外刊精读∣《经济学人》:Covid-19 brings Dutch mink farming to an end

提起“水貂”，你的脑海里第一时间浮现出的是什么？

是可爱的小动物，像这样→

还是...

像这样→

“貂皮大衣”曾是昂贵的代词，是身份的象征，然而近些年来，随着消费者动物保护意识的提高，消费者对皮草已经渐渐失去了曾经的热情。在今年新冠疫情的打击下，许多国家的皮草市场市场相继进入“寒冬”。而在荷兰，水貂养殖业甚至已经被叫停，这是因为什么呢？通过今天的外刊精读，你就知道答案了：

Covid-19 brings Dutch mink farming to an end
首先，我们来看标题中出现的重要单词：Mink：a mink is a small animal with highly valued fur 貂，水貂这个词需要注意的点是，它的复数形式可以是minks，也可以是其原形mink。单复同形的单词还有很多，这里给大家列举几个：Buffalo: 水牛Deer: 鹿Species：种类Counsel: 法律顾问Means: 手段，方法（单复数都有s）Headquarters: 总部（单复数都有s）这类单词在拼写时要格外注意~！
接下来，我们一起来看正文内容吧~Animal-rights activists often complain that cute beasts get more sympathy than equally deserving ugly ones. If so, one would think a cuddly critter like the mink would be easy to protect. Yet in the Netherlands, mink are the only animal that can still legally be farmed for their fur. That is about to change. On August 28th the government brought forward to March a ban on mink-farming that had been scheduled to take effect in 2024. The timetable was sped up not because mink had become more adorable, but because they can contract covid-19 and spread it to humans. Dutch farmers normally raise about 2.5m mink a year, making the Netherlands the world’s fourth-largest producer after Denmark, China and Poland.【内容精读】<重点词汇>1. deserving：worthy of being treated in a particular way 值得帮助的;应受支持的

e.g.: 

The money saved could be used for more deserving causes. 省下来的钱可以用于更有意义的事业。He is a man deserving of sympathy. （注意介词）

他是个值得同情的男人。

这个单词的词根是deserve，这个词既可以表示积极的意义“应得；值得”，也可以表示贬义“罪有应得，活该”。

e.g.：

They know the sport inside out, and we treat them with the respect they deserve. （褒）他们对这项体育运动了如指掌，我们也给予了他们应有的尊重。One of them said the two dead joy riders got what they deserved.（贬）他们中的一个人说这两名开偷来的车去兜风的人死得活该。【补充】关于deserve的几个常用表达：Sb. deserves a medal（用以夸奖某人完成了艰巨任务）值得嘉奖，值得钦佩get what you deserve罪有应得one good turn deserves another善须善报；礼尚往来；好人应得好报
2. critter

a regional term for creature (especially domestic animals) 生物，动物；……样的人(同creature)

e.g.: Another little critter that is going to be loitering around in my house. 又一只小动物要在我家里闲逛了。【拓展】：Little Critter 小毛人系列Little Critter 是美国家喻户晓的卡通形象。这个毛茸茸的小家伙并非某一种具体的动物，而是一个集合了袋熊、仓鼠、兔子甚至豪猪等多种动物外形特点的“小魔怪”。Little Critter系列是美国绘本大师Mercer Mayer根据自己的家庭生活提炼、编绘的图画书。小小怪的爸爸、妈妈、妹妹和弟弟就是作者一家人，每一个主题都是生活中的真实影现。这个系列里的每个主题都与孩子的生活息息相关，风格明快，充满了美式幽默，很受孩子们的喜爱。
3. contract① to make a legal agreement with sb for them to work for you or provide you with a  service；与…订立合同（或契约）② When something contracts or when something contracts it, it becomes smaller or shorter；(使)收缩;(使)缩小;(使)缩短文中的contract显然不是指我们常用的“签订合同”或者“收缩”，而是一个不那么常见的用法：感染，患（病）。If you contract a serious illness, you become ill with it 感染，患（病）搭配：contract a disease/virus/illness e.g.: He contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion... 他因为输血而感染了艾滋病。
<常用短语表达>1. bring forward

① cause to move forward 提前

e.g.: There have been calls to bring forward the date of the primary, but they have so far been rejected.一直有声音要求将初选日期提前，但迄今这些要求皆遭到拒绝。

② bring forward for consideration 提出

e.g.: This would encourage them to bring forward their investment plans to 2011.这一提案会鼓励企业提出他们在2011年的投资计划。【补充】关于bring的其他短语表达bring a charge/a legal action/an accusation against sb.控告某人；对某人起诉；控告某人bring sb/sth to heel使听话，使就范bring into play 发挥；启用
2. speed up

When something speeds up or when you speed it up, it moves or travels faster. (某物) 加速; 使 (某物) 加速

e.g.: I had already taken steps to speed up a solution to the problem. 我已经采取措施加快解决这个问题。【补充】表达“加快”的其他短语：Accelerate:Our present task is to accelerate economic growth.加速经济发展是我们当前的任务。Expedite:Please do what you can to expedite the building work.
请尽量加快建筑工作。Step up:France has also stepped up diplomatic initiatives to ease tensions.法国也加紧了缓解紧张局势的外交行动。Make speed:Give me the cup, then, and make speed, make speed!那么，把杯子给我，快点，快点！
【句子分析】这句话理解的难点在于bring forward sth. to sth “将某事提前到某个时间” 这一短语的使用。在文中就是将关于水貂养殖业的ban（禁令）提前到March（三月）。通常来说，我们会把“提前到三月”这个内容放在后面，也就是The government bring forward the ban to March。但是由于这里ban后面有一个that引导的定语从句（that had been scheduled to take effect in 2024），内容太长，因此文中将时间提前了。也就是说，句子意思其实是这样的：8月28日，政府将关于水貂养殖业的禁令提前到了三月，这一禁令本来应该在2024年才生效。
【参考译文】

向上滑动阅览原文

Animal-rights activists often complain that cute beasts get more sympathy than equally deserving ugly ones. If so, one would think a cuddly critter like the mink would be easy to protect. Yet in the Netherlands, mink are the only animal that can still legally be farmed for their fur. That is about to change. On August 28th the government brought forward to March a ban on mink-farming that had been scheduled to take effect in 2024. The timetable was sped up not because mink had become more adorable, but because they can contract covid-19 and spread it to humans. Dutch farmers normally raise about 2.5m mink a year, making the Netherlands the world’s fourth-largest producer after Denmark, China and Poland.

动物权利保护主义者常常抱怨，可爱的动物往往比丑陋的动物更容易受到人们的同情。如果真是这样，按理说像貂这样可爱的动物应该更容易得到保护才对。然而在荷兰，水貂是唯一可以被合法养殖以获取其皮毛的动物。这一现状即将改变。8月28日，荷兰政府将原定于2024年生效的水貂养殖禁令提前至3月。这一禁令的提前不是因为水貂变得越来越可爱了，而是因为它们能够感染新冠病毒并将其传染给人类。通常来说，荷兰的养殖户每年可养貂约250万头，这使荷兰成为继丹麦、中国和波兰之后的世界第四大貂皮产地。
In April a clutch of mink and the farm hands who tended them were diagnosed with covid-19. Genetic tracing showed that at least two workers had probably been infected by mink, rather than the other way around. The contaminated animals were destroyed and stricter hygiene rules imposed, but by summer the virus had spread to a third of the country’s farms. In June parliament voted to shut down the industry as soon as possible, and the cabinet agreed.【内容精读】<重点词汇>1.  contaminate① make impure② make radioactive by adding radioactive materiale.g.: Mineral oils in the printing ink may contaminate food stuffs packed inside it. 印刷油墨中的矿物油可能会污染里面包装的食物。Hostile relationships invidiously contaminate our wellbeing. 敌对关系损害我们的健康。2. hygienethe practice of keeping yourself and your living and working areas clean in order to prevent illness and disease; 卫生e.g.: food hygiene 食品卫生personal hygiene（疫情期间，大家一定要注意personal hygiene呀）个人卫生hygiene education 卫生教育；保健教育3.  imposeIf you impose something on people, you use your authority to force them to accept it. 强制实行;强加这是一个在阅读和写作中很常用的动词，用来表达“强加；强制”的意思，除了文中“（强制）推行法律/规章制度 ”的用法，它还有下列搭配：Impose values/opinions/will on sb.把价值观/观点/意志强加于人imposes strain/pressure/suffering on sb.使人遭受压力/痛苦e.g.: She didn't want to impose her values on her family.她并不想勉强家人接受自己的价值观。The filming imposed an additional strain on her.拍摄任务使她承受了格外大的压力。
4. tend 大家比较熟知的tend的用法应该是tend to...（往往会；常常就），不过这里tend的意思是“照料；照管”，既可以直接加动词，也可以加to再加动词。e.g.:Doctors and nurses tended the injured.医生和护士护理受伤者。In our culture, girls are brought up to tend to the needs of others... 在我们的文化里，女孩从小就学着照料别人。除此之外，tend 还有“招待（商店，酒吧等的顾客）”之意。He had a job tending bar in San Francisco.他在旧金山做酒吧服务员。
<常用短语表达>1.  a clutch of  一群，一些e.g.: I did a clutch of films in succession. 我一连拍了好几卷胶卷。The prime minister was there with a clutch of cabinet ministers. 首相和一群内阁部长都在那里。补充：类似短语a cluster of 一群，一些；a flood of 一大批，大量的；a cloud of 大群，大量a heap of 一大堆；许多a flock of 一群（鸟，羊等）
2. shut down  cease to operate or cause to cease operating 叫停；关闭；停工e.g.: The computer system will be shut down over the weekend.  计算机系统周末关闭。补充：shut 相关短语shut yourself away独自躲起来；隐藏shut sb/sth out (of sth)把某人排除在…外；不把…告诉某人；克制某种感情shut/close your ears/ eyes to sth（对…）充耳不闻，置之不理/视而不见，熟视无睹
【知识拓展】
荷兰的议会（parliament）和内阁（cabinet）荷兰1848年宪法规定荷兰实行世袭君主立宪制（constitutional monarchy）。立法权属国王和议会（parliament），行政权由内阁（cabinet）执行。荷兰议会由一院（参议院）和二院（众议院）组成。一院有75名议员，由12个省议会的议员投票选出。一院主要的职责是立法，但只能投票接受或反对一项法案，没有修正权。一院议员大多同时担任其他工作，每周聚首一次。二院有150名议员，按比例代表制通过直接普选产生。二院主要负责监督内阁执政及与一院一起制定法律或修订案，若与内阁意见产生分歧，二院享有最终决定权。（荷兰国会一院会场）
【参考译文】

向上滑动阅览

In April a clutch of mink and the farm hands who tended them were diagnosed with covid-19. Genetic tracing showed that at least two workers had probably been infected by mink, rather than the other way around. The contaminated animals were destroyed and stricter hygiene rules imposed, but by summer the virus had spread to a third of the country’s farms. In June parliament voted to shut down the industry as soon as possible, and the cabinet agreed.

4月，一群水貂和饲养它们的农民被诊断感染了新冠病毒。基因追踪显示至少两名农民是被水貂感染了新冠病毒，而不是他们传染给了水貂。政府对感染的动物进行了处理，同时出台了更严格的卫生规定。但到了夏天，新冠病毒已经传播到荷兰三分之一的农场。6月，议会投票决定尽快关闭水貂养殖业，内阁对此表示同意。
图片来源：网络
内容来源：《经济学人》编辑：成都策马翻译

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荷兰水貂养殖业的关闭，让小编想到了新冠疫情期间我国取缔野生动物交易市场的举措。当对大自然的伤害伤及人类自身的时候，我们不得不反省：为满足一时口腹之快，虚荣之心而造成的对大自然的伤害，是否值得呢？保护动物，保护自然，就是保护我们自己。

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