2021年经济学人 中国的经济--德尔塔风波(1)

Finance & economics

财经板块

China’s economy: Delta¹ neutral

中国的经济：德尔塔中性

The battle against covid-19 is compounding an economic slowdown—and feeding global supply disruptions

抗击新冠肺炎的斗争加剧了经济放缓，并导致全球供应中断

TRADE HAS flowed through the port of Ningbo on China’s east coast since the Tang Dynasty in the 8th century.

自8世纪的唐朝以来，中国东部沿海地区的宁波港就一直有贸易往来。

After the first opium² war ended in 1842, it was one of five points of entry forcibly opened to foreign merchants.

1842年第一次鸦片战争结束后，它是被迫向外国商人开放的五个入境点之一。

And in the first half of this year the port (which merged³ with the nearby Zhoushan port in 2015) handled more tonnes of cargo⁴ than anywhere else in the world.

今年上半年，这个港口(2015年与邻近的舟山港合并)的货物吞吐量位居全球第一。

A tour group of 80 students recently spent three days admiring the free-trade zone and the port’s “hardcore” power, as Ningbo city government put it.

最近，一个由80名学生组成的旅行团花了三天时间来欣赏这个自由贸易区以及宁波市政府所说的该港口的“核心”力量。

But on August 11th activity at one of the port’s busiest terminals came to an abrupt⁵ halt.

但是在8月11日，港口最繁忙的一个码头的活动突然停止了。

A 34-year-old dockworker, who had come into contact with visiting crews, was diagnosed with the Delta variant⁶ of covid-19 despite having received two shots of the Sinovac vaccine⁷.

一名34岁的码头工人，曾与外来船员有过接触，尽管他注射了两针科兴疫苗，但仍被诊断出感染了新冠病毒的德尔塔变异毒株。

That solitary⁸ infection was all it took for the government to shut down operations and consign⁹ 254 of his close contacts (and a further 396 of their contacts) to quarantine.

这一病例让政府关闭了港口的业务，并对该员工的254名密切接触者(以及另外396名间接密切接触者)进行了隔离。

The case is revealing in three ways.

这个病例给我们带来了三点启示。

It illustrates¹⁰ once more how hard it is to keep the Delta variant at bay.

它再次说明了防控德尔塔变异毒株的困难程度。

It demonstrates how hard China will, nonetheless try to do just that.

它也表明，尽管很难，中国仍将努力实现这个目标。

And it shows how widely around the world this struggle will be felt.

它还说明，全世界都将对这种斗争感同身受。

The terminal shutdown follows a similar closure at Yantian port on China’s south coast in May (as well as disruptions wrought¹¹ by last month’s typhoon In-Fa).

今年5月，中国南部沿海的盐田港也曾出现过类似的封港现象(上个月台风“烟花”再次导致该港关闭)。

It now takes about 70 days for ocean freight to travel from its point of origin in China to its final destination in America, compared with 47 last August, according to Freightos, a digital freight marketplace.

数字货运市场Freightos的数据显示，现在从中国的出发地到美国的最终目的地的海运大约需要70天，而去年8月只需要47天。

Some experts worry that the shipping¹² delays and the prospect¹³ of future shutdowns may even disrupt Christmas shopping in the West.

一些专家担心，运输延误和未来可能出现的关闭甚至可能扰乱西方国家的圣诞节购物。

1 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

2 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

3 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

4 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

5 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

6 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

7 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

8 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

9 consign   

vt.寄售（货品），托运，交托，委托

参考例句：

• We cannot agree to consign the goods.我们不同意寄售此货。
• We will consign the goods to him by express.我们将以快递把货物寄给他。

10 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

11 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

12 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

13 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。