经济学人精读笔记4：想脱单吗？政府帮你找到另一半！

经济学人精读笔记4：想脱单吗？政府帮你找到另一半！

标签（空格分隔）： 经济学人

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2020/2/20

Part 1

Japan’s state-owned version of Tinder

Local authorities are setting up matchmaking websites to pair their residents with lonely-hearts in the cities

日本官方版 Tinder
政府当局创办相亲网站，为当地居民牵线搭桥

• state-owned adj.国有的

state-owned firms 指国有公司

state-owned media 指官方媒体

-owned这个后缀的含义是“属于…的”，“归…所有的”，可以与名词、形容词、副词连用，比如state-owned companies 国有公司Japanese-owned hotels日资酒店privately-owned companies 私有公司

• version n.版本

a local version of…=the Chinese version of…在对外介绍中国的事物时，可以将其与外国家喻户晓的对应物联系起来，这样的表达会让外国朋友更能理解你所说的内容。

【类似表达】A, which is the equivalent of…

Every day, I share my notes on Weibo, which is the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

equivalent n. [ɪˈkwɪvələnt] a thing, amount, word, etc. that is equivalent to sth else 相等的东西；等量；对应词

• matchmaking websites 相亲网站

matchmaking n.作媒

matchmaker n.红娘，媒人

• pair v. 使成对；配对

pair up (with sb) | pair sb up (with sb)to come together or to bring two people together to work, play a game, etc.（使两人）结组工作（或游戏等）They asked us to pair up with the person next to us and form teams. 他们让我们与身边的人配对组成小组。

【类似表达】team up (with sb) | team sb / sth up (with sb) If you team up with someone, you join them in order to work together for a particular purpose. You can also say that two people or groups team up . （与…）组队；（与…）协作

Elton teamed up with Eric Clapton to wow thousands at a Wembley rock concert.埃尔顿和埃里克·克拉普顿在温布利举行的一场摇滚音乐会上联袂演出，征服了数千位听众。

• someone with lonely-hearts 孤独的人，单身的人
• residents n. 居民

Part 2

Even after years of attending match-making parties, a professional in Tokyo explains, she has not found any suitable marriage prospects. “I’m tired of going to these events and not meeting anyone,” she gripes.

So she has decided to expand her pool of prospective partners by looking for love outside the capital. To that end she has filled out an online profile detailing her name, job, hobbies and even weight on a match-making site that pairs up single urbanites with people from rural areas.

东京一名职场人士表示，虽然参加了多年的相亲会，但她仍然没有找到合适的结婚对象。她抱怨道：“我对参加这些活动感到厌倦了，却没有遇见一个合适的人。”
因此，她决定将她寻找伴侣的范围扩大到首都之外。为此，她在一个为城市和农村的单身人士配对的婚配网站上填写了一份个人资料，详细描述了自己的姓名、工作、爱好，甚至体重。

• gripe v. [graɪp] ~ (about sb/sth) (informal) to complain about sb/sth in an annoying way 抱怨；发牢骚

He's always griping about the people at work.他老是抱怨共事的人。

• expand pool of 扩大…的范围

【长难句解析】To that end /she has filled out an online profile /detailing her name, job, hobbies and even weight on a match-making site/ that pairs up single urbanites /with people from rural areas. 为此，她在一个为城市和农村的单身人士配对的婚配网站上填写了一份个人资料，详细描述了自己的姓名、工作、爱好，甚至体重。
*句子主干是：she主语+ has filled out 谓语+an online profile宾语

*online profile detailing A, B, C and D这句是现在分词做后置定语，还原为online profile (which is)detailing A, B, C and D

*a match-making site that pairs up single urbanites with people from rural areas这里是that引导的定语从句，先行词a match-making site再从句中做主语。

• To that end 为此

• filled out 填写

• profile n. 简历，概述

• prospective adj. 预期的; 未来的; 可能的

• urbanites n. 都市人

• rural adj. 农村的

Part 3

Match-making services that promote iju konkatsu, meaning “migration spouse-hunting”, are increasingly common in Japan. They are typically operated by an unlikely marriage-broker: local governments.

In Akita, a prefecture near the northern tip of Japan’s main island, the local government has long managed an online match-making service to link up local lonely-hearts. It claims to have successfully coupled up more than 1,350 Akita residents since it launched nine years ago.

在日本，越来越多的婚介服务机构开始推广 iju konkatsu（意为“寻求移民配偶”）了。它们通常是由一个不太可能的媒人来经营的：地方政府。
在靠近日本主岛北端的秋田县，当地政府长期以来一直经营着一项在线婚介服务，为当地的单身人士牵线搭桥。据称，自9年前启动以来，这项服务已经成功为1350多名秋田县居民搭桥牵线了。

• marriage-broker媒人

• prefecture 地方行政区域；省；县

• link up连接；接合

They linked up with a series of local anti-nuclear and anti-apartheid groups... 他们加入了一系列当地的反核和反种族隔离团体。

这里的link up与前文的pair 和下一句的couple up作同义替换

• spouse n. 配偶, 夫或妻

• operated v. 操作（operate的过去式和过去分词）

Part 4

It recently began offering a similar service to introduce residents to people living outside the prefecture and is optimistic about its prospects. “By using the konkatsu site, we hope that more people from outside will marry someone from Akita to come and live here,” says Rumiko Saito of the Akita Marriage Support Centre.

Along with online matching services, municipalities across Japan host parties to help singles mingle. They also organise subsidised group tours in rural prefectures, in which half the participants are locals and the other half from cities, to encourage urbanites to marry and move to the countryside. Hundreds of singletons participate in these tours every year.

最近，秋田县又推出了一项类似的服务，将该县居民介绍给外地人，并且其对这项服务的前景表示乐观。秋田县婚姻支持中心的斋藤美子说：“我们希望通过 konkatsu 网站可以让更多外地人嫁到秋田县来，并在这里生活。”
除了提供在线配对服务外，日本各地的市政当局还会举办派对来帮助单身人士进行社交。他们还在农村地区组织有补贴的团体旅游（其中一半是当地人，另一半是城里人），以鼓励城里人与农村人结婚并搬到农村去。每年都有成百上千的单身人士参加这些活动。

• be optimistic about prospects 前景很乐观

• along with sb / sth in addition to sb / sth; in the same way as sb / sth 除…以外（还）；与…同样地

She lost her job when the factory closed, along with hundreds of others. 工厂倒闭时，她和成百上千的其他人一样失去了工作。

【类似表达】together with sth / sb

1. in addition to something else 和某物/某人一起，连同某物/某人 Just bring it back to the store, together with your receipt.把它连同收据一起拿回店里来就行了。

2.used to mention someone else who is also involved in an activity or situation包括某人在内 He, together with Bill Dunn, decided to climb out of the canyon.他和比尔·邓恩决定一起爬出峡谷。

couple sth with sth[usually passive]to link one thing, situation, etc. to another（某物）加上（某物）；把…与…连接起来 Lack of rain coupled with high temperatures caused the crops to fail.雨水少加上高温导致农作物歉收。

【区分】 alongside sth used to say that people or things do something or exist together at the same time（与…）一起;（与…）同时

Charles spent a week working alongside the miners.查尔斯花了一周时间与矿工一起干活。

Organized crime continued to flourish alongside the mainstream economy.随着主流经济的发展，集团犯罪越来越猖獗。（注意alongside是介词）

• host parties 举办派对

host常见作名词意为“主人，主办国”，这里作动词“主办，做东”Germany hosted the World Cup finals.德国主办了世界杯决赛。

• mingle v.to move among people and talk to them, especially at a social event （尤指在社交场所）相交往，混杂其中（尤指在社交场所）相交往，混杂其中

The princess was not recognized and mingled freely with the crowds.公主没有人认出，随意混杂在人群之中。

If you'll excuse me, I must go and mingle (= talk to other guests) .对不起，我得去和其他客人聊聊。

• subsidise [ˈsʌbsɪˌdaɪz]v. 补贴，资助

These barriers include low public awareness, ineffective political frameworks and governments continuing to subsidise conventional energy sources.这些障碍包括公共意识、无效的政治框架和政府继续资助传统能源。

【派生词】subsidy n. 补助金

【近型词辨析】subside v.if a feeling, pain, sound etc subsides, it gradually becomes less and then stop〔感情、痛苦、声音等〕逐渐减弱；平静下来，平息

Simon waited until the laughter subsided. 西蒙一直等到笑声平息下来。

The pains in his head had subsided, but he still felt dizzy and sick. 他的头痛已经减轻，但仍感到眩晕和恶心。

• urbanite[ˈɜːbənaɪt] n. [C] 城市居民

【词根词缀】词根urb (= city) 构成了许多英语单词，如：

urban[ˈɜːbən] adj.城市的；都市的；城镇的

urbane[ɜːˈbeɪn] adj.符合城里人身份的，即“温文尔雅的；彬彬有礼的”

suburb n.郊区sub- (靠近) + urb靠近城市的地方

• singleton [ˈsɪŋgltən] 指“单身狗”(A singleton is someone who is neither married nor in a long-term relationship)

• prefecture n. 县；管区，辖区；地方官的任期

• municipalities n. 自治市; 自治区; 自治市或区的政府当局

Part 5

The difficulty of finding true love in the countryside is compounded by a gender mismatch. In 80% of prefectures with declining populations, young women are more likely than men to relocate to cities.

This means that whereas there are more single women than men in big cities like Tokyo, bachelors outnumber spinsters in rural areas. Many men in the countryside are “left behind”, laments a government official in Akita.

性别比失调使得在农村想要找到真爱变得更难了。在人口下降了80％的县，年轻女性比男性更有可能迁往城市。
这意味着，在东京这样的大城市里，单身女性比男性多，而在农村地区，单身男性则多于女性。秋田市的一位政府官员感叹道，农村的许多男人都成了“剩男”。

• bachelor n. 未婚男子；单身汉

an eligible bachelor (= one that many people want to marry, especially because he is rich)合意单身男子（常因富有而为理想对象）

bachelor另一个常见义为“学士”

大学里的学位分为初、中、高三个等级。

初级学位即学士学位Bachelor’s degree，获得学士学位的人被称为Bachelor。

中级学位是硕士学位，即Master’s degree, 获得硕士学位的人被称为Master，如工商管理学硕士MBA (=Master of Business Administration)。

大学里的最高一级学位是博士学位，即doctorate，获得博士学位的人被称为Doctor。注意，doctorate是指博士学位，而不是指拿到博士学位的人，如：Tom received his doctorate last month, so he is a Doctor now.

但是PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) 既可以指博士学位，又可以指拿到博士学位的人，如：Tom is a PhD / has a PhD. 博士后 (Postdoctoral researcher) 不是学位名称，而是指那些在取得博士学位之后在大学或科研机构中有限期地专门从事相关研究或深造的人。

• outnumber v.数量上压倒，超过

【类似表达】outperform由out(超过)和perform(表现)合成，outperform sb / sth即“超过…的表现”

前缀out-表示“超过”，常和动词或名词一起构成新的动词，比如outlive比...活得长/outplay战胜，击败/outpace比...快

• spinster n.老处女；老姑娘. There's nothing shameful in being a spinster. 当老处女也没什么丢人的。

• left behind 剩男剩女，leave behind本是动词词组“落下”，那么“被落下的人”也就是“剩男剩女”

• lament [ləˈment] 指“悲痛，哀悼；悲叹”(to express feelings of great sadness about something)，与celebrate相对应。

lament作名词指“挽歌，哀悼，悼词”。lament作动词还可指“抱怨”(to express annoyance or disappointment about something you think is unsatisfactory or unfair)，相当于bemoan sth，complain about sth，moan and groan about sth。

比如《经济学人》一篇谈中国直播网红的文章提到一个主播的抱怨：Mr Zhao laments that to boost his earnings, he has to tell more dirty jokes.

而形容词lamentable指“令人扼腕的；令人嘘唏的；使人惋惜的”(very unsatisfactory or disappointing)

• be compounded by 由于……而恶化

• relocate vt. 重新安置；迁移

• laments vi. 悲叹；悔恨；哀悼