【譯】更快、更省錢、更好 — 很多人指望科技來實現更美好的未來。但是隨著21世紀20年代的開始,人們對科技不再那麼樂觀。
【注】亮點表達:1. dawn n. 黎明、拂曉,此處為動詞,意為「開始」;2. be in short supply 供給不足。第二句的表達非常生動、地道。
172. Social media were supposed to bring people together. In the Arab spring of 2011 they were hailed as a liberating force. Today they are better known for invading privacy, spreading propaganda and undermining democracy.【譯】社交媒體本應該將人們聚集。在2011年的阿拉伯之春,它們被稱讚為「解放的力量」。而如今他們以侵犯隱私、鼓吹宣傳、破壞民主而著稱。
【注】典型的「對比型」論述,同時用舉例讓說理更令人信服。有用表達:invade privacy 侵犯隱私;spread propaganda 鼓吹宣傳;undermine democracy 破壞民主。
173. E-commerce, ride-hailing and the gig economy may be convenient, but they are charged with underpaying workers, exacerbating inequality and clogging the streets with vehicles.【譯】電子商務、網約車和零工經濟或許很便捷,但它們因支付工人過低的工資、加劇不平等、堵塞街道而受到指控。
【注】言之有物,描述具體。有用表達:underpay workers 支付工人過低的工資;exacerbate inequality 加劇不平等;clog the streets with vehicles 街道塞滿車輛。
174. Parents worry that smartphones have turned their children into screen-addicted zombies.【譯】家長擔心智慧型手機會把孩子變成一直盯著屏幕的「殭屍」。
【注】生動比喻:screen-addicted zombies 一直盯著屏幕的「殭屍」。
175. The technologies expected to dominate the new decade also seem to cast a dark shadow.【譯】被認為會主導接下來十年的那些科技似乎也並不被人看好。
【注】有用表達:1. cast a dark shadow 投射出陰影 2. the technologies expected to … 過去分詞expected作後置定語。
176. Artificial intelligence (AI) may well entrench bias and prejudice, threaten your job and shore up authoritarian rulers. 5G is at the heart of the Sino-American trade war. Autonomous cars still do not work, but manage to kill people all the same.【譯】人工智慧很有可能加重偏見、奪走工作機會,支持獨裁統治者;5G是中美貿易戰的核心;自動駕駛技術仍不太成熟,甚至讓人喪生。
【注】並列舉例。
177. The New York Times fretted that the anxiety was 「fed by growing doubts about society’s ability to rein in the seemingly runaway forces of technology」.【譯】《紐約時報》擔心:人們變得焦慮因為他們越來越懷疑社會能否掌控那些看似失控的科技力量。【注】有用表達:1. be fed by 被…滋養,被…加劇;rein in 控制;the seemingly runaway forces of technology 似乎失控的科技力量。178. Today’s gloomy mood is centred on smartphones and social media, which took off a decade ago. Yet concerns that humanity has taken a technological wrong turn, or that particular technologies might be doing more harm than good, have arisen before.【譯】如今的悲觀情緒集中在十年前才發展起來的智慧型手機和社交媒體上。然而,以前就有人擔心人類在科技方面走錯了路或者某些技術可能弊大於利。
【注】複雜結構:1. which 引導定語從句;2.that 引導同位語從句。
179. In the 1970s the despondency was prompted by concerns about overpopulation, environmental damage and the prospect of nuclear immolation. The 1920s witnessed a backlash against cars, which had earlier been seen as a miraculous answer to the affliction of horse-drawn vehicles — which filled the streets with noise and dung, and caused congestion and accidents.
【譯】在20世紀70年代,人們因擔心人口過剩、環境破壞和核毀滅的可能性而悲觀;在20世紀20年代,人們強烈反對汽車。但在那之前,馬拉車讓街道充滿噪音、糞便,並導致交通堵塞和交通事故,汽車則被看作是個奇蹟。
180. And the blight of industrialisation was decried in the 19th century by Luddites, Romantics and socialists, who worried (with good reason) about the displacement of skilled artisans, the despoiling of the countryside and the suffering of factory hands toiling in smoke-belching mills.
【譯】19世紀盧德主義者、浪漫主義者和社會學家譴責了工業化的弊端,他們有充分利用擔心熟練工匠被替代、鄉村被破壞、工人在濃煙滾滾的工廠裡辛苦勞作。
【注】並列結構:the displacement of skilled artisans 熟練工匠被替代;the despoiling of the countryside 鄉村被破壞;the suffering of factory hands toiling in smoke-belching mills 工人在濃煙滾滾的工廠裡辛苦勞作。
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