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昨天看热搜说很多西方国家打算延迟退休,经济学人上有篇关于延迟退休的文章,今天给大家挑其中一段做个精读,这段大家也可以尝试在写作中借用哈,都是很好的写作句型。注意:公主号“高斋外刊双语精读”上更的段落是我挑选的总体比较简单的,课程里面都是整篇讲解,不少地方还是不容易理解的,更别说翻译了。文章所选用例句都取自词典,仅供参考。
原文:Many people will be more than happy to work longer. A recent survey of 1,000 British retired people found that a quarter thought they had stopped too early (on average they had quit at 62). A third said that they had lost their purpose in life after they retired. Bartleby has reached an age at which many of his contemporaries have stopped working. The appeal is understandable. Retirement gives you the chance to sleep late and avoid the morning commute. On a summer’s day, you can enjoy the sunshine; on a winter’s day, you can avoid the cold and rain. No longer do you have to sit through endless meetings or check email obsessively.
官方译文:许多人会很乐意延迟退休。最近一项针对1000名英国退休人员的调查发现,四分之一的人认为自己退休过早(他们的平均退休年龄为62岁)。三分之一的人表示自己退休后失去了生活目标。笔者已经到了很多同龄人都已退休的年龄。退休的吸引力不言而喻。退休后你可以睡懒觉,不用赶早去上班。你可以在夏天享受阳光,在冬天远离寒冷和雨水。你再也不必耐着性子参加没完没了的会议,也不用像患了强迫症一样时不时就要查看电子邮件。
开头一句是主旨句,即“许多人会很乐意延迟退休”;用一项针对1000名英国退休人员的调查表明很多人认为自己退休过早,退休后失去了生活目标;然后又接着举例说明退休的吸引力。
这篇文章后面又说了工作的好处,以后有时间了再分享。
第一句:Many people will be more than happy to work longer.
许多人会很乐意延迟退休。
1. more than happy to do sth:固定表达,意思是“非常乐意做某事”。这里的more than不是比较级,more than+形容词,表示“很,非常”。
金融时报上有句话是这么说的:
I solved the problem by hiring skilled contractors who were more than happy to do things my way.
我聘请了熟练的承包人,他们非常愿意按照我的方式工作,这个问题才得以解决。
句子改写,今天这句也可以说:
Many people will be too willing to work longer.
More than happy相当于very happy,只是more than happy比very高级点。
如,
Nigel says for the moment he is very happy to stay put in Lyon.
奈杰尔说目前他很乐意留在里昂。
very有点烂大街,比如我们说“非常成功”我们可以说very successful,也可以说highly successful;very important可以说quite important;
very cold可以说extremely cold或直接一个单词freezing;very hot可以说boiling hot或一个单词smoldering.
2. work longer:字面一是就是“工作更久”,这里是“延迟退休”之意。
“延迟退休”还可以有以下几种表达:
动词:delay retirement;delay retirement age;
名词:longer working lives;later retirement;a later retirement age.
其实还可以个很不错的替换表达spend more years down the career path.
这里的down不是走下坡路的意思,而是继续向前走、从事的意思,比如How to Go Down a Career Path 如何走好职业道路。
句子改写,今天这句也可以说:
Many people will be happy to spend more years down the career path.
第二、三句:A recent survey of 1,000 British retired people found that a quarter thought they had stopped too early (on average they had quit at 62). A third said that they had lost their purpose in life after they retired.
最近一项针对1000名英国退休人员的调查发现,四分之一的人认为自己退休过早(他们的退休年龄平均为62岁)。三分之一的人表示自己退休后生活失去了目标。
1. 句子结构分析:A recent survey found that,that是宾语从句,从句里面主干是a quarter thought that,that是宾语从句, they had stopped too early是从句里面的主干。
2. Thought是过去时,所以they had stopped too early是过去的过去,因为退休后认为,那退休肯定是认为前的,所以是过去的过去,是过去完成时。
3. “最近一项……调查发现”:当作固定表达来记,a recent survey of … found that。
对……进行调查是a survey of;谁做的调查,是a survey by。这个在写作中可以使用哦!
比如金融时报上这句:
A recent survey of 600 firms found that 96 per cent were operating close to, or above, optimal levels of capacity usage.
最近对600家企业进行的一项调查发现,96%的企业正接近或超过产能最佳利用率。
found也可以说showed、suggested、revealed。调查显示/表明/发现,还可以用according to。如《华尔街日报》上说:
Chinese consumers are ready to shop but remain cautious in their spending, according to a recent survey by the Boston Consulting Group.
波士顿咨询公司最近一项调查显示,中国人愿意购物,但花钱依旧谨慎。
原文的“A recent survey of 1,000 British retired people found that”,“of 1,000 British retired people”表示调查对象是1000名英国退休人员。即“最近一项针对1000名英国退休人员的调查发现”。
4. stopped too early:这个“stopped”具体指“stopped working”,也就是“retire”之意。
“stopped working too early”即“过早退休”。它和括号里的“quit”表达同一含义,可以互换。
5. their purpose in life:purpose在这里是“目标,目的”之意,“purpose in life”即“生活目标”;
purpose也可以作不可数名词,表示“意志,毅力,决心”。如:He has enormous confidence and strength of purpose. 他信心十足,意志坚强。
Purpose还可以表示有意义的事、使命感,如100元31篇外刊翻译班里面有这句话:
Purpose is what creates true happiness.
使命才能创造真正的幸福。
第四句:Bartleby has reached an age at which many of his contemporaries have stopped working.
笔者已经到了很多同龄人都已退休的年龄。
1. 句子结构分析:at which是定语从句,修饰age,和age搭配的介词是at,所以是at which。
2. Bartleby:“巴托比”(Bartleby)是经济学人2018年5月新开的一个职场专栏,内容都跟职场生活相关。
这里的“Bartleby”用来代指该专栏作者,翻译为“笔者/本专栏作者”。
知识补充:Bartleby一词出自赫尔曼·梅尔维尔(Herman Melville)的短篇小说Bartleby the Scrivener,余光中先生曾把它译为《录事巴托比》。
本小说讲了一位文字录入员巴托比,他刚开始工作勤恳,安排什么做什么,但有一天突然他只完成自己的工作,完成之后老板安排什么,他都会回复说“恕难从命”。
由此衍生出一个词,叫“巴托比症”。这本书也是探究老板与员工关系的书,对有些人来说,老板呼之即来的话,确实容易产生抗拒心理,更别说天天干的是重复单调的工作了。
3. contemporaries 美[kənˈtɛmpəˌrɛriz]:contemporary的复数,表示“同代人,同辈人,同龄人”。
如金融时报例句:
But then I started to think about my contemporaries and my spirits began to lift.
然而,想想我的同龄人,我又打起了精神。
my spirits began to lift中的lift,让我想起来之前讲过的这篇文章https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/A2mvDZJ5NxhCXlLa7PF-zQ纽约时报精读:脸书COO谢莉尔·桑德伯格,好好生活,过好当下 | 外刊双语,其中有一句Slowly the fog began to lift. 慢慢地,悲伤开始淡去。
Lift可以表示“鼓舞,使情绪高涨,振奋”。如:
His heart lifted at the sight of her.
他一看见她心里就高兴起来了;
它还可以表示“(雾、云等)的消散、消失”。
例如:The fog had lifted and revealed a warm, sunny day.
雾已经散了,看来是温暖晴朗的一天。
4. reached an age at:表示已到……年龄。如“到了结婚年龄”就可以说,reach the age of marriage;
原文“reached an age at which many of his contemporaries have stopped working”即“到了很多同龄人都已退休的年龄”。
“达到退休年龄”也可以说:hit retirement age。
所以,hit我们在14年考研英语真题(一)中也有见;
As many people hit middle age, they often start to notice that their memory and mental clarity are not what they used to be.
大多数人到了中年,他们经常会发现自己的记忆力和思维不如以前。
第五句:The appeal is understandable.
退休的吸引力不言而喻。
这一句开始引出退休的吸引力,六七八三句都是在描述退休的好处。
appeal在这里指“吸引力”,它的同义词是allure,the appeal/allure of sth都可以表示“……的吸引力”。
比如:the appeal of the blockbuster 大片的吸引力;the allure of property 房地产的吸引力。
比如纽约时报这句:
Its appeal is blindingly clear, saving travellers both time and money.
申根签证的吸引力不言而喻,为旅客节省了时间和费用。
Understandable容易想到的,容易理解的,也就是不言而喻.
看了上面例句,今天这句也可以改写为:
The appeal is blindingly clear.
注意:blindingly不是盲目的意思,是very极其、非常的意思。blindingly clear.非常明显不就是不言而喻!
Appeal to也是高频词汇,如经济学人例句:
The growth in services, too, has created many more jobs that appeal to women.
服务业的增长也创造了更多吸引女性的职位。
这句里面的the也可以删除,in也可以说of,也就是这句可以改为Growth of services, too, has created many more jobs that appeal to women.
这种句型在政府工作报告中常见,如19年政府工作报告:
高技术产业、装备制造业增速明显快于一般工业。
Growth in high-tech industries and equipment manufacturing outstripped that of other industries.
第六、七句:Retirement gives you the chance to sleep late and avoid the morning commute. On a summer’s day, you can enjoy the sunshine; on a winter’s day, you can avoid the cold and rain.
退休后你可以睡懒觉,不用赶早去上班。你可以在夏天享受阳光,在冬天远离寒冷和雨水。
1. sleep late表示“睡懒觉”,还可以说have a lie-in。
2. the morning commute:指“上班通勤,早晨上班出行”。
Commute是动词,表示“通勤,上下班往返”。如:
Commute from Oxford to London every day.
每天上下班往返于牛津与伦敦之间。
commute也可以是名词,表示“上下班路程”,如经济学人上所说:
I suspect the morning commute is a lot better too.
我估计早晨上班出行会好很多。
第八句:No longer do you have to sit through endless meetings or check email obsessively.
你再也不必耐着性子参加没完没了的会议,也不用像患了强迫症一样时不时就要查看电子邮件。
1. No longer 位于句首,后面要倒装,所以是No longer do you have to。
2. sit through:固定表达,意思是“坐着挨到(电影、讲座、会议等)结束”。
“耐着性子看完电影”就可以说,sit through the movie。
纽约时报上有篇文章For an Asian-American Family, the Cost of Education“亚裔美国人家庭为教育付出了多少?”
作者写到:
“I remember little of my life at age 4, but I have one distinct memory: a shopping mall with a well-lit plaza. My parents would take me there for a reading class every Sunday, and then sit through the course with me. At that time we still lived in Beijing, where two-day weekends had not yet been adopted, so my parents sacrificed their one free day to accompany me to class.”
我对自己四岁时的生活几乎没有什么印象,但有个记忆很清晰:有一个购物中心,那里有个灯火通明的广场。每逢星期天,父母都会带我到那里,陪着我一起上一节阅读课。那时我们还住在北京,中国还没有实行双休日,所以父母牺牲他们唯一一天休息时间陪我上课。
“When I was in high school, my mother would wake at 6 a.m. to make my breakfast, and sometimes remain at work until 6 p.m. so she could drive me home after I finished my extracurriculars.”
上高中的时候,母亲常常早上6点起床给我做早饭,有时候工作到晚上6点,这样她就可以等我课外活动结束后,开车载我回家。
其实现在这样的父母更多了。父母真的很辛苦。我上初中的时候,那时候还没有班车,家里离学校步行得一个多小时,我妈经常4点半左右起床做饭,我5点吃完饭就开始往学校走,母亲也收拾去干活了。不管自己多辛苦,还是供我们姊妹三人都考上了大学。
3. 查看电子邮件是check email。相关表达:收发邮件 send and receive email,收发邮件也可以直接email,如 Web browsing and email 网络浏览及收发邮件;
Email可以是不可数名词,电子邮件(通信方式),如to send a message by email以电邮发送信息。
也可以简洁说Email,如查看电子邮件是check email。收发邮件 send and receive email。收发邮件也可以直接email,如 Web browsing and email 网络浏览及收发邮件;
也可以是可数名词,如回复邮件 answer/reply to/respond to emails
也可以是动词,如:
I'll email the documents to her.
我将用电邮把这些文件发送给她。
4. obsessively:这个词常见的含义是“痴迷地,过分地”,我们说某人过度沉溺于工作中,就可以说obsessively addicted to work;
在这里它表示“强迫性地,似强迫症地”,它可以表示一直不停做某事。
比如金融时报上这句:
The "fright flights" of last summer still have me so rattled that I found myself obsessively watching the weather forecast while I prepared to give a speech in Oslo.
去年夏季的“惊魂飞行”至今仍令我惶恐不安,当我准备去奥斯陆作演讲时,我会一直不停地关注天气预报。
原文的“check email obsessively”理解为“像患了强迫症一样时不时就要查看电子邮件/一直不停地查看电子邮件”。
The appeal is understandable. Retirement gives you the chance to sleep late and avoid the morning commute. On a summer’s day, you can enjoy the sunshine; on a winter’s day, you can avoid the cold and rain. No longer do you have to sit through endless meetings or check email obsessively. 这些可以作为写作句型,平时可以借鉴。从中我们可以学到如何描述一个东西的吸引力。可以使用短语give sb the chance to do sth, one can do sth, no longer do one have to do sth。
还可以有其他的表达,如allow sb to do sth, allow sth,help, enable sb to do sth,help do sth, contribute to sth等等。大家平时多积累哈。
经济学人精读:延迟退休?漫长曲折的职业生涯
文章来源:高斋外刊双语精读
发布时间:2019-10-24 18:30
作者:高斋外刊双语精读
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