本期推送原文源自网络,译文为机器翻译基础上修饰润色,仅供学习参考用。笔记由译群人团队原创。不作商业用途。
Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates said he thinks cryptocurrencies and NFTs are "100% based on the greater fool theory".
微软联合创始人比尔·盖茨表示,他加密数字货币和非同质化代币“100%建立在博傻理论之上”。
这一句话没什么难的,主要理解2个名词:
the greater fool theory 博傻理论,这个名词了解一下:
博傻理论 (greater fool theory),是指在资本市场中(如股票、期货市场):人们之所以完全不管某个东西的真实价值而愿意花高价购买,是因为他们预期会有一个更大的笨蛋会花更高的价格从他们那儿把它买走。博傻理论告诉人们的最重要的一个道理是:在这个世界上,傻不可怕,可怕的是做最后一个傻子。
NFT: 非同质化代币(non-fungible token),是用于表示数字资产(包括jpg和视频剪辑形式)的唯一加密货币令牌,可以买卖。
The 66-year-old billionaire was referring to the notion that overvalued assets will keep going up because there are enough people willing to pay high prices for them. He joked that "expensive digital images of monkeys" would "improve the world immensely."
这位66岁的亿万富翁的意思是,由于有足够多的人愿意高价购买,被高估的资产将继续上涨。他开玩笑说,“昂贵的猴子数码照片”将“极大地推动世界发展”。
The 66-year-old billionaire 显然是指代比尔盖茨。英文很喜欢换词,换词不仅让文章更加生动,另一个很重要的作用就是通过这种换词,表达出所指代对象的各种特点,比如此处就间接地告诉读者,比尔盖茨是个亿万富翁,今年66岁了。
...willing to pay high prices for them——现在分词短语做后置定语修饰people,其中them指代的是上半句的overvalued assets.
Refer to: to describe or be connected to sb/sth 描述;涉及;与…相关
The star refers to items which are intended for the advanced learner. 标有星号的项目是给高阶学习者的。
The term ‘Arts’ usually refers to humanities and social sciences. arts一词通常指人文和社会科学。
This paragraph refers to the events of last year. 这一段说的是去年发生的事。
notion n. /ˈnəʊʃn/ ~ (that...)~ (of sth) an idea, a belief or an understanding of sth 观念;信念;理解
a political system based on the notions of equality and liberty 建立在自由平等观念基础上的政治体系
I have to reject the notion that greed can be a good thing. 我不能接受那种认为贪欲也可以是件好事的想法。
She had only a vague notion of what might happen. 对于可能发生的事她只有一个模糊的概念。
overvalued assets被高估的资产
Overvalue: V-T To overvalue something, often a cost or rate of exchange, means to place its value at too high a level compared with other similar things. 对···过高估价
expensive digital images of monkeys那些昂贵的猴子形象的数码图片,指的是一种NFT,长相如下:
Other wealthy investors and executives, including Warren Buffett and Jamie Dimon, have also expressed skepticism about cryptocurrencies. Mr. Buffett once called bitcoin "rat poison squared."
其他富有的投资者和高管,包括沃伦·巴菲特(Warren Buffett)和杰米·戴蒙(Jamie Dimon),也纷纷质疑加密货币。巴菲特曾将比特币称为“老鼠药的二次幂”。
Executive: [ C ] a person who has an important job as a manager of a company or an organization (公司或机构的)经理,主管领导,管理人员
advertising/business/sales, etc. executives 广告、业务、销售等主管
expressed skepticism about....表达对...的怀疑
Skepticism: N-UNCOUNT Scepticism is great doubt about whether something is true or useful. 怀疑
A survey reflects business scepticism about the strength of the economic recovery. 一份调查反映出商业界对经济恢复能力的怀疑。
Square此处是动词:V-T To square a number means to multiply it by itself. For example, 3 squared is 3 x 3, or 9. 3 squared is usually written as 32. 乘二次方
字面意思就是“老鼠药的二次方/平方”,也就是强效版的老鼠药
NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, are digital proofs of a purchase for goods like art, digital music and sneakers. After surging in popularity, their demand appears to be flatlining recently. Rising interest rates have crushed risky bets across the financial markets—and NFTs are among the most speculative.
NFTs,即非同质化代币,是购买艺术品、数字音乐和运动鞋等商品的数字证明。在人气飙升之后,NFT的需求最近似乎停滞不前。不断上升的利率粉碎了金融市场上的高风险投资,而NFT就是其中最具投机性的一种。
[写作句式] ... surge in popularity/number/population after...
这个句式可以很好地表达事物的前因后果及变化。
after... 后面可以跟从句或名词,阐述事件发生的起因。
surge也可以根据句意用decrease, slump等表示变化的动词替换。
in... 表示变化的维度。
Dogecoin surged in popularity after business and pop-culture icons began promoting it online. It isn’t clear what caught their attention.狗狗币得到商界大佬和流行文化圈潮人的推广,人气爆涨。尚不清楚是什么吸引他们注意到狗狗币。
在什么方面锐减?slump in population:
The newly-born have slumped in population after several years' of one-family-one-child policy.
Flatline则是暴涨之后的平静了:to be at a low level and fail to improve or increase 处于低潮;没有起色
Crush此处是修辞手法:to break sth into small pieces or into a powder by pressing hard 压碎;捣碎;碾成粉末
Speculative:( of business activity 商业活动 ) done in the hope of making a profit but involving the risk of losing money 投机性的;风险性的
Thousands of retirees were persuaded to mortgage their homes to invest in speculative bonds. 上千的退休人员被劝说抵押他们的房子去投资投机性的债券。
“...之一”,除了one of, 也可以用among,比如:
He was among the last to leave. 他是最后离开者之一。
‘What was wrong with the job?’ ‘Well, the pay wasn't good, among other things .’“这份工作有什么不好吗?”“嗯,别的不说,工资就不怎么样。”
Mr. Gates said he preferred asset classes "like a farm where they have the output or a company where they make products."
盖茨说,他更喜欢“有产出的农场或生产产品的公司”这样的资产类别。
Output:the amount of sth that a person, a machine or an organization produces (人、机器、机构的)产量,输出量
Manufacturing output has increased by 8%. 工业产量增长了8%。
[语法] 此处2个where 引导的都是定语从句,因为它们都有先行词。
当where 引导定语从句时,Where前有表示地点的先行词,where 引导的从句修饰先行词,Where是关系副词,在从句中作地点状语,再看个例子:
He's got himself into a dangerous situation where he is likely to lose control over the plane.他让自己置身于险境,很可能失去对飞机的掌控。
His comments come as bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have slid sharply in recent days amid a broad global market rout, undoing much of the gains at the beginning of the pandemic when a wave of investors started betting on digital currencies.
他发表此番言论之际,比特币和其他加密货币正大幅下跌,全球市场崩盘,抵消了疫情初期的大部分涨幅,当时一波投资者开始押注数字货币。
rout /raʊt/ [sing.] a situation in which sb is defeated easily and completely in a battle or competition 溃败;彻底失败
put sb to rout ( literary) to defeat sb easily and completely 彻底打败;使溃败
undo: vt. to cancel the effect of sth 消除,取消,废止(某事的影响)
He undid most of the good work of the previous manager. 他把前任经理的大部分功绩都毁掉了。
It's not too late to try and undo some of the damage . 想办法补救部分损失还为时不晚。
UNDO (= a command on a computer that cancels the previous action) 撤销(计算机的还原指令)
词缀un-构成表示相反过程的动词
unlock 开锁
bet: [also V that] ~ (sth) (on/against sth)to risk money on a race or an event by trying to predict the result 下赌注(于);用…打赌
[V]
You have to be over 16 to bet. 赌博者年龄不得低于16岁。
[ VN]
He bet $2 000 on the final score of the game. 他下2 000元赌比赛的最后比分。
[ VNN]
She bet me £20 that I wouldn't do it. 她和我打20英镑的赌,说我不会那么做。
The price of bitcoin recently traded just above $20,000 on Wednesday. It has lost more than two-thirds of its value since its record high in November, the fourth worst selloff in the cryptocurrency's 13-year history. Further waves of reckoning have swept through the cryptocurrency industry this week.
周三,比特币的价格刚刚超过2万美元。自去年11月创下历史新高以来,比特币已贬值逾三分之二,这是加密货币13年历史上第四次最严重的抛售。本周,新一轮的清算浪潮席卷了加密货币行业。
trade: to be bought and sold, or to buy and sell sth, on a stock exchange (在证券交易所)交易,买卖
[ V]
Shares were trading at under half their usual value. 那些股份以低于通常价值的一半买卖。
[ also VN ]
sell-off: ( business 商) ( NAmE ) the sale of a large number of stocks and shares , after which their value usually falls (证券)抛售
reckoning n. /ˈrekənɪŋ/ [ UC] the act of calculating sth, especially in a way that is not very exact 估计;估算;计算
By my reckoning you still owe me £5. 我算计着,你还欠我5英镑。
reckoning还有“秋后算账”的意思:
a time when sb's actions will be judged to be right or wrong and they may be punished 最后审判日;算总账
In the final reckoning truth is rewarded. 在最后算总账的时候,诚实的人会有好报。
Officials concerned with environmental policy predict that a day of reckoning will come. 担心环境政策的官员们预言总有一天人们会受到报应。
我们在外刊精读笔记 | 上海疫情 中提到:某事物迅速流行开来,席卷某个地区,泛滥成灾,也可以尝试用sweep (across/through),光看sweep一词,就能联想起风卷残云之势,所以这个词的势能往往是迅速的,短时间内攻城略地,通常不需要再搭配表示“迅速”的副词,比如,这位被栓铁链的母亲迅速点燃了网民的愤怒之情:rage has swept across the internet upon the news about the chained woman.
本文完。