The sharing economy brings tycoon lifestyles within reach of some
共享经济带来了大亨的生活方式,让一部分人能触及得到(of some有限定作用,即不是所有人都能触及得到)
本文是经济学人的一篇文章,主要讲了跟共享经济相关的一些东西。
①LAMENTING(vt.悔恨; 痛惜;n.悲痛之情;悼词;)the rise of inequality(n. 不平等;本文翻译为贫富差距)is one of the few growth industries in an age of stagnation(n.停滞;不景气;).为贫富差距拉大的不平等性唱哀歌这样的一个增长性行业,目前也处于一个不景气的状态。 One authority(n.当权者)on the American wealthy, Robert Frank of CNBC(同位语), a TV channel(同位语), worries that the rich are “floating off into(飘到自己的国度)their own country.Chrystia Freeland, a journalist-turned-politician(从记者变为了政客), frets about(担心)/the rise of the “new global super-rich” and the fall of everyone else.(超级巨富的崛起和其他人的没落) Charles Murray, America’s gloomiest social scientist(最悲观的社会科学家), warns that society is “coming apart” as the rich retreat(vi. 撤退)into their gated communities.//第一句话表达自己的观点,接着引用三位名人说的话来支撑自己的观点.
长难句:
①Lamenting the rise of inequality is one of the few growth industries in an age of stagnation.
这个句子的架构比较清爽,主语是一个doing结构lamenting the rise of inequality,其中lamenting这个词意思是(为...)而悲伤,哀伤,为什么唱哀歌这样的感觉。意思就是为这种上升的不平等性(即贫富差距的拉大)唱哀歌。而上升的不平等性唱哀歌居然是一个growth industry呢,一个增长性行业。我们来看这里说这个行业现在的状态是in an age of stagnation。其中Stagnation是不景气的意思。比如我们想说现在经济不景气就可以直接说our economy is in an age of stagnation。
At the top of the income scale, however(转折), a small counter-trend is observable. Never before have so many people been able to get access to the accoutrements(n. 穿着,配备;)of tycoonery(n. 商人; 大亨的作为;巨头的地位;)—private planes, luxury yachts(n.快艇,游艇;), fancy cars and interior-designed, exclusive(adj. 专用的; 高级的)homes. ②There is only so much comfort to be had from the fact that it is easier for the merely rich to lay claim to the lifestyle of the super-rich. But as a result of a combination of new technologies and businesses, that is nonetheless what is happening.//第一段说贫富差距拉大,这一段转折,说收入顶层的一小部分人,也能够体验富豪的生活了.
长难句:
②There is only so much comfort to be had from the fact that it is easier for the merely rich to lay claim to the lifestyle of the super-rich.
it is easier for the merely rich to lay claim to the lifestyle of the super-rich对于一般有钱的人,对超级巨富的生活方式进行评价变得更加容易了,这句话表面意思好像是这样,其实深层含义是体验超级巨富的生活方式变得更加容易了。Lay claim to sth,体验过才有资格和能力评价。
Tycoon living begins with a private jet. Whereas yachts are dispensable(adj. 非必需的,不必要;) (not everyone wants to float around for weeks with the same dinner companions) private jets are necessities(n. 必需品)for the aspiring(v. 渴望; 追求)billionaire. They save valuable time. Even first-class passengers have to wait an hour or so for their flights. Private-jet owners can turn up when they want and climb on board. The planes can double as flying offices, and you don’t have to worry about other passengers eavesdropping(n. 偷听;)on your deals or objecting to your spreading papers. The flight is smoother (private jets typically fly at 45,000 feet), the seats are more throne-like, and you can bring your pets.//佐证第三段
No longer do you need a net worth in the hundreds of millions of dollars to have one.(身价不再需要上亿美金,就可以拥有私人飞机了。)With 700 jets, Net Jets is now the fifth-largest airline by number of planes, after Southwest Airlines(仅次于西南航空), and it has access to thousands of private airports. Its(代指西南航空)main innovation(n. 改革,创新; )was to apply the principle of fractional ownership(应用了部分所有权的原则), or time-sharing, to the ultimate(adj.最后的;首要的;n.终极; 基本原理)executive tool. Customers buy a share in a jet which entitles(vt. 使有资格; 给…定;)them to, say, 200 hours of travel a year.//
③Net Jets is skilled at(擅长做)providing its rich clients(顾客)with an entrée(法语,n.入场券)/ into the cultural world of the super-rich(进入超级巨富的文化世界), with hard-to-get tickets(难以搞到的票)to events /such as Art Basel, a series of art fairs, and to private dinners with celebrities(n.名流). The company is also finding ways to bring down the cost(降低成本): one of its latest ideas is the private-jet equivalent of London Underground’s electronic ticket(私人飞机相当于伦敦地下铁的电子票), the Oyster card. Rather than buying a share in a jet you can buy a pre-paid card(类似会员卡)that entitles you to a certain number of flying hours a year, with 25 hours’ worth of flights adding up to about €155,000 ($163,435).
长难句:
③Net Jets is skilled at providing its rich clients with an entrée/ into the cultural world of the super-rich, with hard-to-get tickets to events /such as Art Basel, a series of art fairs, and to private dinners with celebrities.
句子结构
Be skilled at很擅长作某事
Provide sb with sth为某人提供某物
句子主干部分是:Net Jets is skilled at providing its rich clients
with hard-to-get tickets是with an entrée的同位语。
to events和to private dinners两个介词短语并列修饰tickets。
给自己客户搞一些很难搞定的入场券hard-to-get tickets很难搞到的票。
你辛辛苦苦给暗恋对象搞到了一张票,却憋红了脸不知道怎么形容这张票的来之不易,以后记住了告诉他it a hard to get ticket.
The sharing economy was hardly inspired(被激发)by the needs of the rich. But in some ways it suits them perfectly(太适合某人). The whole idea depends on /people having spare assets/ that they are willing to rent out to total strangers. Who has more idle assets(=spare assets闲置资产)than the super-rich? And who loves extra income more than people who have spent their lives accumulating(累积)money? On the other side of the market, bustling plutocrats(繁忙的富豪)are an ever-present(一直存在)source of demand for temporary accommodation(n. 住处; 适应) and bursts of luxury. The system can even have a strange public-relations benefit. A wealthy boss /who makes use of Net Jets won’t need to explain to his shareholders(n. 股东; 股票持有者;)/why he bought a jet, even as he treats the one he flies on as though it were his own.
Uber, a ride-hailing(n. 冰雹; 一阵)firm, and Airbnb, an accommodation-sharing service, are prominent(adj. 著名的)in the luxury market as well as the mass market(在高端市场和大众市场表现一样好). Uber offers yacht trips in Dubai (UberYacht) and helicopter commutes(vi.通勤; 代偿;)in São Paulo (UberCopter). Airbnb does a booming trade in luxury apartments in London, Hong Kong and the Caribbean. There are providers in almost every cranny(n.裂缝,裂隙;)of the luxury landscape. GetMyBoat, a San Francisco-based company, gives customers access to motorboats, luxury houseboats, yachts and jet skis in 7,100 places around the world. Stratajet sells tickets on empty legs on private jets for the price of a business-class ticket or even less. Staller, which describes itself as the “Airbnb for horses”, helps horse-owners rent stalls(n. 货摊) near equestrian competitions(骑马比赛). A home-sharing club called ThirdHome.com allows people with just a couple of homes to live as if they have a dozen.
④The same constraints(n.约束; 限制; 强制;)that affect the wider sharing economy—NIMBY pressure groups who put their interests above the common good and regulators who fail to adapt to new technology—find echoes in the luxury market. With its helicopter(直升飞机)service from Manhattan to the Hamptons, Blade has immeasurably(adv. 不能测量地,无限制地;)improved the life of those New Yorkers who weekend on Long Island. ⑤That hasn’t prevented curmudgeons(n.坏脾气的人,吝啬鬼,守财奴;)in Battery Park and Brooklyn Heights from complaining about the occasional(adj. 偶尔的; 特殊场合的; 临时的;)whump-whump-whump(撞击的声音)over their heads.
长难句:
④The same constraints /that affect the wider sharing economy—NIMBY pressure groups /who put their interests above the common good /and regulators/ who fail to adapt to new technology—find echoes in the luxury market.
句子结构:主语是the same constraints限制因素,that引导的从句that affect the wider sharing economy作其修饰语,主语这里the wider sharing economy其实等价于the mass market sharing economy。两个破折号中间的内容是解释说明,NIMBY pressure groups who put their interests above the common good and regulators who fail to adapt to new technology。NIMBY是Not in My Backyard,一种保护主义。这群人的特征就是who从句说的put their interests above the common good把个人利益放在大众利益之上,and后面并列了另外一群人就是regulators,who fail to adapt to new technology就是没有跟上新科技节奏的政策制定者,这里使用fail来表示没能做到。 谓语动词是find,宾语是echoes,in the luxury market是介词短语修饰echoes。Find echoes同样存在。
⑤That hasn’t prevented curmudgeons in Battery Park and Brooklyn Heights from complaining about the occasional whump-whump-whump over their heads.
curmudgeons坏脾气的人,吝啬鬼,守财奴( curmudgeon的名词复数 )
Battery Park 和 Brooklyn Heights 都是穷人区
That指代前文的提升:has immeasurably improved the life of those New Yorkers who weekend on Long Island
因为只提升了那些要在长岛过周末的人的生活,可是这当然无法组织那些住在布鲁克林这些地方的坏脾气的人的抱怨啊,抱怨啥,抱怨自己头顶上老嗡嗡嗡的飞飞机呗。
From merely rich to Uber rich
Methods of managing wealth as well as consuming it are trickling down(向下渗透,向下流). Until recently only people called Rockefeller and Morgan could afford so-called “family offices” that manage their investments, taxes and charitable(adj. 仁慈的) giving (and get entry into the best hedge funds). Now people with as little as $5m to invest can afford to do so thanks to a boom in so-called “multi-family” offices. Banks such as Citigroup have set up multi-family divisions(n.部门; 分开;除法). Even blue-blooded wealth advisers such as Rockefeller & Co, in Manhattan, are offering family-office services to the “merely” crowd.
That things are getting better for more rich people does not contradict(vt. 反驳; 否认; 与…矛盾;vi. 反驳; 发生矛盾;)Mr Frank’s broader worry, but among the Art Basel class it is a notable shift(明显的改变). Once upon a time you had to be born rich to join the global elite(n. 精华;精英;上层集团). Then you had to make a hundred million dollars, and then the threshold rose to a billion. Now goods and services that used to be confined to a handful of tycoons are available to the millionaire or pretend-millionaire next door, thanks to the magic of the sharing economy. The super-rich may be floating off into their own country. But more people can join them, even if temporarily, than ever before.