2020年经济学人 从疫情前到居家后(1)

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Bartleby

巴托比栏目

From BC to AD

从疫情前到居家后。

Working life has entered a new era

工作生活进入新纪元。

On March 16th Bartleby left the offices of The Economist¹ to head home.That was the last day when all editorial staff assembled in our London redoubt.And, at the time of writing, no date for a return to the office is in sight.

3月16号，巴托比离开《经济学人》的办公室回家了。那是所有编辑人员在我们的伦敦阵地集合的最后一天。并且在撰写本文的时候，返回办公室的日期尚不明确。

It is remarkable² how quickly we have adapted. The newspaper has been written, edited and produced from couches and kitchen tables. January and February seem like an ancient era-the BC (before coronavints) to the new AD (after domestication).The shift may rival great workplace transformations³ in the 19th and 20th centuries. Twitter has already said that all its employees will be allowed to work from home permanently⁴ and Facebook expects half its staff to do so within a decade.

我们适应的太快了，真是不可思议。这份报纸是在沙发和餐桌上进行写作、编辑和制作的。一月和二月仿佛是一个古老的纪元——公元前（冠状病毒前）到新的公元（居家后）。这种转变可能与19世纪和20世纪的职场大变革相匹敌。Twitter已经表示，允许所有员工永久居家办公，Facebook预计其一半员工将在10年内完成这项转变。

It bas been a much more sudden transition than occurred with factories.Steam power meant they were designed around one great power system, complete with belts and pulleys that snaked through the building. A failure at some point in the system meant the whole thing might grind to a halt.Then electrification⁵ allowed individual machines to have their own power source. But it took half a century from the introduction of electricity in the 1880s before factories were reconfigured to take advantage of the new power source.

这是一个比工业革命更为突然的转变。蒸汽动力意味着它们是围绕着一个巨大的动力系统设计的，由传送带和滑轮蜿蜒流通整个大楼来产生动力。系统中的某个故障意味着整个系统会缓慢停止。然后电气化允许单个机器有自己的电源。但是，从19世纪80年代引入电力到工厂重新配置以利用新能源，用了半个世纪的时间。

The current, rapid shift to AD was enabled by preconditions. First, broadband services are today quick enough to allow for document downloads and videoconferencing. Second, advanced economies revolve⁶ around services, not manufacturing. Back in the 1970s, when Britain adopted a three-day week (to combat a miners' strike), there were power cuts and TV stations had to close down early. In other words, home life was severely⁷ affected⁸ as well. The pandemic has not turned the lights off.

目前快速向公元后的转变是由先决条件促成的。首先，今天的宽带服务很快，足以进行文件下载以及视频会议。第二，发达经济体围绕服务业展开，而非制造业。回到20世纪70年代，英国采取每周三天工作制（遏制矿工罢工）时，出现了断电现象，使电视台不得不提早关门。换句话说，家庭生活也受到了严重影响。但是疫情没有造成断电。

Not only that, it has made remote work seem both normal and acceptable. In the past employees who stayed home had to overcome the suspicion that they were bunking⁹ off.Now those who insist on being at the office sound self-important.

不仅如此，它还使远程工作看起来正常且可接受。过去，呆在家里的员工必须克服他们偷懒的嫌疑。现在那些坚持要在办公室的人听起来很自以为是。

Things are missing, of course. Video calls lack the spontaneity of a normal meeting; no off-the-cuff remarks to lighten the mood. Distance makes it difficult to generate camaraderie¹⁰. Creativity is probably harder to foster.Octavius Black of Mindgym, a consultancy, says new ideas come from weak links in networks--ie, people you meet occasionally. Such "casual collisions" have become rarer.

当然，有些东西不见了。视频通话缺少正常会议的自发性；没有即兴点评来带动气氛。距离使产生友情变得困难。创造力可能更难培养。咨询公司Mindgym的Octavius Black表示，新的想法来自于网络中的弱连接——即你偶尔遇到的人。这样“偶然的碰撞”变得越来越罕见了。

1 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

2 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

3 transformations   

n.变化( transformation的名词复数 )；转换；转换；变换

参考例句：

• Energy transformations go on constantly, all about us. 在我们周围，能量始终在不停地转换着。 来自辞典例句
• On the average, such transformations balance out. 平均起来，这种转化可以互相抵消。 来自辞典例句

4 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

5 electrification   

n.充电，电气化；起电；电化；带电

参考例句：

• Electrification of the countryside--yes, that, too, is impressive. 是的。农村电气化也是了不起的事。 来自演讲部分
• After electrification, it will readily stick to a wall or a ceiling. 起电后，它立即吸附到墙壁上或天花板上。 来自辞典例句

6 revolve   

vi.(使)旋转；循环出现

参考例句：

• The planets revolve around the sun.行星绕着太阳运转。
• The wheels began to revolve slowly.车轮开始慢慢转动。

7 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。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 bunking   

v.（车、船等倚壁而设的）铺位( bunk的现在分词 )；空话，废话

参考例句：

• A tacit friendship had developed between them since they had been bunking together. 他们俩自从睡在一个帐篷里以来，彼此之间已悄然结下了友谊。 来自辞典例句
• Bunking the tube was easy on the outward journey. 外出旅游期间，睡在睡袋里是件很容易的事情。 来自互联网

10 camaraderie   

n.同志之爱，友情

参考例句：

• The camaraderie among fellow employees made the tedious work just bearable.同事之间的情谊使枯燥乏味的工作变得还能忍受。
• Some bosses are formal and have occasional interactions,while others prefer continual camaraderie.有些老板很刻板，偶尔才和下属互动一下；有些则喜欢和下属打成一片。