"彻夜排队"怎么说?经济学人精彩表达!
今天“高斋外刊双语精读”给大家分享的经济学人精读,推送经济学人精读、经济学人双语精读、外刊精读和外刊双语精读翻译,外刊英译汉,适合MTI,CATTI、专四专八、四六级、托福雅思、考研英语备考学习,一起来学习精读。
老年大学
--好好学习,天天向上
Why universities for the elderly are booming in China
随着老龄人口增多,如今老年大学(university for the elderly)正成风潮,越来越多的老年人选择回到校园学习英语、网购、健康、烹饪等。自1973年法国开设第一所老年大学以来,世界各地都开始建立老年大学。中国面临愈加严重的老龄化问题,空巢老人 (empty nesters)也越来越多,开设老年大学不仅帮助他们提升记忆力,对抗孤独(对抗老年痴呆症/阿尔茨海默病 Alzheimer);而且契合儒家提倡终身学习的思想,也响应了毛爷爷的“好好学习,天天向上”这句话。
8月16日的经济学人就有这样一篇文章,讲了老年大学在中国的兴起。今天给大家分享3个精彩表达:
1. “彻夜排队”怎么说?
2. “先到先得”怎么说?
3. “好好学习,天天向上”真的是 “good good study, day day up”吗?
一.“彻夜排队”怎么说?
在讲老年大学在中国的现状:自1983年第一家老年大学建立,至今全国已有7万家老年大学。老年人为了上老年大学,也是拼了。新闻经常报道,老年大学一位难求,老人们为了报名学习班,半夜排队。堪比“入园难”!老年大学得凌晨三四点排队报名。看经济学人是怎么说的?
SEVERAL times a year, groups of silver-haired Chinese people camp out overnight. They do so in order to get prime spots to register for places at the country’s universities for the elderly.
我们常说大半夜出来排队,凌晨出来排队,或彻夜排队,就可以说camp out overnight。camp out VERB (在露天里)蹲守,长时间驻留 If you say that people camp out somewhere in the open air, you are emphasizing that they stay there for a long time, because they are waiting for something to happen.比如reporters who had camped out in anticipation of her arrival.苦苦等候她到来的记者们。overnight可以表示通宵,头一天晚上,彻夜、半夜。不少人为了买个苹果手机,那是大半夜去排队啊,我们就可以说A lot of people camp out overnight in order to get an iPhone. 当然你要去排队,提前了解清楚情况比较好。
这些老年人大半夜出来排队的目的很简单,就是为了能排在前面(get prime spots ),抢上入学的机会(register for places at the country’s universities for the elderly)
再来一碗干货:
silver-haired people 银发,老年人。用发色来说比较委婉,平时我们还会见到senior people, elderly people,也可以直接用the+形容词代表一类人,the elderly, the silver-haired, the senior. 现在针对老年人还出现了一个术语“银色经济”,silver economy
crop up突然出现,Crop up: appear or happen, usually unexpectedly。例句:His name has cropped up at every selection meeting this season.他的名字出人意料地出现在了本季的每次选拔会上。 在形容老年大学兴起时,文中用Since 1983, when China’s first such school opened, 70,000 more have cropped up across the country. 说明经济学人对中国老年大学突然这么火热感到惊讶啊!确认,老年人的学习热情我们年轻人有时候都自愧不如!
二、“先到先得”怎么说
文中讲到目前的老年大学的需求可谓是越来越大。(Demand is high and will only grow. )大到什么程度呢?在上海,求学者中每6个老年人中只有一个能入学,而在杭州这一比例是1:12。名额有限的情况下,如何保证公平入学,这些学校也是绞尽脑汁,采取了不同的法子。
Several schools have adopted lottery systems, and others are first-come-first-served.
很多用的是抽签摇号,而另一些则是采取先到先得。这也是为什么会出现开头彻夜排队入学一幕的原因。
先到先得,先到先入学这里用的是 first-come-first-served;通常也可以说first-in, first-served.这种说法在商业模式里很常见,商家采取饥饿营销时都会说“数量有限,先到先得”。比如卫报里说我们卖产品是先到先得,用的就是we will be selling it on a first-come, first-served basis . BBC在早前报道BBC1将在iplayer上提供世界杯29场比赛的超高清(Ultra High Definition)和高动态范围图像(High Dynamic Range)视频直播流,但UHD超高清直播的名额有限,先到先得。英文里也用的是“This trial will be available to tens of thousands of people to watch on a first-come, first-served basis,” said the BBC in statement.
其他好表达:
老党员 veteran Communist Party cadres
Veteran:既可以指退伍军人someone who has served in the armed forces of their country, especially during a war.还可以指经验丰富的,资深的someone who has been involved in a particular activity for a long time. 意思为后者时,还可以用seasoned, experienced,sophisticated替换。
三、“好好学习,天天向上”
我们常说“好好学习,天天向上”,其实这句话就是毛爷爷说的。记得小时候还老听到“good good study, day day up”,其实这是机械翻译,是classic Chinglish. 这篇经济学人里面是这样说的: It is also in line with Confucian thought, which teaches that learning is a lifelong virtue. In the meantime, senior students have taken to heart from Mao Zedong’s idiom: “Study hard and every day you will improve.”
因为儒家学者一直在倡导终身学习。孔子就说过“吾尝终日不食,终夜不寝,以思,无益,不如学也。”,毛爷爷也说过那句耳熟能详的“好好学习,天天向上”。其实就是努力学习,每天都会进步“study hard and every day you will improve”,只不过少了点中文的对称和韵律。我们还可以说“study hard and you will make progress every day ”. 大家如果看到或者有更好的译法也欢迎补充。
其他好表达:
儒家思想 Confucian thought 注意这里用的是Confucian,同样如果碰到Confucian thought不能翻成孔子思想而应是儒家思想,因为儒家思想不是孔子一人的思想,只是以他为典型为代表。同理像毛泽东思想是Mao Zedong Thought而不是Mao Zedong’s Thought.
熟记于心/烂熟于心 taken to heart,known by heart,我们常说的背诵,英文可以说learn by heart .也希望大家看完这篇文章能将这些好表达taken to heart,然后融会贯通。
上周外刊学习回顾测试答案:
单词词组测试答案:
1. 咖啡外卖服务coffee deliveries
2. 互联网巨头heavyweight
3. 巨擘/大亨tycoon/magnate
4. 展望未来Looking to the future
5. 突发新闻breaking news
6. 做空者short seller
7. 提振信心shore up confidence
8. 好的做法/好的选择A good bet
9. 盆满钵盈Fatten your wallet
10. 务实合作pragmatic cooperation/results-oriented cooperation
写作和翻译句型测试汉译英答案:
1.对大多数人来说,读大学是通往成功之路。
For most people, College is the gateway to success .
2. 市场竞争越来越激烈,该公司要利用好互联网,在快速增长的市场中站稳脚跟,取得成功。
The company should make the most of the Internet to find its feet in a fast-growing market where it is facing tougher competition.