Pinduoduo faces growing PR crisis over employee death
China’s fastest-growing e-commerce group Pinduoduo is facing a growing public relations crisis and an investigation into its working conditions after one of its employees died after collapsing on her way home from work.
The employee’s death, which occurred in the early hours of December 29, has revived concerns over the brutal work culture at some Chinese tech companies. The long hours often expected of employees are known as “996” — meaning they start work at 9am, leave at 9pm and work six days a week.
这两段话句子结构复杂，信息密集。我们先来看题目：
Pinduoduo faces growing PR crisis over employee death
题目是从公司角度切入的：拼多多因员工去世而面临愈加严重的公关危机。growing表示increasing in size, amount or degree「规模、数量或程度增加的」，此处可理解成「愈加严重的」。PR是public relations的缩写，即「公关」，每家公司都有公关部门，主要处理公司与外界的关系，帮公司建立良好形象（build up a good image 建立好形象，polish up the image 改善形象）。 再来看第一段话：
China’s fastest-growing e-commerce group Pinduoduo is facing a growing public relations crisis and an investigation into its working conditions after one of its employees died after collapsing on her way home from work.拼多多（中国增长最快的电商集团）在其员工于回家途中晕倒去世之后，面临一场愈加严重的公关危机，其工作条件也受到调查。
这段只有一句话，主干部分点明拼多多面临的双重不利处境：Pinduoduo is facing a growing public relations crisis and an investigation (into its working conditions)，既面临公关危机，又面临调查。说到拼多多，自然要介绍一下它的地位，于是作者在Pinduoduo前加了一个同位语：China’s fastest-growing e-commerce group「中国发展最快的电商集团」。investigation后面加介词into，表示「针对...的调查」，文中an investigation into its working conditions就是「对其工作条件的调查」，working conditions指「工作环境、工作条件」，举个例子，Governments should urge companies to improve their working conditions.「政府应该督促公司改善工作环境。」拼多多为什么会面临公关危机和调查？最后作者通过after补充了其前因后果：after one of its employees died after collapsing on her way home from work「在一名员工在下班回家途中晕倒去世之后」。collapse在这里指人因疲惫或生病而「晕倒、瘫倒」，比如，After ten consecutive hours of work, I got home and collapsed on the sofa.「连续工作10小时后，我回到家瘫倒在沙发上。」在金融市场中，collapse也可以表示股票「暴跌」、股市「崩盘」、经济「崩溃」，我们造个句子：Pinduoduo's share price collapsed after one of its employees died after collapsing on her way home from work. 第二句话：
The employee’s death, which occurred in the early hours of December 29, has revived concerns over the brutal work culture at some Chinese tech companies.该员工于12月29日凌晨时分去世，这再次引发了人们对一些中国科技公司的野蛮工作文化的担忧。
这句话讲了拼多多员工猝死事件所引发的影响，先看主干部分：The employee’s death has revived concerns over / the brutal work culture / at some Chinese tech companies.revive可从词缀角度分析，“re-”表示again的意思「又、再」，“viv”表示「生命」，比如survive「存活」，根据这个规律，revive就是「再次存活」的意思，即「使复活、使苏醒」，可以和人、行业、经济、趋势、感情等搭配，比如：revive the economy 复兴经济；The death of Pinduoduo's employee revived people's hatred for the "996" scheme. 拼多多员工去世再次激起了人们对“996”工作制的厌恶。文中The employee’s death has revived concerns over...的意思是「拼多多员工去世再次激起了关于...的担忧」，concern作名词，后面加about/for/over，表示「对...的担忧」。the brutal work culture指「残酷的工作文化」，也就是“996”工作制，《南华早报》的相关报道中用的是 notorious “996” overwork culture「臭名昭著的“996”加班文化」。在The employee’s death后面，作者通过一个定语从句补充了去世的时间：which occurred in the early hours of December 29「死亡发生在12月29日的凌晨时间」。the early/small hours指“凌晨时分”。 第三句话是对“the brutal work culture”的具体化，也暗示了员工的死因：
The long hours often expected of employees are known as “996” — meaning they start work at 9am, leave at 9pm and work six days a week.公司希望员工多加班——这种漫长的加班被称为“996”，也就是说他们从早上9点开始工作，直到晚上9点下班，每周工作6天。
我们先把这句话的主干拎出来：The long hours are known as “996”「这一漫长时间被称为“996”」。often expected of employees是后置定语，修饰The long hours，还原成定语从句的形式：The long hours that are often expected of employees.expect sth of/from sb指「要求某人某事，指望某人做某事」，我们体会一下它的英文解释：demand that someone does something，比如，父母对我们的期望都很高，可以说：Our parents expected high standards from us.，再比如，Don't expect too much from him.「不要对他期望过高」。 老外不一定了解什么叫“996”，于是作者在后面又通过一个状语，解释了什么是“996”：meaning they start work at 9am, leave at 9pm and work six days a week「也就是说他们从早上9点开始工作，直到晚上9点下班，每周工作6天」。这句话可以「拿来主义」，放在「加班、工作与生活」话题的写作中，向大家介绍流行的加班文化。 二、彭博社（Bloomberg）
Pinduoduo Worker’s Death Renews Scrutiny of 996 Work Culture
The recent death of a Pinduoduo Inc. employee renewed criticism of the long hours commonly practiced at China’s tech companies, which are already under scrutiny by regulators for anti-competitive business practices.
The e-commerce company confirmed that a female employee collapsed while walking home with colleagues at 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The employee, who was born in 1998 and joined Pinduoduo in July 2019, could not be resuscitated and died after nearly six hours of first aid, according to a statement. Her death sparked a social media backlash against Pinduoduo and the relentless working schedules expected of its employees, with a hashtag about the incident drawing more than 200 million views on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo service.
我们看一下标题：
Pinduoduo Worker’s Death Renews Scrutiny of 996 Work Culture拼多多员工的死亡再次引发了人们对996工作文化的审视
renew和revive类似，指「再次re变新new」，即「重新开始、再次（做）」，比如会员到期后，软件会提醒你 renew your subscription「续订」。scrutiny指careful and thorough examination「仔细的审视、彻底的检查」，比如 Government should be open to public scrutiny.「政府应该接受公众监督」。题目中 renew scrutiny of 的意思是「再次引发对...的审视」，《南华早报》的相关报道中也出现了类似的表达：renew controversy over...「再次引发关于...的争议」，是不是跟前面讲 revive 很相似？ 第一句概述了事件：
The recent death of a Pinduoduo Inc. employee renewed criticism of the long hours commonly practiced at China’s tech companies, which are already under scrutiny by regulators for anti-competitive business practices.拼多多公司的一名员工最近去世，这再次引发人们对中国科技公司中普遍存在的加班现象的批评。中国科技公司已经因反竞争商业行为而受到监管机构的审查。
主干点明了员工去世所引发的影响：
The recent death of a Pinduoduo Inc. employee renewed criticism of the long hours
Inc.是incorporated的缩写，指「公司、股份有限公司」，比如 Apple Computer Incorporated「苹果电脑公司」，Inc.也可以换成 Ltd.（limited）。 renew criticism of...「再次引发了对...的批评」，renew又一次出现，这里可以用前面学到的revive替换。the long hours后面跟了一个分词形式的后置定语：commonly practiced at China’s tech companies可先还原成定语从句的形式：the long hours that are commonly practiced at China’s tech companiespractice在这里是「践行、实践」，从句的意思是：中国科技公司普遍践行的长时间（加班）。China’s tech companies后面又跟了一个定语从句，介绍了中国科技公司的处境：which are already under scrutiny by regulators for anti-competitive business practicesbe under scrutiny by...指「被...审查，处于...审查中」，for anti-competitive business practices点明under scrutiny的原因：因为反竞争商业行为。这里的practice是名词，指“行为”。 第二段很简单，描述了这名女员工去世过程及后续影响：
The e-commerce company confirmed that a female employee collapsed while walking home with colleagues at 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The employee, who was born in 1998 and joined Pinduoduo in July 2019, could not be resuscitated and died after nearly six hours of first aid, according to a statement.
female、at 1:30 a.m.、born in 1998补充了几个细节：花季年龄，加班到深夜。 resuscitate同revive，指「使复苏、复活」，比如，Doctors managed to resuscitate him.「医生把他抢救了过来」，「人工呼吸」就可以说 mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. 第三句讲了员工去世所引发的影响：
Her death sparked a social media backlash against Pinduoduo and the relentless working schedules expected of its employees, with a hashtag about the incident drawing more than 200 million views on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo service.
其主干为：Her death sparked a social media backlash against Pinduoduo and the relentless working schedules「她的去世在社交媒体上引发了人们对拼多多及无情工作安排的强烈批评」。 spark此处指「激起、引起」，后面加某种问题或情绪，也可以同trigger, set off等替换。（老生常谈，可用「号内搜」搜一下） backlash就是strong criticism的意思，文中sparked a social media backlash against...的意思是「引发社交媒体上对...的批评」。 relentless同strict, cruel「残酷的」，the relentless working schedules和上面的the brutal work culture都是一回事，指残酷的加班制度。the relentless working schedules后面还跟了一个分词形式的后置定语，进行修饰：expected of its employeesbe expected of...我们前面讲过了，指demand that sb will do sth，所以这里可以理解成：要求员工过度加班。文中sparked a social media backlash是一个比较抽象的说法，于是后面作者加了个状语with a hashtag about the incident drawing more than 200 million views on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo service，把backlash具体化。hashtag意为「标签、话题」，就是社交媒体上两个#之间的内容，新浪微博上的「热门话题、热搜榜」就可以说 trending hashtag：（点此复习：苏大强作妖记） drawing more than 200 million views指「吸引了2亿多阅读量」，view在这里是名词，指「阅读量、点击量」，比如我们公众号平均每篇文章有40 thousand views「4万阅读量」。the Twitter-like Sina Weibo service指「像推特一样的新浪微博平台」，“-like”是一个常见的构词法，指「像...一样的」，《新概念三》第一课就出现过这个说法：Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America.the Twitter-like Sina Weibo service也可以说：Sina Weibo service, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter.equivalent此处是名词，指something that has the same value, purpose, job etc as something else「对等物、等同物」，后面加介词to，the Chinese equivalent to Twitter就可以理解成「等同于推特的中国平台」。英国 Daily Mail（《每日邮报》）在报道这一事件中也出现了equivalent：
The news came to light on Monday after several posts emerged on Zhihu, the Chinese equivalent to Quora, alleging the passing of a Pin Duo Duo worker due to working overtime.周一，知乎(中国版Quora)上出现了几条帖子，称一名拼多多员工因加班而去世，这一消息才曝光。
come to light是个很形象的表达，指become known「为人所知、曝光」。 三、「加班」话题的写作表达 （一）加班文化：
notorious “996” overwork culture（《金融时报》）
the brutal work culture（《金融时报》）
overwork culture（《南华早报》）
brutal "996" work schedule（《南华早报》）
（二）介绍“996”：
The long hours often expected of employees are known as “996” — meaning they start work at 9am, leave at 9pm and work six days a week.（《金融时报》）
996 – referencing the notorious work schedule of 9am to 9pm, six days a week（《南华早报》）
「加班」怎么说：（《每日邮报》）
overworked employees（overworked, adj.加班的）
employees have been overworked（overwork, v.使加班）
「猝死」怎么说：（《每日邮报》）
pass suddenly（v.）
sudden death（n.）
事件引发热议、讨论、反响：
XX renewed controversy over...
XX has revived concerns over...
XX renewed criticism of...
...(主干，描述事件), sparking controversy over... and renewing discussions on social media about...（根据《南华早报》改变）
XX sparked a social media backlash against..., with a hashtag about the incident drawing more than YY million views on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo service.（彭博社）