【英语时差8,16】统计数值也会说谎？（上）

“How to lie with statistics” is the title of a little book by Darrell Huff, first published in 1954. Here’s an example of the kind of question Huff writes about in the book: A new business makes a very respectable¹ one hundred thousand dollars in profits in its first year. In its second year, the business enjoys a 100 percent increase in profits, relative to the previous year. But in its third year, the business suffers a 75 percent decrease in profits, relative to the previous year. Look on the bright side, someone says. Up 100 percent the second year, then down 75 percent the third year–overall, this person says, profits are still 25 percent above the first year’s level. What’s Wrong With This Argument? What’s wrong, of course, is that the argument glosses² over the fact that each of those percentages expresses profits in terms of the previous year’s profits.

1 respectable   

n.品格高尚的人；adj.值得尊重的，人格高尚的，不少的

参考例句：

• She seems respectable enough.她看上去挺体面的。
• His savings were just enough to pay for a respectable funeral.他的存款刚好够办一个体面的葬礼。

2 glosses   

n.（页末或书后的）注释( gloss的名词复数 )；（表面的）光滑；虚假的外表；用以产生光泽的物质v.注解( gloss的第三人称单数 )；掩饰（错误）；粉饰；把…搪塞过去

参考例句：

• The movie glosses over the real issues of the war. 这部电影掩饰了这次战争的真正问题。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Time inevitably glosses over the particularities of each situation. 时间不可避免地掩饰了每种情形的特质。 来自互联网