今天我們練習的文章講的是新冠肺炎疫情對英國通脹造成的影響，原文516字，預計閱讀時間2分鐘；全文1640字，預計閱讀時間6分鐘。
開始你的閱讀之旅吧
Coronavirus: UK inflation hits 1.5% as lockdown begins to bite
解說：標題用as交代了英國通脹率降到1.5%的原因：居家隔離。值得學習的詞彙有bite這個小詞，它本身是“咬”的意思，這裡是一種隱喻（metaphor）,指的是to have a bad effect，也就是說居家隔離開始產生不良影響了，如果中文要保留這種隱喻的表達，也可以用“反噬”這個詞。大家在閱讀的時候既可以有意識地用英文來解釋英文單詞或表達，也要有意識地去用多種中文表達來輸出自己的理解，形成發散性思維。
The UK's inflation rate fell to 1.5% in March, largely driven by falls in the price of clothing and fuel ahead of the coronavirus lockdown.
The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) fell from 1.7% in February, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Clothing stores had offered more discounts as shoppers began staying at home, it said. Falling oil prices also resulted in cheaper petrol prices.
解說：這裡的as同樣是用於表示原因，解釋了服裝店打折的原因是因為消費者開始待在家中（借打折吸引消費者出來買衣服）
Economists warn inflation could slide to 0.5% in 2020 as the economy shrinks.
解說：表示“降低/減少”的英文表達除了上文的fall，還有slide/shrink哦，大家都可以積累下來。除此之外，jump/edge *% lower/plummet/plunge/這些詞也可以表示下降，但是jump/plummet/plunge這三個詞一般表示下降幅度和速度之快，理解為“暴跌”。
The ONS's latest data was collected on 17 March, just before lockdown started on 23 March. But its head of inflation, Mike Hardie, said there were already signs people were spending less in shops and more on necessities such as food.
The agency said prices of clothes and shoes had fallen by 1.2% in the year to March 2020.
It also said average petrol prices stood at 119.4 pence per litre during the month - the lowest seen since February 2019, while diesel stood at 123.8p
解說：“stand at+數字”的表達相當於be"為……"，積累下來可以避免總是用reach/be這種表達哦。
The UK benchmark for oil has fallen to about $16 (£13) a barrel as economic activity has slowed to trickle. That is a fall of about 75% since the start of the year.
解說：這裡的as同樣是用於表示原因，解釋了英國基準原油（布倫特石油）下降至約16美元的原因：由於經濟活動放緩。這裡有個非常好的表達，slowed to trickle，trickle可做動詞（drop，滴）也可作名詞（dripple，水滴），不定式to trickle作slow的後置定語，說明slow到達了像水滴一樣緩慢的程度，這個metaphor是非常形象生動的。在翻譯的時候這裡我們沒有必要保留這個比喻的外殼形式，表達出實際意思“經濟活動放緩”即可。
Sarah Hewin, senior economist at Standard Chartered bank, told the BBC's Today programme: "Normally low inflation would be welcomed as it means people have effectively more to spend in the shop but these are not normal circumstances.
"The fall in inflation, in addition to low energy prices, is an indication of the steep recession we will see in the coming months."
Meanwhile, Andrew Wishart at Capital Economics said: "We suspect a larger fall in CPI inflation, from 1.5% to 0.9% is in store for April as Ofgem [the regulator] lowers the cap on utility bills to reflect past falls in wholesale energy prices."
解說：這裡的suspect並非指的是“懷疑”，而是指“認為”，如果只是很僵硬地去記一箇中文意思，理解肯定會有很大的偏差，也要有意識地用英文來解釋哦，“to think or believe something to be true or probable”（認為有可能……）才是符合此處語境的意思。
He added that falling employment, consumer caution and falling energy prices would pull inflation "down to just 0.5% in the second half of this year".
'More help needed'
CPI remains below the Bank of England's 2% target for inflation.
Inflation is one of the main factors that the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) considers when setting the "base rate". That influences what interest rate banks can charge people to borrow money, or what they pay on their savings.
The UK's central bank brought them down to 0.1% from 0.25%. Interest rates are now at the lowest ever in the Bank's 325-year history.
The Bank said it would also increase its holdings of UK government and corporate bonds by £200bn in an effort to lower the cost of borrowing.
But Melissa Davies, chief economist at Redburn, said the Bank needs to go further: "It will be a volatile ride for inflation over the next year, with negative numbers a possibility followed by a sharp reversal."
解說：ride在這裡並不是指的是“騎車/搭車”，在這裡是一種隱喻的用法，可以用time/journey來解釋，本身在語境中是個沒有什麼實際含義的詞，語義的重心在於volatile，理解了形容詞volatile也就理解了整句話的意思。也就是說“明年通脹率浮動會很大，通脹率可能變成負值然後再急劇反彈。”，如果保留這裡ride的隱喻外殼，可以表達為“明年通脹率會像坐過山車一樣，通脹率可能變成負值然後再急劇反彈。”
She added: "More stimulus is needed, with only limited quantitative easing help from the Bank of England and the Treasury's lending guarantee scheme falling short. Even the furlough scheme is only delaying an inevitable and large spike in unemployment."
解說：這裡要注意的是with+分詞作狀語的結構，短語fall short表示“不夠”，整個with結構的分詞前用了兩個非常長的名詞短語結構 limited quantitative easing help from the Bank of England and the Treasury's lending guarantee scheme，這句話的意思是“僅靠英格蘭銀行量化寬鬆政策起到的有限作用和財政部的借貸擔保計劃是不夠的，還需要採取更多的刺激措施。”
此外，生僻詞furlough指的是名詞“a temporary leave”，指的是員工“暫時停工”。
總結
1. 要有意識地去注意英文外刊中的metaphor，並學會用英文解釋。如果在翻譯中能夠保留其隱喻的外殼，是比較理想的情況；但是如果不能，記得不要生硬地去保留那個隱喻的外殼，而應該專注於達意，翻譯出實際的意思即可。
2. 要有意識地積累多種表達，包括一篇文章中的同意表達，近義表達和反義表達。
3. 理解時注意文章的邏輯表達，標誌詞有as/while等表示原因或轉折的連詞。
