2020年经济学人 新冠病毒对世界经济的影响(2)

There is an inherent tension between China’s apparent success in containing the epidemic¹ and its growth prospects². Though less lethal³, covid-19 seems more infectious than SARS. China has slowed its advance only by severely⁴ limiting people’s movement and closing businesses. If the government were to relax these controls too hastily, progress could stall or even go into reverse. So far, o?cials have erred⁵ on the side of caution. Provinces accounting⁶ for more than 90% of Chinese exports have kept factories either shut or running at low capacity since January 31st, when the lunar new-year holiday was due to end.

中国在控制疫情方面的明显成功与经济增长前景之间存在内在矛盾。尽管致死率较低，但covid-19似乎比SARS传染性更强。中国通过严格限制人员流动和暂停企业来放缓其发展速度。如果政府过于仓促地放松这些控制，进展可能会停滞甚至倒退。到目前为止，当局都非常谨慎。自1月31日农历新年假期即将结束以来，占中国出口90%以上的省份要么关闭工厂，要么低产能运行。

It is hard to overstate the e?ect on the economy. Coal consumption is more than a third lower than the average for this time of year. Property sales are down by more than 90%. After the holiday some 200m people usually leave their home towns to return to work. This year the trains that carry migrants have been nearly empty. Cities have warned outsiders that they might face 14-day quarantines. Nine out of ten companies surveyed by the American Chamber⁷ of Commerce in Shanghai have employees working from home. Couriers still zoom⁸ around on their electric motorbikes, but the takeaway trade is not saving restaurants because people fear eating meals prepared by strangers who may be infected. Grabbing a latte is a risk too far. Starbucks has shut half its 4,000-plus cafés in China.

对经济的影响怎么说都不过分。煤炭消费量比今年同期的平均水平低三分之一以上。房地产销售下降了90%以上。以往春节假期后，约有2亿人离开家乡返工。今年，春运的火车几乎空无一人。城市提醒外来人员可能面临14天的隔离。上海美国商会调查的十家公司中，有九家的员工在家办公。虽然快递员仍然开着电动摩托车四处奔波，但外卖行业并不能拯救餐馆，因为人们害怕吃到由可能被感染的陌生人准备的食物。喝拿铁咖啡的风险太大了。星巴克已经关闭了其在中国的4000多家咖啡店的一半。

The second doubt is over the relevance⁹ of SARS as a comparison. The global economy has changed since 2003, when SARS struck. China now accounts for 16% of global gdp, up from 4% back then. And it is the world’s second-biggest importer, so any weakness, however temporary, is felt far and wide. Already, some of its ?rms are trying to get out of contractual commitments to import copper¹⁰ and lique?ed natural gas. And its tourists, who spend $250bn a year on overseas travel, are staying at home.

第二个疑问是SARS作为一个比较的相关性。自2003年SARS爆发以来，全球经济发生了变化。中国目前占全球GDP的16%，高于当时的4%。而且中国是世界第二大进口国，因此任何疲软，无论多么短暂，都将影响深远。中国的一些公司已经在试图摆脱进口铜和液化天然气的合同承诺。中国游客每年在海外旅游上的支出为2500亿美元，而现在都待在国内。

1 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

2 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

3 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

4 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

5 erred   

犯错误，做错事( err的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He erred in his judgement. 他判断错了。
• We will work on those who have erred and help them do right. 我们将对犯了错误的人做工作，并帮助他们改正。

6 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

7 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

8 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

9 relevance   

n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性

参考例句：

• Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
• Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。

10 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。