马斯克收购Twitter，《经济学人》看好吗？
学习要点
2.如何表达「某个措施起作用」和「某个措施不起作用」？
3. 一组表示「先让步，后转折」的写作实用句型。
外刊原文
Compared with its rivals—Facebook, Instagram and TikTok—Twitter is a minnow. But the deal matters. One reason is that Twitter’s size belies its importance. As a haunt of politicians, pundits and wonks, it does much to set the political weather—a digital “public square”, as Mr Musk put it.
Another is that Mr Musk made his name and his fortune by upending industries. This time, he will be grappling with a knotty problem of keen interest to governments around the world—how to regulate speech online. Most prescribe ever more rules. But Mr Musk wants to go the other way, removing restrictions instead of imposing new ones. The operators of other big social networks will be watching the experiment with interest.
At first blush, Mr Musk—best known for electric cars and reusable rockets—seems an unlikely social-media mogul. But a closer look suggests his acquisition of Twitter fits his approach to business. Mr Musk, a passionate engineer, likes to take poorly performing technologies and improve them. Tesla tore up the car industry’s rule book by replacing petrol with electricity, ditching dealerships and treating cars as computers. SpaceX proved that a hungry, move-fast-and-break-things startup run on a relative shoestring could outperform aerospace giants growing cautious and fat on the back of generous government contracts. Both firms were dismissed by bigger incumbents—until one day they weren’t.
外刊精读
①Compared with its rivals—Facebook, Instagram and TikTok—Twitter is a minnow. ②But the deal matters.
同 Facebook、Instagram 和 TikTok 等一众竞争对手相比，Twitter 并不起眼。但此次交易意义非凡。
有一点需要注意：compared with 后面不仅可以跟「物」、还可以跟「数字」和「时间」。
Overall GDP grew surprisingly fast, by 4.8% in the first quarter, compared with a year earlier. But that was mostly because of strength in the first two months of the year. GDP总量第一季度同比增长4.8%，增长速度惊人，但这主要反映的是今年头两个月的强劲表现。
Only 2% of Japanese children are born outside marriage, compared with over 40% in Britain and America. 日本只有2%的小孩是非婚生子女，而在英国和美国这一比例超过40%。
Almost 100% of Canadians used the Internet, compared to about 80% of Americans and only 40% of Mexicans. [写作推荐]
rival [ˈraɪvəl] 是一个非常灵活的小词，可变身各种词性：
作名词，指「竞争对手，匹敌者」。sb's / sth's rivals 便指「...的竞争对手」。
作形容词，指「竞争的，对立的」。比如：rival celebrities 对家明星。rival products 竞争产品。
作动词，rival sb/sth 指「与...相媲美，与...相匹敌」。比如：No country can rival China when it comes to mobile payments. 在移动支付方面，没有国家能与中国匹敌。
我们平时说的「情敌」，也可以用rival这个词：sb's romantic rival，我们来看《少年谢尔顿》里的一个例子：
《经济学人》一篇关于重庆火锅和成都火锅之争的文章就用到了这个词：：
Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, has an ancient rivalry with Chongqing, a city to its south-east.
四川省会成都与东南部城市重庆自古以来就在竞争。
deal [diːl] 为可数名词，指「约定，协议，交易」，尤其是指商业交易。这里the deal指的便是「马斯克收购Twitter」这场交易。
「达成协议」我们可以说strike a deal，BBC的新闻标题就是用的这个词：
注意新闻标题为了节省版面，常常会省略了冠词等虚词，这里补充完整应该是：
Elon Musk strikes a deal to buy Twitter for $44bn.
③One reason is that Twitter’s size belies its importance.
一大原因是 Twitter 的规模小，掩盖了其重要性。
✍🏻 语篇分析：③句紧承②句，解释收购推特事关重大的原因一：规模小，但是很重要。size呼应①句的minnow，importance呼应②句中的matters。
belie [bɪˈlaɪ] 为动词，指「掩饰，遮掩，给人以假象」(to give someone a false idea about something)。
举个例子：Her pleasant manner belied her true character. 她讨人喜欢的举止掩饰了她真实的个性。
我们曾精读过英国《独立报》对中国脱口秀女演员Norah的报道，文中也用到了这个词：
There’s an international quality to her comedy, coupled with levels of calm and confidence that belie her youth.
她的喜剧表演很有国际范儿，冷静自信得不像她这个年龄的人。
前缀 be- 指「使 … 变成；把 … 当作」。比如：belittle sb / sth 轻视，贬低 befriend sb 和...作朋友。
④As a haunt of politicians, pundits and wonks, it does much to set the political weather—a digital “public square”, as Mr Musk put it.
作为政客、专家、各类策士的常驻社交平台，Twitter 实则能大幅影响政治气候。正如马斯克所言，这里是数字化“公共广场”。
China is haunted by the spectre of the “middle-income trap”, the notion that emerging economies grow quickly out of poverty only to get stuck before they get rich.
“中等收入陷阱”的阴影笼罩着中国，这个概念是指新兴经济体在迅速脱离贫困后停滞不前，迟迟不能晋升富裕国家。
politician [ˌpɒləˈtɪʃən] 为可数名词，有时「政治家」，也可指具有贬义的「政客」。
pundit ['pʌndɪt] 为可数名词，指「权威，专家」，尤其是指喜欢公开发言的 专家。
wonk [wɒŋk] 为可数名词，指「研究政策的专家」。注意这是一个非正式表达，且带有贬义。
do much to do sth 是一个惯用词组，指「对...帮助很大，对...起到很大作用」。文中 it does much to set the political weather 意思便是「推特会对政治风向的确定起到巨大作用」。
《经济学人》一篇关于西班牙经济的文章也用到了这个词：
But it is not obvious that pricey infrastructure will do much to curb it.
但昂贵的基础建设是否能起到很大的抑制作用还不清楚。
do little to do sth 则表示「对…帮助不大，不起作用」，一般以一个描述措施的动名词作主语。
比如我们在第4季学过的一篇关于华为的文章，文中有这样一句话：
Refusing to use Huawei hardware does relatively little to eliminate the risk of cyber-attacks by hostile governments.
相对来说，拒绝使用华为的硬件对于消除敌对政府开展网络攻击的风险并没有什么用处。
Getting tough on immigrants will do nothing to improve economic conditions in eastern Germany, where 20% of voters backed the far-right Alternative for Germany. 对移民强硬将丝毫不能改善德国东部的经济环境，那里20%的选民支持了德国选择党。
以后，如果我们想表达某个措施作用大， 可以用：
sth does much to do sth.
如果想表达某个措施不起作用，便可以说：
sth does little to / nothing to do sth.
[写作推荐]
political weather 指「政治风向，民意基调」(The political climate is the aggregate mood and opinions of a political society at a particular time)。
set 指「制定，确定」(to establish a way of doing something that is then copied or regarded as good)。set the political weather 便表示「确立政治风向」。
public square 字面意思是「公共广场」。古代在欧洲，尤其是在古希腊，民众会前往城镇中心的公共广场讨论公共事务和辩论。
因此，后来 public square 便用来表示「民众发表言论的公共场所」。
我们也可以写作town square或public town square。
put 这里不是指「放」，而是指「说，表达」(to express or state sth in a particular way)，一个实际很高频的熟词僻义。
我们再来看几个例子： No one has ever put it like that before.
再比如BBC纪录片《杜甫：中国最伟大的诗人》中的一句话： Now he knew about what it meant to be, as Shakespeare would put it, a poor unaccommodated man.
①Another is that Mr Musk made his name and his fortune by upending industries.
另一原因在于，马斯克正是通过颠覆行业扬名立万、发家致富。
upend up是「上面」，end是「下面」，上下颠倒，义为「使颠倒；颠覆」(to turn sb / sth upside down)，通常指对事物的影响或改变极大。
upend industries 即「颠覆多个行业」。
举个美剧里的例子： In the 14th century, the black death wiped out 60% of the European population. It upended the social order and prolonged the dark ages 150 years.
Days of torrential rain and massive flooding have hit China’s Henan province, bursting the banks of rivers, overwhelming dams and the public transport system and upending the lives of tens of millions. 中国河南省连日强降雨， 暴发大规模洪灾，冲垮河岸、 水坝及公共交通系统，数以千万计⺠众受灾。
②This time, he will be grappling with a knotty problem of keen interest to governments around the world—how to regulate speech online.
这一次，他将努力解决全世界政府都在殷切关注的棘手问题——如何监管网络言论。
✍🏻语篇分析： ②句解释①句，指出马斯克会如何颠覆行业——设法解决如何监管网络言论问题。
grapple with sth 本义是「与...扭打，揪斗，搏斗」，与某个问题或困难搏斗，也就是「努力设法解决某困难或问题」(to try hard to find a solution to a problem)。这是一个外刊高频词。
比如《经济学人》一篇关于延迟退休年龄的文章有这样一句话：Grappling with China’s demographic woes will involve many tough reforms.中国要应对人口结构困境，将涉及许多艰难的改革。
再举个《纽约时报》中的例子：
再来造个简单句：政府正在努力解决失业问题。
The Government is grappling with unemployment. [写作推荐]
knot [nɒt] 原本指用绳索打的「结」。加上形容词后缀-y，构成knotty，结很多的，也就是「棘手的，难以解决的」(difficult to solve)。比如：a knotty problem棘手的问题。
与之相近的还有一个高频词：thorny [ˈθɔːni] 多刺的，也可表示「棘手的，麻烦的」。
grapple with a knotty / thorny problem 指「努力解决一个棘手的问题」。这个表达直接背过。 [写作推荐]
keen [kiːn] 为形容词，指「强烈的，浓厚的，深厚的」(strong or deep)。keen interest 即「浓厚的兴趣，殷切的关注」。
be of interest (to sb) 指「引起...关注，引发...兴趣」。比如：The subject is of no interest to me at all.我对此课题一点也不感兴趣。
文中of keen interest to governments around the world是一个介词短语作后置定语修饰名词a knotty problem，指「全世界政府都在殷切关注的// 棘手问题」。
regulate [ˈreɡjəleɪt] 为动词，指「监管」。to regulate speech online 即「监管网络言论」。
regulation [ˌreɡjəˈleɪʃən] 为名词，作可数名词，指「规则，制度」，作不可数名词，指「监管」。
regulator 指某行业的「监管者，监管机构」。
③Most prescribe ever more rules. ④But Mr Musk wants to go the other way, removing restrictions instead of imposing new ones.
大多数政府会制定越来越多的规则。但马斯克想要另辟蹊径，不通过额外制定新规，反而要减少约束限制。
✍🏻语篇分析：③句说明传统政府是如何管制言论：制定越来越多的规则。most指上一句提到的most governments around the world中的多数。
④句转折，指出的马斯克会反其道而行之——减少规则。
prescribe [prɪˈskraɪb] 为动词，本来是「开药」的意思，这里Most prescribe ever more rules 意思是政府开出越来越多的规则，也就是指「政府制定更多规则」。
因此prescribe可表示「规定，制定」(to tell someone what they must have or do, or to make a rule of something)。
比如：Penalties for not paying taxes are prescribed by law. 法律上规定了不交税的惩罚措施。
prescription [prɪˈskrɪpʃən] 为可数名词，本义是「处方，药方」，解决问题的处方，也就是「解决办法，对策」。介词搭配为 the prescription for sth。比如：The party’s main prescription for educational problems was to give schools more money. 该政党解决教育问题的主要方法是给学校提供更多资金。
ever+形容词比较级 表示「越来越...的」，可以替换小学生词汇 more and more。比如：ever-higher 越来越高的，不断增高的，ever more complicated 越来越复杂的 ，ever more 越来越多的。
比如《经济学人》一篇关于暑期学校的文章中的一句话：
The ever more competitive world of the summer enrichment programme.
暑期“强化”项目竞争日益激烈。
我们在求求你别再用more and more了！这篇文章讲过一系列替换more and more的句型，同学们可以再复习一下。 [写作推荐]
remove [rɪˈmuːv] 为动词，指「移开，取消」。文中remove restrictions 便指「取消限制」。除此之外，我们还可以说lift restrictions。
impose [ɪmˈpəʊz] 指「推行，采用，强制实行」。文中impose new ones 便表示「实施更多的规则」。
✍🏻语篇分析：⑤句指出其他社交媒体平台将会关注马斯克的这次尝试。这里the operators 便包括了前面提到的Facebook, Instagram。
operator [ˈɑːpəreɪtər] 为可数名词，指「经营者，公司」(a person or company that operates a particular business)。
experiment [ɪkˈsperəmənt] 为可数名词，除了指「科学实验」，还可指「尝试，实践」，这里the experiment 指马斯克将对推特作出的改革。
experiment 还可以作动词，指「做实验」。惯用搭配为experiment on (sb / sth) , experiment (with sth)。
with interest 指「饶有兴致地，兴致勃勃地」。watch sth with interest 即「饶有兴致地看着...」。
①At first blush, Mr Musk—best known for electric cars and reusable rockets—seems an unlikely social-media mogul. ②But a closer look suggests his acquisition of Twitter fits his approach to business.
乍一眼看，以电动汽车和可回收火箭闻名于世的马斯克似乎不太可能成为社交媒体巨头。但仔细观察后就会发现，收购 Twitter 符合其商业策略。
at first blush 指「乍一看，经初步考虑」(when first thought of or considered) 。
「乍一看」往往是错的，因此后面常用but转折，引出实际情况。
我们可以从这句话提炼出一个「先让步后转折」的句型：
At first blush, .... But a closer look suggests that...
乍一眼看，... 但仔细观察后就会发现...
At first blush, ... Look closer, however, and ...
At first blush, Twitter and Facebook look similar.
Look closer, however, and these combinations of similar attributes have created two very different firms.
At first blush that seems a preposterous suggestion. 乍一看，这似乎是一个荒谬的建议。
But take the long view, and the Ampelmännchen captures how Germany is changing. 但从长远考虑，小光明人捕捉到了德国的变化。
注意But take the long view, and ... 中连词and不能丢。为什么呢？
因为 take the long view是个祈使句，是一个完整的句子，而逗号不能连接两个完整的句子，必须用上连词and。
比如《金融时报》曾发布一篇论述美国打压华为可能会自⻝恶果的文章，开头铺垫部分便用了这样一句话：
At first sight, the recent US executive order blacklisting Chinese group Huawei looks like a classic Donald Trump move: brash, assertive, nationalistic. But look closer and it is clear that putting "America first" could ultimately mean the US finishes last.
乍一看，美国最近将中国企业华为列入黑名单的行政令，是典型的唐纳德•特朗普会干的事：傲慢、强硬、充满⺠族主义情绪。但仔细观察，显然，奉行“美国第一”政策最终可能意味着美国会是最末一名。
汇总一下，我们在这篇文章里学到的表示「先让步，后转折」的地道句型：
At first blush / sight / glance , .... But a closer look suggests that...
At first blush / sight / glance, ... Look closer, however, and ...
At first blush / sight / glance, ... But take the long view, and ...
很实用的模板句型，大家背下来。
electric cars / vehicles 指「电动车」，可简写为EVs。
reusable rockets 指「可回收火箭」。
这是马斯克的两大核心技术，背后分别是两大公司：特斯拉和SpaceX。
unlikely [ʌnˈlaɪkli]为形容词，指「非想象中的，不太可能的」(not the person, thing or place that you would normally think of or expect)。这个词往往用于形容在众人眼里不太可能的人、事、物。
再举个例子：He seems a most unlikely candidate for the job. 他似乎是最不适合担任这项工作的人选。
mogul [ˈməʊɡəl] 为名词，指「大亨，有权势的人」(a very rich, important and powerful person)。比如：movie / media / gambling etc mogul 电影业 / 传媒业 / 赌博业等大亨 / 巨头。
类似的表达还有 tycoon, magnate等等。
acquisition [ˌakwɪˈzɪʃən] 为不可数名词，指「收购」。
动词形式为acquire，近义词还有take sth over，都可表示「收购」。
acquire 还可表示通过努力「获得，习得」。比如：
She has acquired a good knowledge of English. 她英语已经学得很好。
对应的，acquisition 还可指知识、技能的「获得，习得」。比如：the acquisition of language 语言的习得。
approach [əˈproʊtʃ] 为可数名词，指「方法，方式」。注意介词搭配为to：the approach to sth / doing sth 。
接着作者用by sth, sth and sth引出具体三个方式：
by replacing petrol with electricity,
ditching dealerships
and treating cars as computers.
replace A with B 指「用B来代替A」。介词with是「使用」的意思。举个例子：They replaced the permanent staff with part-timers. 他们用兼职人员来代替固定职员。
petrol [ˈpetrəl] 为不可数名词，指「汽油」。electricity [ɪˌlekˈtrɪsəti] 为不可数名词，指「电」。
ditch [dɪtʃ] 为动词，指「摆脱，抛弃，丢弃」，相当于 get rid of sth 和 dump sth。 She wants to ditch the classical and move into adult pop.
dealership [ˈdiːləʃɪp] 为可数名词，由dealer（商人）和ship构成，指「特许经销商」。我们平时看到的4S店，就属于dealership。
而特斯拉采取的是直销模式，也就是我们平时说的直营店。
I called the salesman at the first dealership while you were sneaking your third hot dog, and it already sold.
treat sth as sth 指「把 … 看作，把 … 视为」(to consider sth in a particular way)，举个例子：I decided to treat his remark as a joke. 我决定把他的话当作戏言。
SpaceX proved that a hungry, move-fast-and-break-things startup (run on a relative shoestring) // could outperform // aerospace giants (growing cautious and fat on the back of generous government contracts) .
重点来看that引导的宾语从句，主干是一个主谓宾结构：
A hungry, move-fast-and-break-things startup (which is run on a relative shoestring)，指「一家小成本、有野心、行动迅速、能打破常规的的企业」。
aerospace giants which grows cautious and fat on the back of generous government contracts，指「那些在巨额政府合同扶持下越发谨慎富足的航空巨头」。
Move fast and break things是脸书在 2014年之前的公司格言，意思是「快速突破，破旧立新」 。
这里作者用连字符把短语连接起来：move-fast-and-break-things 构成一个形容词，指「快速突破、破旧立新的」。
startup [ˈstɑrtˌʌp] 为可数名词，指「初创公司」，来自于动词短语 start up 。这里a hungry, move-fast-and-break-things startup指的就是SpaceX。
on a shoestring 是一个词组，指「以极少的资金」 (If you do something on a shoestring, you do it without spending much money)。
run 这里是「经营」的意思，run sth on a shoestring 即「以极少的钱经营某物」。
再举个例子：The program was run on a shoestring. 这计划靠微薄的资金支撑。
前缀 out- 表示「超过，胜过」，比如：outnumber 在数量上压倒，outwit 在智慧上胜过，outgrow 长得比 … 快，outlive 活得比 … 长。
aerospace [ˈeərəʊspeɪs] 指「航空航天工业，宇航工业」。
前缀 aero- 指「空气的」或「与飞机相关的」。举个例子：aerodynamics 空气动力学，an aeroengine 航空发动机。
giant [ˈdʒaɪənt] 为可数名词，指「巨头，大公司」。
on the back of sth 字面意思是「在…的背上」，表示「由于某事物」(as a result of an achievement or a success)。有点像中文里「站在巨人的肩膀上」的感觉。
举个例子：The advertising agency secured the contract on the back of its previous successful campaigns. 由于前期的宣传工作富有成效，这家广告公司最终获得了该合同。
fat这里不是指「肥胖」，而是指「赚钱的，富裕的」。考研英语2005年的真题里就考过这个词：Everybody loves a fat pay rise.大幅涨薪人人都求之不得。
generous [ˈdʒenərəs] 为形容词，指「慷慨的，大方的」，尤其是指在钱方面很慷慨。文中generous government contracts 便指「巨额的政府合同」。
Her son’s school, one of the best in Beijing, dismissed the brouhaha as “harmless mischief between kids”. 她儿子就读的北京最优质的学校之一将这场⻛波归结为“孩子之间无伤大雅的玩笑”。
sth does nothing / little to do sth.
the prescription / cure for sth
At first blush / sight / glance , .... But a closer look suggests that...
At first blush / sight / glance, ... Look closer, however, and ...
At first blush / sight / glance, ... But take the long view, and ...