TED演讲:下一次工业革命就在眼前(2)

 I'm here today to tell you that we are on the verge¹ of another huge change, 我今天想要告诉各位，我们即将经历另一次剧变，

and that this change, surprisingly enough, is going to come from manufacturing, again. 这次改变，出乎意料的是，也再次会从制造业开始。

It will get us out of our growth slump² 它将使我们走出经济的萧条期，

and it will change radically³ the way globalization has been shaped over the last decade. 会从根本上改变过去十年全球化塑造的状况。

I'm here to tell you about the amazing fourth manufacturing revolution that is currently underway. 现在我要告诉大家，第四次工业革命已经在发生了。

It's not as if we've done nothing with manufacturing since the last revolution. 这并不意味着，自上次工业革命以来我们没有任何进步。

Actually, we've made some pretty lame⁴ attempts to try to revitalize it. 事实上，我们做了几次努力，试图重振工业经济。

But none of them have been the big overhaul⁵ we really need to get us growing again. 但成效甚微，不足以让经济恢复增长。

For example, we've tried to relocate our factories offshore⁶ in order to reduce cost and take advantage of cheap labor⁷. 比如说，我们曾试图将工厂迁至海外，利用当地廉价劳动力，从而降低成本。

Not only did this not inspire productivity, but it only saved money for a short period of time, 但这不仅没有提高生产力，还只是在短期内节省了成本，

because cheap labor didn't stay cheap for long. 因为廉价劳动力不会永远廉价。

Then, we've tried to make our factories larger and we specialized⁸ them by product. 之后，我们还试图把工厂做大，对每种产品进行专门化生产。

The idea was that we can make a lot of one product and stockpile it to be sold with demand. 这个想法是基于如果我们可以只做一种产品囤积起来以根据需求售卖。

This did help productivity for a while. 这个做法确实在一段时间内提高了生产力。

But it introduced a lot of rigidities in our supply chain. Let's take fashion retail¹⁰. 但它让我们的供应链非常死板。让我们以服饰时尚零售业为例。

Traditional clothing companies have built offshore, global, rigid⁹ supply chains. 传统的服装企业建立了位于海外的，全球化的，僵化的供应链。

1 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

2 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

3 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

4 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

5 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

6 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

9 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

10 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。