2023年2月5日的《经济学人》官网中有篇文章讲到了中国经济迅速复苏,其中第一段讲到了游客扇秦桧像一事,我们一起来读一下:
一、原文
During China’s lunar-new-year holiday, which ran from January 21st to 27th, tourists flocked to the sprawling Taihao mausoleum in Henan province. Many enjoyed slapping a statue of Qin Hui, a scheming official in the Song dynasty who is notorious for having framed a military hero. One visitor got carried away, striking the statue with the lid of an incense burner. Feelings are running high after Qin’s villainy featured in a new film, “Full River Red”, which topped the box-office charts during the holiday.

二、精读
During China’s lunar-new-year holiday, which ran from January 21st to 27th, tourists flocked to the sprawling Taihao mausoleum in Henan province.
在1月21日至27日的中国农历新年假期期间,游客蜂拥至河南省庞大的太昊陵。
本句以状语开头,点明时间:During China’s lunar-new-year holiday,在春节假期期间,随后跟了一个定语从句,补充了春节假期的起止日期:which ran from January 21st to 27th.
这里的 run from...to...表示时间“从...持续到...”,看一个《经济学人》里的例句:
For muslims making the haj pilgrimage, which this year runs from July 7th to July 12th, the first leg is easy enough: hop on a plane to the dedicated terminal in Jeddah.
对于朝觐(今年从7月7日到7月12日)的穆斯林来说,第一程很简单:搭上前往吉达专用航站楼的飞机。
haj 指伊斯兰教徒去麦加的“朝觐”。
pilgrimage 指 a journey to a holy place “朝圣之旅”。
the first leg 可不是“第一腿”,leg 在这里是熟词僻义,表示 one part of a journey “一段路程”,这个词经常用在各国领导人出访,第一程去哪、第二程去哪……看个外刊例句:
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has left for France on the first leg of his tour of five Group of Seven nations.
日本首相岸田文雄已启程前往法国,这是他对七国集团五国访问的第一站。
接下来在主干部分,作者交代了出行游客之多:tourists flocked to the sprawling Taihao mausoleum in Henan province.
flock 这个词表示 to go or gather together somewhere in large numbers “蜂拥、涌入”,《鱼翅与花椒》中就出现过这个词:
These days tourists flock to Suzhou, for its gardens, and Hangzhou, for its pretty West Lake.
现在,游客们经常蜂拥到苏州赏园林、到杭州游西湖。
2021 年的《经济学人》中有篇文章讲到了中国打造“海绵城市”,里面也出现了这个表达:
Tourists are flocking once again to Leshan’s Buddha, some to seek peace and protection at its feet.
游客们再次涌向乐山大佛,有人是为了在大佛脚下寻求安稳和保佑。
要理解 sprawling 我们还要回归它的动词形式 sprawl,它表示 to cover a large area 或 to spread in an untidy way “占地很大、杂乱地延伸、蔓延”,如:
The town seemed to sprawl for miles.
这城镇好像肆意扩展了数英里。
The area sprawls over 900 acres.
这个地区占地 900 多英亩。
因此,sprawling 可以理解成“占地大的、四处蔓延的”,比如 2017 年 6 月英语六级真题中就出现了这个词:
Massive rubbish dumps and sprawling landfills constitute one of the more unconfortable impacts that humans have on wildlife.
大型垃圾场和无序蔓延的垃圾填埋场是人类对野生动物造成的不利影响之一。
2021年11月13日的《经济学人》中也出现了这个词:
Starting in the 1960s, sleepy fishing ports and trading posts turned into sprawling industrial centres, filled with shipyards, car factories, steel mills, oil refineries and container terminals.
从20世纪60年代开始,沉寂的渔港和贸易站变成了庞大的工业中心,到处都是造船厂、汽车厂、钢铁厂、炼油厂和集装箱码头。
文中 sprawling Taihao mausoleum 就可以理解成:庞大的太昊陵。

Many enjoyed slapping a statue of Qin Hui, a scheming official in the Song dynasty who is notorious for having framed a military hero.
许多人喜欢打秦桧的雕像,秦桧是宋朝的一个奸臣,因陷害一位军事英雄而臭名昭著。
slap 就是“扇巴掌”的意思:
scheming 表示 often planning secretly to do sth for your own advantage, especially by cheating other people “惯搞阴谋的;诡计多端的;狡诈的”:
frame 此处作动词,表示 to deliberately make someone seem guilty of a crime when they are not guilty, by lying to the police or in a court of law “陷害,诬告”,同 set up: 

One visitor got carried away, striking the statue with the lid of an incense burner.
一位游客被冲昏了头脑,用香炉盖子打雕像。
get/be carried away 表示 to be so excited about something that you do not control what you say or do and you forget about everything else “失去理智,冲昏头脑”,有点网络用语“上头”的那种感觉,看几个例句:
striking the statue with the lid of an incense burner,看图说话:
该男子不顾工作人员再三劝阻,掀起遮盖香炉的铁板就朝对面的秦桧跪像扇去,扇完了还大声呼唤:“下一个谁来?”……目前,该男子已被当地公安部门控制了。
打活的秦桧我敬你是条汉子,打秦桧像属于破坏公物,和平年代不需要这种“勇士”,大家切勿模仿。

Feelings are running high after Qin’s villainy featured in a new film, “Full River Red”, which topped the box-office charts during the holiday.
秦桧的恶行出现在新电影《满江红》后,人们的情绪高涨,这部电影在假期期间占据了票房榜首。
feelings are running highget carried away 有点相似,可以翻译成“情绪高涨;激愤;激昂”,造个句子:
Feelings are running high on the issue of delaying retirement.
在推迟退休的问题上,人们情绪高涨。
补充一个类似的表达:run deep,英文解释:if a feeling runs or goes deep, it is very strong and difficult to change. 可以表示某一感情的强烈,比如谈到沉迷电子设备的危害时,我们可以说:
The near-universal access to smartphones, starting at ever younger ages, is transforming modern society in ways that can have negative effects on physical and mental health, neurological development and personal relationships, not to mention safety on our roads and sidewalks. With men, women and even children spending their days glued to their screens, public concerns run deeper.
现在,几乎人人都能接触智能手机了,并且呈现出年轻化的态势。这改变了当代社会,对身体健康和心理健康、神经发育和个人关系都产生了消极影响,遑论道路安全。不管是男性还是女性,甚至是小孩,都天天盯着屏幕看,人们对这一现象越来越感到担忧。
feature 这个词最基本的意思名词“特点、特征”,作动词时它的英文解释是:to include something as an important part, or to be included as an important part,即,包括某个主要部分,或,某个主要部分被包括在里面。
这个词正过来反过来都能用,比如,这本书里充满了暴力,我们即可以说:
Violence features in the book.
也可以说:
The book features violence.
文中 Qin’s villainy featured in a new film 的字面意思是:秦桧的恶行是这部电影的主要部分、这部电影讲述了秦桧的恶行,也可以反过来写:
A new film featured Qin's villainy.
which topped the box-office charts during the holiday
chart是“图表、榜单、排行榜”的意思。
表示“第一名排名第一”,我们习惯性地使用形容词或名词,如 first, the first place,而地道英文中更多用的是动词,比如 top, lead, dominate
top 后面可以直接加 list/chart,如文中用法;
lead 后面加 the world in 或 the way in,如:
We lead the way in space technology.
我们在航天技术方面处于领先地位。
《经济学人》关于“核能”的报道中出现了 lead the world in 的说法:
John Barrasso wants America to lead the world in nuclear energy.
约翰·巴拉索希望美国在核能方面引领世界。
dominate 后面可以直接加 list/chart 或领域,如:
The book is expected to dominate the best-seller lists.
这本书预计会占据畅销书排行榜的榜首。
英国《每日邮报》关于电影《阿凡达》的报道中也出现了这个词:
Avatar: The Way of Water continues to dominate box office.
《阿凡达:水之道》继续主导票房。

最后我们把这段话再整体看一遍: 
During China’s lunar-new-year holiday, which ran from January 21st to 27th, tourists flocked to the sprawling Taihao mausoleum in Henan province. Many enjoyed slapping a statue of Qin Hui, a scheming official in the Song dynasty who is notorious for having framed a military hero. One visitor got carried away, striking the statue with the lid of an incense burner. Feelings are running high after Qin’s villainy featured in a new film, “Full River Red”, which topped the box-office charts during the holiday.
在1月21日至27日的中国农历新年假期期间,游客蜂拥至河南省庞大的太昊陵。许多人喜欢打秦桧的雕像,秦桧是宋朝的一个奸臣,因陷害一位军事英雄而臭名昭著。一位游客被冲昏了头脑,用一个香炉的盖子打雕像。秦桧的恶行出现在新电影《满江红》后,人们的情绪高涨,这部电影在假期期间占据了票房榜首。

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1月19日-2月8日报名
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