高階英語(1)

 高階英語(1)

 

Xi’s Gambit: China Plans for a World Without American Technology

習近平的棋局：一個不受制於美國的技術強國願景

 

gambit

noun [ C ]

UK  /ˈɡæm.bɪt/ US  /ˈɡæm.bɪt/

gambit noun [C] (CLEVER ACTION)

 

a clever action in a game or other situation that is intended to achieve an advantage and usually involves taking a risk

精心策劃的一招；（常指帶有風險的）策略；險招

 

Her clever opening gambit gave her an early advantage.

她開局就出險招，搶佔了先機。

Their promise to lower taxes is clearly an election-year gambit.

他們降低稅收的承諾很顯然是大選年的策略。

 

GAMES   specialized

a way of beginning a game of chess, in which you intentionally lose a pawn (= game piece) in order to win some other form of advantage later

（西洋棋中開局時犧牲一卒以取得優勢的）開局讓棋法

gambit noun [C] (REMARK)

 

a remark that you make to someone in order to start a conversation

開場白

"I hear you're a friend of Jamie's" was her opening gambit.

「我聽説你是傑米的朋友，」她搭訕道。

 

  

hina is freeing up tens of billions of dollars for its tech industry to borrow. It is cataloging the sectors where the United States or others could cut off access to crucial technologies. And when its leaders released their most important economic plans last week, they laid out their ambitions to become an innovation superpower beholden to none.

中國正在為科技行業貸款調撥上千億元資金，並列出美國或其他國家可能對中國斷供關鍵技術的領域。中國領導人最重要的經濟規劃於上週公布，展示了他們要讓中國成為不受制於他人的創新型超級大國的雄心。

 

free up something

— phrasal verb with free verb

US  /fri/

to make something available to be used:

 

I need to free up some time this weekend to finish the report.

 

Beholden to none不受制於他人，是一個很漂亮的句型。

 

beholden

adjective [ after verb ]   formal

UK  /bɪˈhəʊl.dən/ US  /bɪˈhoʊl.dən/

 

feeling you have a duty to someone because they have done something for you

受惠的；感激的；欠人情的

 

She wanted to be independent and beholden to no one.

她想獨立，不想依賴任何人。

  

Anticipating efforts by the Biden administration to continue to challenge China’s technological rise, the country’s leaders are accelerating plans to go it alone, seeking to address vulnerabilities in the country’s economy that could thwart its ambitions in a wide range of industries, from smartphones to jet engines.

中國領導人預期拜登政府將繼續挑戰中國的技術崛起，因此正在加快獨立自主的步伐，尋求解決本國經濟中的弱點問題，這些問題可能會阻礙中國在從智慧型手機到噴氣發動機等一系列行業的野心。

  

thwart

verb [ T ]

UK  /θwɔːt/ US  /θwɔːrt/

 

to stop something from happening or someone from doing something

反對；阻撓；挫敗

 

Our holiday plans were thwarted by the airline pilots' strike

因為航空公司機師罷工，我的度假計劃泡湯了。

  

China has made audacious and ambitious plans before — in 2015 — but is falling short of its goals. With more countries becoming wary of China’s behavior and its growing economic might, Beijing’s drive for technological independence has taken on a new urgency. The country’s new five-year plan, made public on Friday, called tech development a matter of national security, not just economic development, a break from the previous plan.

中國曾在2015年制定過雄心勃勃的大膽計劃，但未能實現目標。隨著越來越多的國家開始提防中國的行為和不斷增長的經濟實力，北京尋求技術獨立的努力具有了新的緊迫感。中國上週五公布的第十四個五年規劃（簡稱「十四五」規劃），將科技進步提升到國家安全的高度，而不僅僅是為了經濟發展，這與以前規劃中的說法不同。

 

The plan pledged to increase spending on research and development by 7 percent annually, including the public and private sectors. That figure was higher than budget increases for China’s military, which is slated to grow 6.8 percent next year, raising the prospect of an era of looming Cold War-like competition with the United States.

「十四五」規劃承諾全社會研發經費投入年均增長大於7%，儘管預計政府總體支出的增長要慢得多。這一數字甚至超過了中國軍隊的預算增長，中國明年的軍費增長預計為6.8%，這使得一個與美國冷戰式競爭時代的前景日益迫近。

 

slate

verb [ T ]

UK  /sleɪt/ US  /sleɪt/

slate verb [T] (CHOOSE)

 be slated

 

to be expected to happen in the future or to be expected to be or do something in the future

預計，預定；安排

 

[ + to infinitive ] Jeff is slated to be the next captain of the team.

傑夫預計會成爲球隊的下一任隊長。

The meeting is slated for (= the chosen day is) next Thursday.

會議定於下星期四舉行。

  

The spending pledges follow four tumultuous years during which President Donald J. Trump rattled — and angered — the Communist Party leadership under Xi Jinping by restricting access to American technology for some of its corporate giants, including Huawei.

這些支出計劃是在經歷了動盪的四年後作出的，此前川普通過限制了包括華為在內的一些企業巨頭使用美國技術，驚動——以及激怒——了習近平領導的共產黨領導層。

 

tumultuous

adjective   formal

UK  /tʃuːˈmʌl.tʃu.əs/ US  /tuːˈmʌl.tʃu.əs/

 

very loud, or full of confusion, change, or uncertainty

吵鬧的，喧嘩的；騷亂的，混亂的

 

The former president appeared to tumultuous applause and a standing ovation.

前總統出場時，人們起立鼓掌，歡呼聲經久不息。

After the tumultuous events of 1990, Europe was completely transformed.

經歷了1990年的一系列動盪和騷亂事件後，歐洲發生了劇變。

 

rattled

adjective   informal

UK  /ˈræt.əld/ US  /ˈræt̬.əld/

 

worried or nervous

擔憂的；緊張的

Walter got rattled when they didn’t call.

他們沒有打電話來，這讓沃爾特擔憂。

  

The experience has hardened a view that the United States, even under a new administration, is determined to undercut the country’s advancement and that China can no longer rely on the West for a stable supply of the technologies that help drive its economic growth.

這些事件使人們更加堅信，即使在新一屆政府執政的情況下，美國也決心阻礙中國的進步，而這個國家再也不能依靠西方穩定地提供有助於推動其經濟增長的技術。

 

“The United States, which has already climbed to the summit, wants to kick away the ladder,” Zhang Xiaojing, an economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wrote on the eve of the legislative meetings now underway in Beijing.

中國社會科學院的經濟學家張曉晶在北京正在舉行的兩會召開前夕寫道：「已經攀上高峰的美國要『踢掉梯子』。」

 

The road to the “global peaks of technology,” as Mr. Xi has described China’s aspirations, is decidedly uphill. The government had previously set out to spend 2.5 percent of gross domestic product on research and development in the last five years, but actual expenditures failed to reach that target.

通往「世界科技強國」——習近平曾描繪的中國的志向——的道路無疑是艱難的。政府此前曾計劃在過去五年中將國內生產總值的2.5％用於研發，但實際支出未能達到該目標。