The Americas
美洲
Paraguay's new president
巴拉圭的新总统
Cartes plays his cards
卡特高明的手段
Trickle-down economics in one of South America's poorest countries
南美最穷一国的滴流经济学
IN OCTOBER claims surfaced that Victor Bogado, a Paraguayan senator, had arranged two lucrative public jobs for his children's nanny.
十月宣言浮出水面，巴拉圭的参议院议长柏佳都，为其孩子的保姆安排了两项有利可图的公共工作。
A few weeks later 23 of his peers—a majority—voted against stripping him of the immunity from criminal proceedings that Paraguayan legislators enjoy.
几周后，23位同僚，大多数反对剥夺巴拉圭立法者所享有的豁免刑事程序。
Instead of going unnoticed in a country where political clientelism has long been the norm, the story sparked outrage.
按理说国家出现政治上的庇护很正常可被忽略，反而故事引起了更多的愤怒。
Restaurants, petrol stations and beauty salons in the capital, Asuncion, put up signs naming the 23 shameless rats, and barring them as customers.
首都亚松森的餐馆，汽车加油站以及美容沙龙，公然张贴了广告名为23只不知羞耻的老鼠，禁止他们进店消费。Two weeks later a senate committee overruled the vote for immunity.
两周后，参议院委员会豁免视此种行为属于无效选票。
The case of the golden nanny is part of a wider citizen revolt against political corruption.
金牌保姆的事件只是更多市民参与反对政治腐败的一部分。
In October the Supreme Court ruled that Daniel Vargas, a radio host, had the right to know the names and salaries of municipal employees.
十月份，最高法院判定电视台节目主持人丹尼尔·巴尔加斯，有权知道市政雇员的名字和他们的薪酬。
Six years earlier listeners had asked him to investigate; he went to court after being stonewalled.
早在6年前听众让其去调查，他在受阻后上了法庭。
Without public pressure the Supreme Court would never have dared to move against Congress, says his lawyer, Benjamín Fernandez.
若没有了公共压力，最高法院将绝不敢反对议会，他的律师本杰明·费尔南德兹说道。
Rather than obliging citizens to seek the information piecemeal, Paraguay's new president, Horacio Cartes, told public bodies to publish it, though many are dragging their feet.
而不是为了使有责任心的公众获取的是零碎的信息，巴拉圭的新任总统奥拉西奥·卡尔特，告诉公众去惩治此事，尽管许多人不愿意合作。
Mr Cartes, a tobacco magnate, is a political neophyte who only joined the Colorado party in order to run for office in April's general election.
卡尔特先生，烟草巨头，也是一名政治新秀，仅为科罗拉多党成员参加了四月普选。
The Colorados held power for 60 years, 35 as a notoriously corrupt dictatorship, before losing in 2008 to Fernando Lugo, a former bishop whose left-Liberal alliance promised to redistribute land and cut poverty.
科罗拉多党执政60年来，臭名昭著的腐败独裁者多达35名，于2008年失败于巴拉圭领导人费尔南多·卢戈，前任大主教，左倾自由主义联盟承诺重新分配土地以及治理贫穷。
In power Mr Lugo turned out to be weak and politically inept.
手握重权的卢戈不过是一名懦弱的笨拙的当政者。
After an unfairly abrupt, though constitutional, impeachment his Liberal vice-president, Federico Franco, replaced him in 2012. Lacking a strong internal candidate, the Colorados plumped for Mr Cartes.
尽管是合乎宪法的，他遭到了有失偏颇的突如其来的弹劾，副总统费德里科·弗朗哥于2012年取代了他。由于缺乏强大的内部候选人，科罗拉多政党选中了卡尔特先生。
Many assumed the new president would be his party's puppet.
许多人设想新任总统将会是其政党的傀儡。
Does his support for the anti-corruption fight show that the Colorados got more than they bargained for?
他反腐政策表明了科罗拉多意味着他们会获得比他们要求的更多。
On taking office in August, Mr. Cartes named technically able outsiders to his cabinet and passed a fiscal-responsibility law limiting budget growth to 4% above inflation and the deficit to no more than 1.5% of GDP.
自从8月入职以来，卡特尔先生技巧性的给其内阁以外的人，并通过了一项财政法律限制其预算增长到4%通货膨胀以及财政赤字不高于国民生产总值的1.5%。
Since most spending goes on wages, that will squeeze patronage.
因为大多数花销都用于付薪酬，那将会丧失庇护。
A new law will allow the executive to auction infrastructure concessions without having to get approval from Congress, where the Colorado old guard holds sway.
新法将允许行政人员拍卖基础性设施让步，而无须得到由科罗拉多一股老保守派统治的议会的批准。
Some waterways should be auctioned in months, says Jose Molinas, a former World Bank official who is now minister of planning.
一些水道应该在近几个月内拍卖，Jose Molinas，前任世界银行的官员现任规划部部长。
Landlocked Paraguay relies on rivers to get its vast soya and beef exports to market. Intercity roads will follow.
被陆地包围的巴拉圭依靠河运来出口大量的豆类与牛肉。城市间的道路的处理也随之而来。
A law providing for disputes between government and concession-holders to be settled by international arbitration is planned for 2014.
一项解决政府以及让步性之间的争端将有国际仲裁部于2014年开启。
The economy is predicted to have grown by 13.6% in 2013.
2013年经济被预测已经增长了13.6%，
But that is mainly because of a bumper soya harvest after drought saw GDP shrink by 1.2% in 2012.
但是这主要是因为2012年国民生产总值减少了1.2%在豆制品丰收后。
Paraguay is one of South America's most unequal countries.
巴拉圭是南美最不公平的国家之一，
A third of its people are poor and 18% extremely so, while 6% of farms occupy 85% of farmland.
大约三分之一的人们贫穷，18%极端贫穷，仅有6%的农场就占据了85%的耕地。
Though Mr. Lugo failed to reform landholding, partly because of opposition in Congress, he did introduce modest handouts for the poorest.
尽管卢戈进行私人性质耕地的改革失败，部分原因是因为议会的反对，他确实为最穷苦的人给予了最简单的救济品。
Mr. Franco brought in an income tax, albeit at just 10% for the highest earners.
弗朗哥先生引进了收入税，尽管对收入最高的富人只征收10%的税收。
Mr .Cartes, too, promises to cut poverty and create a fairer society.
卡特尔先生，也承诺消减贫困，创造一个相对公平的社会。
But his plans rely less on redistribution than on wooing foreign capital.
但是他的计划过度依靠借助外资而不是资源的重新分配重组。
He has ceaselessly plugged the opportunities offered by the coming infrastructure auctions, Paraguay's abundant land, cheap labour, light-touch regulation—and, of course, low taxes.
他执着于接洽即将到来的基础设施的拍卖,如巴拉圭的富饶的耕地，廉价劳动力，温和管理模式，当然，还有低税收。
He vetoed a levy on the export of soya beans, the economy's mainstay.
他决定对豆类的出口进行征税，社会经济的主要来源。
A rise in land taxes is the only one planned.
耕地税的增长是唯一按照计划进行的，
He sometimes strikes an off-key note, as when he told Uruguayan businessmen that Paraguay aimed to be easy, like a beautiful woman.
有时候他的做派不是很合理，比如当他告诉乌拉圭商人巴拉圭头脑简单，就像一个徒有其表的美女。
But he has swiftly restored ties with Mercosur, a regional bloc from which Paraguay was suspended after the ousting of Mr. Lugo.
但是他很快恢复了与南方共同市场，自卢戈被驱逐后，受人怀疑的巴拉圭所在的区域集团。
Mr. Cartes has secured its readmission, partly by persuading Congress to ratify Venezuela's admission to the group.
卡特尔先生保证了巴拉圭重新获得认可，部分原因是因为说服了议会来修正委内瑞拉的入市资格。
It's in Paraguay's interests to be back inside Mercosur, he says. I don't want to waste my presidency on fights.
他说道：这返回南共市是巴拉圭的利益，我不想把时间浪费在争夺总统之位上面。
In Brazil strident calls for land reform faded when growth boosted jobs and salaries in cities.
在巴西疯狂叫嚣耕地改革的呼声已经褪去，当时城市工作岗位以及薪水均已经增长。
But even if Mr. Cartes's brand of trickle-down economics shows promise, many obstacles remain.
但是即使卡特尔模式的滴流经济学表态承诺实施，但是仍然困难重重。
Paraguay lacks the skilled workers to build all the promised infrastructure.
巴拉圭缺乏技术工人来建造所有的承诺过的基础设施。
And the Colorado old guard will surely regroup. They are giving me time, says Mr Cartes.
科罗拉多老保守派势力势必会重组。
If I deliver results it'll be fine. He is counting on people power and openness to maintain momentum.
他们给予了我时间卡特尔先生说道，如果我传达了结果，事态将会好些。
People get used to things getting better. If you give them improvements they won't want to go back.
他依靠人民大众的力量，公开保持这种势头。人们已经习惯了越来越好，如果你改善了他们的生活，他们将不想倒退回去。
中文导读 外资风投：黯然离场？ 上世纪90年代开始,“copy to China”风潮涌起,外资在中国这块赚钱的风水宝地如鱼得水。 如今,中国市场的魅力依然吸引着众多外资入局,但他们日子并不好过。 中国本土孵化器遍地开花、本土企业不断崛起,对外资风投形成了强有力的挤压。 当下中国科技大爆发、政策逐渐健全,“copy from China”的时代已经开启。未来,外资还会青睐中国市场吗？ less where that came from 与文章最后一句呼应,改用习语More Where that Came from:A greater number of similar things can be pro-vided in the future 陆续有来 skittish adj.not very serious and with ideas and feelings that keep changing 轻浮的;易变的;反复无常的 venture capitalist n.someone who makes money by investing in high risk projects 风险投资者 demo (=demostration)n.an act of showing or explaining how sth works or is done 示范;示范表演;演示 Y Combinator 美国著名创业孵化器,Y Combinator 扶持初创企业并为其提供创业指南 startup n.a small business that has recently been started by someone 新创办的小公司 vie (with sb)(for sth)与某人争夺某物SYN contend with sb for sth high-profile adj.receiving or involving a lot of attention and discus-sion on television,in newspapers,etc.经常出镜/见报的;高姿态的 accelerator a company that helps new companies get started by giving them such things as office space,legal help and marketing services in exchange for payment 企业加速器/孵化器SYN incubator the like of sb/sth (also sb’s/sth’s like )something similar to someone or a particular person or thing,or of equal importance or value 像某人(物)一样的人/物SYN equivalent ,match Dropbox 一款网络文件同步工具,提供在线存储服务,类似于百度云pull out of to move away from sth or stop being involved in it 脱离,退出 nurture v.to help sb/sth to develop and be successful 扶持;帮助;支持SYN foster It’s important to nurture a good working relationship.维持良好的工作关系非常重要。 localised adj.地方化的,本土化的incarnation n.化身,代表 in the context of 在?情况下;在?背景下 rift a serious disagreement between people that stops their relation- ship from continuing 分裂;分歧;严重不和SYN rupture ominous suggesting that sth bad is going to happen in the future 预兆的;恶兆的;不吉利的SYN foreboding By China,For China,Of China 建于中国、为了中国、属于中国,陆奇加入YC 时提的条件 arm a section of a large organization that deals with one particular activity 分部;职能部门 at odds with to be different from sth,when the two things should be the same (与?)有差异,相矛盾SYN conflict with venture capital money that is invested in a new company to help it develop,which may involve a lot of risk 风险资本(投入新公司的资金,风险很大) red-hot adj.new,exciting and of great interest to people 热门的,火爆的SYN sizzling operation n.a business organization;a company 商业机构;公司 Sand Hill Road 沙山路,硅谷一个普通地名,被称为“西海岸华尔街”,上百家声名如雷贯耳的风险投资公司在这里汇集,与华尔街不同,这里以投资高新技术产业为主 heavyweight n.a very important person,organization or thing that influences others 有影响力的人(或组织、事物)covet v.to want sth very much,especially sth that belongs to sb else 渴望;贪求(尤指别人的东西);觊觎 exchange n.a building where business people met in the past to buy and sell a particular type of goods 交易所 Investing in Chinese technology Less where that came from Homegrown rivals and skittish American investors are making life harder for foreign venture capitalists in China T HE FIRST “demo day”in Beijing last November of Y Combinator (YC)hosted two dozen local startups vying for the attention of high-profile investors.It marked the entrance into China of Silicon Valley’s most famous accelerator ,which has helped launch the likes of Airbnb and Dropbox .Then,days later,YC abruptly announced it was pulling out of the country. In a statement YC said that it was returning,under a new boss,to in- vesting in startups from its Californian base.Its Chinese startups will be nurtured by MiraclePlus,YC China’s new,fully localised incarna- tion .Yet in the context of a deepening Sino-American rift ,the retreat looks ominous .“Under the current global environment,to realise our mission—By China,For China,Of China —we must have the ability to master our own destiny,”wrote MiraclePlus in a social-media post,citing Lu Qi,its boss,whom YC had hired to set up its Chinese arm in 2018.(Mr Lu declined to be interviewed for this article.) At first glance,YC’s fate seems at odds with the broader health of foreign venture capital (VC)in China,with its red-hot tech indus-try.The Chinese operations of Sand Hill Road heavyweights such as Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital—whose fifth Chinese growth-stage fund raised $1.8bn,twice as much as its last—are thriv-ing.Chinese founders have coveted attention from foreign funds,seen as the best route to listing on American exchanges and keener than Chinese counterparts to back ideas that take longer to make money.
The Brain Activity Map 绘制大脑活动地图 Hard cell 棘手的细胞 An ambitious project to map the brain is in the works. Possibly too ambitious 一个绘制大脑活动地图的宏伟计划正在准备当中，或许有些太宏伟了 NEWS of what protagonists hope will be America’s next big science project continues to dribble out. 有关其发起人心中下一个科学大工程的新闻报道层出不穷。 A leak to the New York Times, published on February 17th, let the cat out of the bag, with a report that Barack Obama’s administration is thinking of sponsoring what will be known as the Brain Activity Map. 2月17日，《纽约时报》刊登的一位线人报告终于泄露了秘密，报告称奥巴马政府正在考虑赞助将被称为“大脑活动地图”的计划。 And on March 7th several of those protagonists published a manifesto for the project in Science. 3月7日，部分发起人在《科学》杂志上发表声明证实了这一计划。 The purpose of BAM is to change the scale at which the brain is understood. “大脑活动地图”计划的目标是改变人们在认知大脑时采用的度量方法。 At the moment, neuroscience operates at two disconnected levels. 眼下，神经学的研究处在两个断开的层次。 The higher one, where the dimensions of features are measured in centimetres, has many techniques at its disposal, notably functional magnetic-res onance imaging, which measures changes in tissues’ fuel consumption. 在相对宏观的层次当中各个特征的规模用厘米来衡量，有很多技术可以使用，尤其是用来测量组织中能量消耗变动情况的核磁共振成像技术。 This lets researchers see which bits of the brain are active in particular tasks—as long as those tasks can be performed by a person lying down inside a scanner. 该技术可使研究人员找出在完成具体的任务时，大脑的哪些部分处于活跃状态。At the other end of the scale, where features are measured in microns, lots of research has been done on how individual nerve cells work, how messages are sent from one to another, and how the connections between cells strengthen and weaken as memories are formed. 而另一个度量的层次则要求用微米来测量各种特征，这一层次的研究很多都是关于单个神经细胞是如何工作的、信息在神经细胞之间是如何传递的以及当产生记忆的时候神经细胞之间的联系是如何得到加强和减弱的。 Between these two, though, all is darkness. 然而，位于这两个层次之间的研究还处于一片漆黑当中。 It is like trying to navigate America with an atlas that shows the states, the big cities and the main highways, and has a few street maps of local neighbourhoods, but displays nothing in between.
Autism? 自闭症 Why it's not “Rain Woman”? 为什么它不是“雨女” Women have fewer cognitive disorders than men do because their bodies are better at ignoring the mutations which cause them? 与男性相比，患有认知障碍的女性较少，因为她们自身的身体能更好的忽略导致认知障碍的基因突变 AUTISM is a strange condition. Sometimes its symptoms of “social blindness”(an inability to read or comprehend the emotions of others) occur alone. This is dubbed high-functioning autism, or Asperger's syndrome. Though their fellow men and women may regard them as a bit odd, high-functioning autists are often successful (sometimes very successful) members of society. On other occasions, though, autism manifests as part of a range of cognitive problems. Then, the condition is debilitating. What is common to those on all parts of the so-called autistic spectrum is that they are more often men than women —so much more often that one school of thought suggests autism is an extreme manifestation of what it means, mentally, to be male. Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls are. For high-functioning autism, the ratio is seven to one.?
Central banks 各国央行 Brave new words 大胆新言论 Rich-world central banks explore more doveish strategies 发达国家央行探索更加温和的政策 FOR four years rich-world central banks have done their best to rejuvenate economies with conventional and unconventional monetary policy. Now, with short-term interest rates still stuck near zero and their balance-sheets stuffed with government bonds, the central banks of America, Britain and Japan are experimenting with a shift in approach: coupling monetary action with commitments designed to alter the public’s expectati ons of interest rates, inflation and the economy. The sense of change is reinforced by the prospect of new leaders at the Japanese and British central banks, and the increasing prominence of several doves at America’s. 4年来，发达国家央行为经济复苏想尽了一切办法，常规和非常规货币政策你方唱罢我登场。时至今日，短期利率依然近乎于零，资产负债表上依然满是政府债券。美国、英国和日本央行正在尝试改变路线：为了改变公众对于利率、通胀和经济前景的预期，他们做出一系列承诺，并将货币政策与承诺相结合。日本和英国央行新领导人即将走马上任，加上美国几位鸽派人物的声音日益突出，使改变即将到来的感觉愈发强烈。 A more doveish stance would entail tolerating higher inflation, at least temporarily, in pursuit of higher output: a significant shift given the primacy central banks have long given to low inflation. Bond investors have begun to price in higher inflation (see chart). But just how far each central bank is prepared to go is still uncertain. 为了提高产值，更加温和的政策意味着必须要容忍更高水平的通胀，至少短期内会是如此：央行长期以来将低通胀率视为第一要务的政策即将迎来重大改变。一些大胆的投资人已经开始以更高的通胀率定价（见图）。但是各国央行的新政力度到底有多大尚不得而知。 In Japan, Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, has used the term “regime change” to describe the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ’s) agreement to raise its inflation targe t to 2% from 1%, and pursue it with unlimited asset purchases. There are expectations for even more forceful action once Masaaki Shirakawa, the current governor, and his two deputies depart on March 19th. Under Mr Shirakawa the BoJ bought lots more assets, but critics said he undercut the positive impact by repeatedly saying they were not enough to end deflation and by restricting the maturity of bonds the bank bought. 日本首相安倍晋三曾以“制度改革”一词来形容日本央行的政策变化。日本央行同意将通胀目标从1%提高到2%，并表示为了实现这一目标资产收购将不设上限。有人预期现任行长白川方明和两位副行长3月19日离任之后，会有力度更大的政策出台。白川在任期间日本央行购入了大量资产，但是有人批评到，由于白川经常强调购入的资产数量仍不足以结束通货紧缩，而且对买入债券的期限种类
18Bitcoin’s future比特币的未来 Hidden flipside另一面；反面隐藏的另一面 How the crypto-currency could become the internet of money 加密货币是怎样变成互联网货币的 Mar 15th 2014 | From the print edition Bitcoin: the original 比特币的由来 1.THE father has been found in time for 及时赶上his child’s funeral. That would appear to be 似乎是，仿佛，显示为the sorry 遗憾的state of affairs 事态，状态，情况好坏in the land of Bitcoin, a crypto-currency, if recent press coverage 新闻报道is to be believed. On March 6th Newsweek新闻周刊（美国一杂志）reported that it had足迹，踪迹tracked down 追踪Satoshi Nakamoto,中本聪Bitcoin’s elusive [?'l(j)u?s?v]难以捉摸的creator. And on March 11th Mt Gox, the Japanese online exchange 交易所，交换，交流，兑换that had long dominated控制；支配；占优势；在…中占主要地位the trade in the currency before losing $490m of customers’Bitcoins at today’s prices, once more再一次，重新filed 提出for 再一次申请bankruptcy protection, this time in America. “父亲奔赴孩子的葬礼。”如果最近的新闻报道属实的话，那似乎会是比特币领域很遗憾的情况。3月6日，据《新闻周刊》报道，业已追踪到比特币发明人中本聪的踪迹，此人难以捉摸。日本的在线交易所Mt Gox长期以来一直是比特币行业的佼佼者，而如今，这一平台4.9亿客户的比特币被盗，于是，3月11日Mt Gox又在向美国申请破产保护。 2.In reality, things are rather different. Evidence证据，证明；迹象；明显is mounting 增加；爬上that Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, whom Newsweek identified as Bitcoin’s father, is not the relevant Satoshi. More importantly, Bitcoin’s best days 得意时代；全盛时代may still be ahead of优于，超过it—if not as a fully fledged成熟的；快会飞的；羽毛丰满的currency, then as a platform for financial innovation金融创新. Much as虽然，尽管（表让步）；非常像，和…几乎一样the internet is a foundation for digital services数字化服务, the technology behind Bitcoin could support a revolution革命in the way people own and pay for things. Geeks极客，专业人士of all sorts各种各样的are getting excited—including a growing number of 越来越多的venture capitalists,风险投资家，风险资本家who know a new platform when they see one. 事实上，一切都是迥然不同的。不断增加的证据表明《新闻周刊》的报道是错的，多利安-蒲伦蒂斯-中本聪(Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto)和比特币之父中本聪并不是同一个人。更重要的是，如果比特币没有作为一种完全成熟的货币，而是作为金融创新的平台，那么达到比特币的全盛时代依然任重而道远。如同互联网是数字化服务的基石一样，比特币背后的科技可以引领一场革命，而这场革命可以改变买方和卖方的交易方式。各路极客们都异常兴奋，其中不乏渐多大批风险资本家，一旦一个新平台出现，这些人就会对其了如指掌。 3.To understand the enthusiasm in this modern currency, it helps to think about a very old one. Until the early 20th century the people on Yap,[j?p]雅浦岛an island in the Pacific Ocean,太平洋used large stone disks 圆盘，磁盘(pictured) as money货币，钱，钱币for big expenses, 开支；消费；损失，代价such as a daughter’s dowry.嫁妆，陪嫁，天资Being very heavy, they were rarely 很少地；难得；罕有地moved when spent. Instead, they simply changed owners. Every
15年每周经济学人报刊中英文对照
空气污染英国需要采取更多措施来净化污浊的空气 Air pollution空气污染The big smoke雾都 Britain needs to do more to clean up its dirty air 英国需要采取更多措施来净化污浊的空气VISITING Oxford Street, a road teeming with tatty shops and overcrowded with people, is plainly a trial. Less plainly, levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a noxious gas, have been found to be around three times higher there than the legal limit. In 2013 the annual mean concentration of NO2 on the street was one of the highest levels found anywhere in Europe. 来到牛津街，你会看到街道两边布满了各式杂乱的商店，而道路上人满为患。行走在这条街上，很明显是个磨练。不为人觉察的是，这里有毒气体二氧化氮(NO2)测出含量超出法定水平的约三倍以上。２０１３年，这条街的NO2年均浓度是欧洲最高之一。 British air is far cleaner than it was a few decades ago. Fewer people use coal-burning stoves; old industrial plants have been decommissioned. But since 2009 levels of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, coarse or fine particles that are linked to lung cancer and asthma, have fallen more slowly. The exact number of deaths caused by dirty air is unknown. But in 2010 a government advisory group estimated that removing man-made fine particulate matter from the atmosphere would increase life expectancy for those born in 2008 by an average of six months. 英国的空气比几十年前干净多了。使用燃煤炉灶的人越来越少；老工业厂已经停产。但自2009年起，氧 化氮、微粒物质、以及与肺癌和哮喘相关的粗、细颗粒含量的下降速度减慢了。因污浊空气所引发的死亡人数是未知的。但2010年，一个政府顾问组估算如果将大气中人为造成的微粒物质除去的话，2008年的出生人口人均寿命将增加六个月。 Much of the slowdown is the result of fumes from diesel cars, which were championed by successive governments because they use less fuel and thus produce less carbon dioxide than petrol cars. In 2001 only 14% of all cars ran on diesel; by 2013 the proportion had increased to 35%. (Greener “hybrid” and electric cars have increased ninefold since 2006, but account for just 0.5% of the entire fleet.) Second-hand cars are particularly noxious, but even newer ones have not been as clean as hoped. Many cars that belched out few pollutants in tests produced more when on the roads. 下降速度放缓的大部分原因在于柴油汽车排放的尾气—这为历任政府所支持，因为柴油汽车耗用更少的能源，比汽油汽车排放更少的二氧化碳。2001年，仅14%的汽车使用柴油。2013年，这个比例上涨到了35%。（更绿色的“混合动力”和电瓶车自2006年以来增加了九倍，但仅占汽车总量的0.5%。）二手汽 车尤其有害，但新车也没所期望的那样清洁。很多车在污染物排放测试中排放量低，车在上路时却排放了更多。 Climate change and geoengineering气候变化与地质工程学Fears of a bright planet 地球发光，令人担心Experiments designed to learn more about ways of geoengineering the climate should be allowed to proceed为更好地利用工程学手段研究气候问题所设计的实验应该获准进行下去。SHINY things absorb less heat when left in the sun. This means that if the Earth could be made a little shinier it would be less susceptible to global warming. Ways to brighten it, such as adding nanoscale specks of salt to low clouds, making them whiter, or putting a thin haze of particles into the stratosphere, are the province of “geoengineering”. The small band of scientists which have been studying this subject over the past decade or so have mostly been using computer models. Some of them are now proposing outdoor experiments—using seawater-fed sprayers to churn out particles of the exact size needed to brighten clouds, or spewing sulphur particles from underneath a large balloon 20km up in the sky.发光的物体放在太阳下面会吸收较少的热量。这就意味着如果让地球发一点光的话，受到全球变暖的影响就会小一些。让地球发光的方式，比方说在低空云层上添加纳米级的盐微粒，让云变得更白，或者是将一层薄的雾状物洒向平流层，这些都属于地质工程学的范畴。过去十年左右研究这一领域的一小批科学家主要使用计算机模型，其中一些人现在提出要做室外实验――就是用装有
来源于https://www.doczj.com/doc/df3932113.html,/wordpress/（The Economist《经济学人》中文版）和https://www.doczj.com/doc/df3932113.html,/（《The Economist》《经济学人》中文版） 11月10, 2008 [2008.11.08] 美国大选：无限期望 America's election：Great expectations NO ONE should doubt the magnitude of what Barack Obama achieved this week. When the president-elect was born, in 1961, many states, and not just in the South, had laws on their books that enforced segregation, banned mixed-race unions like that of his parents and restricted voting rights. This week America can claim more credibly that any other western country to have at last become politically colour-blind. Other milestones along the road to civil rights have been passed amid bitterness and bloodshed. This one was marked by joy, white as well as black (see article). 相信无人质疑奥巴马于本周取胜的重要意义。这位新总统出生于1961年，那时美国很多州的法律都要求强化种族分离、禁止像奥巴马父母那样的跨族通婚、限制选举权利；这些不仅限于南部地区，而出现在全国范围内。从本周开始，美国可以更加自信的宣称：任何其他的西方国家都变得有些政治色盲了。在通向民权的道路上，其它里程碑似的重大历史事件都是在痛苦与血泊中通过的；而此次总统选举则以愉快著称，受到了包括白人及黑人在内的全国选民的称赞。 Mr Obama lost the white vote, it is true, by 43-55%; but he won almost exactly same share of it as the last three (white) Democratic candidates; Bill Clinton, Al Gore and John Kerry. And he won heavily among younger white voters. America will now have a president with half-brothers in Kenya, old schoolmates in Indonesia and a view of the world that seems to be based on respect rather than confrontation. 奥巴马丢掉了大约43%-55%的白人选票，这是不争的事实；但他与过去三位白人民主党候选人–克林顿、戈尔和肯尼迪–得到的白人选票几乎相同。同时，他在年轻一代的白人选民中取得了重大胜利。这位新总统有一个同父异母的兄弟在肯尼亚，有老同学在印尼，他的世界观似乎建立在尊重而不是对抗的基础之上。 That matters. Under George Bush America’s international standing has sunk to awful lows. This week Americans voted in record-smashing numbers for many reasons, but one of them was an abhorrence of how their shining city’s reputation has been tarnished. Their country will now be easier for its friends to like and harder for its foes to hate. 这很重要。在布什治下，美国的国际声誉降到了糟糕地步。本周美国选民的投票数量突破了历史纪录，其中原因很多，有一个就是他们对曾经辉煌无比的城市形象已然黯淡无光而感到愤恨。现在他们的国家将会更易赢得朋友的喜爱，而不易引起敌人的仇恨。 In its own way the election illustrates this redeeming effect. For the past eight years the debacle in Florida in 2000 has been cited (not always fairly) as an example of shabby American politics. Yet here was a clear victory delivered by millions of volunteers-and by the intelligent use of technology to ride a wave of excitement that is all too rare in most democracies. Mr Obama showed that, with the right message, a candidate with no money or machine behind him can build his own.
Free exchange 自由交易 The digital proletariat 数字无产阶级（无产阶级，不占有生产资料的阶级，这里意思我们产生数据，却无偿的交由互联网公司使用） 导读： Economists propose a radical solution to the problems posed byartificial intelligence 经济学家提出了一个彻底解决人工智能相关问题的方法。 正文： YOUhave multiple jobs, whetheryouknowitornot. 不管你有没有意识到，你身上都有多种生意。 Most begin first thing in the morning, when you pick up your phoneand begin generatingthe data thatmake up Silicon Valley’smost importantresource. 大多数生意在早晨开始，你拿起手机时就开始产生了数据。这些数据组成了硅谷最重要的资源 That, atleast, ishowwe oughtto think aboutthe role ofdata-creation in the economy, according to a fascinating new economics paper. 至少，这就是我们应该思考的：数据创造在经济里扮演怎样的角色，这是根据一篇很有吸引力的新经济文章提到的。
We are all digital labourers, helpingmake possible the fortunes generated by firms like Google andFacebook, the authors argue. 其中作者认为，我们就是所有数字的劳工，帮助像谷歌和脸书这样的公司创造财富。（fortunes命运，幸运，富有）Ifthe economy is to function properlyin the future—and ifa crisisoftechnological unemployment isto be avoided—we musttake accountofthis, and change the relationship between biginternetcompaniesand theirusers. 在未来经济运转良好的情况下，如果想要避免工业发展带来的失业危机，我们必须着眼于这件事情，并且改变大型互联网公司和他们用户之间的关系。 Artificial intelligence (AI) is getting better all the time, and stands poised totransform a host of industries, say the authors 作者说，人工智能势头一直越来越好，势必（准备）改变一大批工业。 But, in orderto learn to drive a carorrecognize a face, the algorithmsthatmake clever machines tick（滴答，拟声词，表示机器运作）mustusuallybe trained on massive amountsofdata. 但是，为了做到自动驾驶和人脸识别（主语是AI），使智能机器运作的法则必须经常用非常大量的数据进行测试。Internetfirms gather these data from users every time they click on aGoogle search result, say, orissue a command to Alexa.