外刊精讀專欄回歸啦。我們今天來學習《經濟學人》中國專欄一篇關於垃圾分類的報導。
"垃圾分類"也是7月引起全網討論的一大熱門話題。想起來月初的時候，我還在上海，跟朋友談起我要去北京的事，他們都調侃說：「你不會是為了躲避垃圾分類吧！」 日劇《輪到你了》也因為劇中有一個角色天天督促鄰居垃圾分類，而被網友戲稱為「垃圾分類宣傳片」。
《經濟學人》又是如何報導這一政策呢？我們一起來讀一讀。原文比較長，我挑選了第一、二段進行分析，和以往一樣，我們不會局限於文本內容，而是會在文章的基礎上進行擴展，一如既往地乾貨滿滿。
大家先閱讀原文，有讀不懂的地方不要緊，後面會有詳細的講解。「What kind of rubbish are you?」 This question might normally provoke anger, but in Shanghai it has elicited weary groans over the past week. On July 1st the city introduced stringent trash-sorting regulations that are expected to be used as a model for the country. Residents must divide their waste into four separate categories and toss it into specific public bins. They must do so at scheduled times, when monitors are present to ensure compliance (and to inquire into the nature of one’s rubbish.) Violators face the prospect of fines and worse.
Shanghai authorities are responding to an obvious environmental problem. It generates 9m tonnes of garbage a year, more than London’s annual output and rising quickly. But like other cities in China, it lacks a recycling system. Instead, it has relied on trash pickers to sift through the waste, plucking out whatever can be reused. This has limits. As people get wealthier, fewer of them want to do such dirty work. The waste, meanwhile, just keeps piling up. China churns out 80bn pairs of disposable chopsticks a year.
第一段引入話題：上海開始實施嚴格的垃圾分類規定。
①「What kind of rubbish are you?」 ②This question might normally provoke anger, but in Shanghai it has elicited weary groans over the past week.
provoke指「激起，引起」(to cause a particular reaction or have a particular effect)，比如某事引起憤怒：provoke anger/outrage/fury，某事引起爭議：sth provokes controversy，某事引起廣泛的批評：sth provokes widespread criticism。
派生的形容詞provocative [prəˈvɑkətɪv] 有兩層含義：
elicit與provoke為同義替換，也是指「引起」，體現出作者用詞之豐富。近義表達還有spark, trigger, arouse, cause等。
weary 指「疲倦的，疲憊的」(very tired, especially after you have been working hard or doing sth for a long time)，比tired的語氣更重。
groan 指「抱怨，發牢騷」，既可作名詞也可作動詞，比如Parents were beginning to groan about the price of college tuition. 父母們開始抱怨大學的學費太貴。我們可以用groan about sth替換掉complain about sth，表示「抱怨某事」。
外刊中常見的表示「抱怨」的動詞還有：moan and groan about sth, gripe about sth, grumble about sth, lament sth, bemoan sth，大家可以聯繫起來記憶。
我們可以從②句中提煉出一個先讓步後轉折的句型：might/may …, but… 或許…，但是…。
我們都知道情態動詞might與may有 「可能，也許」的意思，因而暗含讓步的意味，常與but連用，表示儘管某事或許是事實，但與其不同或相反的事也是事實。我們在2018年的精讀社學過《經濟學人》裡面一篇書評，其中有這樣一段話：
We may be materially richer, some will protest, but aren’t we less happy because we know that others have even more? We may have supercomputers in our pockets, but aren’t they causing an epidemic of loneliness among the young? 我們在物質上也許確實是更富有了，但我們不也因為知道其他人比我們更富有，而變得更不快樂嗎? 我們口袋裡或許揣著超級電腦，可它們不也使孤獨如流行病般在年輕人中蔓延嗎?
作者在兩句話中都先用may讓步，再用but引出真正要表達的論點。我們再舉兩個簡單的例子：
He may be a good father but he’s a terrible husband. 他或許是一位好父親，但卻是個很糟糕的丈夫。
They might not have two cents to rub together, but at least they have a kind of lifestyle that is different.他們也許窮得叮噹響，但他們至少擁有一種不同的生活方式。
大家在以後在寫作文時也可以用might/may...but...句式替換although....來讓步和轉折。
③On July 1st the city introduced stringent trash-sorting regulations that are expected to be used as a model for the country.
the city 指代①句中Shanghai，既避免了重複用詞，也緊密地銜接了上下文。我們以前也講過，中英文的一大差異是英文講究變化，中文講究統一，所以當我們在用英文寫作時，要注意使用同義替換、代詞或者省略等方法避免重複。
stringent 指「嚴厲的，嚴格的」，與strict, tough相近，常用於形容法律、規章、標準等等。與之相反，形容詞lenient指「寬鬆的，寬容的」。
trash-sorting regulations 指「垃圾分類條例」，trash-sorting是合成的形容詞，來自於動詞短語sort trash 分類垃圾。sort作動詞，指「分類」。
model 指「模範，榜樣」。model作名詞還可表示「模特兒」，「模型」，同時也可作動詞，表示「做模特兒」，「製作模型」，比如Claire modelled for a few years when she was in her twenties.克萊爾在二十幾歲時做過幾年模特兒。
④Residents must divide their waste into four separate categories and toss it into specific public bins. ⑤They must do so at scheduled times, when monitors are present to ensure compliance (and to inquire into the nature of one’s rubbish.) ⑥Violators face the prospect of fines and worse.
divide sth into sth 指「把…分成…」，與sort sth into sth 為同義替換，這句話也可寫作：Residents must sort their waste into four separate categories.
waste與上文中的trash, rubbish為同義替換，都可指「垃圾」。哪四類呢？
toss指「扔，拋」，比如拋硬幣：toss a coin。toss還有「翻轉」的意思，短語toss and turn則表示「輾轉反側」，比如我一晚上在床上輾轉反側，睡不著覺，用英文可以說I couldn't sleep but kept tossing and turning in bed all night.
schedule作名詞指「日程安排」，比如China daily便把996工作制譯為the "996" schedule。
schedule作動詞指「安排，預訂」，文中at scheduled times即「規定的時間」。
monitors 這裡指的就是收垃圾的環衛阿姨/叔叔們。
inquire into sth 指「查究，調查」(If you inquire into something, you investigate it carefully)，呼應段首環衛阿姨的靈魂拷問What kind of rubbish are you 。
compliance [kəmˈplaɪəns] 指「服從，遵守」(when someone obeys a rule, agreement, or demand)，慣用詞組ensure compliance指確保人們遵守規定。
動詞形式為comply，comply with sth 表示「遵守…」，比如遵守規定：comply with the regulations。近義表達還有obey sth, observe sth, abide by sth等。
形容詞形式為compliant [kəmˈplɑɪ.ənt] 指「順從的，百依百順的」(willing to obey or to agree to other people's wishes and demands)。
nature 指「種類」， the nature of one’s rubbish即「垃圾的種類」。
violator 指違反規則的人。
prospect 許多同學比較熟悉它表示「前景」的意思，除此之外，prospect 還常用來表示「可能性」，face the prospect of sth 便表示「面臨…的可能性」，換句話說就是「可能會…」，文中face the prospect of fines 即「可能會被罰款」。
讀完講解之後，我們再把第一段連起來再閱讀一遍：
「What kind of rubbish are you?」 This question might normally provoke anger, but in Shanghai it has elicited weary groans over the past week. On July 1st the city introduced stringent trash-sorting regulations that are expected to be used as a model for the country. Residents must divide their waste into four separate categories and toss it into specific public bins. They must do so at scheduled times, when monitors are present to ensure compliance (and to inquire into the nature of one’s rubbish.) Violators face the prospect of fines and worse.
第二段闡述上海實施垃圾分類的原因。
①Shanghai authorities are responding to an obvious environmental problem. ②It generates 9m tonnes of garbage a year, more than London’s annual output and rising quickly. ③But like other cities in China, it lacks a recycling system.
這部分內容比較簡單，有兩個點需要講解一下。一是作者在論述上海垃圾的量時除了列舉數字之外，還將其與倫敦作對比，讓英國的讀者對數據一個直觀的感受，非常具有讀者意識，值得我們學習。二是小詞lack，lack在這裡作動詞，指「沒有，缺乏」。 我們可以用 lack 來表示否定，使句子更簡潔。以前我們想表達沒有XX時，第一反應是do not have XX，比如如果回譯③句，很多同學可能會寫成：But like other cities in China, it does not have a recycling system. 這樣寫未嘗不可，但用lack更加簡潔。
我們再來看一個例子：She does not have the courage to kiss him.👉 She lacks the courage to kiss him.
大家在替換使用時要注意兩者的細微區別，do not have 表示籠統的「沒有」，而lack帶一層「正常情況本應該有而實際沒有意味」。
④Instead, it has relied on trash pickers to sift through the waste, plucking out whatever can be reused. ⑤This has limits.⑥As people get wealthier, fewer of them want to do such dirty work. ⑦The waste, meanwhile, just keeps piling up. ⑧China churns out 80bn pairs of disposable chopsticks a year.
sift through 義為 「篩查，詳查，嚴密檢查」(If you sift through something such as evidence, you examine it thoroughly)，比如篩選簡歷：sift through resumes。
pluck 指「扯，拉，揪」，文中指將垃圾揀出來。
as people get ... 許多同學表達「隨著人們越來越...」時，許多同學只會說As people become more and more ...，但句式as people get...更加簡潔凝練，再舉個例子，隨著人們年齡漸長：as people get older, ...
pile up 小詞 pile 的基本含義是「堆」，由其引申而出的用法非常豐富：
1.pile up指「堆積，成堆」，往往用相對負面的事物上，比如工作越堆越多了：Work is starting to pile up. 他債臺高築：He piled up huge debt.
2.a pile of sth / piles of sth 表示「大量」，比如今天我有很多工作要做：I have piles of work to do today. 類似的表達還有 a mountain of sth：I have mountains of work to do today.
3.動詞短語 pile in 表示「蜂擁而入」(to go somewhere quickly without order or control)，常用於形容某個熱潮席捲而來，大家紛紛蜂擁而入，比如《經濟學人》一篇討論網約車公司的文章提到：As more firms pile into ride-sharing, and autonomous vehicles become part of the mix, the business may prove to be less lucrative than expected. 越來越多的公司爭相提供打車服務，再加上自動駕駛汽車也加入這一行列，這門生意也許最終並沒有預期的那麼賺錢。
churn out 還常用於描述學校「培養」學生，比如《紐約時報》一篇報導中國留學生的文章有這樣一句話：While the country’s educational emphasis on rote memorization churns out some of the world’s best test-takers, many Chinese families harbor worries that diverge sharply from those of the tiger parents of popular conception.中國的教育以死記硬背為重心，培養出了一些世界上最善於應試的人，但很多中國家庭的擔憂與大眾印象中的虎爸虎媽的擔憂截然不同。
我們把第二段連起來再閱讀一遍：
Shanghai authorities are responding to an obvious environmental problem. It generates 9m tonnes of garbage a year, more than London’s annual output and rising quickly. But like other cities in China, it lacks a recycling system. Instead, it has relied on trash pickers to sift through the waste, plucking out whatever can be reused. This has limits. As people get wealthier, fewer of them want to do such dirty work. The waste, meanwhile, just keeps piling up. China churns out 80bn pairs of disposable chopsticks a year.