[心靈西湯]由Payme減信用卡增值講起
TL:DR:花無百日紅,你有巴京拎包華時,當然為自己打算多啲。因為到你冇包華時,就冇乜人同情你。
1. 絶非打手文或業配文,完全獨立
2. 利申先:本人係極少數,近乎係冇匯豐戶口嘅香港人。咁但,Payme我是有用的,十分好用,十分成功。最重要做到First Mover,亦都有Network Effect,人人用,你咪用。而做到Network Effect,因為佢開放畀冇任何匯豐戶口嘅人,例如我。
3. 咁大家都知,最初可以用信用卡增值5000蚊,真好。大家都知,賺里數賺積分。而其實就算冇呢啲嘢,你都係免息套現咗幾十日。固然你可以拗而家低息,但始終早買早享受,利息就係早享受嘅代價。人生得意衰盡歡嘛(*)。一個唔該我用完呢幾千蚊就釘咗,咪唔使還(冇遺產的話)。
4. 匯豐其實之前已經將個5000蚊調低到2000。而家再2000調到1000,都引嚟一陣嘅問侯聲。我都有。人就係咁架啦,原本根本唔係你嘅嘢,但畀咗著數你,甚至都唔係收返晒,只係收返啲,佢地就鬧。人之常情,我都有鬧。雖然有啲屌晒鬼嘅,我都唔多明,喂,免費畀你用喎。背後啲R&D都要錢架下話?平時又屌香港公司短視乜乜,whatsapp收你8蚊就講 Michael Sandel
5. 不過我見有朋友(真朋友,相當尊重的朋友)講到話香港人玩爛個制度,我就覺得唔係好公道咯。唔係應該在呢個方向講(嘩,你有幾可聽到我幫香港人講好話?)
6. 香港人,當然最叻game the system。可能而家大陸人青出於藍,或者人數多,但呢啲古惑搵著數嘢,講始祖,必然係香港人。我年代去英國讀書見唔少。火車證出古惑啦,沙膠啦,會褪色嘅原子筆啦,仲有話唔見電話呃保險啦,人人皆知。你鍾意話我近蛛者殺自己仆街咪群埋啲仆街,隨你。但首先聲明本人係冇做的,另外,其實本人在英國冇乜朋友的,日日在房自瀆(唔通出走廊?)
7. 我有做嘅,咪炒埃瘋,當然啦,香港人集體回憶。唔止,炒埋賺埋分賺埋里數。十幾張卡N個Apple ID唔同送貨地址,有丫。呢啲我當然做過,你覺得大逆不道嘅,隨你。但做分析員嘅,股票已經好多時冇得炒,有埃瘋嚟講,真係唔賺錢都落場感受下氣氛嘛。
8. 天地良心,講呢類炒賣,我唔覺得我做得好多。識我都知我唔多炒股票,即使以前工作冇咁感都唔多炒。期指之類更係從冇玩過。甚麼威士尼呀外國樓呀全部都冇。我甚至有朋友炒口罩賺咗筆!但唔係今年,係2003!我頂多買過堆金幣(但我買咗10年,咁都算炒?)。最狠就係嗰期炒iPhone,因為反正我係用家,散唔出咪自己用,或者送畀囡囡。(**)。期貨市場術語呢,呢啲就叫convenience yield,CFA有教(我亂up的,CFA真係有教convenience yield,但唔係咁意思,雖則都唔係完全錯)
9. 不過講返,後期我連iPad MacBook都炒過!你心諗,水我呀?MacBook都有得炒?有喎。放出去當然係蝕少少—但賺里數夠冚。有期好多優惠的。
10. 正如朋友講,呢類東西,當年炒到飛天,好快就畀銀行封晒啦。當然。即係如果你交電費呀八達通增值呀買百佳禮券呀都可以計信用卡分,仲得了?(而百佳禮券長期有好活躍嘅二手市場,人人都知)
11. 但今次呢,有啲唔同喎。直接啲講,我用信用卡top up Payme,我諗用最嚴嘅道德高地去睇,都係fair use喎。或者講句,根本玩咗咁多年,由Day One 匯豐都知你啲友會個個月月頭去top 5000蚊出嚟賺信用卡分啦(而家2000,我剛top咗,最後機會啦!下個月1000)。有乜玩唔玩爛?(***)
12. 掉轉,根本就你情我願,不過係營商成本。佢開頭要Network Effect,要吸客,咪容許你咁玩。到而家佢成功啦,喂,你應該預咗呢日啦。鳥盡弓藏嘛,收割你啦。你都用慣咗,吹咩?唔通你去用BOC Pay?(利申:銀行我用恒生同中銀,但從冇用過BOC Pay)
13. 其實呢類操作,好多事情都係咁。即係睇下邊個求邊個,邊個有巴京拎包華。而呢個巴能時,係會隨住時間而Shift嘅。男女關係固然好多時係咁(十八廿二就女仔巴閉男人做狗公個個搶,之後慢慢掉轉),商業關係就更加係咁。
14. 事隔咁多年,都可以講下。我有一期在香港01寫博評,甚至我開呢個Page最初就係因為嗰邊嘅文幾受歡迎。而01當時畀嘅稿費,相當不錯,都係行內皆知。但當然玩得唔係幾耐,就停咗呢樣嘢(但又利申:我仲偶然有在01寫文,但已經係另一回事)。
15. 其實成件事合理之極,又係供求,包京拎包華。01最初冇人識,咁要搶收視搶view,最簡單方法當然係搵啲勁人嚟寫(唔包括我,我係朋友介紹,當然後來我在01班作者中收視都幾好係後話),但最初人地識你老鼠,點解要幫你寫?你咪唯有出重金。當時好多出名嘅人都寫過。
16. 之但係,玩得一兩年,喂,佢拎到view。就掉返轉頭,係好多人主動R佢地想寫,當然係稿費都唔收(拿,可以睇返我上次講intern倒貼嘅文)(https://fbook.cc/3Eu6)。咪shift in 巴京拎包華咯
17. 真係冇嘢嘅,當年都未流行講condom,用完即棄。我就覺得呢啲字眼太強烈。冇嘢架喎,各取所需,難聽講句,之前冇撚出稿費畀你咩,定要養你過世?我就好感恩嘅。正如我見好多人被炒時(包括我當年都係),都會怨,我對公司咁多年點點點,冇苦勞都有肺癆。不過現實就係,有出足糧畀你架下話?你同公司嘅貢獻,每個月找完數就清咗架啦。再現實啲講,個撚個都老而不講貢獻所以要養你過世,咁後生仔仲使上位?
18. 所以,condom嘅嘢,世界上人人都係鳥盡弓藏。我志願就係做一個有自主嘅 condom—趁硬就自己甩出嚟啦,唔好勞煩人地,陣間搞到周圍都係呀。咁樣諗咪舒服啲。
19. 打從我在耆英畀人豉椒炒魷後,真係明白到公司點會冇咗邊個唔得?莫講話炒你,炒埋你老闆,炒埋你老闆個老闆,全部連根拔起一樣得。當然,其實真係簡單不過嘅道理,但frying is believing,被炒過咪知。所以打後我幾時都做好畀人炒嘅準備,公司唔會放太多自己嘢。跟合約賠返三個月人工畀我得架啦。
20. 扯遠咗,但講到尾,個教訓係乜?個教訓就係,01嗰時,我係好撚勤力寫文的!當然佢地有上限!但我多數都寫到上限!你知我冇嘢多就係idea多!冇嘢快就係寫文快!點解咁搏老命?因為,人無百日好,花無百日紅!認真啲諗,都估到佢唔會無止境咁畀好好稿費你啦。同你有親咩!
21. 所以同樣地,問下自己,「之前有冇個個月都用盡5000蚊Top Up呀?」。花開堪折直須折呀。當然你話你冇咁cheap唔會拎盡,冇問題—咁你今日唔好怨話cut咯
22. 正如明星(男女都係)剝衫當然要趁早,最好你做第一個。葉玉卿周秀娜就紅得起,打後嘅再激都只係暗星。
23. 真的,我講contrarian,但唔係叫你公司就執笠你去叫老闆加人工!而係,好景嗰時,就好拎盡佢,開價狠啲,盡啲。因為到個市仆街時,就變咗公司有巴京拎包華,佢唔減你人工你都謝主隆恩!
24. 08年,我公司原本有雙糧,嗰年就取消—但我其實都十分開心!因為保得住份工,仲唔使減人工。喂,執到啦,幾多人份工都冇埋呀!保得住份工唔使減人工咪還神。正所謂,留得青山在,哪怕沒春袋呀朋友!
(*)當然係特登打錯的,鐵粉呀
(**)呀,費事有人考古。我記得嘅盡講。我炒過其中一樣最荒唐嘅嘢,係月餅券!係CLS的,甚至唔係月餅,係月餅券!Derivative Market!但同樣地,我有convenience yield!你心諗,喂,埃瘋就話自用啫,月餅你食晒佢?唔怪得食到你咁撚肥。差矣,嗰時都好撚肥。但唔係自用,係送禮!大家都知月餅係用嚟送。當年仲係要巴結其他人嘅年代,而家就唔使。又,正如期油梗係紐約同布蘭特,咁月餅券,當然係嘉麟樓。我當時寫過篇文,我應該係全香港第一個月餅分析員,賣月餅都有Book Building,only in Hong Kong,而半島真係因為呢堆月餅執唔少,聽聞利錢極高。
(***)其實好似話topup根本冇分,我冇fact check(拿,都話我唔係咩炒達人啦)。但,至少你都拎咗個免息幾十日套現,成篇文講嘅嘢一樣成立。
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Ivan Patreon 狼耳街華人,一星期至少三篇港美市場評點,一個月一舊水唔使,開張一個月已近 500人訂,仲有兩篇免費試睇:https://bit.ly/31QmYj7
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封釘術語 在 范琪斐的美國時間 Facebook 的最讚貼文
大家好,我是國際三條線的小編Oscar。
今天第一條線選共和黨代表大會新聞的用意,除了是請大家關注第一夫人梅蘭尼亞充滿「同情心」的演說,同時也預告明天川普將會發表演說。團隊也會在明天緊釘川普的演講。
第三條線是范姐選的新聞。紐西蘭去年犯下五十多條人命的槍擊案凶手,被判了無期徒刑。我不禁要想,這判決結果在台灣會如何?
另外,最後一條線是捷克/台灣,原報導內文裡說目前希臘的在野黨「新民主黨」,應該是誤植了,新民主黨現在是執政黨。
🔎以下是今天的國際三條線
▪️國際:2020美國大選:梅拉尼婭·特朗普共和黨大會演說呼籲種族和諧
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/world-53917204
👉劃重點:要是說共和黨全國代表大會的第一個晚上該用來解決總統在美國選民心目中的弱點——應對新冠大流行、種族問題和整體缺乏同理心——星期二的焦點就在於鼓動其基礎支持者,包括反墮胎活動人士和基督教保守派。
與此同時,總統做了兩件不常見的政治演出以展示其行政權力,一是特赦罪犯,二是出席公民歸化儀式。
第一夫人梅拉尼婭·特朗普在新近翻修的玫瑰園為這一天作結。她是為數極少直接向COVID-19受害人表達同情的人。白宮經濟顧問庫德洛(Larry Kudlow)當晚才剛以過去式來談論這次疫情,梅拉尼婭的言論與之形成很大對比。
除非未來幾個月出現一些變化,否則選民投下他們手中一票時,首先想到的仍會是冠狀病毒疫情。
雖然給支持者餵紅肉(政治術語:發表煽動支持者的言論)很有用,但公眾對總統應對病毒的表現——以及緊隨而來的經濟後遺症——將左右他們如何決定特朗普的政治前途。
▪️國際:控制疫情後仍封城,新疆「一刀切」政策引發民怨
https://cn.nytimes.com/china/20200826/china-xinjiang-covid/zh-hant/
👉劃重點:中國官員先是發出進入「戰時」狀態的通知。然後,當局開始挨家挨戶封公寓門,警告居民待在家裡。
近幾週來,中國政府在西部的新疆地區採取了範圍廣泛的封城措施,對數百萬人實施隔離,官員們將這種做法稱為抗擊新型冠狀病毒捲土重來的舉措之一。
但隨著新疆的疫情似乎得到了控制,而限制措施在疫情暴發一個多月後仍在實施,許多居民開始批評政府,指責其做法過於嚴厲。
▪️國際:基督城屠殺者的血債:紐西蘭清真寺槍擊慘案的罪惡審判
https://global.udn.com/global_vision/story/8662/4806180
👉劃重點:「無論如何,我都無法原諒兇手。」去年紐西蘭發生的史上最慘重槍擊事件——基督城清真寺槍擊案——於今年8月24日展開為期4天的審判。犯下51死、49傷的兇手塔倫(Brenton Tarrant),將面臨多項謀殺罪和恐怖主義的指控判刑,多名倖存者與家屬也將陸續發表證詞。根據警方的調查結果,基於對種族和穆斯林的極端仇恨而犯案的塔倫,早在2017年時就已經開始著手策畫攻擊行動,且行兇過程異常殘忍;然而儘管犯行重大,紐西蘭目前並沒有死刑,塔倫可能最終會判處終身監禁,也因此在國內外引發議論。
👉劃重點:捷克參議院議長訪台背後的美中台外交角力
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-53918218
👉劃重點: 捷克參議院議長維特齊(Miloš Vystrčil)以及布拉格市長賀吉普(Zdeněk Hřib)約98人,將在8月底訪問台灣一周,並與台灣總統蔡英文會面。
此消息在今年6月披露後便引起中國駐捷克大使館的強烈反應,大使館發表聲明「表示強烈不滿和堅決反對」,聲明稱「有關訪台活動將是對『台獨』分裂勢力和分裂活動的公然支持,嚴重侵犯中國國家主權和領土完整。」
8月中旬,美國國務卿蓬佩奧(Mike Pompeo)訪問捷克並在參議院發表公開演講,除了批評中共之外,又提及北京阻礙捷克與台灣交流等言論,讓捷克訪台一事,添上美中對抗的背景。
📢 晚上八點別忘了看范琪斐的 #TODAY看世界。
另外有在用 LINE 的朋友可以訂閱 @LINE TODAY 👇
https://lin.ee/19eXmdD
週一至週日 #LINETODAY 就會推播TODAY看世界,如果錯過了,通常會放在國際欄目。
📢別忘了《#范琪斐ㄉ寰宇漫遊》每週四晚間九點在 #寰宇新聞台 播出,沒跟上的也沒關係,歡迎訂閱我們的 YouTube 頻道 🔔#范琪斐ㄉ寰宇漫遊 🔔https://reurl.cc/ZvKM3 十點準時上傳完整版!
封釘術語 在 Eric's English Lounge Facebook 的最佳解答
[時事英文] 死亡率(mortality rate)*、壓平曲線(flattening the curve)、活動限制 (lockdown):如何理解這些術語?
Language goes beyond a sealed system governed by a rigid set of rules. To fully understand the meaning of a word, one must look further than connotation and denotation, and also take context into consideration. In this case, one needs to examine the social, political, economic, and even statistical contexts of the terms.
語言並非只是受嚴密規則所約束的封閉系統。為了充分理解一個單詞的意涵,我們不僅要瞭解其本義與引申義,同時還要考慮整個語境。在此一情況下,應要考察社會、政治、經濟甚至統計上的語境。
Does “confirmed cases,” for example, mean the same thing in every country before and during the coronavirus outbreak? What about “lockdowns”? Does it mean that the government is advising people to stay home or is someone nailing your door shut? Some food for thought when reading about the coronavirus outbreak.
例如,在冠狀病毒爆發前以及爆發期間,「確診病例」在各國是否具有相同的含義?那麼,封鎖呢?這是否意味著政府正建議人們留在家中,抑或有人正把你家大門釘上?以上是在閱讀疫情的相關資訊時所引人深思的一些事情。
*同學好心的補充說明:「mortality rate」通常指的是死亡率,而「fatality rate」則是(因罹患某疾病)致死率。兩者都是重要的死亡指標,但計算公式不相同。
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《紐約時報》報導:
Making sense of the coronavirus pandemic requires getting up to speed on semantics as much as epidemiology. Government officials and health care professionals toss off mentions of mortality rates, flattening the curve and lockdowns, assuming that we know what they mean. But the terms mean different things from country to country, state to state, even city to city and person to person. Officials use the same phrases about mass testing, caseloads and deaths to describe very different situations. That makes it hard to give clear answers to vital questions: How bad are things? Where are they headed?
1. make sense of… 理解……
2. get up to speed on 了解最新情況;跟上進度
3. toss off 輕而易舉地處理*
弄懂新型冠狀病毒大流行,既需要了解流行病學的最新情況,也需要在語義學上跟上形勢。「死亡率」、「壓平曲線」和「活動限制」等說法從政府官員和公共衛生專業人士的嘴裡脫口而出,他們假設大家都知道這些詞的意思。但對不同的國家、不同的州,甚至不同的城市和個人來說,這些術語有著不同的含義。 官員們使用「大規模檢測」、「病例數」和「死亡病例數」等相同的措辭,來描繪非常不同的情況。這令一些重要的問題難以得到明確的回答:情況有多糟糕?正在向什麼方向發展?
toss off: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toss%20off
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People search for insight by comparing their countries to those that are further along in the epidemic. But if the terms are misleading or used in differing ways, the comparisons are flawed. Also, the statistics and vocabulary offer a false sense of precision while in reality, the information we have shows only a fraction of what’s going on. “The new cases or deaths each day are given as exact numbers, and we’re trained to take that at face value,” said Mark N. Lurie, an epidemiologist at Brown University’s School of Public Health. “But those are far from exact, they’re deeply flawed, and their meaning varies from place to place and from time period to time period.”
4. be further along in 在……上走得更深遠
5. at face value 根據外表;從表面上看
人們將自己的國家與那些經歷了疫情更多階段的國家進行比較,以求了解情況。但是,如果這些詞語使人產生誤解,或在使用方式上存在差異的話,這種比較就是錯誤的。此外,這些統計數據和詞彙給人以精準的假象,而現實是,我們所掌握的信息僅代表冰山一角。「每天的新增病例數或死亡人數都是以精準數字的形式通報的,我們被訓練成只看這些表面數字。」布朗大學公共衛生學院流行病學家馬克・盧裡說。「但這些數字遠非精準,而且有嚴重缺陷,它們的含義因不同的時間和地點而不同。」
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I. Confirmed Cases 確診病例
Countries vary wildly in testing for the virus and how they report the numbers, and experts say most infections are going undetected. So the publicized national tallies are rough, incomplete pictures that may not be all that comparable. And that’s if countries are forthcoming about their data.
6. vary wildly in 在……上有極大的差異*
7. publicize 公布;宣傳
8. national tallies 國家的統計數據
9. incomplete pictures 不完整的狀況
10. forthcoming 樂於幫助的
各國在病毒檢測以及通報數字的方式上有很大差異,而且專家們說,大多數感染都沒有被發現。因此,各國公布的只是粗略的數據,這些並不完整的描繪也許沒有多少可比性。這還是在假設各國願意提供數據的情況下。
wildly: https://bit.ly/2wkgPjo
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Officials in the United States say that China, which has reported more than 82,000 infections, has understated its epidemic. Until this week, the Chinese government excluded those patients who tested positive for the virus but had no symptoms. China also doesn’t say how many tests it has conducted, and doubts have been raised about whether it has tested extensively in Xinjiang, the province where it holds hundreds of thousands of Muslims in indoctrination camps. The Covid Tracking Project, run by The Atlantic, has tried to compile all the numbers in the United States and reports more than 1.2 million tests so far, over 3,600 per million people.
11. understate 未如實陳述;避重就輕地說
12. exclude 把……排除在外
13. indoctrination camps 再教育營
14. run by 由……經營
中國通報的累計確診病例超過8萬2千例,美國官員說,中國淡化了國內的疫情。直到本週前,中國政府一直把病毒檢測呈陽性但沒有癥狀的感染者不納入確診病例。中國也未公開接受檢測的人數,而且外界已對中國是否在新疆進行了大規模檢測表示懷疑,中國在那裡把數十萬穆斯林關進了拘禁營。《大西洋月刊》的新冠肺炎追蹤計劃試圖匯總美國的所有數據,它統計到的數字是,美國迄今為止進行了逾120萬例檢測,平均每百萬人超過3600例。
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II. Widespread Testing 大規模檢測
It matters not only how many people are tested, but also when, and who they are. Once again, countries differ, shaping what the numbers mean. A few countries, like South Korea, Australia and Singapore, got serious about mass testing early on. They used the information to do ambitious contact-tracing — finding and testing those who had recently been near infected people, even if they had no symptoms.
15. it matters 重要的是
16. not only……, but also…… 不僅……,而且……
17. get serious about 認真對待某事
18. early on 在早期
重要的不只是多少人做了檢測,檢測時間和檢測對象也很重要。各國在檢測時間和對象上也有不同,這讓數字的含義也有所不同。韓國、澳洲和新加坡等少數國家很早就開始認真地進行大規模檢測。他們利用這些信息嚴格追蹤接觸者,也就是找到並檢測那些親密接觸者,即使他們沒有癥狀。
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But most nations with large numbers of cases have done less testing, waited longer to do it in bulk, and made little attempt at contact tracing. They find themselves playing catch-up with the virus, ramping up testing after their outbreaks had already mushroomed. They detect more cases, but by then it’s hard to tell how much of that growth is the expanding epidemic and how much is expanding surveillance. Unable to meet the demand, they often limit testing to the sickest patients and health workers.
19. in bulk 大量
20. make little attempt 幾乎未做嘗試
21. ramp up 增加*
22. mushroom (v.) 迅速增長;迅速發展*
23. meet the demand 滿足需求
24. limit……to 將……限制在……
但大多數存在大量確診病例的國家進行的檢測數量都比較少,都是等了更長時間後才開始進行大規模檢測,而且對追蹤接觸者的工作幾乎未做嘗試。這些國家發現自己在拚命追趕病毒的傳播,在疫情迅速蔓延後才加大了檢測力度。這些國家都檢測到了更多的病例,但此時已很難判斷新增病例中有多少是疫情不斷擴大的結果,有多少是擴大疫情監測的結果。由於無法滿足檢測需求,這些國家通常只能對病情最嚴重的患者以及衛生工作者做檢測。
ramp up: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/ramp-up
mushroom: https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/mushroom
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III. Fatality Rates 致死率
It has been stated time and again: Italy and Spain have high mortality rates among coronavirus patients, Germany’s is low, and China’s is somewhere between. It may not be that simple. Counting the dead is as flawed and inconsistent as counting the infected. Recent reports say that mortuaries in Wuhan, China, where the disease was first discovered, have ordered thousands more urns than usual, suggesting a much higher death toll than the city’s official count, 2,535. The outbreaks in Wuhan, and parts of Italy and Spain, overwhelmed hospitals, forcing many sick people to ride it out at home. No one knows how many people have recovered or died without ever being tested. And if only the sickest patients are tested, then the number of infections will appear smaller and the percentage who die will seem higher.
25. time and again 屢次;一再
26. as flawed and inconsistent as 像……一樣存在缺陷與不一致
27. mortuary 停屍間(太平間)
28. urn 骨灰罈
29. suggest 暗示*
30. death toll 死亡人數
31. to ride it out 安然渡過(難關)*
一個反覆提及的說法是:義大利和西班牙的新冠病毒肺炎患者死亡率高,德國的低,中國的居中。情況也許並不那麼簡單。統計死亡人數和統計感染人數一樣存在缺陷和不一致的地方。最近有報導稱,武漢的殯儀館訂購的骨灰盒數比該市官方統計的2535例死亡高出好幾千,表明死亡人數遠高於官方公布的數字。新冠病毒最早就是在這座城市發現的。武漢以及義大利和西班牙部分地區的疫情使醫院不堪重負,許多患者被迫在家中渡過難關。沒人知道究竟有多少人在從未做檢測的情況下康復或死亡。如果只對病情最嚴重的患者做檢測的話,感染人數看上去會更低,而死亡率看起來將更高。
suggest: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/suggest
ride sth out: https://bit.ly/2Rd6Tj6
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IV. The Peak 疫情高峰
Officials often talk about when the epidemic peaks or plateaus — when a country “flattens the curve.” But they rarely specify, the peak of what? And how can we be sure we’re past it? When an outbreak is growing unchecked, more people become infected and more die each day than the day before. On a graph, the curve showing the daily count of new cases has gone from rising sharply to moving sideways — the curve has flattened — and even begun to move downward. That is one corner being turned: The rate of the spread of the virus has slowed down. It takes longer to turn another: the rate of people dying.
32. from rising sharply to moving sideways 從急劇上升到橫向移動
33. turn the corner 好轉;度過難關*
官員們經常提疫情何時達到高峰或進入平台期,也就是一個國家「壓平曲線」的時候。但他們很少具體說明是什麼達到了高峰,以及我們怎麼能確定高峰已過?當疫情不受控制地發展時,每天的感染和死亡人數都比前一天多。曲線圖上顯示的每天新增病例數從急劇上升變得趨於平緩——曲線已被壓平——甚至開始下降。這是一個轉折點:病毒的傳播速度已經放緩。度過死亡人數的轉折點則需要更長的時間。
turn the corner: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/turn%20the%20corner
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But even when those curves flatten, the epidemic still has not “peaked” by another crucial measure: the number of active cases. That figure continues to rise until the number of patients who either die or recover each day is larger than the number of new infections. To ease the staggering load on health care systems, the active cases curve must also flatten and then fall.
34. peak (v.) 使……達到頂峰
35. either……or…… 不是……就是……
36. staggering 沉重的;巨大的
但是,即使這些曲線已趨於平緩,疫情的另一個重要衡量指標——現存確診病例數——仍未達到「峰值」。在每天的死亡或康復患者人數超過新增感染人數之前,這個數字還將繼續上升。為緩解衛生系統的沉重負擔,現存確診病例數的曲線也必須先趨平,然後下降。
peak: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/peak_2
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V. Lockdowns 封鎖(活動限制)
More than two billion people, including most Americans, are living under something usually called a lockdown. But there is no set definition of that word — or related terms like stay-at-home mandates and social distancing — so the details differ from place to place. The biggest differences may be in enforcement. Some places, like those in the United States with lockdowns, mostly rely on people to follow the rules without coercion. But Italy and others have deployed soldiers to ensure compliance, and French police have fined hundreds of thousands of people for violating restrictions. China, in addition to using security forces, mobilized an army of volunteers, ratcheting up social pressure to obey.
37. set definition 固定的定義
38. enforcement 實施;執行
39. rely on 仰賴;依靠
40. deploy 部署
41. compliance 服從
42. fine 處……以罰款(或罰金)
43. in addition to 除了……之外
44. mobilize 動員
45. ratchet sth up/down 逐步增加/減少
全球有20多億人,包括大多數美國人正生活在一般被稱為「活動限制」的狀態下。但這個詞沒有固定的定義,其他的相關說法,比如政府的「待在家裡」和「保持社交距離」令也沒有明確的定義,所以各地的具體做法也不一樣。最大的不同可能在執行方面。有些地方,比如美國有限制令的地方,主要依靠人們自覺遵守,而非強制。但義大利等國為確保限制令的落實而動用了軍隊,法國警方還對數已十萬計的違反禁令者處以罰款。中國除了使用安全部隊外,還動員了一支志願者大軍來加大服從封鎖隔離措施的社會壓力。
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Italy’s experience shows the looseness of the term. It has gone through several phases of restrictions, applying them to more people, making them stricter and increasing enforcement. A few weeks ago, a person could travel around Italy for a valid work or family reason. Now, people are fined for nonessential walking too far from their homes. But each stage was widely called by the same name: lockdown.
46. looseness 鬆散
47. valid 確鑿的;合理的;有根據的;讓人信服的
義大利的經歷表明了這個詞語解釋上的自由。義大利的封鎖令經歷了幾個階段,適用範圍擴大到越來越多的人,封鎖及其執行也變得越來越嚴格。幾週前,人們還可以因為正當的工作或家庭原因在義大利旅行。現在,人們會因不必要的離家太遠的走動而被罰款。但禁令的每個階段用的都是同一個泛泛的名稱:活動限制。
《紐約時報》完整報導:https://nyti.ms/2XcCUeT
圖片出處:https://fxn.ws/34gwSeH
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時事英文大全:http://bit.ly/2WtAqop
如何使用「時事英文」:https://bit.ly/3a9rr38
#疫情英文