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外刊高翻第23课

2023-09-05 14:03 作者:爆毛的龙井  | 我要投稿

全球走向重新开放,生活在“试错”中继续

Reopenings Mark a New Phase: 

Global ‘Trial-and-Error’ Played Out in Lives

Part One

The world is entering a period of high-stakes experimentation, with cities and countries serving as open-air laboratories for how to most safely and effectively reopen amid the coronavirus.

世界正进入一个高风险的实验期,城市和国家成了露天实验室,研究如何在新冠病毒肆虐下最安全有效地重新开放。

Unable to wait indefinitely for science to answer every riddle about what makes infections spike in some circumstances and not others, governments are pushing ahead with policies built on a growing but imperfect understanding of the virus.

由于不能无限期地等待科学来回答每个谜题——哪些情况会导致感染激增,哪些情况不会——各国政府所推动的政策建立在对这种病毒不断增长但并不完善的认识基础上。

And with little consensus on how best to balance public health against social and economic needs, societies are feeling their way through trade-offs that would be gut-wrenching even with better information on any given policy’s likely cost in lives and livelihoods.

对于如何更好地平衡公共卫生与社会和经济需求,几乎没有共识达成,各个社会正在权衡利弊中摸索,就算可以更深入了解特定政策可能造成的生命和生计损失,这种权衡也将是很痛苦的。


1、 Trial-and-Error  反复试验,反复尝试

2、 played Out  表演结束,这里指最终结果

play out = pan out = turn out

i.e. Nobody knows how things will play out. 没人知道最终结果会如何。

3、high-stakes  高风险

   be at stake = be at risk   高风险

   补充:荣辱与共,休戚与共  We have stake in each other state.

share weal and woe(不常用)

4、with  引出理由

5、unable to  不能够= as they are unable to....

6、riddle   谜题

7、spike  猛增,激增(既可作动词也可作名词)= surge = soar

   此词亦可作新冠病毒的刺之意。

8、push ahead with  推动 = press ahead with = move forward with

9、with  引出事实背景,引出原因

10、consensus  共识

11、how best to...   如何更好地做某事

12、balance A against B   在A和B之间权衡(动词词组)

13、feel one’s way  摸索

i.e. feel one’s way forward   摸索着往前走

14、trade-off   权衡利弊(名词词组)

    i.e. We must make a trade-off between A and B.  我们必须在A和B之间权衡利弊。

15、gut-wrenching  痛苦的,倒胃口的,令人厌烦的 = stomach-turning

Part Two

“We’re in the middle of a global trial-and-error period to try to find the best solution in a very difficult situation,” said Tom Inglesbury, who directs the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University.

“我们正处在一个全球反复试验的时期,努力在一个非常困难的情况下找到最佳解决方案,”约翰·霍普金斯大学卫生安全中心(Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University)主任汤姆·英格斯伯里(Tom Inglesbury)说。

The first wave of reopeningspredominantly in Asia and Europe, are providing a preview of what could become a continual process of experimentation and recalibration.

第一波重新开业潮主要在亚洲和欧洲,这是一个可能会不断持续下去实验和调整(校正)过程的预演。

Each policy, like distancing students at Danish schools or temperature checks at Hong Kong restaurants, however based in scientific knowledge and calculated cost-benefit, is also a trial of what works, what’s worthwhile and what people will accept.

诸如丹麦的学校让学生保持距离,或者香港餐馆内的体温检查,每项政策都是基于科学知识和成本效益计算,也是在试验什么措施有效、什么东西有价值、人们会接受什么。


1、 in the middle of... 正在....过程当中; 正在...时期当中

i.e. We find ourselves in a world of uncertainty. 我们身处在不确定的世界当中。

   i.e. We find ourselves in an era of ...   身处...时代当中。

   i.e. BeiJing has a car ownership of....  北京汽车保有量....

   i.e. There are...cars on the roads.  北京汽车保有量(更生动)

 2、trial-and-error   反复试验

 3、best solution   最佳解决方案

 4、direct  (动词) 指导,管理  翻译原则:名动互转

    director  主任 = chief = head  

5、the first wave of reopenings   第一波复工

   补充:住院人数  hospitalizations   专利申请量  patent filings

   file 可作为动词,译为提交

  file a report  提交一份报告   file an application  提交申请

  file for patent  为专利提出申请   file a lawsuit against   对...提起诉讼

6、predominantly   最主要的

7、provide a preview  提供预演

   补充:China is home to 5000 years of civilization. 中国有着五千年的灿烂文明。

  China is home to an ancient civilization. 中国是一个文明古国。

  Zhongguancun  houses ....  中关村有多少家企业。

8、distance  (作为动词) 拉开距离,保持距离

   i.e. social distance  社交距离,社交疏离

   i.e. tables/seats must be spaced apart   桌子/椅子必须隔开坐

   i.e. tables/seats must be spaced further apart  桌子/椅子必须隔得再远点儿坐

   i.e. be blocked out  隔着坐

   i.e. seats must be blocked out. 座位必须隔着坐

 9、calculate cost-benefit  权衡成本与效益

Part Three

Though experience bought in lives will convert some unknowns to knowns, many questions may remain unanswered for the duration of what is expected to be a one-to-two-year crisis.

虽然在生活中获得的经验会将一些未知转化为已知,但在预计将持续一到两年的危机期间,许多问题可能仍然没有答案。

That includes what may be the hardest but most urgent question of all: What is the value of a life saved?

其中包括那个最困难但也最紧迫的问题:挽救生命的代价,究竟几何?

Countries have little choice but to guess at stomach-turning ethical calculations. How many lives should be risked to save a thousand people from unemployment? To stop a generation of kids from falling behind in school? To salvage a sense of normalcy?

各国别无选择,只能在猜测中做出那个令人痛苦的道德考量。要让多少人冒着生命危险,才能使1000人免于失业?才能防止一代孩子的学业落后?才能挽回一种常态的感觉?

While Dr. Inglesbury stressed that “there are a lot of principles that are based on public health and common sense” to guide us, he also said, “There’s no road map for this.”

虽然英格尔斯伯里博士强调,“有很多基于公共卫生和常识的原则”可以用来指导我们,但他也说,“这方面没有路线图”。

1、 convert unknows to knows  将未知转化为已知

2、 What is the value of a life saved?  拯救生命的意义何在,这里value不是价值之意,而是翻译成意义。

3、 little choice  几乎没有选择

4、 guess at sth.  猜测

5、 stomach-turning  反胃的,不舒服的

6、 ethical calculation  道德考量

7、 to save... ;to stop...;to salvage...  为了押头韵

i.e. to save...from....拯救...于...

8、 fall behind  学业落后

9、 normalcy   常态   new normal of the pandemic  传染病新常态

10、stress  强调

11、common sense   常识

   i.e. conventional wisdom   常识(传统的智慧)

   i.e. go against conventional wisdom   不合常理

12、There’s no road map for this.  无章可循

今日翻译要点:立体、形象、图片!


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