考研倒数一周，这几篇《经济学人》文章必读！

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2023年考研还剩下最后一周，关于英语还能做些什么？除了刷题、背单词之外，在冲刺阶段更重要的是根据可能会考到的热门话题和领域提前学习。为此，我们梳理了一下本年度最有可能被选进考研英语阅读理解试题中的几大领域的文章，帮助同学们掌握热点话题精读，助力最后冲刺。

主题：人工智能

人工智能，特别是ChatGPT的问世，将生成式人工智能推向了又一高潮。与之相随的是关于人工智能对于人类影响的热切讨论。作为今年的最大热点之一，了解“人工智能”最新发展至关重要。

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The World Ahead 2024

Generative AI will go mainstream in 2024

Data-savvy firms will benefit first

WHEN NEW technologies emerge they benefit different groups at different times. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) first helped software developers, who could use GitHub Copilot, a code-writing AI assistant, from 2021. The next year came other tools, such as ChatGPT and DALL-E 2, which let all manner of consumers instantly produce words and pictures.

In 2023 tech giants gained, as investors grew more excited about the prospects of generative AI. An equally weighted share-price index of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Nvidia grew by nearly 80% (see chart). Tech firms benefited because they supply either the AI models themselves, or the infrastructure that powers and delivers them.

In 2024 the big beneficiaries will be companies outside the technology sector, as they adopt AI in earnest with the aim of cutting costs and boosting productivity. There are three reasons to expect enterprise adoption to take off.……【想要继续阅读完整文章？APP内搜索《生成式人工智能将在2024年成为主流》2023-12-13】欢迎订阅《经济学人·商论》继续读完本文双语版

主题：气候

《联合国气候变化框架公约》第二十八次缔约方大会（COP28）近期在阿联酋迪拜召开。此次大会是目前全球参会规模最大的一次，可见越来越多国家对于气候问题的关注度不断提升。随着近两年极端天气愈加频发，“气候”议题的重要性也在不断加深。

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Turning up the heat

Are the current heatwaves evidence that climate change is speeding up?

All sorts of records are being broken in all sorts of places

ESTIMATES OF Earth’s average temperature, having set a new record on July 3rd, have yet to fall back below the previous record, which was set just last year. That a run of very hot days should happen in July is, by itself, perhaps unsurprising. Two-thirds of the Earth’s land is in the northern hemisphere, and land warms up faster than water does, so northern summers are the hottest times of year for the planet as a whole. But the highest temperatures tend to come later in the season. That this year’s should start so early, rise so high and run so long is unprecedented.

So is what is happening in the oceans (see chart). Since March 13th the sea-surface temperature in low- and mid-latitudes has been higher than on the same day in any year since 1979. Normally highest in the southern summer (most of Earth’s water is in the south), temperatures are at record levels in the southern winter.

Within the rising global averages lie savage peaks in particular places. On July 16th a site in the Turpan Depression in Xinjiang, sometimes called China’s Death Valley, reported a high of 52.2°C. In America, in Death Valley proper, the same day saw a peak of 53.9°C. Of more immediate concern than isolated spikes in deserts, temperatures have been dangerously high in places where hundreds of millions of people live, too. On July 6th, after the city measured its highest July temperature ever, authorities in Beijing announced their second red alert for heat in two weeks. July 19th marked the 19th day in a row that the temperature in Phoenix, Arizona, has exceeded 43°C. Things are similarly sweltering in Italy and many nearby countries (see map)..……【想要继续阅读完整文章？APP内搜索《最近的热浪是否表明气候变化正在加速？》23-08-03】欢迎订阅《经济学人·商论》继续读完本文双语版

主题：电动车电动车

中国既是全球最大的电动汽车市场，也是全球最大的电动汽车生产国。而经过疫情期间的激烈内部竞争，中国车企的产品创新到制造水平都已跃居全球前列。这应该会使电动汽车变得更便宜，从而推动汽车业的减排与绿色转型，更大的好处是造福全球驾驶。了解中国电动车行业的发展已经成为必须。

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Great wheels from China

Why the world should welcome competition from Chinese carmakers

Deglobalisation would be bad for drivers and the planet

IF FRESH EVIDENCE were needed of the importance of China to the global car industry, the Shanghai motor show, which opened on April 18th, provides it. The world’s other big jamborees have been permanently cancelled or downgraded, but China’s showcase has attracted 1,000 exhibitors from many countries with 100 new models on show.

Only a few years ago Chinese cars were poorly designed and shoddily put together. Today they are mostly as good as foreign ones in both respects, and surpass them in the software-driven digital experience that will define car brands in the future. Yet for the world as a whole, the rise of Chinese cars will be more significant still. To curb global warming, it is essential to replace carbon-spewing petrol-powered vehicles with cleaner battery-powered ones. And China is both the world’s biggest market for, and maker of, electric vehicles (EVs).

Vehicles powered by internal combustion have been a great success story over the past century, bringing mobility to the masses and fat profits to shareholders. A handful of giant carmakers have made steady improvements to their products and assembled ever more complex supply chains spread across the globe. This has brought greater comfort and safety to passengers, as well as low prices. Competition from Japanese carmakers (which roared into the fast lane in the 1970s) and South Korean firms (which did so in the 1990s) spurred innovation worldwide..……【想要继续阅读完整文章？APP内搜索《为什么世界应该欢迎来自中国车企的竞争》2023-05-05】欢迎订阅《经济学人·商论》继续读完本文双语版

主题：世界经济电动车

2023年的世界经济可以说是坐“过山车”。一年之前，所有人还因为高利率认为世界经济将会衰退，而当我们再从年底回顾发现，即使在地缘局势恶化之际，世界经济依然涨势惊人。世界经济的未来走向，是所有人关注的重点。

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Too good to be true

The world economy is defying gravity. That cannot last

Threats abound, including higher-for-longer interest rates

EVEN AS WARS rage and the geopolitical climate darkens, the world economy has been anirrepressible source of cheer. Only a year ago everyone agreed that high interest rates would soon bring about a recession. Now even the optimists have been confounded. America’s economy roared in the third quarter, growing at a stunning annualised pace of 4.9%. Around the world, inflation is falling, unemployment has mostly stayed low and the big central banks may have stopped their monetary tightening. China, stricken by a property crisis, looks likely to benefit from a modest stimulus. Unfortunately, however, this good cheer cannot last. The foundations for today’s growth look unstable. Peer ahead, and threats abound.

The irrepressible economy has encouraged bets that interest rates, though no longer rising rapidly, will not fall by much. Over the past week the European Central Bank and Federal Reserve have held rates steady; the Bank of England was expected to follow suit shortly after we published this on November 2nd. Long-term bond yields have accordingly risen sharply. America’s government must now pay 5% to borrow for 30 years, up from just 1.2% in the depths of the pandemic recession. Even economies known for low rates have seen sharp increases. Not long ago Germany’s borrowing costs were negative; now its ten-year bond yield is nearly 3%. The Bank of Japan has all but given up on its promise to peg ten-year borrowing costs at 1%.

Some people, including Janet Yellen, America’s treasury secretary, say these higher interest rates are a good thing—a reflection of a world economy in the rudest of health. In fact, they are a source of danger. Because higher rates are likely to persist, today’s economic policies will fail and so will the growth they have fostered...……【想要继续阅读完整文章？APP内搜索《违背重力法则的世界经济不可持续》2023-11-17】欢迎订阅《经济学人·商论》继续读完本文双语版