《經濟學人》Death Star 全文筆記

《星球大戰》的費雪因病辭世與《速度與激情》的保羅意外之死令人痛心不已，給眾影迷、粉絲留下了極大創傷，而同時也給他們的公司和保險方留下大問題，保險公司面對巨額賠償，其中到底有何緣由呢？今天，我們就通過本篇文章，結合筆記，了解外刊原文，尋求答案。

在細化文章之前，我們先來看看本篇文章的思維導圖

Insuring talent

Death Star【注①】

When the famous[1] die, it is increasingly[2] costly[3] for insurers

注① Death Star :說到star大家第一反應就是星星或星球，但本標題還帶有其它隱含意義，此處的star既指本文主題a famous and successful actor, musician, or sports person明星，又與第一段提及的電影Star Wars（《星球大戰》）呼應。

同時，Death Star也是出現在電影《星球大戰》中的超級武器——死星。

1.the famous [積累] : 「the+形容詞」表示一類具有某種特徵或特性的人；需注意，若用作主語，其謂語動詞用單數還是複數需視情況而定，若指一類人則用複數，指單個人則用單數。

2.increasingly [積累]: increasingly adv. 越來越多地；漸增地

建議寫作時用increasingly代替more and more，類似的還有growingly。

3.costly: 可以替換expensive, dear和exorbitant。

THE death of Carrie Fisher【注②】, a much-loved actor in the 「Star Wars【注③】」 movies, left a hole in the force【注④】 for fans. It may also burn a hole in the pockets[4] ofunderwriters[5], syndicated under Lloyds of London【注⑤】. They may have to fork out as much as $50m to meet Disney』s claim[6] for its loss. The studio, which owns the sci-fi saga, had wisely taken out so-called contractual-protection insurance (CPI) in case death thwarted a contractual obligation: in Ms Fisher』s case to film and promote future 「Star Wars」 episodes.

Contrary to the headlines, 2016 was not an especially lethal year to be a celebrity. Like the rest of us, they do die. But unlike most of us, their employers can be left with astronomic bills. When Paul Walker【注⑥】, an actor in 「The Fast and the Furious【注⑦】」, a series of action movies, died in 2013 while filming the seventh instalment[7], Universal Pictures【注⑧】 had to spend considerable effort (and dollars) to make his on-screen persona live on. This included hiring body-doubles and digitally inserting Mr. Walker into the movie with hundreds of computer-generated images.

注② Carrie Reynolds Fisher：

1956年10月21日-2016年12月28日，出生於美國加州洛杉磯，美國演員，在科幻片《星球大戰》中飾演萊婭公主。2016年12月28日凌晨，因心臟病不治在洛杉磯辭世，享年60歲。

注③ Star Wars :

《星球大戰》系列電影是由盧卡斯電影公司出品的科幻電影，該公司首先於1977年推出了《星球大戰》，又分別在1980年和1983年推出了《星球大戰2》和《星球大戰3》。之後又推出了星球大戰前傳三部曲。2015年起，每年夏季推出一部《星球大戰》題材電影，預計第八和第九部作品將分別於2017年和2019年上映。

注④ the force:

不了解《星球大戰》的人可能大多會將此處的force理解為力量、精力等，但熟悉電影的人應該都知道，電影中The Force指原力，舊譯為力、神力、大能或原動力，是《星球大戰》系列作品中的核心概念。原力是一種超自然的而又無處不在的神秘力量，是所有生物創造的一個能量場，同時也是影片中絕地武士（Jedi Knight）和西斯尊主（Sith Lord）兩方追求和依靠的關鍵所在。同時，2015年上映的第7部《星球大戰》電影名稱即為Star Wars: The Force Awakens ，中文譯名為《星球大戰7：原力覺醒》。

注⑤ Lloyds of London：

Or Lloyds of London, generally known simply as Lloyds, is an insurance market located in the City of London, which exists inside London. (Tips: not to be confused with Lloyds Banking Group, Lloyds Register, or Lloyds List.)

(Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd%27s_of_London )

注⑥ Paul Walker：

保羅·沃克（Paul Walker），1973年9月12日出生，美國演員、模特。2001年，保羅·沃克出主演了賽車動作片《速度與激情》，之後又出演電影續集。2013年11月30日下午3點，保羅·沃克在洛杉磯一起車禍中身亡，年僅40歲。

注⑦ The Fast and the Furious：

《速度與激情》是羅伯·科恩執導的賽車題材的動作犯罪類電影，由環球影業發行，第一部於2001年6月22日在美國上映，至今已上映8部。

注⑧ Universal Pictures：

環球影片公司（Universal Picture），又稱環球影業，是全球最大的電影、電視製片廠之一，也是好萊塢最悠久的公司之一，並在公司創始階段成為好萊塢實力最強的電影公司。

4.burn a hole in ones pocket : 花錢如水，錢財消耗快

5.underwriter: 與標題中的「insurer」同義，都有「保險公司、承保人」的意思。

6.claim: 商務英語經常出現這詞，表示「索賠」。

7.instalment: one of the parts of a story that appears as a series of parts, especially in a magazine, newspaper etc. 〔尤指報刊等上的連載故事的〕一期

Most workers are easier to replace. Employers can take out simple life insurance[8] that pays a fixed lump sum. But the value of a film star to a studio, or a striker[9] to a football club, is harder to calculate in advance. It depends on all sorts of things, especially timing. This is where contingency insurance[10], such as CPI, comes in. Unlike a life policy, how much of the $50m Disney receives depends on how it now calculates and justifies the losses caused by Ms Fisher』s death. This could include, for example, her role in boosting sales of storm-trooper【注⑨】 figurines.

Insuring talent is becoming popular outside Hollywood. The aptly named Exceptional Risk Advisors, a company based in New Jersey that reportedly brokered the Fisher policy[11], also helps insure against the deaths of hedge-fund managers, company executives and sports teams』 star players. Publishers have taken out[12] CPI in case bestselling authors die with books half-written.

注⑨ storm-trooper：

帝國衝鋒隊（Imperial Stormtrooper，舊譯：暴風軍、風暴兵、暴風兵、帝國軍團、帝國突擊隊、帝國暴風突擊隊）是《星球大戰》中銀河帝國精銳的突擊部隊，隸屬於帝國陸軍（Imperial Army）。

8.life insurance: 人壽保險

9.striker: a player in football whose main job is to score goals 〔足球隊的〕前鋒（隊員）

10.contingency insurance: 意外事故保險

11.policy: 該詞常見的意思是「政策、方針」，但是這裡是指「保險單」。

12.take out: if you take out something such as a loan, a licence, or an insurance policy, you obtain it by fulfilling the conditions and paying the money that is necessary. 取得（貸款、許可、保險等）；辦理（保險）手續，投保

Jonathan Thomas, from Munich Re, who has written contingency policies for over 30 years, says they are 「exactly what Lloyd』s is good at」. The greatest change he has seen is in the sums involved. But some worry that underwriters are dropping their standards and taking on[13] too much risk. This could well become a problem if contingency insurance grows much larger. But today it is still tiny compared with life insurance.

With rock stars remaining on stage into their dotage[14] and long-running sequels one of the surest ways to make money in Tinseltown[15], the risks of losing a 「key human」（or on occasion animal) are growing. That creates business opportunities for insurers, so long as they remain prudent and don』t become star-struck【注⑩】.

注⑩ star-struck：

Starstruck原意指追星族，明星夢，或想當明星的；而這裡加了連字元，意思完全不同，struck為strike過去分詞，在這裡指被撞擊的。通過一個連字元達到一語雙關，這類辭彙在經濟學人中尤為常見。

13.take on: 承擔；表示「承擔」的詞還有：assume, bear, undertake

14.into one』s dotage: 直至終老，到某人衰老之年

15.Tinseltown: People sometimes refer to Hollywood as Tinseltown, especially when they want to show that they disapprove of it or when they are making fun of it. 浮華城；對好萊塢的貶稱或戲稱。

√ 後續會有更多與外刊學習相關的文章，歡迎大家關注--翻譯米（知乎/微信公眾號）

√ 如果你對英語、翻譯感興趣，翻譯米暑期在線實習歡迎你參與。預報名群：658741002