题目:Why suicide is falling around the world, and how to bring it down more
这个文章的题目很直白:自杀率下降的原因,以及如何将它降的更低
副标题:Urbanisation, fewer forced marriages and more curbs on the means of self-destruction
副标题对题目的问题做了高度概括的回答:城市化,更少的强迫性婚姻以及更多的自杀方式的限制是自杀率降低的主要因素
fewer和more的运用,让本句话更具对比性
这篇文章从题目和副标题一目了然的知道文章是在讲自杀比率降低原因以及降的更低的方法讨论。
第一段:①“YOU KNOW,” says a trader in “Margin Call”, a film about the crash of 2008, as he stands high on a building above Wall Street, “the feeling that people experience when they stand on the edge like this isn’t the fear of falling—it’s the fear that they might jump.” ②Suicide fascinates us.③ It is at once appalling and yet, in the darkest places in our minds, appealing. ④It is the most damaging sort of death.⑤ A child’s suicide is a parent’s worst nightmare, and a parent’s marks their children for life.⑥ It is a manifestation not just of individual anguish but also of a collective failure: if society is too painful to live in, perhaps we are all culpable.
本段第①句以描述2008年次贷危机的一部电影《商海通牒》的台词为开端讲述自杀的感受,“有着自杀经验的人站在悬崖边上他们不害怕坠落的过程,而害怕那可能的一跳”。②-③表述自杀对我们有着吸引力,虽骇人听闻但那无边的黑暗也有着致命的吸引力。④-⑤自杀是最具损害性的死亡方式:孩子的自杀是父母最可怕的噩梦,父母的自杀将在孩子的一生留下印记。⑥它不仅是个人痛苦的表现,也是群体失败的表现:如果社会让人活得太痛苦,也许我们都是罪魁祸首。
没有看过《商海通牒》的电影,但因这篇文章的原因去搜索了这部电影的影评,联想到当前经济状况,与2008年那场次贷危机引发的金融海啸何其相像,股市崩盘、房市泡沫、消费降级...,也因此被安利了这部电影。这个周日,与《商海通牒》约起。
好词好句学习:
①It is at once appalling and yet, in the darkest places in our minds, appealing.
appalling 和appealing 既押头韵,又押尾韵。
②It is a manifestation not just of individual anguish but also of a collective failure。
not just....but also....不仅....而且....
One of important thing that we should teach our children is the capacity not just of learning but also of acquistion.
第二段:①The suicide rate in America is up by 18% since 2000. ②This is not merely a tragedy; it matters politically, too.③ The rise is largely among white, middle-aged, poorly educated men in areas that were left behind by booms and crushed by busts.④ Their deaths are a symptom of troubles to which some see President Donald Trump as the answer. ⑤Those troubles should not be ignored.
本段讲述美国自杀率自2000以来上升了18%, 这不仅是悲剧更有关于政治。接着阐述了在美国中年、未受过良好教育的白人男士更容易自杀,他们这群人处在被繁荣抛弃,并陷入经济危机的地区。对于那些认为特朗普是答案的人来说,这些人的死亡是麻烦的征兆。这些麻烦是不能被忽视的。
本段的be up by18% 与第三段的be down by29% 是一组对比的数据,美国的自杀率上升18%,全球范围内自杀率下降了29%.
be up/ down by 是经济学人较为常用的描述数据变化的用词,用词简洁,是我们在写作的时候应该学习运用的。
如我们要说这个月的销量比上个月上升了10%,但比去年同期下降了8%,可以这样来描述:
The sales of Dec of this year is up by 10%, compared to Nov, 2018, but is down by 8%, compard to Dec,2017.
第三段:①Nonetheless, beyond America’s gloomy trend is a more optimistic story: that at a global level, suicide is down by 29% since 2000 (see article). ②As a result, 2.8m lives have been saved in that time—three times as many as have been killed in battle. ③There is no one reason. ④It is happening at different rates among different groups in different places. ⑤But the decline is particularly notable among three sets of people.
第三段说明了全球自杀人数的变化:相较于美国让人沮丧的自杀趋势,新闻报道了一个更为乐观的事情:自2000以来,全球范围的自杀率降低了29%。因此,280万人的生命在这一时期被挽救了---这是三倍于在战争中被杀害的人数。这并没有一个统一的原因。在不同的地区,不同的组别自杀发生的比率是不一样的。但是这个比率的降低主要表现在三类人群中。
好词好句学习:
As a result, 2.8m lives have been saved in that time—three times as many as have been killed in battle.
X times as many as 几倍多
今年公司的出口量是去年的5倍,可以表达为:
The exports of our company are five times as many as last year's.