读
雅文 悦读
通读
首先先把文章的精华摘录进行通读,重点关注加粗的部分,本文阅读压力低,旨在积累表达,丰富话题。
“FOLDING BEIJING”, a short story by Hao Jingfang, a Chinese science-fiction writer, is set in a futuristic version of China’s capital where inequality is so stark that different social groups are not allowed to use the same ground simultaneously. They take turns occupying the area within Beijing’s sixth ring road, which flips over every 24 hours. One side has clear blue skies, tranquil leafy streets and supermarkets with imported food, where the 5m people of “First Space” people enjoy a whole 24 hours, whereas the 75m people of “Second Space” and “Third Space” get only 12 hours each. This last group is crowded together in a place where construction dust obscures the tops of neon-lit buildings and workers toil “for rewards as thin as the wings of cicadas”. People are beaten and imprisoned if they enter a zone above their station.
开读吧
如何描述贫富差距“悬殊”?
如何吐槽工资少?
除了class还能如何说阶级?
获取英文版短篇小说《北京折叠》
请在底部点击“阅读原文”
“FOLDING BEIJING”, a short story by Hao Jingfang, a Chinese science-fiction writer, is set in a futuristic version of China’s capital where inequality is so stark that different social groups are not allowed to use the same ground simultaneously. They take turns occupying the area within Beijing’s sixth ring road, which flips over every 24 hours.
开篇以极高的效率介绍了小说的名字、作者、故事的背景、反应的问题。
先看一下开篇长句:
“FOLDING BEIJING”, a short story by Hao Jingfang, a Chinese science-fiction writer, is set in a futuristic version of China’s capital where inequality is so stark that different social groups are not allowed to use the same ground simultaneously.
写作TIP:定语从句用在刀刃儿上
这也是给大家的英文写作提个醒,不要滥用定语从句,这是中国学生、考生的作文最容易犯的毛病,糊弄一下四六级还成,托福雅思这么写是别想有高分的,大量的定语从句都可以简化做分词后置定语、甚至前置形容词、逗号隔开的同位语等等,在这些情况下本着除非语气上、表达上却有需求才要用定语从句的原则,如果一句话里有三、四处可用定语从句,推荐只用一个,其他的想其他办法解决。
试想一下如果这句话变成:
“FOLDING BEIJING”, which is a short story that is written by Hao Jingfang, who is a Chinese science-fiction writer, is set in a futuristic version of Beijing, which is China’s capital, where inequality is so stark that ...
就这样瞬间变成了惨不忍睹的学生四级作文习作... 秒变草稿纸有没有...
仔细看一下这句话原文中,仅有的一个where引导的定语从句。试想一下,这里如果不用这个定语从句会怎么样?你会发现,如果不用这个定语从句连接,其实没有什么其他更简练的方法来代替了,其他写法只会显得更啰嗦,此时作者的定语从句,就叫做“用在刀刃儿上”。
set;futuristic;stark
set的名词有布景/舞台/拍摄场的意思,因此其动词,就也有了把一个小说、电影、故事设定在某一背景下的意思。比如:
I Love My Family, a sitcom preceding Amercia's Modern Family by 16 years, was set in the years that witnessed great changes in Chinese society.
情景喜剧《我爱我家》比美国的《摩登家庭》要早16年,其故事设定的年代正是中国社会转型的时期。
文章说故事is set in a futuristic version of China’s capital,futuristic版的北京,我们知道future可以有near future可以有remote future,futuristic则可以特别强调imagined future,对科学幻想作品进行介绍时,对其中的future世界用这个形容词来形容很准确。
Google一下futuristic的图片,给大家感受一下:
除此以外,futuristic还可以用来介绍建筑等艺术作品的风格,未来派的、未来感十足的,比如谷歌futuristic beijing,得到的图片结果中相当一部分都是潘总家的银河soho:
地下的商铺生意好不好先不管,这个建筑还是成为了一个未来派地标,你会发现很多影视作品都在这儿蹭个背景墙。
再说stark,它在表述差异时,强调差异之大、之明显、之鲜明,再说贫富差距时,显然可以译为“悬殊”。social groups在这里不是社会团体,而是不同的社会群体,可以根据年龄、种族、收入水平等来进行分割,在本文中的social groups其实就是暗指阶级。
“FOLDING BEIJING”, a short story by Hao Jingfang, a Chinese science-fiction writer, is set in a futuristic version of China’s capital where inequality is so stark that different social groups are not allowed to use the same ground simultaneously.
中国科幻作家郝景芳将其短篇小说《北京折叠》的故事设定在未来版的北京城,彼时彼地的社会等级森严、待遇高低悬殊,不同阶级不能在同一时间踏上同一块土地。
再来看下面这两句:
They take turns occupying the area within Beijing’s sixth ring road, which flips over every 24 hours.
ring road;flip over
ring road就是环路啦,2nd ring road二环,5th ring road,五环,五环... 啊~ ~ 啊~ ~ ??五~(住口)
ring road也可以说ringway,老外大概能听懂,想象中会出现一个环形的路,但是不见得能理解地很准确(因为国外一些环岛、立交桥上的环形路段都可以说ring road,总之就是“环形的路”),就像中国一个小县城的高中生,当然听得懂“环路”两个汉字,但他的脑子里不见得“有概念”,这要取决于该外国人来自于哪里了。当然,如果放在地图上,肯定是一目了然的。
flip over就是翻转,提到flip,最容易想到的就是flip a coin,想象一下抛起硬币,肯定是要让它在空中不停翻转的。
They take turns occupying the area within Beijing’s sixth ring road, which flips over every 24 hours.
北京六环以内陆区的大地每24小时会翻转一次,由不同等级的人们轮流占据。
第一部分连起来:
“FOLDING BEIJING”, a short story by Hao Jingfang, a Chinese science-fiction writer, is set in a futuristic version of China’s capital where inequality is so stark that different social groups are not allowed to use the same ground simultaneously. They take turns occupying the area within Beijing’s sixth ring road, which flips over every 24 hours.
中国科幻作家郝景芳将其短篇小说《北京折叠》的故事设定在未来版的北京城,彼时彼地的社会等级森严、待遇高低悬殊,不同阶级不能在同一时间踏上同一块土地。北京六环以内陆区的大地每24小时会翻转一次,由不同等级的人们轮流占据。
One side has clear blue skies, tranquil leafy streets and supermarkets with imported food, where the 5m people of “First Space” people enjoy a whole 24 hours, whereas the 75m people of “Second Space” and “Third Space” get only 12 hours each. This last group is crowded together in a place where construction dust obscures the tops of neon-lit buildings and workers toil “for rewards as thin as the wings of cicadas”. People are beaten and imprisoned if they enter a zone above their station.
先来看看操作机制:
One side has clear blue skies, tranquil leafy streets and supermarkets with imported food, where the 5m people of “First Space” people enjoy a whole 24 hours, whereas the 75m people of “Second Space” and “Third Space” get only 12 hours each.
tranquil leafy streets
为了让大家更好地了解剧情,干脆直接粘过来一段简介,看完简介回头再看一遍这句话,应该就明了了:
大地的一面是第一空间,五百万人口,生存时间是从清晨六点到第二天清晨六点。空间休眠,大地翻转。翻转后的另一面是第二空间和第三空间。第二空间生活着两千五百万人口,从次日清晨六点到夜晚十点,第三空间生活着五千万人口,从十点到清晨六点。然后回到第一空间。于是每48小时一个轮回。时间经过了精心规划和最优分配,小心翼翼隔离,五百万人享用二十四小时,七千五百万人分享另外二十四小时。在第三空间,垃圾工老刀一顿早饭要花一百块,老刀一个月工资一万块,而他希望能让自己捡来的孩子糖糖,上一月一万五学费的幼儿园,为了这个花费,他宁愿冒险去其他空间送信。
按这个介绍来看,《经济学人》的专栏作者应该是对于故事设定的第二空间和第三空间的人分享24小时有所误解,第二空间的人(16小时)要比第三空间(8小时)的人多享用地面8个小时。
leafy主要看用来修饰什么,说植物,就是茂盛、多叶;说地方,就是多植物、多数木。tranquil leafy streets即宁静的林荫大街。
One side has clear blue skies, tranquil leafy streets and supermarkets with imported food, where the 5m people of “First Space” people enjoy a whole 24 hours, whereas the 75m people of “Second Space” and “Third Space” get only 12 hours each.
其中一面有着清澈的湛蓝天空、静谧的林荫大道和满是进口食品的超市,那里生活着500万“第一空间”的人,他们可以享用此空间24小时。而总共7500万的“第二空间”和“第三空间”人口,只能各自使用地面12小时。(这是《经济学人》对细节的误读,实际上是16小时和8小时)
不仅仅是时间分配是24:16:8(48小时一轮回),第一空间的蓝天白云、树荫街静也在其他空间中找不见:
This last group is crowded together in a place where construction dust obscures the tops of neon-lit buildings and workers toil “for rewards as thin as the wings of cicadas”. People are beaten and imprisoned if they enter a zone above their station.
obscure;toil;above their station
obscure大家多见形容词,模糊的、不清楚的、不易搞明白的,动词就是“使模糊”、“使隐晦”。
construction dust obscures the tops of neon-lit buildings
闪烁着霓虹的高楼耸入漂浮的工业粉尘之中,虚不见顶
toil表示长时间地辛苦劳作,然而却不是“劳苦功高”,而是劳苦功薄,功薄蝉翼... 收入微薄,薄如蝉翼: workers toil “for rewards as thin as the wings of cicadas”
除了class、social groups、social status/position以外,station也可以表示社会阶级等级,这个用法很多朋友不了解,当station表示这个意思的时候,最常见的搭配就是above one's station,超越自己的社会等级。
This last group is crowded together in a place where construction dust obscures the tops of neon-lit buildings and workers toil “for rewards as thin as the wings of cicadas”. People are beaten and imprisoned if they enter a zone above their station.
最后一个等级的人拥挤地生活在一起,那里闪烁着霓虹的高楼耸入漂浮的工业粉尘之中,虚不见顶,工人们终身劳苦,劳苦功薄,功薄蝉翼。假如他们胆敢僭越等级偷入其他空间,轻则皮肉之苦,重则牢狱之灾。
第二部分连起来:
One side has clear blue skies, tranquil leafy streets and supermarkets with imported food, where the 5m people of “First Space” people enjoy a whole 24 hours, whereas the 75m people of “Second Space” and “Third Space” get only 12 hours each. This last group is crowded together in a place where construction dust obscures the tops of neon-lit buildings and workers toil “for rewards as thin as the wings of cicadas”. People are beaten and imprisoned if they enter a zone above their station.
其中一面有着清澈的湛蓝天空、静谧的林荫大道和满是进口食品的超市,那里生活着500万“第一空间”的人,他们可以享用此空间24小时。而总共7500万的“第二空间”和“第三空间”人口,只能各自使用地面12小时。最后一个等级的人拥挤地生活在一起,那里闪烁着霓虹的高楼耸入漂浮的工业粉尘之中,虚不见顶,工人们终身劳苦,劳苦功薄,功薄蝉翼。假如他们胆敢僭越等级偷入其他空间,轻则皮肉之苦,重则牢狱之灾。
[译注]第二空间和第三空间分享的24小时应该是前者16小时,后者8小时。
联系客服