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Will winning the battle for locked-down Western stomachs ever translate into profits?
背景介绍：这篇文章讲的是疫情当下，人们都待在家中不能出门，西方国家的各大外卖公司(food-delivery firms)开始竞争市场份额。stomach在这句话中是比喻的手法，可以理解为点外卖的人。 词汇讲解：translate的本义为翻译，即从一种语言转化为另一种语言。衍生出的意思就是导致，造成(if one thing translates into another, the second thing happens as a result of the first)，与介词into搭配。是个中性的表达。 再比如下面这句话： Services companies are, on the whole, more productive than those making goods. That usually translates into higher salaries for their employees.总的来说，服务业企业比制造业的企业效率更高。这通常使得其员工可以拿更高的薪水。translate into也可以表示2转变为。比如只要加倍努力，梦想就能成真： If we redouble our efforts, our dreams will translate into reality.(=turn into)①Although sales are growing, profits remain elusive. ②Early last year the firms reined in spending on subsidies for consumers. ③Now strong demand has once again aroused hunger for market share.(0704 Business) 文本分析：第①句的主句部分(profits remain elusive)为整段的中心。第②句为过去：公司很小气，不舍得给用户补贴，间接说明收益不怎么样；第③句为现在，公司争夺市场份额(market share)，说明要在消费者身上花钱，当然不一定是subsidies，也有可能是其他形式。②③两句形成对比，说明外卖公司的收益不稳定，一直在fluctuate。elusive表示的就是使人难以理解。参考译文：尽管销售量一直在增长，但是利润却一直令人捉摸不透。去年早期，各大公司控制在消费者补贴上的花费。而现在，强劲的需求再次引发了各大公司对市场份额的渴求。 词汇讲解：rein in表示遏制；控制(to limit or control something that has developed too much or has continued for too long)。与control意思接近。如One must learn to rein in one’s temper.人一定要要学会控制脾气。 在文中，rein in后面出现的是spending，那么这个spending是spend的动名词形式还是名词呢？spend后面一般来说要加宾语，即spend 金钱/时间 on sth；而且通过大量的例句来看，rein in后面并没有加动名词的用法。因此这里的spending是名词，表示花费；支出。再比如government spending on education政府在教育上的支出。
The rights and wrongs of management books on social issues(0704 Bartleby)
词汇讲解：rights and wrongs of sth是一个固定短语，表示事物的好坏处；是非。如The rights and wrongs of driverless cars need to be weighed before they are put into use.在将无人驾驶汽车投入使用前，需要考虑其利弊。 如果是单独表示事物的好处或坏处，则用常用词benefit/advantage/upside和drawback/disadvantage/downside/cost。如果将rights and wrongs中的s去掉，变成right and wrong，则表示对与错。此时的right/wrong是不可数名词，分别表示正确的行为/错误的行为。如Anyone who does wrong will be punished. 再比如Small children do no know the difference between right and wrong.小孩不能分辨对错。在英文当中还有一些跟rights and wrongs结构类似的短语，比如：highs and lows生活和工作中的大起大跌。如Everybody will undergo highs and lows in their work or life.(their可以用来指代性别未知的单数人称)Companies and their lenders simply can no longer turn a blind eye to the issues that matter to their employees, their customers and the communities on which they do business.(0704 Bartleby)参考译文：企业及其借贷者只不过不能再无视那些对其员工、客户及其做生意的社区群体重要的问题了。词汇讲解：turn a blind eye to的意思通过字面意思就能推测出来：对...视而不见。与ignore不同的是，turn a blind eye to通常带有逃避责任(evade responsibility)的意思。如Schools should not turn a blind eye to students who smoke and drink.学校不应该不管那些抽烟喝酒的学生。turn a blind eye to还有个类似的短语：turn a deaf ear to。 turn a blind eye to是故意装作没看见；而turn a deaf ear to则是故意装作没听见，实际意思为：对...置若罔闻。也就是将别人说的话当作耳旁风。比如：Teenagers often turn a deaf ear to what their parents tell them to do.①Free movement is fundamental for the EU, but it comes at a civic cost. ②Taxation without representation was famously a bugbear of American colonists in the 18th century. ③It is a fact of life for some EU citizens today.(0704 Charlemagne)参考译文：自由流动对于欧盟来说非常重要，但是也会让市民承担代价。无代表不纳税是著名的18世纪美国殖民者的难题。但对于当今一些欧盟市民来说却是必须接受的事实(a fact of life)。文本分析：第①句话的重心是comes at a civic cost，也是后面几句的主旨。②③两句进行古今对比，说明Taxation without representation就是这个cost。其中，第③句的citizens对应了第①句的civic(市民的)。词汇讲解：at a cost是cost的常用短语，而come在这里表示发生。如It came as no surprise that she left the company.她离开公司并不奇怪。在写作当中写到事物的一个缺点或危害时，就可以用到这个句型：sth comes at a cost.该句型前面经常会加一个转折词but，实现优缺点之间的过渡。也可以在cost前面加上一个形容词，表示具体哪方面的缺点/危害。 比如对环境有害：come at an environmental cost. 对社会有影响：come at a societal cost
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