沪江小编:对于商界精英们来说,阅读《金融时报》(Financial Times)几乎成了每天的必修课。FT文章以分析为主,逻辑严密,经常被各类考试用作考题。非常适合学习BEC、TOEIC、GRE、GMAT的考生来阅读、练习。沪江小编精选FT上的双语文章,配上独家的学习指南,从词汇、短语、句式、文化、翻译等多方面来解读,长期坚持,相信会对英语学习有所帮助。

原文阅读:日本空气净化器在华热销

Even as Japanese officials wring their hands about the harmful effects of China’s air pollution drifting over to Japan, Japanese white goods manufacturers are finding the problem has a welcome silver lining.

Sales of air purifiers made by Daikin, Panasonic and Sharp have shot up in China amid mounting concerns about air pollution over the past few months.

Sharp said sales of its air purifiers in China tripled last month compared with a year earlier, while Panasonic sold more than twice as many air purifiers in China in January.

Daikin, a leading maker of air-conditioners, also saw sales of its air purifiers in China rise 3.6 times year on year in January.

The boost in demand for air purifiers is a rare piece of positive news for Sharp and Panasonic, which are struggling to regain profitability. Sharp is forecasting a record net loss in the year to the end of March of Y450bn ($4.8bn), while Panasonic expects to suffer a net loss of Y765bn.

“We believe the impact of the air pollution problem in China on sales of our air purifiers is huge. We expect sales to continue increasing until May or June,” said a Panasonic representative. The group is ramping up production by 50 per cent.

Demand for air purifiers made by Japanese manufacturers had already been on the rise in China, due to increasing awareness of health and environmental issues, a Sharp representative said. 

学习指南:

1.Word of the day

suffer:(used with object) to undergo, be subjected to, or endure (pain, distress, injury, loss, or anything unpleasant) 承受,蒙受
ex: His failure to take every factor into consideration made him suffer a great loss.
例句:未能把所有因素考虑在内使他蒙受巨大损失。

小编注:suffer loss从某种意义上来说,是一种固定搭配。这里想说的是suffer是个很好用的词,用法很灵活。比如“欧洲金融危机,中国也会受其影响”,其中“影响”一词,第一反应可能就是impact或affect,实际上这里就可以活用suffer来表达影响的意思,即China will also suffer.这个词的用法还有很多,大家可以在平常的阅读中多多留意。

2.Phrase of the day

wring one's hands:clasp and twist one’s hands together as a gesture of great distress, especially when one is powerless to change the situation 束手无策,坐立不安
ex: Journalists and the nostalgic may wring their hands, but should anyone else care?
例句:这可能会令记者和怀旧人士坐立不安,但其他人有必要介意吗?

3.Sentence of the day

The boost in demand for air purifiers is a rare piece of positive news for Sharp and Panasonic, which are struggling to regain profitability.
对夏普和松下而言,空气净化器需求增长是个难得的好消息。这两家公司目前都在为恢复盈利而挣扎。

小编注:还是要关注一个动词的用法,英语中的动词总是很生动、很有画面感,比如这里的struggle。如果换做是汉译英,也许大部分人会译成“which are difficult to regain profit”。和原句对比之后,是不是发现struggle更能表达那种苦苦挣扎、苟延残喘的意味呢?同样的,这里的“恢复盈利”原文用的是profitability而不是profit,两者的区别在于前者指盈利能力,后者指盈利。有点像“授人以鱼不如授人以渔”的感觉,大家可以体会一下。

4.Cultural point of the day

white goods:large household appliances, as refrigerators, stoves, and washing machines. 白色家电

小编注:白色家电,泛指可以替代人们家务劳动的电器产品,主要包括洗衣机、部分厨房电器和改善生活环境提高物质生活水平(如空调器、电冰箱等)。早期这些家电大多是白色的外观,因此得名。和白色家电相对的是“棕色家电(brown goods)”指的是电子消费产品如移动电话,电视,CD / DVD播放机和个人电脑等。口语俚语里也会叫做“布朗货”。

5.Translation of the day  

Daikin, a leading maker of air-conditioners, also saw sales of its air purifiers in China rise 3.6 times year on year in January.
知名空调生产商大金的空气净化器在华销量1月同比增长2.6倍。

小编注:倍数的翻译一直是翻译上的一个坎,有些表达我们可能从来就没搞明白过。比如(1)A is N times as large/long (形容词/副词原形) as B./ (2) A is N times larger/longer(形容词/副词比较级)than B. / (3) A is N times the size/length (形容词/副词的名词形式) of B.这三种表达你分得清吗?关于倍数的翻译,详情见《连编辑都会犯的翻译错误——倍数翻译篇》>>

推荐深入学习:
1) Japanese white goods manufacturers are finding the problem has a welcome silver lining.
2) amid mounting concerns about air pollution over the past few months

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