《經濟學人》如何看待C919

用一下鏈接閱讀體驗更好哦

《經濟學人》這樣看C919

昨天國產大飛機C919在上海首飛成功，引發了全球關注。《經濟學人》也在昨天發表 The C919: ready for take off ? 報道，發表在The Economist Espresso上，這是由經濟學人推出的新聞早報，定位是用最短小的篇幅告訴讀者最多的信息。這篇報道對C919持悲觀消極的態度，但確沒有任何論證，實在是無法令人信服。文章主要從幾點來否定C919的成績：1. 配件全都是國外進口；2. 商用化還有很長的路要走，會被空客和波音遠遠甩在身後；3. 只能靠著愛國主義勉強發展。現在，我們來學習一下這篇短文報道。n

難度指數 一星

通讀n

先將以下精選內容進行通讀，本文行文非常簡單，閱讀的時候可以關注一下粗體部分。

China』s first home-made large passenger jet took off in Shanghai today. China』s leaders will trumpet the test flight for the narrow-body passenger plane, made by state-run Comac, as a triumph of 「indigenous innovation」, challenging the global duopoly of America』s Boeing and Europe』s Airbus. But the celebrations are premature. For a start most of the complicated bits of kit, ranging from the engines and electronics to the fuel systems and landing gear, are made by foreign firms. Even though the trial flight was successful, many safety and regulatory challenges lie ahead. If the C919 manages to overcome those and come to market, it will still be years behind schedule. Boeing and Airbus are, meanwhile, leapfrogging ahead to the next generation of big jets with safety, efficiency and other advances. Chinese airlines, constrained by patriotism, may buy the new aircraft. Those able to choose freely probably won』t.n

第一部分精讀n

China』s first home-made large passenger jet took off in Shanghai today. China』s leaders will trumpet the test flight for the narrow-body passenger plane, made by state-run Comac, as a triumph of 「indigenous innovation」, challenging the global duopoly of America』s Boeing and Europe』s Airbus.n

開篇用兩句話，極其高效地介紹了C919的基本情況，以及所被賦予的戰略意義和目標。n

took offn

China』s first home-made large passenger jet took off in Shanghai today.n

took off 就是起飛的意思。off是一個介詞，我在帖子XXX中講過，介詞本質上是表明對象在空間關係的一種詞類。在空間上，off 是動態的，表明「離開」的狀態。所以飛機起飛叫做 take off，其中的off表明飛機離開地面的狀態。削水果皮叫做peel off，其中的off同樣表明果皮離開果肉的狀態。再深一點，如果我們把一個蘋果放到桌子上，會說put an apple on the table，其中的介詞on表明的就是「在……表面上」的空間狀態，如果我們要把蘋果從桌上拿走，就會說take the apple off the table，其中的off就是離開的狀態了。n

繼續引申，我們看下圖的大洲島，它離開海南島的海岸線一段距離，我們就可以說Dazhou Island is off the east coast of Hainan Province. 這裡的off用作形容詞，但是它的本質依然是介詞的空間意義。萬變不離其宗，以後你看到off，無論出現在什麼場合，都可以想想它是如何和其介詞意義聯繫在一起的。n

trumpet / Comac / indigenous innovation / duopoly of America』s Boeing and Europe』s Airbus

China』s leaders will trumpet the test flight for the narrow-body passenger plane, made by state-run Comac, as a triumph of 「indigenous innovation」, challenging the global duopoly of America』s Boeing and Europe』s Airbus.n

這句話極其精鍊高效，如果讓有些中國學生來寫，可能就變成了n

China』s leaders will trumpet the test flight for the narrow-body passenger plane, which is made by state-run Comac. It is a triumph of 「indigenous innovation」 and challenges the global duopoly of America』s Boeing and Europe』s Airbus. n

首先，第一句里的定語從句完全沒有必要。再者，將一句話變成了兩句，兩句主語不同，閱讀起來不夠流暢。不妨仔細體會一下。n

trumpet 就是上圖的小號。大家應該清楚它的音色，作動詞的時候為吹噓 ，大肆宣揚的意思，帶有貶義，英文釋義為 To tell everyone about something that you are proud of, especially in an annoying way，所以這一個用詞就體現了作者對C919首秀的消極態度。n

They are proudly trumpeting the fact that they are creating more jobs.n

他們吹噓他們是在創造更多的工作崗位。n

Comac 是一個縮寫，全程是Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China，即中國商用飛機有限責任公司，是C919的製造商。n

indigenous 是土生土長的，本地的。indigenous innovation是自主創新。注意，這裡作者刻意打了引號，暗含作者的反諷，下文作者將要表達反對觀點。indigenous常常和介詞to連用，比如the plant is indigenous to Canada / feelings indigenous to human beings。n

The many indigenous cultures which existed in Siberian

存在於西伯利亞的許多當地文化n

duopoly of America』s Boeing and Europe』s Airbus

duo是一個前綴，是兩個，couple的意思。陳奕迅曾以DUO為主題舉辦演唱會，中文譯為「雙面」。像這種和數字有關的前綴叫做numeric prefix，例如mono-常常表示一個，monogamy為一夫一妻制，而ploy-表示多個，polygamy就是一夫多妻或者一妻多夫制。n

同理，monopoly常常指一家賣主的壟斷市場，這裡把mono換成duo，就是指波音和空客造成的雙頭壟斷市場。n

參考譯文n

China』s first home-made large passenger jet took off in Shanghai today. China』s leaders will trumpet the test flight for the narrow-body passenger plane, made by state-run Comac, as a triumph of 「indigenous innovation」, challenging the global duopoly of America』s Boeing and Europe』s Airbus.n

第二部分精讀n

But the celebrations are premature. For a start most of the complicated bits of kit, ranging from the engines and electronics to the fuel systems and landing gear, are made by foreign firms. Even though the trial flight was successful, many safety and regulatory challenges lie ahead. If the C919 manages to overcome those and come to market, it will still be years behind schedule. Boeing and Airbus are, meanwhile, leapfrogging ahead to the next generation of big jets with safety, efficiency and other advances. Chinese airlines, constrained by patriotism, may buy the new aircraft. Those able to choose freely probably won』t.n

第一部分簡要介紹C919，這部分畫風一轉，直接開始消極否定C919的發展。作者主要從三個點來表達觀點。n

But the celebrations are premature.n

這句話並無難度，但體現了英文句子注重邏輯的特性，第一個詞but很清晰地表明了轉折，我們在輸出英文的時候也一定要注意coherence。n

For a start most of the complicated bits of kit, ranging from the engines and electronics to the fuel systems and landing gear, are made by foreign firms.n

ranging from the engines and electronics to the fuel systems and landing gear 是短語range from …… to ……的用法，是對前面complicated bits of kit的解釋。這裡的kit其實就是指飛機的核心部件，complicated bits of kits是說複雜部件都是由外國公司製造的，暗示這並不是真正的「indigenous innovation」，這也是前文打引號的原因。n

Even though the trial flight was successful, many safety and regulatory challenges lie ahead.n

trial flight 是試飛，和前文的test flight是一個意思，也可以說maiden flight，都是一個意思。n

這裡的safety and regulatory challenges，是指即便通過了首飛，C919還面臨著很多安全和法規方面的挑戰。n

If the C919 manages to overcome those and come to market, it will still be years behind schedule. Boeing and Airbus are, meanwhile, leapfrogging ahead to the next generation of big jets with safety, efficiency and other advances.n

manage to do是一個使用頻率非常高的短語，它和 try to do something 的含義不同，try to do是指「試圖做某事」，但是不清楚這件事情是不是能夠成功。manage to do是指「付出做成某事」，暗示成功的含義。n

We managed to stop him from doing that. —> 成功了n

We tried to stop him from doing that but we would do it again. —> 嘗試了，但是失敗了n

前面說了英語極其強調句子的邏輯性，這裡的meanwhile就是相對於前面的years behind schedule而言的。在C919解決困難，努力進入市場的時候，波音和空客就已經大踏步地跨入下一代飛機了，這一代飛機更加安全，高效和先進。n

leapfrog 字面意思是青蛙跳，引申意義就是超越，to suddenly become better, more advanced that people or organizations that were previously better than you.n

The company leapfrogged its rivals into a leading position.n

公司超越競爭對手，處於領先地位。n

Chinese airlines, constrained by patriotism, may buy the new aircraft. Those able to choose freely probably won』t.n

作者也真是不閑著，又開始吐槽中國的愛國主義，constrained是說C919的發展會被愛國主義制約，即中國的航空公司才會去買，而別的自由航空公司可能不去購買。n

參考譯文n

But the celebrations are premature. For a start most of the complicated bits of kit, ranging from the engines and electronics to the fuel systems and landing gear, are made by foreign firms. Even though the trial flight was successful, many safety and regulatory challenges lie ahead. If the C919 manages to overcome those and come to market, it will still be years behind schedule. Boeing and Airbus are, meanwhile, leapfrogging ahead to the next generation of big jets with safety, efficiency and other advances. Chinese airlines, constrained by patriotism, may buy the new aircraft. Those able to choose freely probably won』t.n

全文譯文n

China』s first home-made large passenger jet took off in Shanghai today. China』s leaders will trumpet the test flight for the narrow-body passenger plane, made by state-run Comac, as a triumph of 「indigenous innovation」, challenging the global duopoly of America』s Boeing and Europe』s Airbus. But the celebrations are premature. For a start most of the complicated bits of kit, ranging from the engines and electronics to the fuel systems and landing gear, are made by foreign firms. Even though the trial flight was successful, many safety and regulatory challenges lie ahead. If the C919 manages to overcome those and come to market, it will still be years behind schedule. Boeing and Airbus are, meanwhile, leapfrogging ahead to the next generation of big jets with safety, efficiency and other advances. Chinese airlines, constrained by patriotism, may buy the new aircraft. Those able to choose freely probably won』t.n

中國第一次架國產大型客機今天在上海試飛。中國領導人高調慶祝這款由國企中國商飛製造的窄體客機的試飛，將其視為自主創新的勝利，挑戰美國波音和歐洲空客在商用客機的雙壟斷局面。但是，這樣的慶祝未免為時過早。C919上大多數精密複雜的零件，包括從引擎，電子器件到燃油和著陸系統，都是由國外公司製造的。即便這次試飛成功，未來還有很多安全和法規方面的挑戰。如果C919成功克服了這些困難並且進入了市場，它也會有些落後了。因為與此同時，波音和空客將會大跨步地進入到下一代大客機，這一代飛機將會更加安全，高效和先進。由於中國航空公司受到愛國主義的掣肘，可能會採購國產飛機，而別的更加自由的航空公司可能不會購買。
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