今天是4月21日,我已经被封印在家30多天了。在过去的一个月里,我和所有上海居民一样,度过了一段无比灰暗的时光,亲身经历了新闻里的一切:封城、饥饿、抢菜、囤货、团购......还算幸运的是,到目前为止,我和家人一直是阴性,没有被拉入方舱。
在封控中的很长一段时间,我都被负面情绪所困扰,焦虑、抑郁、悲伤、愤怒轮番上阵,无法抽离出来写相关的文章。这几天终于看到一点疫情控制住的迹象,于是拾掇好情绪,选了一些英文媒体的报道,跟大家聊一聊上海疫情中的那些事。The Chinese megacity has been under a citywide lockdown for 2 weeks to fight an Omicron outbreak.这里a citywide lockdown便表示「封城」。be under a citywide lockdown for ... 即「封城了多久」。后缀-wide 指「...范围的」,citywide 即「全市的」,nationwide 即「全国的,全国性的」。megacity 由mega-(巨大)和city构成,指「特大城市」,这里the Chinese megacity 指的便是「上海」。前文提到过Shanghai,因此这里用the chinese megacity 进行了同义替换,避免重复。fight an Omicron outbreak 指「抗击奥密克戎」。fight sth 指「与...作斗争」。常见的搭配还有:to fight racism / corruption / poverty 与种族主义、腐败、贫困作斗争
battle sth 也可表示「与...作斗争」。battle the coronavirus 也可表示「抗击疫情」。
VOA的一篇报道便用到了这个词:
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China continues battling the worst Covid-19 outbreak of the pandemic.
3月27日,上海发布发文称,以黄浦江为界分批封控,先封浦东,再封浦西。如何表达「分批封控」呢?
很多外刊用的是a phased lockdown这个词。phase 作名词,指「阶段」,作动词指「分阶段进行,逐步进行」。这里phased是一个过去分词作前置定语,修饰lockdown,指「分阶段进行的封城」。去年11月,韩国政府曾开始一项分阶段恢复常态的计划,英文媒体在报道时也用的phased这个词:The South Korean government had begun a phased “return to normal” in November but was forced to retreat as the Omicron variant swept through in winter and early spring.韩国政府在去年11月开始了一项分阶段“恢复常态”的计划,但随着Omicron变种在冬季和早春席卷韩国,政府被迫撤回计划。stockpile [ˈstɒkpaɪl] 由stock(储存)和pile(一堆)合成,表示「大量贮备,囤积」。stockpile food 便表示「囤食物」。hoard [hɔːd] 为动词,指「囤积,贮藏」。hoard food 也可表示「囤食物」。She's hoarding prescription medicine.如何表达「囤...天的食物」呢?英文里有一个短语:金钱's + worth of sth 指 「价值...钱的东⻄」。时间's + worth of sth 指 「维持/⻓达/相当于...时间的东⻄」。在《南华早报》一篇关于上海疫情的文章读到一句话,就用到了这个短语:这里three to five days’ worth of food 便表示「能维持三到五天的食物」。keep weeks or months' worth of food at home 便指「在家囤了几周或几个月的食物」。这段话中的compound也是一个熟词僻义,表示「院落,楼群」,这里可以理解为「小区」。我们在外刊精读社第3季一篇关于极端天气的文章也遇见过这个词:The industrial and commercial hub in central China received a year's worth of rainfall in just three days.在中国中原地区的工业和商业中心郑州,短短三天的降水量高达以往一年的雨量。Mr. Jones is donating $50,000 worth of 1st edition classics to this library.$50,000 worth of 1st edition classics 便表示「价值5万美元的初版经典书籍」。再比如双十一期间,有人买了一年的卫生纸,我们就可以说:He bought a year's worth of toilet paper.最初,我们小区没有团购,大家全靠之前囤的物资挺着,有位外国朋友的菜快吃完了,于是在群里询问说:Anyone running out of fresh vegetables and fruits? 这句话的意思便是:有人的新鲜蔬菜和水果快吃完了吗?这里run out of sth 便表示「用完某物」。如果想表达某物快用完了,可以说:sth runs out。比如:Time is running out.时间不多了。I have run out of ways to say congrats.
After he'd gone, I discovered we'd run out of sherry.
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sth runs low. 表示「某物快要不够了」。比如:Vegetables are running low. 蔬菜快要吃完了。
sb runs low on sth 则表示「某人的某物快要用完了」,注意介词应当用on,这位邻居写错了。
比如:Many families are running low on supplies.很多家庭的物资快要用完了。Rachel, We're running low on resumes.除此之外,我们还可以说sth runs short / sb runs short of sth。形容词short也有「短缺」的意思。举一个《南华早报》里的例子:Amid the restrictions, items likes eggs, fruit and sanitary supplies have run short.run在这里相当于一个系动词,表示「变成,成为,变得」,后面通常跟不好的变化。比如:The river ran dry during the drought.这条河在干旱期间断流了。
We've run short of milk. 我们牛奶不够了。 You've got your rivals running scared. 你已经使对手感到恐惧了。 Make Certain his glass never runs dry.再饿一点,我们可以说:I am starving.快要饿死了,可以说:I starve to death.famished [ˈfæmʃt] 是个形容词, 指「很饿」,相当于extremely hungry,是个口语词。
这个词和famine同源,famine [ˈfæmɪn] 为名词,指「饥荒」。ravenous [ˈrævənəs] 也是形容词,指「非常饥饿的,饥肠辘辘的」,既可以形容人,也可以形容动物。再比如《经济学人》去年发文称日本旅游业因疫情受到重创,让奈良的小鹿们饿坏了,也用到了ravenous:
A crash in tourism leaves Japanese deer ravenous for treats.treat 此处也为名词,指「美味食物」,尤其是指平常不经常吃的美食。Shanghai Residents Are Bartering Food
barter 便表示「以物换物」这个动作,短语barter A for B 指「用A换B」。I bartered an onion for two potatoes.I bartered an onion for two potatoes with one neighbor.trade作名词是「贸易」的意思,作动词,可表示「互相交换,以物易物」,trade A for B 便表示「用A交换B」。比如《卫报》一篇关于上海封城生活的文章就用到了这个词:I traded soja sauce for coffee with one neighbour and eggs for milk with another. 我用酱油和一位邻居换了咖啡,又和另一位邻居用鸡蛋换了牛奶。I didn't know I'd be trading one jail for another.
swap也可表示「交换」的意思,swap A for B 即「用A交换B」。比如:I swapped an onion for two potatoes.Do you want to swap seats?
I thought I might be able to swap it for some pie or maybe Munchies.
munchies 是一个复数名词,指「小吃,小点心」。而munch 为动词,是「咀嚼」的意思。比如:She munched on an apple. 她在大口啃苹果。 「社区团购」便叫作:community group buying。「团长」就叫作:group buying leaders 。
在《华尔街日报》一篇关于上海疫情的文章读到这样一句话:Others have teamed up with neighbors to buy groceries in bulk directly from wholesale vendors.
buy sth in bulk 指「大批购买某物」,也就是「团购某物」的意思。 team up with sb 指「与...结队,与...合作」。team up with neighbors to buy sth in bulk 直译便是「和邻居组队,大批购买某物」,也就是「团购」的意思。groceries 为复数名词,指「食品杂货」,我们日常吃的喝的用的,都属于groceries。wholesale vendors wholesale 指「批发的」,vendor 指「商贩」,wholesale vendors 便表示「批发商」。Wu, like many Shanghai residents, has to rely on “group buying," teaming up with neighbors to source supplies and order in bulk.
source sth in bulk 也可表示「团购」。source 此处作动词,指「获得」(to get sth from a particular place)。source sth from sth 便表示「从...处获得」。supplies 这个复数名词,指「日用品,必需品」,尤其是供一群人在一段时间内使用的日用品,也就是中文里的「物资」。
再举个例子:trucks loaded with emergency supplies载满紧急救援物资的卡车《南华早报》用了两个词:
exhaust medical resources 我们都知道exhausted是「筋疲力尽」的意思。而 exhaust 作动词,指「用完,花光,耗尽」(to use all of sth so that there is none left)。exhaust medical resources 便表示「耗尽医疗资源」。
soak up medical resources soak 为动词,本来是「吸收」液体的意思,短语soak up 可用来表示吸干,也就是「用去,耗费」大量资金,资源。soak up medical resources 也可表示「耗尽医疗资源」,与大标题里的exhaust medical resources 互为同义替换。Defence soaks up forty per cent of the budget.国防耗去40%的预算。External broadcasting soaks up more resources in Britain than elsewhere.英国花费在对外广播上的财力高于其他国家。
外刊最常用的还有下面两组词:
1️⃣be overwhelmed by /with sthoverwhelm 为动词,指「压垮,让人应接不暇」(to give too much of a thing to a person)。短语be overwhelmed by / with sth 便表示「被...压垮,因...不堪重负」。比如:Hospitals are getting overwhelmed by Covid-19 patients.医院挤满了新冠患者。《纽约时报》一篇关于美国新冠疫情的文章也用到了这个词:To prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients, the country needed to reduce the overall number of virus cases and stop the exponential increase in infections.
为了防止医院因新冠患者过多而不堪重负,全国需要减少确诊总数,并阻止感染的指数级增长。
2️⃣be under strain / come under strainstrain 指「压力; 重负」(pressure on sb/sth because they have too much to do or manage, or sth very difficult to
deal with)。短语 come / be under strain 也可表示「压力大;不堪重负」。
《卫报》一篇关于东京奥运会的文章就用到了这个词:
With the non-stop increases in the number of severe
cases, its medical system has come under strain.随着重症病例不断增加,医疗系统不堪重负。The number of people in hospital and intensive care units has also been steadily
rising, with health professionals warning that NHS is coming under increasing strain.住院重症监护病房的人数也在不断上升,专业医疗人员警告说英国医疗系统面临着越来越大的压力。
put / place a strain on sb / sth 表示「给...带来巨大压力;使...不堪重负」。
举一个《经济学人》里的例子:He said a handful of people overdosing on the drug were putting further strain on hospital staff already
stretched by a surge in Covid cases.他说,少数服药过量的人给原本就因新冠病例增加而的精疲力竭的医院工作人员带来了更多压力。《经济学人》一篇关于私立学校的文章也用到了这个词:![]()
Many patients do not have access to basic care and treatment.access 作名词时,为不可数名词,它的基本意义是「通道」,常用来喻指「使用/得到/进入...的机会或权利」。短语have access to sth 便表示「能够获得,拥有...」。
Many patients are denied access to basic care and treatment.deny sb sth / deny sth to sb 表示「拒绝给予某人某物」。
被动语态即sb is denied sth 。
be denied access to sth 是一个很高频的搭配,指「无法拥有某事物」。 这里be denied access to basic care and treatment 便表示「无法获得基础的照护和治疗」。
再举一个美剧《致命女人》的例子:
I want to see you suffer in a one-bedroom apartment next to the airport, and you will not deny me that pleasure.
封城:be under a citywide lockdown (for +时间)
抗击奥密克戎:battle / fight an Omicron outbreak
囤...天的食物:stockpile / hoard / keep ... days' worth of food
吃完,用完:sth runs out. sb runs out of sth.
快吃完,快用完:sth runs low. sb runs low on sth.
sth runs short. sb runs short of sth.
饥饿:be hungry / starving, starve to death, be famished, be ravenous
以物换物:barter / trade / swap A for B
团购:group buying
社区团购:community group buying
团长:group buying leaders
团购某物:group buy sth, buy sth in bulk, source sth in bulk, team up with neighbours to buy sth in bulk
耗尽医疗资源:exhaust / soak up medical resources
(医院)不堪重负:be overwhelmed by / with sth, be under strain / come under strain, put / place a strain on sth
无法获得医疗资源:do not have access to medical resources,
be denied access to medical resources
这篇文章就讲到这里。希望在上海和其他封控地区的朋友,一切安好,也祝愿未曾遭遇封控的人,不必再经历噩梦一般的封控。