2021年经济学人 与陌生人社交的艺术(2)

So this is an apt moment for three books about meeting strangers.

所以现在是这三本关于与陌生人相遇的书出现的合适时机。

Will Buckingham has written a moving memoir¹ of finding solace², after the death of his life-partner, in travelling and talking in lands such as Myanmar that are culturally distant from his native England.

威尔·白金汉写了一本感人的回忆录，讲述了他在终生伴侣去世后，在缅甸等地旅行和交谈中寻求治愈的故事，这些地方在文化上与他的祖国英国有着很大差异。

Joe Keohane, an American journalist, argues that communicating empathetically with strangers is vital and potentially life-changing.

美国记者乔·基奥恩认为，与陌生人进行感情深入的交流至关重要，并且可能会改变生活。

Jon Yates, who runs a youth charity based in London, frets³ that deep fissures⁴ in Western societies are making it impossible for people to reach, even casually⁵, between classes, religions, ethnicities and generations.

乔恩·耶茨在伦敦经营着一家青年慈善机构，他担心西方社会的深刻裂痕将使人们无法接触到不同阶层、宗教、种族和代际的人，即使是偶然的接触。

All three authors make sweeping⁶ generalisations about the evolution of human society, from hunter-gatherers to the age of Homer and beyond.

三位作者都对人类社会的演变进行了全面的概括，从狩猎采集者到荷马时代以及更久远的过去。

But they are more interesting when they reflect, using personal experience or scientific research, on how people live and communicate now.

但当它们用个人经验或科学研究来反思人们现在的生活和交流方式时，就更有趣了。

In different ways, they all make two separate but related points.

他们都以不同的方式提出了两个独立但相关的观点。

First, interacting meaningfully with a new person can bring huge rewards - but it is a skill that must be cultivated and can easily be lost.

首先，与陌生人进行有意义的互动可以带来巨大的回报——但这是一项必须经过培养而且很容易丧失的技能。

Second, the self-segregation of modern Western societies means that, for many people, conversing⁷ with some fellow citizens seems pointless, undesirable⁸ or outlandish.

其次，现代西方社会的自我隔离意味着，对许多人来说，与某些同胞交谈似乎是毫无意义的、不可取的或奇怪的。

The second problem exacerbates⁹ the first: if you consider others beyond the pale, why make the effort to get to know them?

第二个问题加剧了第一个问题：如果你认为其他人行为出格，怎么还会想要努力去了解他们呢？

As both Mr Keohane and Mr Yates emphasise¹⁰, in Britain and America political divisions have ossified¹¹ into tribal¹² ones.

正如基奥恩和耶茨所强调的那样，在英国和美国，政治分歧已经僵化为部落分歧。

Supporters and opponents of Brexit live in discrete¹³ clusters;

英国退欧的支持者和反对者生活在不同的圈子中;

Republicans and Democrats¹⁴ see each other as bad people, not fellow Americans whose opinions happen to differ.

共和党人和民主党人相互视为坏人，而不是意见相左的美国同胞。

These opposing sides have become strangers to one another.

这些对立的双方彼此都变得陌生起来。

Mr Buckingham focuses on the pleasures and pitfalls¹⁵ of encounters in remote places where the stakes are lower because the acquaintanceships are bound to be temporary - in a holiday flat-share in Helsinki or while travelling through the Balkans.

白金汉先生专注于在远方相遇的乐趣和诱惑，那里的风险较低，因为相识注定是短暂的——在赫尔辛基的度假公寓里或在巴尔干半岛旅行时。

But, like the other two, he notes that wariness¹⁶ of unfamiliar¹⁷ people is neither new nor insuperable.

但是，与其它两位一样，他指出，对陌生人的警惕不是什么新鲜事，也不是不可克服的。

1 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

2 solace   

n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和

参考例句：

• They sought solace in religion from the harshness of their everyday lives.他们日常生活很艰难，就在宗教中寻求安慰。
• His acting career took a nosedive and he turned to drink for solace.演艺事业突然一落千丈，他便借酒浇愁。

3 frets   

基质间片； 品丝（吉他等指板上定音的）( fret的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The river frets away the rocks along its banks. 河水侵蚀了两岸的岩石。
• She frets at even the slightest delays. 稍有延误她就不满。

4 fissures   

n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Rising molten rock flows out on the ocean floor and caps the fissures, trapping the water. 上升熔岩流到海底并堵住了裂隙，结果把海水封在里面。 来自辞典例句
• The French have held two colloquia and an international symposium on rock fissures. 法国已经开了两次岩石裂缝方面的报告会和一个国际会议。 来自辞典例句

5 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

6 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

7 conversing   

v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I find that conversing with her is quite difficult. 和她交谈实在很困难。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were conversing in the parlor. 他们正在客厅谈话。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 undesirable   

adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子

参考例句：

• They are the undesirable elements among the employees.他们是雇员中的不良分子。
• Certain chemicals can induce undesirable changes in the nervous system.有些化学物质能在神经系统中引起不良变化。

9 exacerbates   

n.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的名词复数 )v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Stripping the land in these ways allows faster surface runoff and exacerbates flooding. 这些做法终将使土地裸露、地表径流加快，从而加重了洪水的威胁。 来自辞典例句
• This policy exacerbates the gap between rich and poor. 这项政策加剧了贫富差距。 来自互联网

10 emphasise   

vt.加强...的语气，强调，着重

参考例句：

• What special feature do you think I should emphasise? 你认为我该强调什么呢？
• The exercises heavily emphasise the required readings.练习非常强调必须的阅读。

11 ossified   

adj.已骨化[硬化]的v.骨化，硬化，使僵化( ossify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• an ossified political system 僵化的政治制度
• His thinking has ossified as he's grown older;he won't accept new ideas. 随着年岁的增长，他的思想僵化了，他不接受新观点。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

13 discrete   

adj.个别的，分离的，不连续的

参考例句：

• The picture consists of a lot of discrete spots of colour.这幅画由许多不相连的色点组成。
• Most staple fibers are discrete,individual entities.大多数短纤维是不联系的单独实体。

14 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 pitfalls   

（捕猎野兽用的）陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 )； 意想不到的困难，易犯的错误

参考例句：

• the potential pitfalls of buying a house 购买房屋可能遇到的圈套
• Several pitfalls remain in the way of an agreement. 在达成协议的进程中还有几个隐藏的困难。

16 wariness   

n. 注意,小心

参考例句：

• The British public's wariness of opera is an anomaly in Europe. 英国公众对歌剧不大轻易接受的态度在欧洲来说很反常。
• There certainly is a history of wariness about using the R-word. 历史表明绝对应当谨慎使用“衰退”一词。

17 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。