今天(2018年7月25日)是中国民航局要求将国外航空公司官网上对「台湾」的称谓改为「中国台湾」的最后期限。
截止昨日的外交部例行记者会召开,仍有达美航空(Delta Airlines)、美国航空(American Airlines)、联合航空(United Airlines)三家美国公司仍未完成修改。
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对此,有记者问到,
如果一些外国航空公司没有按中方要求更改网站上对台湾的标注,中方将对其采取什么反制措施?是否会禁止其使用中国的机场?
If the foreign airlines do not comply with China's demand to change the reference of Taiwan, what would be the possible sanctions China will take against them? Would that include barring them from using Chinese airports?
○ comply with: comply意思是“服从,遵守,遵从”If someone or something complies with an order or set of rules, they do what is required or expected.
举个🌰,Failure to comply with the regulations will result in prosecution. 违反规定者将被起诉。
○ 表示“遵守”这个含义的同义词还有:obey / observe / adhere to / abide by等。
○ bar 作为名词“酒吧”大家都知道,而在这里作为动词,表示“阻止,禁止;阻挡,阻拦”bar sb. from doing sth 禁止某人做某事。看到 barring 你还有印象吗?
在前几天「经济学人」
评“头腾大战”抖音和微信的较量
的一文中,Tik Tok has become the world's most downloaded iPhone app, barring games
这里的barring是介词(prep.),表示“除了..之外,不包括,除非”。
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对于上述问题,我们的外交部发言人耿爽这样回答:
的确,对网站进行更改的最后期限日益临近,让我们拭目以待吧。
Indeed, as the deadline for the correction of the websites draws near, let's wait and see.
○ draw near/closer: 可以表示时间或者空间上的“靠近,临近,逼近”
举个🌰,The new term is drawing near. 快开学了。
○ 让我们拭目以待怎么翻?Let's wait and see!
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CNN称这最后的期限为航空公司和我国的 showdown
Delta, United and American face showdown with China over Taiwan
○ showdown 什么意思呢?a meeting, argument, fight etc that will settle a disagreement or competition that has continued for a long time 摊牌,最后的较量,决定胜负的大辩论
举个🌰,Millions of dollars were spent on lawyers in a courtroom showdown between the two companies. 两家公司在法庭的最后一战光在律师身上就花了数百万美元。
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那么,对于期限最后的倒计时,这三家航空公司到底改不改呢!?我们先来看有意思的一幕,BBC的报道:
BBC官网上China版块的头条这样写:
Airlines heed China's Taiwan deadline
○ heed 什么意思?to pay attention to someone's advice or warning“注意〔别人的建议或警告〕”
举个🌰,If she had only heeded my warnings , none of this would have happened. 要是她当初听从我的警告,这一切都不会发生。
美国航空:hmmm, “我”注意到今天是修改的最后期限的警告了,许多航空公司已经屈服改了,就我们三家不改,
◉ 引言:
Many already bowed to pressure to list Taiwan as part of China, but until now US carriers held out
○ bow to: bow原意是“鞠躬,低头”,bow to这里意思是“屈服于,服从,顺从,听从”
○ hold out这里表示“(坚决)抵抗,抵御”
举个🌰,They won't be able to hold out much longer under this sort of bombardment. 在这样的炮火轰击之下,他们抵抗不了多久。
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然而,当点进这一新闻链接时,变成了这样:
配图还是那个配图,时间还是2 hours ago,而标题变成了:
American Airlines, Delta and Cathay Pacific bow to China Taiwan pressure
现在你们也 bow to 了吧,哈哈哈哈
一首飞得更高送给你们:D
◉ 引言也跟着改了:
American Airlines, Delta and Cathay Pacific have become the latest carriers to change how they refer to Taiwan online, bowing to pressure from China.
p.s. 这里有点小疑问虽然不影响我们的学习,就是其它媒体(比如下文的卫报,华尔街日报)都称之前最后三家没改的航空公司是American, Delta, 和 United airlines, 这里BBC的报道不知道为啥还冒出了个 Cathay Pacific 国泰航空公司。
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最后,我们再来看看其他外媒的报道,学学相关词汇,
◉ 卫报(The Guardian):
引言部分:
United and Delta expected to follow suit and change ...
○ follow suit 什么意思?“效仿,学样,跟着做”
◉ 华尔街日报(WSJ):
引言部分:
Will It Fly? U.S. Airlines Meet Beijing Halfway on Taiwan
○ meet sb. halfway 意思就是“妥协,迁就(某人),对(某人)作出让步”(to do some of the things that someone wants you to do, in order to show that you want to reach an agreement or improve your relationship with them)
○ comply with 又出现了...
而CNN也用了另一个词:give in to 来表示“屈服于,向…让步;向…投降”
US airlines give in to China's demands over Taiwan CNNMoney
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