圣诞节，读读《经济学人》双周特刊

https://github.com/hehonghui/awesome-english-ebooks

就帮到这啦🧑‍

2.

每年圣诞节特别双刊的封面都很有趣，这一次特别介绍了本期封面的由来。

来自 The Economist 的官方 Twitter

这次的 3D 卡通人物封面来自在曼谷生活的中国插画师 Joanne Joo（微博@乔安夫斯基） 。

选这幅作品一是因为切题，处处有梗；二是有节日氛围。

It had two strengths. First, its visual references to different stories helped convey the extravagance of the issue. Second, its mood of joyful warmth felt appropriate at this time of year.

《经济学人》介绍说封面设计的最初版本已经很好，但细节上不够突出，修改的最终版本中，川普、丘吉尔、鲁宾逊辨识度更高。看过了这期特别报道，再看封面会觉得更有趣。

Joanne's first version worked well, but the details needed refining

有没有注意到，我提到了插画师Joanne Joo的微博账号是@乔安夫斯基？

这是我想分享的地方：感兴趣，就多去搜一搜，会有意外惊喜的。

我看了她的个人网站、社交媒体和采访，了解了一种插图风格和生活方式。

我还想到之前写过这篇“这期《经济学人》封面上画的是谁？ ”心想，说不定日后还有机会与插画师在曼谷相遇呢

3.

我重点读了 Christmas Specials 版块。

选题有趣，文章节奏比较慢，是我喜欢的类型。

比如第一篇讲川普支持者：

为什么一些基督徒支持川普？

文中用了一句 We need a bull in the chian shop.

第二篇讲一对雄性企鹅引发的一系列争议：

两只雄性企鹅孵化了一只蛋，这件事被写成了一本书 And Tango Makes Three。有人举报这本书，说对孩子影响不好，《经济学人》说：

The attacks betray several misconceptions, the most elementary involving science.

还说一本书没那么的影响了，孩子自己有解读的能力，通过读一本书改变了性取向，这事不太可能。

第三篇讲网购一双鞋的故事：

在一些国家，网购依然是件新鲜事。比如在印度尼西亚，13000 个岛屿（the world's biggest archipelago），从买卖到交付，难度系数极大。

这一篇从在印尼网购一双鞋写起，介绍了这个穆斯林国家的变化——E-commerce helps bind together a nation of skyscapers and jungles, miniskirts and hijabs.

提这几篇文章是想说：读一段，至少能学点英语。喜欢的话就再多读几段。

练习放松，享受这个过程。

4.

再看这篇写拖拉机的。

第一句就很好玩：It was the ChatGPT of its day.

我走马观花式读了读，注意到了两个简单、好玩的语言点：

• Over the sweep of history the tractor has indeed had an immense impact on people’s lives. But it conquered the world with a whimper, not a bang.

Over the sweep of history the tractor has indeed had an immense impact on people’s lives. But it conquered the world with a whimper, not a bang.

• Tractors worked best on big farms, where the farmer could spread out the expense of a huge upfront investment. As a result, enlarging the size of their holdings and buying a tractor were two sides of the same coin.

Tractors worked best on big farms, where the farmer could spread out the expense of a huge upfront investment. As a result, enlarging the size of their holdings and buying a tractor were two sides of the same coin.

还有一篇写国人喜欢去沙滩度假：

遇到好多我上课时讲过的英文表达，它们常因长相朴实常被忽略。

比如：

• Two of them sportmatching flowery swimming trunks that they have just bought for 45 yuan.

Two of them sportmatching flowery swimming trunks that they have just bought for 45 yuan.

• Like millions of Chinese, they are making first trip to the edge of their country—to samplethe pleasures of the beach.

Like millions of Chinese, they are making first trip to the edge of their country—to samplethe pleasures of the beach.

• In the West the dawn of mass travel sawholidaymakers jetting off to sunny shores at a time when most Chinese were tied to the land or factory.

In the West the dawn of mass travel sawholidaymakers jetting off to sunny shores at a time when most Chinese were tied to the land or factory.

• When “Born to Fly”, China’s answerto “Top Gun”, was released in April 2023, it portrayed the fighter-pilot hero as a steely daredevil. The evidence? His love of surfing.

When “Born to Fly”, China’s answerto “Top Gun”, was released in April 2023, it portrayed the fighter-pilot hero as a steely daredevil. The evidence? His love of surfing.

Daniel Defoe 的《鲁滨逊漂流记》不仅是部出色的文学作品，鲁滨逊的经历也成了经济学家中的研究对象：

副标题里的 yarn表示 story。

英文中常用 spin a yarn，和我们常说的“侃大山”“摆龙门阵”差不多。

写到 Daniel Defoe 时，用到了一个 a chequered career：

这个 chequered常表示“方格图案”。在这里可以理解为跌宕起伏、时好时坏，和后面的“And thirteen times I have been rich and poor”呼应。

《经济学人》的语言质量一直在线，圣诞特刊的这些文章也多下了些功夫，读起来非常舒服。

如果能在阅读时赏析英文，我想快乐会加倍吧。

5.

这篇文章并不是什么推荐，只是提供一个可能的学习方式、学习素材。

没有什么非读不可，没有什么错过一个亿。会学习，爱学习，在哪里都能物尽其用。

6 年前的今天，我在悉尼读圣诞节特刊，写了篇文章。 今天，我在清迈写下这篇文章。

读到了什么，很快就会忘记。没关系呀。学习就是一次次体验，一次次忘记，然后再一次次地 connect the dots。

如果你的英文水平已经很高，还没有读过《经济学人》圣诞特刊，试一试吧。把它当作一个小挑战——有难度，不舒服，说明它会给你带来进步

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