析经济学人，习高分作文/22（借用篇）
There is much talk about lifelong learning, though few countries are doing much about it.
做学生就多考分，做成人就多挣钱，这样尊严才可以多一点。
——我离托福考试只剩03天。
周三早上好，最后三天冲刺了，必须一天一套模拟题，好好做精读和听写。
直接放句型，全部是从英文悦读的经济学人中有哪些好的句子和表达？这个系列专栏文章中抽出来的。
无解释版
001*-/ ….. pale into significance when set against / compared with
002*-/ On an emotional roller-coaster /// A mixed blessing /// Throw the baby out with the bathwater
003*-/ To equate A with B is to /// Ask the man on the street and the chances are that he will say ……
004*-/ Talking the talk is not as good as walking the walk
005*-/ Screaming yourself hoarse was not as good as rolling up sleeves and getting to work
006*-/ If ever there was a sign that …., this is it. /// Punch above one’s weight
007*-/ Muck ink has been spilled about …. /// Most talked-about A
008*-/ A is in the spotlight/limelight/public eye/on everyone’s lips
009*-/ Too much of an A to do /// Just as …, so …
010*-/ A is not a panacea / no magic formula/solution for
011*-/ Sb cannot just wave a magic wand to
012*-/ Be a household fame /// Ruffle feathers = upset /// Propel into /// 013*-/ Wave worries away
014*-/ Raise your eyebrows /// Frown upon sth. /// As rare as hen’s teeth /// 015*-/ Is a testimony to
016*-/ To say … is to make it seem /// at best stable, at worst dwindling
017*-/ be the cornerstone / bedrock of /// virtues and vices
018*-/ from boom to bust /// waxed and waned /// friends and foes /// condone and condemn
019*-/ Not since…has… /// Among …., …. Stand out /// Reasons for…abound, but … stand out
020*-/ Chief among… is … /// On the plus/credit/positive side, on the minus/decried/negative side
021*-/ Because … has no single solution, it must be fight on many fronts /// A and B rarely align
022*-/ It could have been you
有解释版
1."The main reason for jaw-jaw outpacing war-war is a change in the nature of outside involvement."
“之所以（对内战的）口水战超过了真刀真枪，主要原因是外部的介入发生了本质的变化。” ，句子的亮点是 jaw-jaw 和 war-war 的巧妙应用。
jaw-jaw 确有其词，意思是 lengthy or pointless talk，也就是口水战，war-war 在这里是作者造出来的词，语境中表示真刀真枪的战争。jaw-jaw 和 war-war 互相对应，读起来别有韵味，从这里也可看出作者对语言的驾驭能力。
类似的用法还有 talk the talk(to say that you will do things) ,walk the walk(to do the things that you say you will do)
去年总理的记者招待会上 “喊破嗓子不如甩开膀子” 这句话就被现场翻译巧妙地译为"Talking the talk is not as good as walking the walk"，堪称经典。
2."The skyscrapers, shopping centers and other landmarks of development that were not there before--and the many buildings there before that are not there any longer."
上面这句话读起来是不是特别有意思？文章的背景是讲中国的拆迁，写作也遵循了杂志一贯以来的高级黑风格。句子中(skyscrapers, shopping centers and other landmarks of development) that were not there before 和 (the many buildings) there before that are not there (any longer) 完美对称，虽然用词简单但其表达效果非常强大。可以多读几遍感受一下。
3."Their likes and dislikes make or break products."
"Their likes and dislikes make or break products. "(用户的喜好决定产品的成败），句子很简单但写得很有水平，用“likes and dislikes”来代替"preference "，用"make or break" 来代替"success or failure "，非常巧妙，而且整个句子读起来还很带感，原来还能这样写。
4."People must be protected from the dreadful dangers of dribbling and dunking."
dreadful, dangers, dribbling , dunking, 句子使用了“头韵”（alliteration)，又是一个琅琅上口的例子。
5."And democracy's problems run deeper than mere numbers suggest."
"民主的问题远比这些数字所显示的严重" ，句子同样很简单，但用词很不简单。" XX（problem，pollution etc.) runs deeper than XX(statistic,numbers etc.) suggest " 是一个很好用的句式。
如：
The housing bubble in China runs deeper than mere numbers suggest. Overheated investment,excessive money and rising demands also do their bit.
6."But such shortcomings pale into insignificance when set against the magnitude of his overall achievement."
句子的大意是“但是，当把他的这些缺点——以及南非在他退休之后的沉沦——置于他的全部成就的光芒之下时，它们就显得黯然失色了”。
pale/fade into insignificance 是一个短语，表示"to suddenly seem small and unimportant when compared with something much more important or impressive"
同时" ...pale into insignificance when set against... " 是一个很有用的对比论证句型。
如：
The shortcomings of self-driving car-- security concern, high costs--pale into insignificance when set against the great benefits it will bring to us --a plunge in road accidents, saving more time ,and less pollution.
7."The new rules should thus expose polluters to a scissor-style pressure: from above, through the central-planning system, and from below, from the media and organizations such as Mr. Ma's."
标记的句子非常形象, scissor-style pressure 就是自上而下和自下而上的压力。冒号后面的内容解释了这个形象的比喻：中央计划系统从上方施压，媒体及社会组织从下方施压。从这里也可以看出形象化对加强表达效果的好处。
我们学英语最终的目的其实是将英文作为获取信息，与世界交流的工具。很多人学语言最大的误区是：永远都在“学”语言，但却不敢在“用”语言上迈出一步，结果 就导致学了十几年英语只会用来考试。同样，我们读经济学人的目标也是能够通过经济学人获取到更多的信息，学会去赏析经济学人文章的语言美，而不仅仅是把它当成学英语的一个材料。
举个例子，刚才那段节选文章里有一句: The pre-modern marauders of Islamic State (IS) rampaged between Iraq and Syria, and Russian forces dismembered Ukraine, as if borders were elastic lines rather than fixed frontiers. 读到这里有没有一种“哇，写得真牛逼“的感觉？是的，最后一句的比喻写得太棒了，把国家的边界比喻成橡皮筋，可进可退，可伸可缩，借此来讽刺IS和俄罗斯随意入侵别国的行径。
再举个例子，“用户的喜好决定产品的成败”用英文怎么说？ Customers’ preference determines whether products are successful or not. 似乎不是很满意。之前写中国消费者的文章中出现过一句话"Their likes and dislikes make or break products. " 句子够简单吧，但写得非常有水平。用“likes and dislikes”来代替"preference "，用"make or break" 来代替"success or failure "，非常巧妙，而且整个句子读起来还很带感。原来还可以这样写。
再来一个，怎样表达“XX很流行，无处不在”？ ubiquitous/commonplace/universal/pervasive 可以但不是很形象，经济学人的商业板块上曾经有一个句子”It is getting harder to go anywhere without stepping on a piece of Lego-related hype”, "It is getting harder to go anywhere without doing...", 这个句型很形象地说明了流行的程度——几乎是随处可见，躲也躲不开。" hype"在英文里指"extravagant or intensive publicity or promotion"，句子中的"Lego-related hype"指的是“跟乐高产品相关的广告宣传”,所以我们可以造句如下：
It is getting harder to go anywhere without noticing all kinds of Apple-related products.
It has become harder to do anything without using digital gadgets--for
再比如经济学人去年一篇关于中国环境保护的文章中有这样一句“The new rules should thus expose polluters to a scissor-style pressure :from above, through the central planning system ,and from below, from the media and organisations such as Mr.Ma's"
这句话也写得非常牛逼，污染者正在遭受剪刀式的压力scissor-style pressure 就是自上而下和自下而上的压力。冒号后面的内容解释了这个形象的比喻：中央计划系统从上方施压，媒体及社会组织从下方施压
如果要表达下降，经济下滑，你能想到几个表达？decline,drop,fall? 我们来看看大神是怎么写的：
Eventually, America ran into trouble too. The tech-stock bubble burst in early 2000, prompting a broader share price slump. Business investment, particularly in technology, sank; and as share prices fell, consumers cut back. By early 2001 America, along with most of the rich world, had slipped into recession, albeit a mild one.
Germany’s growth rate has tumbled to around 1%.
But if the world economy does stumble, restoring stability will be harder this time round because policymakers have so little room for maneuver.
短短三段话中表示经济下降的词就有“slump, sink, fall, cut back, slip into, tumble, stumble”，下次写作文时是不是可以用上？
8. on an emotional roller-coaster
形容人的情绪起伏可以有很多种表达，比如可以用 oscillate/fluctuate/seesaw/up and down
1.He oscillated between happiness and despair.
2.Her attitude towards me oscillated/fluctuated between friendship and hostility.
3.His mind seesawed between hope and despair all through those weeks.
4.She's been very up and down since her husband went into hospital.
对于创业公司CEO每天面对的巨大压力，文中有一个很生动的描述，"on an emotional roller-coaster "，心情像在坐过山车一样，各种跌宕起伏。roller coaster 除了可以表示过山车外，还可以表示情况的起伏不定，如：
1.Share prices have been on a roller coaster these last few days.
2.Steve Jobs was revered by many not only because of his strategic vision and showmanship ,but because of the roller coaster life he experienced.
3."In the morning you feel everything is on the right track and in the evening everything seems in the gutter" , on the right track 是指处在正确的路线上，in the gutter 则是指处于糟糕的状况中，两者刚好形成对应，很有对称感。
9. a mixed blessing
怎样描述一件事情既有优点又有缺点呢？ 一般可以用 the pros and cons (advantages and disadvantages) of something
a mixed blessing (a situation that has both good and bad parts) 在中文里有“喜忧参半”的意思。当在议论文里面要说明一件事既有好处又有坏处的时候，我们可以用上"something is a mixed blessing"，然后进行展开。这个句式结构并不难，难的是如何恰当地描述事物的优缺点，写作者的背景知识积累就显得很关键了。
写作时可以根据话题所需进行造句：
1.Working in a big city is a mixed blessing. It is so convenient and comfortable there, but noise pollution and traffic congestion are two big headaches.
2.Many scientists said discovering the power of the atom was a mixed blessing as it led to nuclear power, but it also made nuclear weapons possible.
10. throw the baby out with the bathwater
"throw the baby out with the bathwater" 这一说法来自德语中的"das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten".
传说在中世纪的欧洲，全家人很久才洗一次澡，首先是父亲洗，然后是母亲洗，最后是孩子洗，孩子洗的时候水已经很脏了，家人有时候会直接把水倒掉，而忘记了在水中的孩子，所以有 "throw the baby out with the bathwater" 这样的说法, 即倒洗澡水的同时把孩子也一起倒掉，引申为不分精华糟粕全盘否定（来自英文维基百科）。http://t.cn/RGVY9LD
"throw the baby out with the bathwater" 也是一个万能句型，比如我们可以说：The authorities should not throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to launching campaign against pornography on the Internet.
11. power the engine & power the engineers
"Even in the ship’s bowels, the strongest odour is not the fuel oil used to power the engine but the coffee used to power the engineers." 句子读起来很带感，让人印象深刻：即使是在船底，最浓重的气味不是来自驱动引擎的燃油，而是来自驱动工程师的咖啡。
通过 power the engine 和 power the engineers 的对比，说明咖啡对船上工程师们的重要性，也从侧面说明了他们在海上生活的单调和孤寂。
12. It could have been you.
去年巴黎发生恐怖袭击后，各大英文媒体对此进行了长篇累牍的报道，其内容无外乎谴责恐怖袭击，同情受害者，讨论加强安全措施等。作为周刊，经济学人也推出了一篇社论 How to fight back ，文章写得非常有水平，堪称灾难报道的典范。阅读链接：http://t.cn/RUmXX5I
经济学人这次选择从一个小点切入，强调这次恐怖袭击是对生命纯真乐趣的袭击。
"THE assault on Paris by Islamic State (IS) on November 13th was an attack on life’s innocent pleasures."
恐怖袭击为什么令人发指？因为它针对的不是其他人，而是无辜的平民。在11月13号这个无比寻常晚上的巴黎，任何一个出来喝酒闲逛的人都可能成为恐怖分子枪口下的目标，这种可能性本身就足以让人细思极恐。
最令人震撼的是最后两句话 "It could have been any big city. It could have been you." 恐怖袭击是没有国界的，它可能发生在全球任何一座大城市，袭击的受害者可能是你，也可能是我。恐怖袭击并不仅仅存在于电视和新闻中，下一秒钟它可能就发生在你我身边。
13. jaw-jaw & war-war
"The main reason for jaw-jaw outpacing war-war is a change in the nature of outside involvement."
这句话读起来很有节奏感，jaw-jaw 和 war-war 两个词是什么意思呢？ jaw-jaw 这个词是实际存在的，意为喋喋不休 (to chatter or jabber)
war-war 这个词其实是为了营造表达效果特意创造出来的，在这里可以理解为发动战争。它最早见于丘吉尔在1942年的演讲，文章在这里做了引用，意为“空谈超过战争的主要原因是外部介入因素的本质发生了变化”。
14. To equate something with something is to...
下面的段落来自经济学人对非洲的特别报告 Upwardly mobile Africa: Boomtown slum, 与人们的固有认知不同，非洲的很多平民窟不再是贫困和绝望的代名词，而是孕育着未来希望的地方。文章的用词非常棒，推荐全文阅读，链接：
http://t.cn/zjQKNbj
"To equate something with something is to..."是一个很好用的句型，意为“将……与……等同,这样是……”
这个句型放在写作中可以增强论证效果。如：
a) To equate happiness with material possessions such as houses and cars is to miss the true meaning of life.
b) To equate politics with something boring and barely relevant to ordinary life is to misunderstand it.
15. holiday
英文写作圣经 The Elements of Style 指出，我们在写作时要遵循简洁有力的原则。举个例子，要表达秋叶满地的场景，下面哪个句子会更好？
1) There are a number of dead leaves lying on the ground.
2) Dead leaves covered the ground.
答案是第二句。
作者认为，要写出简洁有力的文章，我们要遵循以下两个原则：
1. 明确主语和动词，用好动词
2. 用最少的字数传达最多的信息(Less is more.)
具体到日常写作中，我们要学会用好动词，能用动词代替形容词的时候尽量用动词，比如 make something complicated 可以直接用complicate something 来代替。
“他在布拉瓦海岸度假”，这句话如果让我们来写的话，我们可能会写出 He goes on holiday on the Costa Brava.
但文中直接写成 " he holidays on the Costa Brava." 这里直接将holiday 当成动词使用，句子更加有力。
我们平时在写作中要多注意动词的使用，用好动词。我们不仅要写出意思正确语法无误的句子，还要写出用词精准表达有力的句子。
16. carrot and stick
这里涉及到carrot and stick 这个习语，即“胡萝卜加大棒”，维基百科中还有一个专门的词条：
The "carrot and stick" approach (also "carrot or stick approach") is an idiom that refers to a policy of offering a combination of rewards and punishment to induce behavior. It is named in reference to a cart driver dangling a carrot in front of a mule and holding a stick behind it. The mule would move towards the carrot because it wants the reward of food, while also moving away from the stick behind it, since it does not want the punishment of pain, thus drawing the cart.
carrot and stick 意为“软硬兼施”，加粗句子中carrot 的意思是“〔为使某人做某事而给予的〕报酬，好处”，stick 的意思则与之相反，即“（因为没做某事而受到的惩罚）”，最后的carrot sticks 是一种食物，即胡萝卜条，这里是代指健康食品（可以联系上下文得出）。
句子的大意为“提供激励对孩子们不管用，提供惩罚对孩子们不管用，甚至像胡萝卜条这样的健康食品对孩子们也不管用”
18. the man on the street
很多人应该都有背过作文模板的经历，好的模板对写作确实有所帮助。积累模板最好的方式并不是去背作文书，而是从阅读中自己提取总结，并加以练习，这样才能应用自如。外刊中有大量的优秀的句式，如果能总结借鉴，构建自己的“模板库”，积累到一定量级写作水平肯定会有很大提升。
下面这个句子就是一个模板案例（节选段落来自经济学人文章 The perils of falling inflation ）
我们可以用 "What is ... ? Ask the man on the street and the chances are he will say ... " 这个句式来引入一个话题，"Ask the man on the street and the chances are he will say ..." 其实相当于是"generally speaking" 的升级版。
句子中的"the man on the street" 并不是真的指到大街上找一个人，实际上它是一个词组，表示“（意见具有代表性的）普通人”
"the chances are" 也是一个词组，表示“某事可能会发生”
我们在写作时可以用上这个句式，比如：
1) What is the primary purpose of education? Ask the man on the street and the chances are he will say something like "to prepare students to live a useful life".
2) What can be done to improve the lives of the poor? Ask the man on the street and the chances are he will say something like "sending them money with no strings attached ".
在经济学人中类似这样的例子还有不少，平时看到好的句子可以整理出来，进行造句练习。
19. talk the talk
" Politicians still talk the global talk"，加粗句子中的 "talk the talk" 是一个短语，意为“说得头头是道”，它经常和另一个词组"walk the walk"搭配使用（意为“脚踏实地做事”）。
2013年李总理的记者会上有一句话“(改革贵在行动)喊破嗓子不如甩开膀子”，现场翻译很巧妙地翻译为 “Talking the talk is not as good as walking the walk”，成为当年记者会上的一大亮点。
经济学人在后来的报道中则把它处理成 "screaming yourself hoarse" was not as good as "rolling up your sleeves and getting to work"，这个译法堪称神作，不仅贴近原意，而且还自带押韵效果。
句子中的 scream yourself hoarse 和 roll up your sleeves 两个都是习语，前者表示“叫哑嗓子”，后者表示“卷起袖子〔准备苦干〕”
一个看起来很简单的句子深入挖掘下去可以发现很多有意思的东西，这也是语言的魅力所在。
20. If ever there was a sign that...this is it
下面段落选自经济学人在世界杯前的特别报道 A game of two halves, 喜欢足球的同学可以看一下，阅读链接http://dwz.cn/2MyTUh
"If ever there was a sign that...this is it" 这个句型的意思是“如果有任何迹象表明……那么这个就是了”，它用来增强论证的语气。
If ever..." 也可以用来引导一个句子，比如我们可以说：
If ever a company deserved the praise for bettering the lives of billions, Google is the one.
类似的句型还有：
1. If anyone looks for further evidence/proof that..., they should look at...
2. Those seeking more conviction that...can turn to...
21. brawn v brain
brawn （physical strength, especially when compared with intelligence）有体力的意思，引申为经济实力，brain 在这里与brawn 相对应，指的是智力，引申为经济战略和智谋。
我们形容一个人智勇双全可以说 He's got plenty of brains as well as brawn.
"Asian capitalism has brawn.", "But it lacks brains and global savvy." 通过 brawn 和 brain 的对比强调了亚洲经济目前最缺乏全球战略及眼光。
另一个词组 punch above one's weight 是个很形象的表达，有“超过预期，超常发挥”的意思，它的反义则是 punch below one's weight
22. Much ink has been spilled about…
"much ink has been spilled about..." 是个很形象的表达，费了很多笔墨讨论一件事情，句子后面可以接上要说明的热点现象，比如
Much ink has been spilled about improving public security since the tragic stampede in Shanghai on New Year's Eve.
23. verb+prep
要写出真正地道的英文，大量的模仿和对比是必不可少的。要有意识地将自己写的英文和母语人士写的做对比，感受地道英文的简洁之美，我们不仅仅要写出正确的英文，还要写出简洁有力的英文。
举个例子，“火车将这个国家推向现代化”这句话用英文应该怎么说？
我们可能会写出 Trains moved the country forward and made it enter the modern age.
经济学人是这样写的 Trains propelled the country into the modern age, breaking social boundaries, spreading culture and making the population more mobile.
这个句子写得如行云流水，读罢我们脑海会浮现出火车浓烟滚滚，势如破竹，一路将这个国家推向现代化的场景。
propel...into 这个词组用得很传神，它将整个句子写活了。它的意思是“将...推向（某一境地），驱使”，比如要表达“愤怒驱使她行动起来”，我们就可以说 Fury propelled her into action.
下面还有两个例子也是如此，多读几遍，用心感受一下：
1. One of the worries Keynes admitted was a "new disease": "technological unemployment...due to our discovery of means of economising the use of labour outrunning the pace at which we can find new uses for labour."...Nowadays, the majority of economists confidently wave such worries away.
2. Critics are hoping the young director can breathe life into the French film industry.
24. raise your eyebrows
对某事不赞同或不满意怎么说？
don’t agree with/disapprove of something
还有其他表达吗？
下面这篇文章给出了一个例子
"Eyebrows were raised this week when the price for Nest was revealed." 谷歌花了32亿美元的天价收购了智能家居公司Nest, 很多分析师都认为这次收购价格过高了，对此次收购不赞同。"eyebrows were raised" 很形象地写出了人们对这宗收购的反应。
raise your eyebrows 是一个短语，它表示“扬起眉毛（表示不满，惊讶等）”
关于“不满意，不赞同”，还有另外一个很不错的表达 frown upon sb / sth
要表达“很多餐馆里都禁止吸烟”，我们就可以说 Smoking is frowned upon in many restaurants.
25. as rare as hen's teeth
怎样表达“XX很少见，不流行”？ 我们可以说
sth is scarce/rare/not common
sth is few and far between
sth is a rarity
文章的背景是缅甸在经过一系列改革后整个国家充满希望与活力，商业中心城市仰光熙熙攘攘，甚至难以找到空的旅馆房间供人住宿。"as rare as hen’s teeth"这个表达很有意思：母鸡是没有牙齿的，“像母鸡的牙齿那样稀少”，说明某事物非常罕见或根本没有，在这里表明了空房间之少。除了"as rare as hen’s teeth", 下面这个比喻也值得玩味
He actually spoke in public, whereas his late father’s speeches were as rare as a well-stocked Pyongyang supermarket.
这个句子是高端黑：与三胖不同，金正日话很少，极少在公共场合演讲，话有多少呢？就像平壤备货充足的超市一样少。这样的比喻不仅形象，还具有讽刺的效果。
26. be testimony to sth
下面的段落选自经济学人的专题文章 What's gone wrong with democracy, 文章对西方民主在近年来的衰落进行了探讨，里面出现了很多议论文经典句型，建议每个人都去看一看。阅读链接：http://dwz.cn/2TbVZw
一个经典句型例子 :
That so many people in so many different parts of the world are prepared to risk so much for this idea is testimony to its enduring appeal.
这个句子写得铿锵有力，它有两个亮点：so many people, so many different parts of the world, risk so much, 三个"so" 的重复极大地增强了句子的气势和说服力。
另一个是句型 "That...is testimony to..."，它表示“XX是XX有力的证据”，注意That 后面接的是从句。
我们在写作时可以用上这个句型，比如：
That so many Fortune 500 companies are investing heavily in China is testimony to its growing prosperity.
27. To say that... is to make it seem that...
下面的例子选自经济学人的 Letters 版块，这个版块会收录读者对往期文章的建议反馈。
这封读者来信针对经济学人此前发布的一篇介绍全球酒店业的文章 Be my guest, 文章认为高级酒店的历史可以追溯到1860年，而读者认为这个说法有误，所以信的开头出现了这样一句话
To say that the “age of the grand hotel ran from 1860 to 1960” is to make it seem that Paris’s Grand had no antecedents.
“说高级酒店的历史是从1860年到1960年，这样说就相当于巴黎的高级酒店没有祖先。”
理解了背景知识之后，我们回过头来看这个句型 "To say that... is to make it seem that..."，它的含义是“...这么说就相当于...”。这是一个类比句型，结构很简单，但写起来却并不容易，因为要考虑句子前后两个部分的逻辑关系。
To say that A is to make it seem that B, 通过前面的假设A，类比出结果B（通常是令人感到荒谬或惊讶的结果），通过A和B的反差来增强句子说服力。
比如，为了论述大学教育不应该仅仅等同于职业技能培训，我们可以说：To say that universities should merely provide students with employment skills is to make it seem that theoretical knowledge is of secondary importance.
通过"universities should merely provide students with employment skills" 的假设，类比出结论 "theoretical knowledge is of secondary importance"（显然是荒谬的），从而说明大学教育不应该仅仅等同于职业技能培训这一论点。
29. What does 'Power' mean ?
文中对国家实力有一个很精准的描述:
"Power is the capacity to compel another to do what they otherwise would not. It can be exercised through coercion, by setting rules or by engendering expectations and loyalties."
强势国家能让他国做他们原本不愿意做的事情。在国际舞台上，一流的国家制定游戏规则，二流的国家遵守游戏规则。大国通过政治经济等手段让其他国家服从，让他们产生期待和忠诚感。
对于美国的国家实力，作者是这样形容的 "American power is sometimes defined so broadly that it includes both the flight decks of the USS Abraham Lincoln and the legs of Taylor Swift."
句子中的 USS Abraham Lincoln 指的是亚伯拉罕·林肯号航空母舰（USS 是United States Ship 的缩写），flight decks 则是指航母上的飞行甲板。这里的航空母舰可以引申为美国的硬实力；legs of Taylor Swift 则是指泰勒·斯威夫特的大长腿（身高1米8），她是美国文化软实力的一个代表。这个句子通过两个很具体的意象来说明软实力和硬实力，让读者一看就懂，而且还能达到过目不忘的效果
"...how America’s grip on the global economy helps, enriches, organises, bosses and annoys the rest of the world." 句子中的"helps, enriches, organises, bosses and annoys" 这五个动词用得非常有力，它们生动地展现了美国利用强大的经济实力对其他国家进行威逼利诱的过程，其中的boss 作动词用时表示“对…发号施令，指挥”。此外，段落最后一句话中出现的de facto 是国外新闻报道中的常见词，它的含义是“（法律未承认但）实际上存在的”。
30. engineer
下面节选的段落来自经济学人对 Nelson Mandela 的介绍。作者在文章中对曼德拉给出了很客观的评价，既肯定他一生解放南非的功绩，也毫无保留地指出他早年犯的一些错误。用经济学人自己的语言来评价，曼德拉是英雄，但不是圣人 ( a hero, not a saint )，推荐全文阅读：http://dwz.cn/2XCtDg
"Second, and little short of miraculous, was the way in which he engineered and oversaw South Africa’s transformation from a byword for nastiness and narrowness into, at least in intent, a rainbow nation in which people, no matter what their colour, were entitled to be treated with respect."
今天选的这个句子纯粹是为了engineer 这个单词。engineer 在这里画龙点睛，一个词就把整个句子写活了。与我们熟悉的“工程师”含义不同，engineer 作动词用时可以有 “密谋策划，精心安排”的含义，在文中是指曼德拉一手策划和见证了南非从一个狭隘落后的国家转变为彩虹之国的全过程（南非因为多种族、多文化而被授予rainbow nation 这个称号）。
类似于engineer 这样的用法属于熟词生义，这也是我们经常忽略的一个地方。从这里我们可以看到，即使是经济学人写作也不一定会用上很多大词难词，而是对每一个常用词有着恰如其分的使用——这需要深厚的积累和充分的自信。精确掌握常见词的含义是英文写作进阶的必经之路，很多时候从一词一句就足以看出一个人的功底。下面还有几个类似的例子，读一读，感受一下：
1. They were bested by their opponents in the opening game.
2. Tencent, a Chinese gaming and social-media firm now getting into e-commerce, has a market capitalisation of $62 billion, just shy of Facebook’s current valuation.
3. The colonel was able to orchestrate a rebellion from inside an army jail.
4. Joe and Tony muscled their way through the crowd.
5. Two years later she had saved enough money to erect half a dozen primitive classrooms: cement holds in place sturdy sheets of corrugated iron known as mabati. Yellow paint gives them an uncomplicated cheerfulness.
6. They frequently depend on venture-capital funds which are dwarfed by the cost of even a single utility-scale power plant.
31. at best...at worst
下面要讲的句子选自经济学人的特别报道 The dream that failed, 文章对世界核能的发展历史进行了梳理，可读性很高，原文链接为：
http://dwz.cn/2XCMus
节选段落中出现了一个句子 "Intuitively one might expect such a scientific wonder either to sweep all before it or be renounced, rather than end up in a modest niche, at best stable, at worst dwindling." 核能的成功利用是20世纪最为伟大的科技进展之一，正因为核技术如此强大，人们倾向于认为，核能的发展会走向两种极端：它可能会因为大规模应用而扫平一切，也可能会因为过于强大而被禁止使用。但实际上，核能的发展却一直处在不温不火甚至衰退的状态中。
文中的 "at best stable, at worst dwindling" 就精确地描述出了这种状态。at best...at worst 是一个很棒的句型，它可以用来表示“某件事往好里说充其量是...往坏里说是...”。这个句型通常用来表示否定含义，sth is at best A, at worst B, 其中A一般为中性词，B为偏否定含义的词语。举个例子，假如你不看好川普竞选美国总统，你可以说：
Though Donald Trump is on everyone's lips, his chances of winning presidency are at best uncertain, at worst remote.
32. be the cornerstone of sth
要表达“...是某件事的基础”，我们可以说
1) sth. provides a basis/foundation for sth.
2) sth. is the bedrock of sth.
这里提供了另外一个表达
The idea that the same experiments always get the same results, no matter who performs them, is one of the cornerstones of science’s claim to objective truth.
科学实验中有一个可重现性原则，即要保证最终结论的准确性，实验结果必须是可重现的——不管是谁在重复这个实验过程，都能得到相同的结果。这也是科学研究客观性的重要基石。
句子中的 cornerstone 原意是指建筑物的地基，后来引申为“某件事情的基础，根本”，be the cornerstone of sth 可以用来表示“...是某件事的基础”
33. milliseconds v. lifetimes
核能作为一种清洁能源曾经被寄予厚望，但实际的发展却不尽如人意，日本的福岛核泄漏事件后核电站更是处于一个很尴尬的位置，取消核电站的呼声此起披伏。核能发展的滞后不仅仅与技术有关，安全，政治等因素同样在阻碍着它的步伐。
了解这些背景后我们就不难理解作者在文末的感概 "Inside a reactor, things can change in milliseconds. Outside, it takes lifetimes. " 在核反应堆内，原子间的变化以毫秒计，在核反应堆外，核能技术的发展和普及却可能要耗尽人的一生。这两个对比让人感到沉重，同时也深化了文章主题：核能技术的发展任重道远，雨后天晴迎来曙光仍然需要时间。
34. 雷声大雨点小
在问题解决类题材中我们有时候会说“对于某事件的解决方案只有空谈，很少有实际行动”，看看The Economist是如何表达这一层意思的：
The second entity is government. There is much talk about lifelong learning, though few countries are doing much about it. The Nordics fall into this less populated camp.
There is much talk about lifelong learning, though few countries are doing much about it.
意思是“目前关于终身学习有很多讨论，但很少有国家对此有所行动”。其中talk是不可数名词，所以前面要用much修饰。第二句 The Nordics fall into this less populated camp. 意思是“北欧国家属于这一人数较少的阵营”，作者通过第一句的铺垫，在第二句中能够突出北欧国家的执行力。对此我们可以总结出一个句式：There is much talk about…though few…are doing much about it…fall into this less populated camp. 例如：
(1) There is much talk about poverty reduction around the globe, though few countries are doing much about it. China falls into this less populated camp, where more than 500 million people were lifted out of poverty in the past 30 years, a remarkable achievement in human history.
(2) There is much talk about innovation among tech firm bosses, though few are doing much about it. Elon Musk falls into this less populated camp. By launching a series of programs such as Tesla electric cars and Space X rockets, he demonstrates how innovative thinking and bold risk-taking can thrive in today’s world.
35. 发展类句型
在发展类话题中有时候需要对事物的趋势进行总结，这个时候我们可以使用下面这个句型：
The story of how London expanded so swiftly at the turn of the 20th century is one of financial ingenuity, bold risk-taking and low skulduggery.
句子中one of something是地道英文中一个很常见的用法，但很少见到国内学生使用。one在这里用于指代前面的story，即 The story of how London expanded so swiftly at the turn of the 20th century is a story of financial ingenuity… 使用one是为了避免用词重复。柯林斯词典中也有类似的例子：
Skulduggery是一个外刊中比较常见的词，含义是“欺骗行为，诡计”。
The story of…is one of… 也是一个可以用来总结事物趋势的句型，例如：
(1) The story of how China achieved its economic miracle at the turn of the 21st century is one of financial ingenuity, bold risk-taking and low skulduggery.
(2) The story of how smartphones have penetrated every aspect of our life is one of technological innovation and market competition.
36.今昔对比
在科技和发展类题材中经常会涉及到对某一现象进行对比，例如互联网出现之前的生活与现在的生活的对比，过去的自然环境与现在的自然环境的对比，过去的家庭与现在的家庭的对比等等。对于这类内容，可以参考下面的一个句式：
Gone are the dark days where one had to stay in a lousy job just to get good health insurance. Novel employment arrangements are on the rise and here to stay, indicating a robust and flexible labour market that can do without the outdated and paternalistic employment model, rife with inefficiency and exploitation, in exchange for increased self-worth and opportunity.
Gone are the dark days where…是倒装句，还原后相当于 the dark days where…are gone，Gone are the days后面用where或者when都可以，但从语料库的统计来看用when会更为常见。段落中第二句长句写得很漂亮，几个从句句式变换多样，值得背诵学习。句子中出现的here to stay是一个短语，含义是“被普遍接受”：
从这段话中我们可以提取出的句式为：Gone are the days when/where…are on the rise and here to stay…
例如：
Gone are the days when people had to write letters to their friends and wait for weeks for a reply. Instant messaging services are on the rise and here to stay, making it possible for us to communicate with others anytime, anywhere.
37.举例与结论
议论文写作经常需要举例子，并通过例子推导出结论。下面这一个句型可以用于做结论推导：
The story of Margaret Thatcher's fall from power sounds a long way from Tony Blair's brilliant career; but it does not take too great a leap of the imagination to see how the same fate could overtake him with similarly disastrous consequences for Labour.
上面这段话的大意是：撒切尔夫人失势的故事对于布莱尔目前辉煌的政治生涯来说可能有些遥远，但我们并不难想象同样的命运会发生在他身上，对工党带来同样灾难性的后果。
其中 a leap of the imagination是一个固定表达，它的含义是“想象跳跃”：
it does not take a leap of the imagination to… 是一个常用句型，它的意思类似于it is not difficult to find… 该句型可以用于对上文提到的事实、假设、例子等进行推论，引出下文。例如：
(1) Driverless car technology is advancing at breakneck speed, and it does not take a leap of the imagination to see how it will change cities and public transportation systems.
(2) Considering the effects of global warming on polar ice caps over the past century, it does not take a leap of the imagination to picture how the Arctic landscape will be like in the next few decades.
38. 教育类句型模板
下面这个句子出自The Economist一篇关于科技与大学教育的文章：
University education is designed to act as a slipway, launching students into the wider world in the expectation that the currents will guide them into a job.
这个句子写得很形象，将大学教育比作船的下水滑道，学生可以经此进入广阔海洋，并由洋流引领他们到达职场。这个句子同时也是一个很好的教育类话题模板：
…is designed to act as a slipway, launching…into the wider world in the expectation that the currents will guide…into/towards etc…
比如关于家庭教育我们可以说：
Family education can act as a slipway, launching children into the wider world in the expectation that the currents will guide them towards independence and maturity.
最后部分总结：
(1) There is much talk about…though few…are doing much about it…fall into this less populated camp.
(2) The story of…is one of…
(3) Gone are the days when/where…are on the rise and here to stay…
(4) it does not take a leap of the imagination to…
(5) …is designed to act as a slipway, launching…into the wider world in the expectation that the currents will guide…
如有错误，感谢指出。
推荐阅读：最重要的一句话
上篇文章：析经济学人，习高分作文/22（必用篇）
祝你好运。