经济学人精读笔记2：歪果仁无法抵挡的中国美食

经济学人精读笔记：歪果仁无法抵挡的中国美食

Tags：经济学人

2020/2/18

Part 1

The apotheosis of Chinese cuisine in America

Its upward trajectory reflects the Chinese-American community’s

中国美食美国崛起之路
中国菜的发展历程反映了美籍华裔群体的发展历程

• apotheosis n. [əˌpɒθiˈəʊsɪs] the highest or most perfect development of sth 鼎盛时期；发展顶峰；完美阶段

That night was Richard's apotheosis. 是夜，理查德登上了人生的顶峰。

此外apotheosis还有“典型;典范;榜样”的意思 The Oriental in Bangkok is the apotheosis of the grand hotel. 曼谷的东方饭店是豪华饭店的典范。

【词根词缀】theo=god,表示"神"

• apotheosis → apo离开+theo神+sis→离开人变成神→n.尊为神,神化,颂扬,崇拜,典范

enthusiasm →en进入+thus=theo神+iasm状态→进入神的状态→热情，狂热

theocracy →theo神+cracy统治→n.神权统治

theologian→theology[n.神学,宗教]+ian人→theologian神学家

【类似表达】flowering n.1.[C]（艺术、音乐、科学等新思潮的）繁荣时期，鼎盛时期He may be happy with the flowering of new thinking, but he has yet to contribute much to it himself. 他也许会对新思想的盛行感到高兴，但他本人并没有为此作出多大贡献。

• at its peak 鼎盛时期；最佳状态。英语中描述事物的“鼎盛/最繁荣时期、巅峰”的表达有很多，如high tide / zenith / apex / pinnacle，in its prime / heyday / glory days等。

• cuisine是名词指“(一国或一地区的)菜肴，风味.”，比如上海菜我们说 Shanghai cuisine

【相关拓展】中国的八大菜系用英文怎么说，有什么规律呢？

鲁菜 Lu Cuisine (Shandong Cuisine)

川菜 Chuan Cuisine (Sichuan Cuisine)

粤菜 Yue Cuisine (Guangdong Cuisine)

闽菜 Min Cuisine (Fujian Cuisine)

苏菜 Su Cuisine (Jiangsu Cuisine)

浙菜 Zhe Cuisine (Zhejiang Cuisine)

湘菜 Xiang Cuisine (Hunan Cuisine)

徽菜 Hui Cuisine (Anhui Cuisine)

我们可以观察到，每一种菜系有两种翻译：一是音译地名简称+Cuisine，比如Lu Cuisine，二是音译地名全称+Cuisine，比如：Shandong Cuisine

• trajectory n. [trəˈdʒektəri]本义指“弹道，轨道”后延伸为“(事业等的)发展轨迹，起落”

比如：upward trajectory指的是“崛起，上升”，相反downward trajectory为“下坡路”

a relentlessly upward career trajectory. 扶摇直上的事业轨迹

My career seemed to be on a downward trajectory.我的事业似乎在走下坡路。

【记忆方法】trajectory → tra穿+ject投掷,扔+ory范围→扔出去穿过的范围→弹道轨道

【原文理解】Its upward trajectory reflects the Chinese-American community’s

本句采取了省略的手法Its upward trajectory reflects the Chinese-American community’s upward trajectory. 但在英翻中过程中需要体现出来：中国菜的发展历程反映了美籍华裔群体的发展历程

Part 2

Chinese restaurants began to open in America in the mid-19th century, clustering on the west coast where the first immigrants landed.

They mostly served an Americanised version of Cantonese cuisine—chop suey, egg fu yung and the like. In that century and much of the 20th, the immigrants largely came from China’s south-east, mainly Guangdong province.

在美国，中餐厅最早见于19世纪中叶，并聚集在第一批移民美国的中国人所在的西海岸。
这些中餐厅大多提供美式粤菜（例如炒杂烩、鸡蛋芙蓉等）。在19世纪以及20世纪的大部分时间里，移民主要来自中国的东南部，主要是广东省。

cluster [‘klʌstə] n. A cluster of people or things is a small group of them close together.（人或物的）组，群，簇

There's no town here, just a cluster of shops, cabins and motels at the side of the highway. 这儿没有城镇，只在公路边上有一片商店、小木屋和汽车旅馆。

cluster作动词意为“群聚；聚集” The children clustered together in the corner of the room.孩子们聚集在房间的角落里。

• Cantonese cuisine/cooking 粤菜的另一种说法

Cantonese作名词意思为“粤语”，相反mandarin则为“普通话”

• and the like n.a person or thing that is similar to another 类似的人（或物）：类似的人（或物）jazz,rock and the like爵士乐、摇滚乐以及诸如此类的音乐

For the Chinese, “silence is golden” when it comes to all that new land for runways, radars and the like in waters far from its shore.中国在远离自己海岸线的水域扩张土地，修建跑道和雷达等设施，它认为其他国家对此应该保持“沉默是金”的原则。

the likes of sb / sth used to refer to sb / sth that is considered as a type, especially one that is considered as good as sb / sth else （尤指被视为和某人或某事物一样好的）种类；类型 She didn't want to associate with the likes of me. 她不想与我这种类型的人交往。

Part 3

After the immigration reforms of 1965 removed ethnic quotas that limited non-European inflows, Chinese migrants from other regions started to arrive.

Restaurants began calling their food “Hunan” and “Sichuan”, and though it rarely bore much resemblance to what was actually eaten in those regions, it was more diverse and boldly spiced than the sweet, fried stuff that defined the earliest Chinese menus.

1965年的移民改革取消了限制非欧洲人流入的种族配额之后，来自其他地区的中国移民开始涌入。
“湘菜馆”和“川菜馆”也随之出现，虽然它们的菜与实际的湘菜和川菜相距甚远，但相比早期的中餐厅菜单上仅有的甜食和油炸食品而言，菜的口味更加多样，大胆。

• ethnic quotas种族配额

• bear resemblance to sth 与…有相似之处

bear a striking resemblance to和…极其相像

She bears a striking resemblance to her older sister.她酷似她姐姐。

resemblance [rɪˈzembləns] n.~ (to sb/sth) | ~ (between A and B) the fact of being or looking similar to sb/sth 相似；相像=likeness

a striking/close/strong resemblance明显的 / 不小的 / 显著的相似之处

【区别】semblance [ˈsɛmbləns] n. a situation in which sth seems to exist although this may not, in fact, be the case表象；假象；外观；外貌

The ceasefire brought about a semblance of peace.停火协定带来了表面的和平。

Life at last returned to some semblance of normality.生活似乎终于恢复了正常。

• reforms n. 改革
• diverse adj. 不同的, 多种多样的
• boldly adv. 大胆地,显眼地

Part 4

By the 1990s adventurous diners in cities with sizeable Chinese populations could choose from an array of regional cuisines. A particular favourite was Sichuan food, with its addictively numbing fire (the Sichuan peppercorn has a slightly anaesthetising, tongue-buzzing effect).

到了20世纪90年代，在一些华裔较多的城市里，甚至有一系列的中国地方菜系可供美食冒险家选择。其中最受欢迎的是让人麻得上瘾的四川菜（四川花椒有轻微的麻醉作用，能让舌头产生麻麻的感觉）。

• adventure指“冒险/大胆开拓的精神”比如：a sense/spirit of adventure冒险意识 / 精神

adventurous adj.有冒险精神的；大胆开拓的

For the more adventurous tourists, there are trips into the mountains with a local guide.对更愿猎奇探险的旅游者，有本地向导带领进山游览。

• sizeable adj.fairly large 相当大的=considerable

The town has a sizeable Sikh population.城里有为数众多的锡克教教徒。

• numbing adj.making you unable to feel anything 令人麻木的；使人失去知觉的

numbing cold/fear令人麻木的严寒；使人发懵的恐惧

• peppercorn n.花椒

【相关拓展】Seasonings: salt, sugar, monosodium glutamate, starch, ginger, garlic, pepper.

调味料: 盐, 白糖, 味精, 淀粉, 姜, 蒜, 胡椒粉.

• arrayn. n.衣服；排列，列阵；大批，一系列；[计]数组，阵列

• cuisine n. 烹饪艺术 菜肴

• particular adj. 特定的, 某一的

• slightly adv. 轻微地;稍稍

• anaesthetising 麻醉

Part 5

Yet over the decades, as Chinese food became ubiquitous, it also—beyond the niche world of connoisseurs—came to be standardised. There are almost three times as many Chinese restaurants in America (41,000) as McDonald's.

Virtually every small town has one and, generally, the menus are consistent: pork dumplings (steamed or fried); the same two soups (hot and sour, wonton); stir-fries listed by main ingredient, with a pepper icon or star indicating a meagre trace of chilli-flakes. Dishes over $10 are grouped under “chef's specials”.

然而，在过去的几十年中，随着中国菜的普及，标准化也得以实现，中国美食已不再属于美食鉴赏家的小众世界了。在美国，中餐厅的数量(4.1万家)几乎是麦当劳的三倍。
几乎每个美国小镇都有一家饺子馆，而且菜单通常都是一样的：猪肉饺子（蒸饺或煎饺），同样的两种汤（酸辣汤、混沌），按主料列出的炒菜（菜名后标有花椒图标或星星以表明菜的辣度）。超过10美元的菜被归为“主厨特色菜”。

• ubiquitous adj. [ju:ˈbɪkwɪtəs]seeming to be everywhere or in several places at the same time; very common 似乎无所不在的；十分普遍的

the ubiquitous bicycles of university towns大学城里处处可见的自行车

【类似表达】omnipresent adjˌɒmnɪˈpreznt; present everywhere 无所不在的；遍及各处的

These days the media are omnipresent.现在新闻媒体无处不在。

• niche [niːʃ]义为“针对特定小群体的”(relating to selling goods to a particular small group of people who have similar needs, interests etc)，比如a niche product 小众产品

niche market小众市场

【反义词】mass-market adj. produced for very large numbers of people 面向大众的；适销对路的/n. 大众市场

They now have access to the mass markets of Japan and the UK. 他们现在进入了日本和英国的大众市场。

-connoisseur n.鉴定人，鉴赏家；专家

【记忆方法】connoisseur→con (=thoroughly) + n（相当于gno=know）→ 完全知道的人→ n.鉴定人，鉴赏家；专家

pork dumplings 猪肉饺子

steamed dumplings 蒸饺

fried dumplings 煎饺

hot and sour 酸辣汤

wonton 馄饨

stir-fries 炒菜

• meager n.[ˈmi:gə(r)]small in quantity and poor in quality 少量且劣质的=paltry

a meagre diet of bread and water只有面包和水的粗茶淡饭

She supplements her meagre income by cleaning at night. 她靠夜间做清洁工来补充其微薄的收入。

• dishes n.菜肴

signature dishes 招牌菜

【相关拓展】do the dishes 洗碗

Let’s do the dishes. I’ll wash and you dry.我们洗碗吧，我来洗碗，你来把碗弄干。

dish out v. to give sth, often to a lot of people or in large amounts 大量提供；She's always dishing out advice, even when you don't want it.即使你不想听，她仍然没完没了地建议这建议那。

• specials n.特色菜

The menu changes regularly and there are daily specials to choose from. 菜谱定期更换，而且每天都有特色菜供选择。

• Virtually adv. 实际上; 事实上
• consistent adj. 一贯的, 始终如一的
• pepper n. 胡椒粉

Part 6

There are modest variations: in Boston, takeaways often come with bread and feature a dark, molasses-sweetened sauce; a Chinese-Latino creole cuisine developed in upper Manhattan. But mostly you can, as at McDonald’s, order the same thing in Minneapolis as in Fort Lauderdale.

各地也存在一些差异，例如在波士顿，外卖通常会搭配面包，并配有深色的糖蜜酱；而在曼哈顿上城则流行一种中国-拉美克里奥尔菜式。但在大多数情况下，就像麦当劳那样，你可以在明尼阿波利斯和劳德代尔堡的中餐厅里买到同样的食物。

• modest 最常见的意思不是“谦虚的”而是“些许的；不太大（或太贵、太重要等）的”

modest improvements/reforms不太显著的改进 / 改革

He charged a relatively modest fee. 他收取的费用不算高。

• takeaways n.外卖

take sth away v. 1.to make a feeling, pain, etc. disappear 解除，消除（感情、痛苦等） I was given some pills to take away the pain. 我得到了一些止痛药片。2.（从餐馆买饭菜等）带回食用；买外卖食物 Two burgers to take away, please. 请来两份汉堡包，带走。

• sauce n.调味汁；酱

tomato/cranberry/chilli, etc. sauce 番茄、越橘、辣椒等调味汁