The Economist March 21st 2020 Chaguan| This virus also kills dreams
动宾结构
参加一个决定一生的考试
sit a life-defining exam
永远带着新冠病毒的伤疤
bear the scars of covid-19 for ever
对某事物感慨万千
have mixed feelings about sth
切断某人上网课的途径
cut one’s access to online classes
有机会成为医生
have a shot at becoming doctors
额外加10分
grant ten bonus points
讲课太快
move through lessons too fast
理解材料
make sense of the material
处在逆反期
go through a rebellious age
理解学习的重要性
see the point of study
控制了进入经营学校的途径
control access to elite schools
夸大出生的重要性
play up accident of birth
不及物动词
开展热议
erupt in heated debate
被动语态
被...录取
be admitted to
系表结构
时间压力较轻
be under less time-pressure
处在寒假期间
be on winter break
全职在家
be home full time
介宾结构
缺点/优点
on the downside/on the upside
名词词组
简单结构
一个严峻不平等的国家
a harshly unequal country
贫困学生
vulnerable students
体面的工作
prestigious jobs
严重打击
a grave blow
痴迷于考试的中国
exam-obsessed China
复杂结构
中考
an examination for entrance to senior secondary school
质量不同的职业教育
vocational diplomas of varying quality
考试对于父母心思的支配力
the exam’s hold on parental imaginations
病毒爆发的中心地
seat of the virus outbreak
优异成绩
brilliance at exams
一个无与伦比的社会流动性的渠道
an unrivalled ladder of social mobility
一个难以抓紧的阶梯
a hard ladder-rung to grasp
一个普遍被认为是失败的结果
an outcome widely seen as failure
受病毒影响而推行的在线教育
virus-imposed distance learning
要追赶的差距
the gap to catch up
Sentences
1. On the downside,the snow burned out the village’s electrical transformer, cutting her access to online classes that have replaced normal lessons sincecovid-19 closed schools across China weeks ago.
译：好的一面是，大雪烧毁了村子的变压器，切断了她上网课的途径，网课自数周前新冠病毒使得全国学校封闭后已经取代了正常课程。
析：主句表达主要事件A，cutting her access to online classes表达事件A的影响，that have replaced normal lessons告诉我们why online classes, since … 告诉我们网课取代线下课程的缘由。
简：烧毁变压器—切断网课—线上课程取代传统课程—这种取代产生的原因/背景。
想：我曾经多次主动逃课，高中的早自习，大学的西方简史，语言学（想不到大学的年纪第一也会逃课吧？）；也曾被动的“逃课”，那是高中时腿骨折，不得不休息了几天。还好那个时候，有个好心的叔叔，每天骑着摩托车，早上6:40多来我家，把我送去学校，他再去油库上班。那个时候，我爸爸脑溢血住院，妈妈全天陪护。我的青春，有苦难，有荒唐，有逆反，有绝望，有令人失望后的不敢见面。
小主人公，因为大学断电而不能继续学习。现实的讲，落下的课程进度，还是影响蛮大的。还有更广泛的学生群体，每天买着流量包在上网课，我有的学生来自国家级贫困村县，这样的问题，还需要大家多多关注，尽一份力。这也是我之前在国外大批购买口罩，馈赠或低价送给朋友的原因（即便朋友出价，我给的也是远低于成本的价格，我自己亏了几千不止），还通过各种途径捐款。我们总应该可以做些什么。
希望真实，更有力量。
More
2. On the upside, when the internet dropped just after Chinese class, Sisi’s first lesson of the day, she could abandon her usual place of study—a rough wooden chair and desk in an outdoor courtyard, placed to catch the signal from a neighbour’s Wi-Fi—and shelter from the storm.
3. The zhongkao may not be as famous as the gaokao, the terrifying university entrance exam that has inspired books, documentaries and feature films. But the zhongkao shapes more lives.
4. In one sign of the exam’s hold on parental imaginations, Chinese social media erupted in heated debate when Hubei province, seat of the virus outbreak, announced that the children of medical workers would be granted ten bonus points on their zhongkao scores.
5. The idea that clever, hard-working villagers can make it to the best schools is not just an interesting question of public policy. It is a pillar of China’s social contract, with roots in ancient tales of poor students transformed into powerful scholar-officials by brilliance at exams.
6. In modern-day China, a harshly unequal country, education remains an unrivalled ladder ofsocial mobility. Even in a good year, success in the zhongkao is a hard ladder-rung to grasp. With schools still closed in most of China by covid-19, this is not a good year.
7. Some of the longest-lasting, but hardest to see, may involve months of schooling missed by vulnerable students, who risk doing worse in the zhongkao than theycould have done if face-to-face classes had not been disrupted.
8. One of its tutors, a chemistry teacher from the southern province of Guangdong, explains how the zhongkao controls access to elite schools with the teachers and resources that help students to reach good universities, and thus prestigious jobs.
9. If good schools promote equal opportunities, closed schools play up accidents of birth.
如果大家支持我每周更新，帮我点个“在看”。
閱讀更多 Fisher 的文章
