《经济学人》赏析：The Chinese are coming

本文由 现象级英语--经济学人共读小组 完成。前言、标题、配图、作者介绍及1-2段由路人丁完成，3-5段由灿灿由完成，6-7段由Becky完成。

本次赏析，我们选了比较熟悉的文章，一篇有关我们中国的文章。通篇看下来，非常舒服，毕竟少了那么多需要了解的背景。同时，我可以了解下他们是如何向外国人解释他们不熟悉的东西。

这篇文章是来自The World in 2019，里面全是预测2019年全球发展趋势。 现在开始步入正题。

标题及配图
首先，看到这个题目The Chinese are coming，我想起了BBC的纪录片The Chinese are coming。这个纪录片主要讲了中国的崛起以及其带来的影响和产生的问题。
BBC：The Chinese are coming
其次，它也表示中国的支付方式铺天盖地地来了。

通过副标题，我们就能提前猜到文章的主要内容是有关支付宝及微信支付。

整个配图充满的都是很具有中国特色的生肖挂件。今年是狗年，估计接下来的中国猪年生肖挂件还没普遍上架，只能选择当前的狗年。

另外有些版本有这句“Chinese methods of payment will spread round the world”。虽然这句有助于对题目的解释，但是没有也不影响理解。

语言点

• cuddly：它主要是说 (动物玩具)“柔软的，适合搂抱的”。我们就很容易注意到配图里的猪宝宝都是很柔软的。
  但这个词在这里修饰的是“QR”，它更应该表示“designed to be easy to like and not to offend people”。

作者Simon Long

《经济学人》文章一般没有署名，而这里有。这是国际版块主编写的，而不是中国版块的主编写的。而国际版块关注的是世界范围内普遍的东西。这再次有力说明了中国支付方式在世界范围内的普及程度。

下面我们来介绍一下此文的作者Simon Long。除了负责《经济学人》国际版，Simon Long还写 “Banyan”专栏。在当国际版主编以前，他主要负责金融和经济版块（finance and economics）, 而此文涉及的支付属于金融范畴，我们就来欣赏他的文章，看他如何从金融的角度来讲述。

Paragraph 1
①IN SOME backwaters, metal discs and rectangular pieces of paper (known as “cash”, apparently) are still in vogue as a way to pay for things. ②Remarkably, some people still fill out slips of paper, sign and date them and consign them to the post (“cheques”). ③But three other ways to pay are gaining ground: by internet transfer; by plastic card, signed, authenticated by a code number (“chip and PIN”) or “contactlessly” wafted in the vicinity of a vendor’s terminal; and by mobile phone. ④In 2019 this last technique will advance further, and Chinese methods of payment will spread remorselessly round the world.

段落赏析

这段主要介绍世界现存的主要付钱方式。作为曾主编过金融版块的人，他出手不凡，以本质的形式介绍各个支付方式，从农村到城市，从不普遍到普遍，从原始到科技化。最后点出了本文的主题：中国的手机支付方式。

Ways to pay for things
另外有关移动支付，《经济学人》出过专门的报告How mobile money is spreading，大家可以配合着读。

词句精读

• gain ground：gain ground的意思是“想法、理想等越来越流行，逐渐为人接受”，比如三种方式正逐渐被人接受，文章里是这么说的：“But three other ways to pay are gaining ground.”。
  《经济学》主编Doniel Franklin代表期刊记者们展望2019年，其中第11条：“It’s the year of…the vegan, “slow social”, gender self-ID and civil partnerships (gaining ground on traditional marriage in a growing number of countries).”。
  男性不一定比老婆挣得多这一观念越来为人接受，我们可以这么说“The idea that men could earn less than their wives is gaining ground in the society.”。

• in the vicinity of：in the vicinity of的意思是“在……附近”。这比较正式，可以替换“close to”“near”。
  除了接触式刷卡外，还有一种就是在终端附近挥一下的刷卡方式，跟waft配合，很形象，这篇文章是这是就么写的：“contactlessly” wafted in the vicinity of a vendor’s terminal。
  Los Angeles Times在一篇有关反对对移民小孩实行催泪弹的文章里：“It’s unfortunate that women and children were in the vicinity of the group trying to enter the U.S,” he added.
  学校旁边有很多零食店，我们可以说：“There were a lot of snack shops in the vicinity of the primary school.”

• remorselessly：remorseless的意思是“(of something unpleasant) relentless”，表示“（尤指不快的事）无休止的”。它的副词形式表示“不停地”。常用的表示“不停地”有continuously, continually, non-stop, unfailingly。
  《经济学人》在描述中国发展时，也用这个词：“For the next 37 years, its share grew remorselessly, accelerating around the time of its entry into the World Trade Organisation in 2001.”
  比如她老师不停的强调基础算术及文学，我们可以说：“Her teacher focused remorselessly on the basics of numeracy and literacy.”。

• ②Remarkably, some people still fill out slips of paper, sign and date them and consign them to the post (“cheques”).
  一连串动作在一句里写完，很紧凑，脑海里就出现迅速签支票的画面。这里的sign and date表示“签名及签日期”。

Paragraph 2
①Two Chinese systems are expanding abroad. ②One is Alipay, a smartphone-based system devised for Taobao, an online platform run by Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce behemoth. ③Now under Alibaba’s affiliate, Ant Financial (an institution that in 2018 raised funds on terms suggesting its market value was about $150bn, more than Goldman Sachs’s), it claims some 870m users. ④Its rival is WeChat Pay, a product of Tencent, a social-media giant. ⑤Most Chinese use both.

段落赏析

第二段主要描写这种两支付系统，用的是总分总的结构。第一句及最后一句都是用简单句。中间先介绍支付宝，然后是微信支付。

词句精读

• behemoth & giant：表示“巨头”。这里有两个词表示“巨头”，一个是“behemoth”，另一个是“giant”。此外，还有“titan”，“goliath”, “goliath”, “juggernaut”。

• some：在“it claims some 870m users”句里，some的意思是“[ADV 副词] (用于数目前)大约”，可以替代用烂的“about”。这个用法我以前没有接触过，想表示“大约”时就可以用起来。
  《经济学人》说股市跌去5万亿，它就用到了"some"：“Some $5trn was wiped off the value of shares globally. ”
  我已经学英语近20年了，就可以说“I have studied English for some 20 years.”

• 如何向老外介绍中国东西：

  • 用有点熟悉的东西解释不熟悉的，用熟悉的东西解释有点熟悉的。
    Alipay： a smartphone-based system devised for Taobao
    Alipay估计让人更蒙了，借Taobao来说明。
    Taobao：an online platform run by Alibaba
    相对来说，Taobao就相对不熟，所以借Alibaba来说明。
    Alibaba: a Chinese e-commerce behemoth
    Alibaba对于外国人不陌生。
    这一系列环环相扣的解释彻底让读者明白支付宝是什么了，同样的方式来解释微信支付了。
    WeChat Pay：a product of Tencent
    微信支付是腾讯的产品。
    Tencent：a social-media giant.
    腾讯是一个社交巨头。
    
  • 除了有关联关系间的介绍，还可以跟比较知名的外国公司作对比。
    Ant Financial：Alibaba’s affiliate
    Ant Financial：an institution that in 2018 raised funds on terms suggesting its market value was about $150bn, more than Goldman Sachs’s
    这句可以补充介绍蚂蚁金服。

Paragraph 3
①And both are expanding overseas. ②By one account a third of Alipay’s users are abroad. ③In the summer of 2018 it processed 2.6 times as many foreign transactions as in the same period a year earlier. ④Like WeChat Pay, it set off abroad in pursuit of the growing numbers of Chinese tourists. ⑤Outlets in more than 40 countries accept it. ⑥Besides expanding under its own name, Alipay is buying stakes in local payments companies across Asia—including Paytm in India, ePaisa in Pakistan and Dana in Indonesia. ⑦WeChat Pay is also expanding into South-East Asia.

段落赏析

本段讲的是支付宝和微信支付的海外扩张。他们是跟随着中国人海外旅游的热潮而展开的，超过49个国家的奥特莱斯购物中心都可以使用。支付宝更是入股了很多亚洲国家当地的支付公司，微信支付也扩张到了东南亚国家。

词句精读

• stake：意思是“股份，股本”，“if you have a stake in a business, you have invested money in it”，常用搭配是“hold / have a stake in sth”。比如说我们要表达，他在这家公司拥有 51% 的股份，就可以说：He holds a 51% stake in the firm. 另外，stake还有“风险”的意思，常用搭配是“at stake”,表示有风险，成败难料，if something that you value very much is at stake, you will lose it if a plan or action is not successful.

背景补充

outlet，本意是“出口，出路，通风口，排泄口”。Outlet首创于美国，已有上百年历史，是欧美发展最为强劲的零售业态，并逐渐风靡盛行欧美、东南亚等诸多国家。最初Oulet为工厂直销店，后慢慢形成类似shopping mall的Outlet购物中心，继而发展成独立的零售业态。

Outlet

Paragraph 4
①The payment systems they are introducing are so ubiquitous in China that even beggars use them. ②They are based on Quick Response (QR) codes, the square, black-and-white dot matrices first introduced in Japan’s car industry in the 1990s. ③These will take market share at the expense of other payment systems for two main reasons. ④One is the size of the Chinese market and the continued growth of the Chinese economy. ⑤The other is that they are easy to use—and cheap, requiring only a smartphone.

段落赏析

本段讲的是这两种支付系统在中国太普遍了。他们都是基于二维码，这个最初是由日本引入到了汽车行业。之所以盛行的原因，一个是中国市场的体量和中国经济的增长；另一个是使用的便捷性和低廉性，有智能手机就可以了。

词句精读

• ubiquitous：意思是“无处不在的”，“seeming to be everywhere - sometimes used humorously”，近义词为“common”。 比如，我们想表达，如今好像到处都是咖啡馆，就可以说：Coffee shops are ubiquitous these days.

• at the expense of：意思是“以…为代价；由…支付费用；在损害……情况下”，可以替换为“at the cost of”。我们想表达，不要因次要问题而冲淡了中心任务，就可以说：Don't stress minor issues at the expense of the central task.

Paragraph 5
①To see how they might take hold, consider Finland. A Finnish payments firm, ePassi, grew out of a software company under pressure from its staff in 2007 to give them tax-free benefits in kind, such as gym memberships and massages (Finland is a nice place). ②Balking, out of digital amour proper, at doing this with paper vouchers, it devised a virtual substitute—first in the form of text messages and then as a smartphone app, where users would select the payee from a list or map.

段落赏析

本段是用芬兰举例，讲移动支付如何占据主导地位。通过举epassi的例子，说明虚拟替代纸质带来的便利。

词句精读

• take hold：表示“完全控制/影响某人或某物”，“If something takes hold, it gains complete control or influence over a person or thing.” 可以用“take charge”和“take control”来同义替换。我们想表达，她感到一种奇怪的兴奋感控制住了自己，就可以说：She felt a strange excitement taking hold of her.

• in kind：在这里的意思是“以货物（服务）代款”，“a way of paying for something with goods or services instead of money”，可以说是payment in kind， 以实物支付；an allowance in kind，实物津贴。另外，in kind 还有“ <回报等> 以同种的事物,同样地”，比如，我们想表达，我以侮辱回报他的侮辱，就可以说：I repaid his insult in kind.（有点以牙还牙的感觉，可是切记：冤冤相报何时了~）

• balk at：意思是“阻止，反对”，“If you balk at something, you definitely do not want to do it or to let it happen. ”我们想表达，即使是生物专业的大学生都可能会反对动物实验，就可以说：Even biology undergraduates may balk at animal experiments.

背景补充

ePassi， ePassi is the leading electronic payment system for personnel benefits in Finland. ePassi是员工福利方面的电子支付系统，在ePassi的官网上可以看到，服务范围涵盖了购物、娱乐、交通、饮食、健身等各方面，重点是：这些都是给员工的福利！（要不连《经济学人》的编辑都赞叹芬兰是个好地方啊~）

ePassi

Paragraph 6
①Then it tied up with Alipay, keen to serve the 300,000-400,000 Chinese tourists who visit Father Christmas and other attractions each year. ②It realised that QR codes would work for its own product as well. ③Alexander Yin of ePassi says he would travel with a selection of QR-code print-outs and two smartphones. ④Merchants he approached would at first be apprehensive, but soon see the system’s attractions. ⑤In 2018 ePassi announced a tie-up with Nordea, the biggest bank in the Nordic countries, to offer a QR-code-based mobile-payment system more widely.

段落解析

本段接上文，ePassi随着业务扩展开始与Alipay合作（为中国游客提供服务），进而发现二维码的妙处，推广给更多的商家，并与Nordea银行合作，广泛开展基于二维码的移动支付系统。

词句精读

• tie up with：to connect something with something else. 把…与…密切联系起来。比如现在很多心理问题都指向原生家庭，很多心理医生可能都会询问：Does this tie up with anything in your own childhood?

• attraction：这段中出现了两个attraction，一个表常见的“吸引”，另一个则表“名胜古迹，景点”。

• ④Merchants he approached would at first be apprehensive, but soon see the system’s attractions.
  这是一个省略了whom的定语从句，非常生动地表现出商人们对二维码支付的态度转换——由最初不安到被吸引。

Paragraph 7
①Some people may resist the QR revolution. ②But China is coming for them, too, in the shape of China UnionPay, a state-controlled firm that dominates China’s payment-card market. ③Already its cards are accepted by more than 41m merchants and 2m ATMs in 170 countries. ④And it is planning a big overseas push.

段落分析

很多人反对二维码的兴起，但中国正在快速拥抱它，银联也在推广，并开始在海外布局。大势已到~

词句精读

• resist：If you resist something such as a change, you refuse to accept it and try to prevent it.抵抗，反对。人们常说要抵制诱惑，但对于甜食爱好者来说，who can resist starting the day with chocolate?

• in the shape of：You can use in the shape of to state exactly who or what you are referring to, immediately after referring to them in a general way. (精确说明所指)以…的形式,也就是。比如年底领导找你谈心，你对于心灵鸡汤已经完全免疫，只对物质要求丰富，就可以说：What I needed now was a little hope in the shape of a pay rise.

• push：If someone or something pushes an idea or project in a particular direction, they cause it to develop or progress in a particular way.这里的push有推进，扩张，发展之意。比如年终总结时，你认为业务发展比流程化对公司现阶段而言更重要，就可以强调We should continue to push the business forward.