
vastly inflated salaries
段落翻译：
北方官员在损害地区发展的情况下仍很努力地促进经济增长。在2013年，也就是中国经济迅猛发展的高峰时期，北方在道路和工厂等领域投资方面已经达到了66%的国内生产总值，相较于南方的51%的增长略显优势。南方政府需要更多的放权。中国最有活力的两大地区就在南方，以上海和深圳为主导。南方同时欣然接受全球的智能手机和沙发的订单，与上一年对外交易额盈余大约占国内生产总值的7%，而北方此时已处在2%的财政赤字的窘境。
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To add insult to injury, the north has also been disrupted more by sporadic covid-19 outbreaks.
拓展：
这是一个固定用法，表示“雪上加霜”【To make an unfair or unacceptable situation even worse.】
例如：
我们之前在《只听好歌不听话 | exile：I think I’ve seen this film before.》提过“Those eyes add insult to injury ”
[post cid="1641" cover="https://merlinblog.xyz/usr/uploads/2020/11/1474662718.jpg"/]
除此之外，更直观的表示“雪上加霜”的说法是：rubs salt into the wound，字面意思是“往伤口上撒盐【If someone or something rubs salt into the wound, they make the unpleasant situation that you are in even worse, often by reminding you of your failures or faults.】
例如：
I had no intention of rubbing salt into a friend's wounds , so all I said was that I did not give interviews.
我不想往朋友的伤口上撒盐，所以我只说我没有进行面试。
除此之外，我们也在《只听好歌不听话 | hoax: your faithless love is only hoax.》中讲过短语：twist the knife 【to make a bad situation even worse】
[post cid="1737" cover="https://merlinblog.xyz/usr/uploads/2020/11/3645918625.jpg"/]
例如：
But I still had to twist the knife .
可是我还是要揭你伤疤。
To add insult to injury, the north has also been disrupted more by sporadic covid-19 outbreaks.
拓展：
sporadic是外刊中描述“疫情”的一个超高频词汇，它的中文解释是：adj.间断发生的;零星的 【Sporadic occurrences of something happen at irregular intervals.】
/spə'rædɪk/
例如：
The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.
仍能听见零星的枪声。
我们一般在描述“疫情反复”就可以用到“sporadic”这个词啦~
段落翻译：
更雪上加霜的是，北方被更多的零零散散的疫情所困扰。地理位置也是其中一个原因，恶劣的冬天也让病毒更加具有扩散性。北方完全处在寒冷的困境之中。
