本文節選自《經濟學人》20201212期
club culture
A different beat
The pandemic gives China's disc jockeys a chance to shine
Getting into ZhaoDai, an underground nightclub in a fashionable part of Beijing, involves a little more faff than it once did. Party animals must prove that they have not travelled anywhere they might have picked up covid-19, by showing doormen a code generated by a government mobile app. Once inside, however, the smoke-filled basement is just as sweaty as usual. On a recent Saturday a hundred unmasked revellers bopped to techno tunes. No one bothered to maintain social distancing while dancing.
disc jockey 是DJ的全稱，意思是「唱片騎士；音樂節目主持人」faff 意思是名詞「忙亂」animal 本意指「動物」，在這裡表示「某類型的人」，比如 She's not a political animal. 意思就是「她不是搞政治的那種人。」本文中 party animals 就表示「派對狂歡者」。pick upsth 是個動詞詞組，在這裡意思是「感染；得」code 本意是「代碼，暗碼」，在這裡指「健康碼；二維碼」sweaty 意思是「大汗淋漓的」，從側面說明了「夜店」的火爆。reveller 指「（醉酒）狂歡者」，動詞是revel（ 狂歡作樂）bop 意思是「跳博普舞」techno 指「泰克諾音樂（一種利用電子技術演奏的節奏鮮明的舞曲）」；介詞to 在這裡表示「和著（音樂）；踏著（音樂）」，比如dance to就表示「跟著……舞蹈」maintain social distancing 就表示「保持社交距離」
The pandemic posed an enormous threat to China’s fragile club scene. Nightspots in Beijing were forced to shut in January. They did not reopen properly until August. Yet many electronic-music clubs have weathered the disruption, in part because punters freed from lockdown have flocked back to them. A bouncer eyeing the crowd at Zhao Dai says it is as busy as it was before the closures. Michael Ohlsson, the American owner of Dada, another Beijing club, says his business will probably break even this year, despite being closed for much of its first half.
weather 用作動詞，意思是「經受住，平安地渡過（困難）」punter 指「顧客」，相當於customerflock 意思是「群集，聚集」，作名詞時意思是「群」；比如 birds of a feather flock together 就表示「同類的人（聚在一起）；物以類聚」bouncer 指「（俱樂部、酒店等的）門衛，保安」eye 用作動詞，意思是「注視」break even 是個短語，意思是「收支平衡；不賠不賺」；even在這裡是形容詞，意思是「變化不大的；均勻的」
The pandemic has wrought changes, nonetheless. Nightspots have long felt it necessary to fly in fashionable foreign DJS to help them draw crowds. As a result Chinese performers have always had to make do with supporting slots, says Huang Hongli, a DJ who uses the stage name of Hotwill. Now they have no choice but to give locals a chance to shine. This summer Zhao Dai held an outdoor festival, attended by 3,000 people. The 40 DJS who performed there were all Chinese.
wrought 意思是「使發生了，造成了（尤指變化）【僅用於過去時】」nonetheless 意思是「儘管如此」，表示轉折；意思上相當於neverthelessmake do with sth 是個短語，意思是「湊合；將就」
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