【From】: Scientific American(科学美国人)

【Title】: There Is Nothing Normal about One Million People Dead from COVID in America 在美国，有100万人死于新冠，这一点都不正常

【abstract】

2022年02月18日刊

在大多数时间里，美国的日增新冠死亡病例仍然保持在2500例以上。所以美国仍有可能在4月达到死亡100万人的里程碑。

【原文阅读 】

Sometime in the next few weeks, the official death toll for the two- year COVID pandemic in the U.S. will reach one million. Despite being the wealthiest nation on the planet, the U.S. has continued to have the most COVID infections and deaths per country, by far, and it has the highest per capita death rate of any wealthy nation. This is an unfathomable number of people dead, yet, mass media are downplaying it. This is despite an empathetic New York Times headline in May 2020 of “U.S. Deaths Near 100,000, an Incalculable Loss,” and using its entire front page to print names of some of the deceased.

The Times is not alone; several large mainstream publications, in complicity with politicians of both major political parties, have been beating a death knell of a drum for getting “back to normal” for months. The effect is the manufactured consent to normalize mass death and suffering—to subtly suggest to Americans that they want to move on.

News media are helping to shape public opinion in order for business to return to the very circumstances that have created this ongoing crisis. A return to normal will allow profits to be reaped by people working relatively safely from their homes (the target audience of many news organizations’ advertisers) at the expense of people working or studying in person who are more vulnerable.

导读笔记

【段一】

Sometime in the next few weeks, the official death toll for the two- year COVID pandemic in the U.S. will reach one million. Despite being the wealthiest nation on the planet, the U.S. has continued to have the most COVID infections and deaths per country, by far, and it has the highest per capita death rate of any wealthy nation. This is an unfathomable number of people dead, yet, mass media are downplaying it. This is despite an empathetic New York Times headline in May 2020 of “U.S. Deaths Near 100,000, an Incalculable Loss,” and using its entire front page to print names of some of the deceased.

sometime adv. 在(将来或过去的)某个时候;

death toll 死亡人数;

1.toll n.(战争、灾难等造成的)毁坏;伤亡人数;

2.n.(道路、桥梁的)通行费;

motorway tolls 高速公路通行费;

wealthy adj. 富有的;

1. wealthiest city 最富裕的城市;

2. the wealthiest man 首富;

per capita adj. 每人的;人均的;

1. average earnings per capita 人均收入;

1. per-capita income 人均国⺠收入;人均收入;

unfathomable adj. 深不可测的;无底的;莫测高深的;

mass media 大众传播媒体;

downplay vt. 对......轻描淡写;轻视，贬低;

downplay the epidemic 对疫情不予重视;

empathetic adj. 体恤别人感受的;感同身受的;

incalculable adj. 无法计算的;不可估量的;数不清的;

front page n. 头版;标题版;

the deceased 死者;已死的人;

参考译文

在未来几周的某个时候，美国两年的新冠疫情的官方死亡人数将达到100万人。尽管美国是地球上最富裕的国家，但到目前为止，美国仍然是每个国家 中新冠感染和死亡人数最多的国家，而且它的人均死亡率是所有富裕国家中 最高的。这是一个难以估量的死亡人数，而大众媒体却轻描淡写。尽管《纽 约时报》在2020年5月发布了一篇富有同情心的标题“美国死亡近10万人， 这是不可估量的损失”，并在整个头版刊登一些死者的名字。

【段二】

The Times is not alone; several large mainstream publications, in complicity with politicians of both major political parties, have been beating a death knell of a drum for getting “back to normal” for months. The effect is the manufactured consent to normalize mass death and suffering—to subtly suggest to Americans that they want to move on.

mainstream adj. 主流的;

1. mainstream culture 主流文化;

2. mainstream education 主流教育;

complicity n. 共犯;勾结;同谋;

politician n. 政客(尤指政府成员);政治家;

beat/bang a drum (for sb./sth.) (为...)竭力鼓吹，摇旗呐喊;

1. drum sth. into sb. 向某人反复灌输;对某人反复讲述;

death knell 丧钟;结束的信号;

manufactured adj. 制造的，已制成的;

1. manufactured goods 制成品;产成品;

consent n. 许可，允许;同意，赞同;正式批准文件，批文;

suffering n.(内心或肉体的)痛苦;

subtly adv. 微妙地;巧妙地;敏锐地;

1. The truth is subtly different. 事实略有不同。

move on 往前走，前进;

参考译文

《纽约时报》并非个例，几家大型主流出版物与两大政党的政客沆瀣一气， 几个月来一直在敲响“恢复正常”的丧钟。其效果是人为地同意将大规模死亡 和苦难正常化——微妙地暗示美国人，要向前看。

【段三】

News media are helping to shape public opinion in order for business to return to the very circumstances that have created this ongoing crisis. A return to normal will allow profits to be reaped by people working relatively safely from their homes (the target audience of many news organizations’ advertisers) at the expense of people working or studying in person who are more vulnerable.

shape vt. 塑造，决定...的形成;影响...的发展;

1. Like it or not, our families shape our lives and make us what we are. 不管喜欢与否，我们的家庭塑造了我们的生活，造就了我们。

ongoing adj. 持续存在的，仍在进行的，不断发展的;

reap vt. 获得，收获;

1. You reap what you sow. 一分耕耘，一分收获。

work from home 家中工作;在家上班;

1. Increasing numbers of people elect to work from home nowadays. 现在越来越多的人选择在家上班。

target audience 目标受众;目标观众;目标客户;

at the expense of 以......为代价;

参考译文

新闻媒体正影响公众舆论，以便企业回到造成这场持续危机的环境中来。回 归常态将使那些在家相对安全地工作的人(许多新闻机构广告商的目标受 众)获得利润，而那些更容易受到疫情影响的亲自工作或学习的人将付出代价。