Tortoise v hare

Day18

Vocabulary

1.first face-to-face encounter第一次会面

AS DONALD TRUMP prepares to welcome Xi Jinping next week for the two men’s  first face-to-face encounter, both countries are reassessing their place in the world.

reassess one's place in..重新评估自己在...的地位

=reappraise one's position

2.shoulder responsibility 承担责任  =assume ~

America away from shouldering global responsibilities, China towards it.

3.box rivals打击对手

The Trump administration is dashing from one policy to the next, sometimes contradicting itself and willing to box any rival it sees.

4.extend  head beyond its carapace /'kærəpeɪs/把头伸出龟壳

China,tortoise-like, is extending its head cautiously beyond its carapace, taking slow, painstaking steps. Aesop knew how this contest is likely to end.

take painstaking step to do极其谨慎地做..

Aesop 伊索寓言

5.guiding foreign-policy principle外交政策指导方针

China’s guiding foreign-policy principle used to be Deng Xiaoping’s admonition in 1992 that the country should “keep a low profile, never take the lead…and make a difference.”

keep a low profile 保持低调

moral admonition 道德训诫

6.shift further进一步改变

It shifted further in January when Mr Xi went to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and told the assembled throng that China should “guide economic globalisation”.

World Economic Forum世界经济论坛

Davos 达沃斯

pushed through the throng 费力挤过人群

7.dwell on sth 详述

Mr Xi is said to have rejected this version, and brought in foreign consultants to write one dwelling more on China’s view of the world.

bring in foreign consultants 请来外国顾问

8.impose one's will on others将自己的意愿强加于

At the UN in Geneva, he talked about a “hegemon imposing its will on others” and warned America about a “Thucydides trap”—the disaster that befell ancient Greece when the incumbent power, Sparta, failed to accommodate the rising one, Athens.

hegemon /hɪ'dʒemən/霸权主义者

Thucydides Trap, where a rising power causes fear in an established power which escalates toward war.修昔底德陷阱

Evil befell him. 灾祸落到他身上

accommodate demands of special interests 迎合/迁就特殊利益集团(accommodate sb)

9.play a role in 在...起作用

Previously Mr Xi had ventured only that China  should play a role in building such a world.

venture something  大胆提出

10.free-market economic policy 自由市场经济政策

This was supposedly an alternative to the so-called Washington consensus, a prescription of free-market economic policies for developing countries.

economic prescription经济对策

11.one size fits all 万全之策

There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

12.flesh out具体化

The signals are amplified by similar ones further down the system and fleshed out by controlled discussions in state-owned media.

further down the system 深入这个系统

amplify signals增强信号

13.state-of-the-nation report 国情咨文（在中国即政府报告"work report"）

Soon after Mr Xi’s comments in Davos and Beijing, the prime minister, Li Keqiang, gave his annual “work report”—a sort of state-of-the-nation speech.

14.as is one's wont同往常一样

As is their wont, state-run media have distilled the new thinking into numerical mnemonics.

distil... into...把...概括成

numerical mnemonics 数值记忆法

15.the rendering of sth=the translation of sth

The term has gone viral. Baidu, China’s most popular search engine, counts 22m usages of its Chinese rendering: Zhongguo fang’an.

16.the party's mouthpiece 党的喉舌/发言人

There is a China solution to that, said the People’s Daily, the party’s main mouthpiece.

People’s Daily 《人民日报》

17.special climate envoy 气候特使

“The next step is for us to bring China’s own solution,” said Xie Zhenhua, the government’s special climate envoy, in another newspaper, Southern Metropolis.

Southern Metropolis《南方都市报》

18. bolstering the rule of law加强法制

There is even a China solution to the problem of bolstering the rule of law, claimed an article in January in Study Times, a weekly for officials.

Study Times 《学习时报》

19.the country's cheerleaders in the West某国的西方的支持者

Its fans were mainly Chinese academics and the country’s cheerleaders in the West.

Chinese academics中国学者

20.lay down the law to ..强制向..颁布法律

Most officials were wary of it because the term could be interpreted as China laying down the law to others, contradicting its policy of not interfering in other countries’ internal affairs.

interfering in other countries’ internal affairs干涉他国内政

21.broach an idea  提出一个想法

In contrast, it was Mr Xi himself who broached the idea of the China solution.

22.boss sb around 颐指气使

China now seems more relaxed about bossing others around.

23.rule against否决

Last year an international tribunal ruled against China’s claims to sovereignty in much of the South China Sea.

China's claims to sovereignty in the South China Sea中国对南海的主权宣称

international tribunal 国际法庭

24.eschew one's once-close ties with sb 躲避曾经亲密的某人

But China promptly persuaded the Philippines, which had brought the case, implicitly to disavow its legal victory, eschew its once-close  ties with America and sign a deal accepting vast quantities of Chinese investment.

vast quantities of investment大量投资（investment 为不可数名词）

25.America-leaning country 偏向美国的国家

Soon after that Malaysia, another hitherto America-leaning country with maritime claims overlapping those of China, came to a similar arrangement.

maritime claims 海域主张

26."Belt and Road Initiative"一带一路

It was certainly a notable one for Mr Xi’s most ambitious foreign policy, called the “Belt and Road Initiative”.

27.come within a whisker of...   离...只有一步之遥

The value of contracts signed under the scheme came within a whisker of$1trn last year—not bad for something that only started in 2013.

28.sb overtakes a competitor赶超对手

Chinese exports to the 60-odd Belt and Road countries overtook those to America and the European Union.

60 odd countries 约60个国家

29.convene a grand summit召开一个盛大的峰会/首脑会议

In May Mr Xi is due to convene a grand summit of the countries to celebrate and advertise a project that could one day rival transatlantic trade in importance.

rival sth in importance 在重要程度上与...不分高下

transatlantic trade跨大西洋贸易

30.turn one's back on sb 与..对立

But talk of “ guiding globalisation” and a “China solution” does not mean China is turning its back on the existing global order.

31.bent on doing一心做...

China is a revisionist power, wanting to expand influence within the system. It is neither a revolutionary power bent on overthrowing things, nor a usurper, intent on grabbing global control.

the revisionist power: 修正主义国家(修正主义，是在共产主义运动之中歪曲、篡改、否定马克思主义的一类资产阶级思潮和政治势力，是国际工人运动中打着马克思主义旗号反对马克思主义的机会主义思潮。)

usurper篡位者

grabbing global control控制全球

32.comply with regulations遵守规定

Last year China  chaired a summit of the Group of 20 largest economies—it has an above-average record of complying with the G20’s decisions.

33.secure sth=obtain sth 争取到

In 2015 it secured the adoption of the yuan as one of the IMF’s five reserve currencies.

IMF='International Monetary Fund'国际货币基金组织

reserve currency储备货币

34.model on 以...为模型

It has set up two financial institutions, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank, which are modelled on traditional ones such as the World Bank.

the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank亚洲基础设施投资银行

the New Development Bank新发展银行

35.be resistant to反对...

China’s vast bureaucracy is resistant to change in foreign policy, as in everything else.

vast bureaucracy 庞大的官僚机构

36.the Institute of World Development世界发展研究所

Ding Yifang of the Institute of World Development, a think-tank in Beijing, is similarly cautious about the China solution.

think-tank 智囊团[cn.]

37.globalism with Chinese characteristics具有中国特色的全球化

38.unassuming assertiveness 谦逊的自信

So what might China’s unassuming new assertiveness mean in practice?

39.a template for other agreements  其他协议的范例

A template can be found in climate-change policy.

40.lingua franca通用语

China was one of the main obstacles to a global climate agreement in 2008, but now its  words are the lingua franca of climate-related diplomacy.

41.common and/but differentiated responsibilities 共同但有区别的责任

China helped determine how that accord defines what are known as “common and differentiated responsibilities”, namely how much each country should be responsible for cutting emissions.

cut emissions=reduce emissions

42.bolster one's clout增强某人的影响力

But China’s clout at that time was bolstered by its accord with America.

accord with sb 与...一致

43.dismantle the policy 废除政策

Now Mr Trump is beginning to dismantle his predecessor’s climate policies.

44.go it alone单打独斗

Li Shou of Greenpeace says China is therefore preparing to go it alone as Mr Xie,the climate envoy, said in January that it was prepared to do.

Greenpeace绿色和平组织（保护动物不遭捕猎等）

45.put one's finger on sth  确切的指出

Soon after Mr Xi’s speech in Davos, Zhang Jun, a senior Foreign Ministry official, put his finger on China’s changing place in the world.

46.have qualms about: 对…感到内疚；对…有疑虑

But officials have far fewer qualms than Deng did about being at the front.

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Day 19

Ⅰ各种神：

给出下列名词英文解释（如有约定俗成的对应中文，请一并列出）：

1.Keep a low profile, never take the lead, and make a difference善于藏拙、决不当头、有所作为

.Keep a low profile: to avoid attracting attention to yourself

.take the lead :to do something as an example for others to follow

.Make a difference: Cause a change in effect, change the nature ofsomething or be better

2.Thucydides Trap:修昔底德陷阱

Thucydides Trap, where a rising power causes fear in an established power which escalates toward war.

3.Washington consensus:华盛顿共识

1989年，陷于债务危机的拉美国家急需进行国内经济改革。美国国际经济研究所邀请国际货币基金组织、世界银行、美洲开发银行和美国财政部的研究人员，以及拉美国家代表在华盛顿召开了一个研讨会，旨在为拉美国家经济改革提供方案和对策。 美国国际经济研究所的约翰·威廉姆森（John Williamson）对拉美国家的国内经济改革提出了已与上述各机栄达成共识的10条政策措施，称作华盛顿共识。，“华盛顿共识”的教条是“主张政府的角色最小化、快速私有化和自由化。Subsequent to Williamson's use of the terminology, and despite his emphatic opposition, the phrase Washington Consensus has come to be used fairly widely in a second, broader sense, to refer to a more general orientation towards a strongly market-based approach (sometimes described as market fundamentalism or neoliberalism).

4.State-of-the-nation speech=state-of-the-union address（总统制国家的）国情咨文

类似于我国的政府工作报告"work report"

5.Not interfering in other countries’ internal affairs:不干涉他国内政

principle of non interference in international law: The  non-intervention rule is a principle of international law that restricts the ability of outside nations to interfere with the internal affairs of another nation. At its core, the principle is a corollary to the right of territorial sovereignty possessed by each nation.

6. Common and/but differentiated responsibilities:共同但有区别的责任

a principle within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that acknowledges the different capabilities and differing responsibilities of individual countries in addressing climate change.

the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change《联合国气候变化框架公约》

神祠组：

1.Go viral:疯狂传播

2.Marks a change:标志着...改变

3.Be wary of sth:对 ...谨慎

4.Boss others around:（美语口语）颐指气使（发号施令，好似老板指使下属。）

相关形容词bossy：专横好指使人

Her loud bossy sister爱管人的大嗓门姐姐

5.Step up its multilateral commitments:加强多边承诺

6.Model on以...为榜样；模仿

To form, develop, or found something on the basis of something else:

The architect modelled the plans for the new school on a beautiful old building.

7.Be resistant to抗拒...，反对...；对..有抵抗力的

8.One-size-fits-all approach:一刀切方案（为满足所有人的情况而涉及的（往往效果不佳））

A one-size-fits-all public education program一刀切的公共教育计划

神句:

1.The signals are amplified by similar ones further down the system and fleshed out by controlled discussions in state-owned media.

在相似的条款深入了体制的同时，官方媒体也组织了可控的讨论，这都使得信号增强。

【体系内进一步类似的信号会增强先前的，国有媒体谨慎的报道则将这些信号具体化。】

翻译问题①没理清句子结构：amplified by和fleshed out 并列②中文水平还不够，所以不知道怎么翻译controlled discussions

2. China is a revisionist power, wanting to expand influence within the system. It is neither a revolutionary power bent on overthrowing things, nor a usurper, intent on grabbing global control.

中国是修正主义国家，只想在其体制内扩大影响力。它不是非要做些颠覆的革命者，也不是意图要取代美国而控制整个世界的篡位者。

【 中国是一股修正主义的力量，试图在机制内扩大影响力。他既非推翻一切的革命主义力量，也非夺取全球控制权的篡位者 。】

😶用词多样化：want to & bent on & intent on

3. Global rules on trade and finance, it seems, are too important for Mr.Xi not to defend.

对习主席来说，全球贸易与金融规则似乎太重要了，所以必须要去保护捍卫它。

【全球贸易金融规则似乎太过重要，习主席必须对其加以捍卫。】

😶Too....not to: 太。。。。而必须。。。

The dish is too delicious not to eat.

😶对比：too...to....太...所以不可能.....

Too good to be true: 太美好，所以不可能是真的/美好的不现实

😶Global rules on trade and finance全球贸易与金融规则

ⅡMind map

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Day 20

Summary

1.思想上的感悟：几周过来，慢慢发现阅读外刊的目的也不再如当初那般纯粹了：刚开始仅仅是为了提高英语，而现在在注重地道的表达的同时，发现自己更加专注于作者想要传达的内容了——这才是我们学习语言的最主要的目的啊。其实作为一个中国人，对于这篇文章所写，我知之甚少。但好在现在多少也了解了些，也难怪有教授说，学好一门外语让你能更了解你的母语、你的祖国。

2.翻译上的感悟：大概还是中文和英文阅读量不够，思考也不多。有些句子明明看懂了，但真要翻译过来，要么偏离作者的本意，要么找不到合适的语言。Read more, think more.

3.逻辑上的感悟：大概明白了作者传达的意思，但是却无法画出一张合适的思维导图。或许还是没有抓住作者行文上的逻辑。