本期精讀選自The Economist關於日本旅遊業的文章：A crash in tourism leaves Japanese deer ravenous for treats
奈良旅遊的一大熱門項目就是前往奈良公園餵鹿，但疫情導致日本邊境關閉，外國遊客數量也急劇下降。因為缺少遊客餵養，奈良公園的不少鹿只能遊蕩到市區搜尋食物，一些鹿還改變了飲食習慣。作者藉此也分析了旅遊業對日本經濟的重要性。
主標題中treat是熟詞生義，它的意思是「美味食物」（a special food that tastes good），主標題含義是：（日本）旅遊業的急劇衰退導致日本的鹿飢餓不已，渴求美味食物。
向公眾號回覆：奈良，可以獲得本文的英文原文、翻譯版以及音頻。
首段介紹了大多數遊客在奈良參觀的行程，最後引入本文的主題：奈良的鹿。
The more than 13m tourists who visit Nara, an ancient capital of Japan, each year tend to follow a well-worn path.每年到日本古都奈良參觀的1300多萬遊客往往會沿著一條老路走。
well-worn可以用來形容物品被使用很久（worn or used a lot or for a long time），比如「一件舊夾克」可以說：a well-worn jacket
要表達「被很多人走過的路」，除了文中的說法外，還可以說：a well-travelled path/road
On their way into a park at the edge of the city they pass the towering wooden pagoda of Kofuku-ji, a temple complex founded in 710.在通往市郊公園的路上，他們會經過一座高聳的木塔寺廟——建於公元710年的古福寺。
Complex在這裡是熟詞生義，它的意思是「建築大樓或建築群」，比如有時候描述「購物和休閒中心」會說：a shopping and leisure complex
They continue to nearby Todai-ji, gazing in awe at Japan’s largest Buddha, a bronze behemoth weighing 400 tons and standing 15 metres tall.他們繼續前往附近的東大寺，沿路充滿敬畏地注視著日本最大的佛像。這尊巨大的青銅雕像重達400噸，高15米。
Somebody does something in awe意即「某人充滿敬畏地做某事」，也可以說somebody stands in awe (of something)，比如新概念英語3第54課就有這樣的句子：
Who has not stood in awe at the sight of a spider pouncing on a fly, or a column of ants triumphantly bearing home an enormous dead beetle?
當看到蜘蛛撲向一隻蒼蠅時，一隊螞蟻抬著一隻巨大的死甲蟲凱旋歸時，誰能不感到敬畏呢？
And finally they feed shika senbei, a special kind of rice cracker, to the sacred deer, some 1,300 of which live in the park.最後，遊客會給奈良的神鹿餵食一種稱為鹿仙貝餅的特殊餅乾。這些鹿裡面大約有1300隻住在公園裡面。
Some在這裡用來對數值進行估計，相當於「大約」的意思，比如：She gained some 25 pounds in weight during pregnancy. 她在懷孕期間體重差不多增加了 25 磅。
第二段介紹了遊客減少對鹿群造成的影響。
The deer, though wild, have come to love the crackers. With tourism reduced to a trickle because of the pandemic, they are hungry. Many have begun wandering far from home in search of food.這些鹿雖然有野性，但它們已經開始喜歡上餅乾了。由於疫情原因遊客數量不斷減少，它們也因為沒有東西吃而感到飢餓。很多鹿開始遠離居住地以尋找食物。
Come to do something意思是「開始做某事」，比如：I have come to like her over the months. 經過這幾個月的時間，我開始喜歡上她了。
With tourism reduced to a trickle…這一說法很形象，something is reduced to a trickle一般是指小溪越流越窄，最後變成涓涓細流，這裡用來形容遊客數量減少很貼切。
A recent study by the Nara Deer Preservation Foundation and Tatsuzawa Shirow of Hokkaido University shows that 20% fewer are spending their days in the park; incidents of damage caused by deer in town have shot up.最近，奈良鹿保護基金會和北海道大學的達澤志郎的一項研究表明，在公園裡生活的鹿減少了20%；進城的鹿造成的破壞事件也急劇增加。
The less enterprising ones, apparently accustomed to eating only crackers, have become emaciated.那些不太進取的鹿顯然習慣於只吃餅乾，它們變得很憔悴。
第三段介紹了日本旅遊業受疫情影響的情況。
The deer are not the only ones going hungry. So are businesses in places like Nara, which have come to rely ever more heavily on tourism in recent years.挨餓的不只是鹿群，在奈良以及其他類似地方的商家也是如此。近年來，這些商家對旅遊業的依賴程度越來越高。
Fewer than 7m foreign tourists visited Japan in 2009; last year some 32m did. Revenue from tourism hit a record 4.8trn yen ($46bn).2009年到日本旅遊的外國遊客不到700萬，而去年約有3200萬。旅遊業的收入達到了創紀錄的4.8萬億日元（460億美元）。
With the Olympics scheduled for this past summer, Japan had hoped to welcome 40m foreigners this year. Instead, after a near-total closure of its borders because of the pandemic, arrivals have dropped by 99.4%.奧運會本來定於今年夏天舉行，日本之前也希望今年能夠迎來4000萬外國遊客。與之相反的是，由於疫情導致日本邊境幾乎全面關閉，到日本的遊客數量下降了99.4%。
第一句後半句用的是過去完成時：Japan had hoped to welcome… 這是因為日本希望迎來4000萬遊客這件事發生在今年夏天之前，屬於過去的過去，因此要用過去完成時。
第四段介紹了日本政府應對旅遊業衰退採取的措施。
The government has tried to cushion the blow by encouraging its own citizens to get out more.政府試圖通過鼓勵本國公民更多外出來緩解疫情造成的打擊。
cushion the blow是一個固定搭配，意思是「減緩打擊」，比如：He has lost his job, but the redundancy money will cushion the blow.
The Diet earmarked ¥1.35trn ($12.9bn) for 「Go To Travel」 subsidies, which provide discounts of up to 35% at domestic hotels and inns; a concurrent programme called 「Go To Eat」 applies to restaurants.國會專門撥出1.35萬億日元（129億美元）用於「去旅行」計劃的補貼，這一計劃為國內酒店和旅館提供高達35%的折扣；一個名為「去吃飯」的並行補貼計劃則適用於餐館。
The Diet這裡指的是The National Diet，即日本的國會。
The ministry of tourism says nearly 40m nights have been booked under the programme since it was launched in July. That is a pyrrhic victory: the campaign is thought to have contributed to a recent uptick in covid-19. Daily cases reached a record of 2,680 on November 28th.旅遊部表示，該計劃自7月份推出以來，已經促成了近4000萬晚的酒店和旅館房間預定。但這一勝利得不償失：人們認為該計劃導致了最近新冠感染人數的上升。日本的每日感染案例在11月28日達到了破紀錄的2680例。
pyrrhic victory來源於古希臘羅馬典故。公元前279年，古希臘伊庇魯斯國（Epirus）的皮洛士王（King Pyrrhus）在戰爭中打敗了羅馬軍隊，但這次勝利也讓他損失了絕大部分精銳部隊，他也因此說了這樣一句話：If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined. 後面人們常用pyrrhic victory來表示因代價沉重而得不償失的勝利。
Suga Yoshihide, Japan’s prime minister, recently announced that the subsidies would be suspended in areas with high caseloads. In addition, older Japanese have been asked not to make use of them.日本首相菅義偉近日宣布，將在疫情嚴重地區暫停補貼。此外，日本老年人也被建議不要使用這些補貼。
第五段強調了旅遊業對日本的重要性。
Japan is loth to give up on tourism, or to let the infrastructure that supports it wither. (Mr Suga himself championed tourism as chief cabinet secretary to his predecessor, Abe Shinzo.)日本不願意放棄旅遊業，也不願意讓支撐旅遊業的相關基礎設施陷入荒廢（作為其前任安倍晉三的內閣官房長官，菅義偉本人也是旅遊業的倡導者)。
Officials see spending by foreign visitors as a means to compensate for Japan’s own shrinking population. Tourism may also help make Japan more open to foreign migrants in the future, says Saito Jun of the Japan Centre for Economic Research, a think-tank in Tokyo.官員們認為，外國遊客的消費是彌補日本自身人口減少的一種手段。日本經濟研究中心（這是位於東京的一家智庫）的齋藤俊表示，旅遊業還可能讓日本在未來對外國移民更加開放。
結尾段介紹了奈良一些鹿為了適應新形勢而採取的變化。
Meanwhile, the more resourceful deer in Nara have reverted to a healthier diet of plants and nuts, which has been good for their insides.與此同時，奈良一些比較機智的鹿重新吃起了植物和堅果，這是一種健康的飲食方式，對它們的內臟有好處。
Revert to something/doing something意思是「恢復，回到（以前的狀態）」，比如我們可以說：It is all too easy for ex-smokers to revert to their old habit.
Their droppings, made pale and runny by the crackers, have become firmer and darker again. If only belt-tightening were as good for the economy.它們之前因為吃餅乾，糞便變得蒼白和流質化，現在又重新變得黑而結實了。如果勒緊腰帶對經濟的幫助也有這麼大就好了。
If only…在這裡用來表達說話者的願望，類似於虛擬語氣的用法，意思相當於「如果……就好了」，作者在這裡由鹿群節食的行為轉向對經濟大環境的討論，隱含的意思相當於：Belt-tightening is bad for the economy.
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