[E345]No news is bad news|经济学人
本文音频及原文摘自杂志The Economist《经济学人》2016年第6期，China版块。
Television news
How the Communist Party creates the world’s most-watched TV news show
Feb 6th 2016 | BEIJING
EACH night at 7pm, many of China’s television channels beam the state broadcaster’s flagship[(某组织的)旗舰产品,最重要理念,主建筑物] news programme into Chinese homes: a remorseless half-hour diet of where Xi Jinping went today, how well the economy is doing and (for a few minutes at the end) a look at all those people in foreign countries killing each other. Despite China’s transformation over the past 40 years, the evening news has changed very little. Around a tenth of the population still watch it—a remarkable number given the profusion in recent years of livelier[充满活力的] news sources in print and online[大约还有十分之一的人口在收看(新闻联播)，对于近年来将为丰富而有趣的纸媒和网络新闻资源来说，这数量可以说是较为可观].
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▷ beam [biːm]
【注释】
a) to send out a beam of light, or an electrical or radio signal, etc.
v. 辐射;发光;闪光;发射电波;播送
The midday sun beamed (= shone brightly) down on the boat as it drifted along.
正午的阳光照在缓缓漂动的船上。
The concert was beamed (= broadcast) by satellite all over the world.
音乐会经卫星播送到世界各地。
▷ remorseless [rɪ'mɔːslɪs]
【注释】
a) severe and showing no sadness or guilt;never stopping or impossible to stop
b) A person who is remorseless doesn't feel any guilt. If you're remorseless, you don't feel bad at all — even if you've done something terrible.
adj. 无情的;不悔恨的;不知自责的;
无休止的;不停的;
remorseless cruelty/violence
残酷冷血／残暴无情
a remorseless judge
无情的法官
the hurricane's remorseless approach
势不可挡的飓风的逼近
remorseless pressure to succeed
为求成功而时时处于压力之下
▷ profusion [prə'fjuːʒ(ə)n]
【注释】
a) an extremely large amount of something
b) If there's an abundance of something, you can say that there's a profusion of it. Hilarious and bizarre YouTube videos certainly exist in profusion.
n. 丰富,充沛,大量
I was remarking on the recent profusion of books and articles on the matter.
我正在谈论最近大量有关这次事件的书和文章。
She'd never seen flowers so beautiful and in such profusion.
她从未见过开得如此美丽、如此繁茂的花。
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News Simulcast[新闻联播], usually known by its Chinese name, Xinwen Lianbo, has chronicled the country’s extraordinary metamorphosis with almost unremitting leadenness[乏味;沉闷] since it was first aired in 1978. The same opening tune has been used for nearly 30 years (though the orchestra['ɔːkɪstrə][管弦乐队;乐队演奏处] has improved). News is chosen not for its importance or human interest but for its political value in bolstering the Communist Party. It is translated into eight minority languages, just to be sure its message is understood by as many people as possible.
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▷ chronicle ['krɒnɪk(ə)l]
【注释】
a) a written record of historical events；
part of the name of a newspaper
b) To chronicle an event is to record it as it happens, and a chronicle is a record of those events. If your grandmother took the time to chronicle the details of her 1910 journey to Japan, you can read her chronicle today.
n. 编年史;年代记;大事记
(报纸名称)…新闻,…记事报
vt. 记录;把…载入编年史
the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
《盎格鲁-撒克逊人编年史》
a chronicle of the French Revolution
法国大革命编年史
the Hampshire Chronicle《汉普郡记事报》
▷ metamorphosis [,metə'mɔːfəsɪs]
【注释】
a) a complete change；the process by which the young form of insects and some animals, such as frogs, develops into the adult form
b) In Kafka's novel entitled Metamorphosis, a man wakes up to find he has turned into a cockroach. That kind of complete and startling change pretty much sums up the word.
n. 彻底的变化;变态,蜕变
Under the new editor, the magazine has undergone a metamorphosis.
在新主编的领导下，这份杂志彻底改头换面了。
▷ unremitting [ʌnrɪ'mɪtɪŋ]
【注释】
a) never stopping, becoming weaker or failing
b) During a heat wave, it's not always the temperature itself that's a problem. It's that the heat is unremitting––you don't get a break from it. It's sweltering hot day after day after day.
adj. 不停的;不懈的;持续不断的
Our thanks are due to Bob Lawrence whose unremitting labours have ensured the success of the whole scheme.
我们要感谢鲍勃‧劳伦斯，是他不懈的努力确保了整个计划的成功。
▷ bolster ['bəʊlstə]
【注释】
a) to support or improve something or make it stronger
b) When you cheer up a friend who's feeling down, you bolster them. To bolster is to offer support or strengthen.
v. 支撑;加固;提高,改善
More money is needed to bolster the industry.
需要更多的钱来扶持该产业。
She tried to bolster my confidence/morale (= encourage me and make me feel stronger) by telling me that I had a special talent.
她说我有特别的才能，想要增强我的信心。
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The fare[(娱乐等)精神粮食] has barely changed in decades. A typical programme in the 1980s highlighted the development of a self-opening umbrella and a contest in which happy only children (China had recently introduced a one-child-per-couple policy[独生子女政策]) performed household chores[家务]. Today the backdrop[背景;背景幕] is just more high-tech. Scenes of bullet-trains[子弹头列车;动车组] and microchip makers[芯片制造商] have replaced those of dreary state-owned factories. Now, as then, reports featuring Chinese leaders—no matter how trivial[不重要的,琐碎的;琐细的] their activities—nearly always take precedence over[优先于;地位高于;比…重要] other news. A popular rhyming ditty[押韵小调] accurately describes the format: “The leaders are always busy, the people are perfectly healthy, the world outside China is extremely chaotic[领导很忙;人民很好;外国很乱].”
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▷ dreary ['drɪərɪ]
【注释】
a) boring and making you feel unhappy
b) When something is dreary it's depressing or lifeless in a rainy-day way. I finished my work, there was nothing on TV, and the rain just wouldn't stop: what a dreary day!
adj. 沉闷的,单调乏味的,令人沮丧的
a dreary little town
沉闷的小城
She had spent another dreary day in the office.
她在办公室里又度过了枯燥的一天。
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Early newscasters—almost always one man and one woman—were chosen for their standard Mandarin pronunciation[标准的普通话发音] and stolid demeanour; the same few read the news for decades. These have been replaced with younger, more glamorous['glæmərəs][迷人的,富有魅力的] presenters (though they still need official permission to change their hairstyles). To make broadcasts seem more newsy[信息丰富的], banks of[成排的] TV screens flicker[闪烁;闪现] in what appears to be a newsroom behind. But live reports are rare; they create too big a risk of something embarrassing making it to air.
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▷ stolid ['stɒlɪd]
【注释】
a) (of a person) calm and not showing emotion or excitement, or (of a thing) not interesting or attractive
b) A stolid person can’t be moved to smile or show much sign of life, in much the same way as something solid, like a giant boulder, is immovable. Both are expressionless.
adj. (人)不动感情的,淡漠的,无动于衷的;(事物)索然无趣的
He's a very stolid, serious man.
他是个极一本正经且喜怒不形于色的人。
The college is a stolid-looking building with no lawn.
这所学院外观呆板，连草坪都没有。
▷ demeanour [dɪ'miːnə]
【注释】
a) a way of looking and behaving
b) (behavioral attributes) the way a person behaves toward other people
n. 外表;风度;行为;神态举止
There was nothing in his demeanour that suggested he was anxious.
从外表上看，他没有任何焦虑的神态。
She has the demeanour of a woman who is contented with her life.
从神态上看，她对自己的生活很满足。
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A fraction of[一小部分；一部分] households had TV sets when Xinwen Lianbo started broadcasting. But as China entered the age of mass consumption[大众消费;大量消耗;大规模消费] a few years later, TV news became the perfect vehicle for the party to try to guide public opinion[引导舆论;舆论导向]. Xinwen Lianbo’s ratings[节目收听率(或收视率)] peaked in the mid-1990s, when 200m-250m tuned in[收听;调谐;使…协调]. Now the audience is 130m-140m, though the fall is not as big a worry for the party as it might seem: in 2003 China Central Television launched a 24-hour news channel[24小时新闻频道], giving viewers complete freedom to choose when to catch up with the latest propaganda. Xinwen Lianbo still has more viewers than any other TV news on Earth.
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For many, the programme provides useful clues to the party’s latest thinking, and a chance to see leaders who rarely appear in public. Propagandists have used the news to try to demystify President Xi, says Chang Jiang of Renmin University in Beijing. The president is shown as a man of the people[平民], drinking tea with villagers or kicking footballs[踢足球]. His voice is often heard, notes Mr Chang—perhaps because, unlike his predecessors[和前任不一样], he speaks standard Mandarin and is therefore widely understood. Ratings apparently rise when his elegant wife, Peng Liyuan, appears. But such cosmetic innovations are as far as the party will go in tinkering with[拨弄,摆弄;瞎摆弄;笨拙(或胡乱地)修理(或修补等)] a brand they consider successful.
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▷ demystify [diː'mɪstɪfaɪ]
【注释】
a) to make something easier to understand
b) To demystify something is to make it much easier to understand or see. Your favorite math teacher might be the one who manages to demystify calculus for you.
v. 使非神秘化;阐明;启发;使易懂
What I need is a book that will demystify the workings of a car engine for me.
我需要的是一本能通俗易懂地讲解汽车发动机工作原理的书。
▷ cosmetic [kɒz'metɪk]
【注释】
a) describes changes, etc. that are intended to make you believe that something is better when, in reality, the problem has not been solved; superficial
adj. 装饰门面的;虚饰的;表面的
They were offered a few cosmetic improvements to their working conditions, but nothing of significance.
表面上他们的工作环境有所改善，但并没有实质上的改变。
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以上言论不代表本人立场，摘自《经济学人》杂志，仅外语学习之用。查看来源请点击下方的“阅读原文”。