|
番薯翻硕开通“外刊精读”专刊，帮助大家更好地备考，每周三、周五更新，各位备考MTI专业的小伙伴一起学习起来吧。 作为亚洲四小龙之一，新加坡历来是世界关注的国际贸易中心，今天让我们跟随经济学人的报道来一同了解一下新加坡如今面临的困境及发展机遇。
原文导读（上）Open and shut
Singapore’s finance industry is booming. Over the past year it grew by 7.2%—four times faster than the overall economy. The city-state has become Asia’s leading foreign-exchange market, and its fund managers and family offices cater to a dizzyingly high number of ludicrously rich people. The “ultra- high -net- worth individuals” based in Singapore will grow by some two-thirds between 2020 and 2026, predicts Knight Frank, an estate agent. All this means more foreign finance workers, too.
The boom is likely to accelerate. A growing number of foreigners and locals based in Hong Kong and Shanghai, two cities subject to onerous covid-19 restrictions, have been moving to Singapore since it reopened its borders. In the race between these three Asian financial centres for preeminence, Singapore is in pole position.
Yet the political foundations on which the industry was built are shifting. In April the ruling People’s Action Party (pap) announced that Lawrence Wong would succeed the current prime minister as head of the party at some point in the future (he took over as deputy prime minister on June 13th). Because the pap has been in government since 1959, Mr Wong is all but guaranteed to become the country’s fourth prime minister. In a speech on June 28th, he acknowledged that many Singaporeans feel “anxiety” about being forced to compete with foreigners for jobs, and vowed to put Singaporeans “at the centre of everything”. Placating nativists at home while ensuring the country remains open to foreign talent will be one of Mr Wong’s greatest challenges in the years ahead. 
Having been governed by the same political party for six decades, Singapore is a byword for stability. Its courts have a reputation for commercial impartiality. Opposition parties exist—yet the most influential one is not even certain it wants to be in government. Assured of its impregnable position, the ruling party by and large concentrates on governing rather than mudslinging. It has a well-deserved reputation for competent, evidence-based policymaking. Singapore is a sure thing in an increasingly turbulent world, which makes it an attractive place to do business.
第一段：Singapore’s finance industry is booming. Over the past year it grew by 7.2%—four times faster than the overall economy. The city-state has become Asia’s leading foreign-exchange market, and its fund managers and family offices cater to a dizzyingly high number of ludicrously rich people. The “ultra- high -net- worth individuals” based in Singapore will grow by some two-thirds between 2020 and 2026, predicts Knight Frank, an estate agent. All this means more foreign finance workers, too.
参考译文：新加坡的金融业正在蓬勃发展。在过去的一年里，新加坡经济增长了7.2%，是整体经济的四倍。这个城市国家已经成为亚洲领先的外汇市场，其基金经理和家族理财办公室迎合了无数富人的需求，这些富人多到让人瞠目结舌。房地产经纪人奈特·弗兰克预测，2020年至2026年间，新加坡的“超高净值个人”将增长约三分之二。这一切也意味着新加坡会有更多的外国金融工作者。
知识点解读：
1.Boom：在经济学上常表示“经济蓬勃发展”，“”也可以用另一个地道的表达替换，即“be in full flourish”或者直接说“flourish”，例如，“The economy flourishes despite a fairly high rate of chronic unemployment. 尽管失业率居高不下,经济仍在蓬勃发展。”但是注意，我国政经文本上更多使用“a high-speed development”来形容“经济蓬勃/快速发展”,例如，“Since the reform and opening up, China's economy has been in a high-speed development. 改革开放以来，我国经济快速发展。”
2.ultra-high-net-worth:这是一个由4个单词组合成的形容词，意为“超高净值的”，我们一一来拆分学习。
Ultra：极端的、过分的，例如，“ultra-bright 超亮的”，“ultra-high speed 超高速”。那文中的“ultra-high”即为“超高的”
Net worth：净值，净利润，经济学专业术语，这里的“worth”可以用“revenue”或者“value”、“interest”等替换。常见的其他经济表达还有“Net Sales Revenue销售收入净值”和“Net realizable value可变现净值”。
3.estate：房地产，多指地产或建在地面上的房产，例如经济学上常见的“real estate不动产，房地产”、“real estate tax 不动产税”和“real estate agency 房地产公司”。文中的“estate agent”即为“房地产经纪人/经销商”。
这里我们需要区分一下“不同财产”的表达：
Property：指个人或团体合法拥有的财产，包括动产与不动产。
Assets：法律和商业用词，指包括全部动产和不动产的资产。
Wealth：普通用词，既可指大笔的钱财或物质财富，也可指抽象的精神财富。
Resources：主要指自然资源，包括国家土地、矿藏、水力，或个人的存款及其他财产。
Goods：含义较窄，主要指个人动产，也可以指小商品。
第二段：The boom is likely to accelerate. A growing number of foreigners and locals based in Hong Kong and Shanghai, two cities subject to onerous covid-19 restrictions, have been moving to Singapore since it reopened its borders. In the race between these three Asian financial centres for preeminence, Singapore is in pole position.
参考译文：新加坡经济繁荣可能会加速。香港和上海的疫情管控严峻，自新加坡重新开放边境以来，越来越多居住在香港和上海的外国人和本地人开始迁往新加坡。在这三个亚洲金融中心争夺领先地位的竞争中，新加坡处于领先地位。
知识点解读：
1.onerous：繁重的，例如，“My household duties were particularly onerous.我的家务活很繁重”文中的“onerous”更多指代其引申义“serious”，因此译成“疫情管控严峻”。
2.preeminence：名词，卓越，杰出，经济学上常用的表达有“economic preeminence 经济优势”和“preeminence period 卓越周期”。把“preeminence”的前缀“pre”去掉，新词“eminence”也表示“卓越，杰出”，但是“eminence”暗含“受人尊重”之意，其形容词为“eminent”，常有“杰出的、受人爱戴”之意，其近义词为“prominent”，以上皆是同一词根的延伸词汇，可以一起积累。
3.be in pole position：处于有利地位，是非常地道的外刊表达，例如，“That party is in pole position. 该党处于优势地位。”
第三段：Yet the political foundations on which the industry was built are shifting. In April the ruling People’s Action Party (pap) announced that Lawrence Wong would succeed the current prime minister as head of the party at some point in the future (he took over as deputy prime minister on June 13th). Because the pap has been in government since 1959, Mr Wong is all but guaranteed to become the country’s fourth prime minister. In a speech on June 28th, he acknowledged that many Singaporeans feel “anxiety” about being forced to compete with foreigners for jobs, and vowed to put Singaporeans “at the centre of everything”. Placating nativists at home while ensuring the country remains open to foreign talent will be one of Mr Wong’s greatest challenges in the years ahead.
参考译文：然而，该行业赖以建立的政治基础正在发生变化。4月，执政的人民行动党（pap）宣布，劳伦斯·黄将在未来某个时间节点接替现任首相担任党的领导人（他于6月13日接任副总理）。由于人民行动党自1959年以来一直执政，黄几乎肯定会成为新加坡的第四任首相。在6月28日的一次演讲中，他承认许多新加坡人对被迫与外国人竞争工作感到“焦虑”，并誓言要把新加坡人放在“一切的中心”。既要安抚国内的本土主义者，同时又要确保国家对外国人才保持开放，这将是黄未来几年面临的最大挑战之一。
知识点解读：
1.shift:轮班、转变、转移，侧重位置与方向的改变，外刊上常见的表达有“day shift 日班”、“evening shift 晚班（等同于graveyard shift）”和“shift system 轮班制”。
2.succeed：常见的意思多为“成功”，但是本词也可以表示“继位、连续”，如同本文，惯用表达为“succeed someone as 接任某人的职务”，又例如，“He had no son to succeed him. 他没有儿子继承他”
3.head：头目、领导，政经报道中常用的词，尤其是在政府类公文中，很少会用leader一次，形容“某部门的部长”、“某机构的负责人”、“某国的领导人”，统统用“the head of…”，例如，“The head of Singapore met successfully with high-level US officials. 新加坡的国家领导人与美国高层成功会晤。”
4.take over:接管，尤其是职位上的交接，例如，“Miss Smith has asked for a sick leave, and I have to take over her work for a couple of days.史密斯小姐请病假了，我不得不接管几天她的工作。”
5.Deputy：副的；代理的，例如，“deputy prime minister 副总理”、“deputy manager 副经理”，另一个表示“副的”的单词为“vice”,两者没有本质区别，主要看表达习惯，例如“副总统”一般是“vice-president”（也可以理解成“副校长”）。
6.Acknowledge：有“承认”和“感谢”之意，例如，“I acknowledge the truth of his statement.我承认他说的是事实。”和“We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of everyone who helped us.我们衷心感谢每一位帮助我们的人所付出的努力。”
7.compete with：与…竞争，后面接竞争对手，例如，“She competed with her rival for a prize.她与对手一比高低以图获得奖品。”而compete for是“为了…而竞争”，后面接竞争的内容，例如，“These young men competed for the gold medal.这些年轻人为夺取金牌而比赛。”
8.vow to：誓要……，例如，“I vowed to do more for the God.我发誓多贡献神明。”
第四段：Having been governed by the same political party for six decades, Singapore is a byword for stability. Its courts have a reputation for commercial impartiality. Opposition parties exist—yet the most influential one is not even certain it wants to be in government. Assured of its impregnable position, the ruling party by and large concentrates on governing rather than mudslinging. It has a well-deserved reputation for competent, evidence-based policymaking. Singapore is a sure thing in an increasingly turbulent world, which makes it an attractive place to do business.
参考译文：新加坡由同一个政党统治了60年，现今已经是“稳定”的代名词。其法院以商业公正著称。反对党是存在的，但最有影响力的政党甚至不确定它是否想加入政府。执政党确信其坚不可摧的地位，总的来说，它专注于执政而不是抹黑。它因有能力、循证决策而享有当之无愧的声誉。在一个日益动荡的世界中，新加坡始终是一个可靠的国家，这使它成为一个有吸引力的经商之地。
知识点解读：
1.have a reputation for：负有…的名声，例如，“The judge had a reputation for complete objectivity. 那法官素以大公无私著称。”“久负盛名”的表达为“have long enjoyed high reputation”；“浪得虚名”的表达为“have unearned reputation”。
2.be assured of：确信，使放心，例如，“Please be assured of our continued cooperation.请相信我方将继续与你合作。”
3.well-deserved：非常值得的、当之无愧的。
4.evidence-based：以事实为依据的。
5.turbulent：有多重意思，描述局势时表示“动荡不安的”，例如，“Singapore is a sure thing in an increasingly turbulent world. 在一个日益动荡的世界中，新加坡始终是一个可靠的国家。”描述风雨时表示“汹涌的”，例如，“The oarsman was feathering through the turbulent waves.划桨者正平掠过汹涌的波浪。”描述感情时表示“情绪波动或心神不定”，例如，“My heart is totally turbulent. 我的心很乱”
| 
