文本选自:The Economist(经济学人)
作者:Unknown
原文标题:Outsiders once disparaged Japan's capital. Now it has lessons to offer
原文发布时间:28 Nov. 2022
Outsiders once disparaged Japan's capital. Now it has lessons to offer
The real Tokyo, as any denizen of the world's most populous metropolis knows, is found in the smallest of spaces. Japan's capital is not a city of grand arterial boulevards. Its lifeblood flows instead through tangles of narrow alleys, up the stairs of slim buildings and into tiny shops and cramped eateries. Take Nonbei Yokocho, or Drunkard's Alley, a charmingly defiant cluster of watering holes in the shadow of Shibuya railway station.
The average size of the 38 establishments is just under five square metres, notes "Emergent Tokyo", a new book by Jorge Almazán, an architect, and his colleagues at Keio University. They nominate Tokyo as a model of a liveable megacity and explore its workings—and in so doing show how perceptions of it have evolved.
For much of its modern history, it was "the world city that everyone loved to knock", observes Paul Waley, author of several books on it. Tokyo did not conform to traditional notions, Western or Chinese, of how a city should look, feel and function. In place of neat street grids that signal order and authority, it had a patchwork of meandering neighbourhoods. Disasters left little in the way of visible heritage. There is no overarching style or sense of monumentality. Visitors have often been baffled and underwhelmed: in the late 19th century Isabella Bird, a British traveller, dismissed Tokyo as "a city of 'magnificent distances' without magnificence". Edo, as Tokyo was first known, grew only when the Tokugawa shoguns chose it as their seat of power after consolidating control of Japan at the start of the 17th century.
外人曾经贬低日本的首都,现在它要给你上一课。
精听党背景导读
东京(日文:東京;英语:Tokyo),日本首都,位于日本关东平原中部,是面向东京湾的国际大都市,日本三大都市圈之一东京都市圈的中心城市。“东京”狭义上指东京都、旧东京府或东京都区部(旧东京市),亦可泛指东京都市圈。东京旧名江户,是德川幕府的所在地,在庆应4年7月(1868年9月)改名为东京。1869年3月28日,日本的都从京都迁移到东京。其自德川幕府时代以来开始成为日本主要都市之一,明治维新时期改名为东京后,发展为日本政治、经济、文化、交通等众多领域的枢纽中心。东京也是亚洲第一大城市。
文本选自:The Economist(经济学人)作者:Unknown原文标题:Outsiders once disparaged Japan's capital. Now it has lessons to offer原文发布时间:28 Nov. 2022关键词:日本 东京 建筑
精听党带着问题听
1.根据文章描述,日本首都是一个怎样的城市?2.如何理解第二段中的"Emergent Tokyo"?3.为什么作者说东京并不符合许多国家的传统观念?
精听党选段赏析
标题解读
Outsiders once disparaged Japan's capital. Now it has lessons to offer
外人曾经贬低日本的首都。现在它要给你上一课。
outsider n. 局外人,
disparage vt. 贬低;轻视;1. I don't mean to disparage your achievements. 我并不想贬低你的成就。
have/has lessons to offer 给你上一课;
段一
The real Tokyo, as any denizen of the world's most populous metropolis knows, is found in the smallest of spaces. Japan's capital is not a city of grand arterial boulevards. Its lifeblood flows instead through tangles of narrow alleys, up the stairs of slim buildings and into tiny shops and cramped eateries. Take Nonbei Yokocho, or Drunkard's Alley, a charmingly defiant cluster of watering holes in the shadow of Shibuya railway station.
denizen n.(某地区的)居民;1. denizen of hell 地狱;
metropolis n. 大都会;大城市;1. n. 首都;首府;2. Metropolis Daily 都市日报;都市日;
grand adj. 宏伟的,宏大的;1. grand slam 大满贯;2. It's not a very grand house. 这房子并不是十分富丽堂皇。
arterial adj. 干线的;1. arterial highway 公路干线;干线道路;2. adj. 动脉的;
Arterial blood is bright red. 动脉的血是鲜红的。
boulevard n. 林荫大道;1. Sunset Boulevard 日落大道;2. Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上,汽车川流不息。
lifeblood n.(事物的)命脉;生命线;
tangle n. 乱团,乱糟糟的一堆;1. tangles of… 缠结在一团的…;
Though it was late in the season, there were still tangles of bull kelp in the water. 尽管已是季末,水中依然有大团巨藻。
alley n. 小巷,胡同;1. blind alley 死胡同;没有前途的职业;2. I dodged back into the alley and waited a minute. 我往后一闪,躲进胡同里等了一会儿。
up the stairs 沿着楼梯;
slim adj. 纤细的;单薄的;1. v.(靠节食等)变苗条,减肥;
slim down 消瘦;
2. The young woman was tall and slim. 那个年轻女子个子高挑,身材苗条。
cramped adj. 狭窄的;1. cramped apartment. 狭小的公寓;
eatery n. 饭馆;饮食店;1. eatery expenses 餐饮费用;快餐费;小餐馆费用;2. I found a lovely eatery down by the river. 我发现一间别致的河边小餐馆。
drunkard n. 酒鬼,酗酒者;1. a confirmed drunkard 饮酒成癖者;2. The drunkard began to rave again. 这酒鬼又开始胡言乱语了。
charmingly adv. 迷人地;快乐地;
defiant adj. 违抗的,反叛的,蔑视的;1. She looked at him with a defiant air. 她用蔑视的神情望着他。
cluster n. 组,簇;星团;1. star cluster 繁星花;天星群;星団;2. The illustration shows a cluster of five roses coloured apricot orange. 插图上展示了一簇杏黄色的5朵玫瑰。
参考译文
世界上人口最多的大都市的任何居民都知道,真正的东京是在最小的空间里发现的。日本的首都不是一个拥有宏伟的马路的城市。它的生命活力流经狭窄的小巷,沿着细长的建筑物的楼梯,流向微小的商店和狭窄的餐馆。以Nonbei Yokocho,或称醉鬼巷为例,这是涩谷火车站附近令人觉得迷人的水坑群。
段二
The average size of the 38 establishments is just under five square metres, notes "Emergent Tokyo", a new book by Jorge Almazán, an architect, and his colleagues at Keio University. They nominate Tokyo as a model of a liveable megacity and explore its workings—and in so doing show how perceptions of it have evolved.
establishment n. 企业;
emergent adj. 新兴的,处于发展初期的;1. emergent treatment 急救处理;急症治疗;急救;外科治疗;2. Software is different because it is an emergent reality. 软件之所以不同是因为它是新生事物。
nominate vt. 提名;推荐;
liveable adj. 适于居住的,舒适的;1. Global Liveable Cities Index 全球宜居城市指数;2. Its second largest city, Melbourne has repeatedly been rated the world's most liveable city. 墨尔本是第二大城市,多次被评为世界上最宜居的城市。
megacity n. 大城市(人口超过1000万的);1. megacity vehicle 超大城市汽车;都会车;超大城市车;大城市车;
perception n. 看法,认识;
参考译文
建筑师Jorge Almazán在其新书《新兴东京》中指出,那里38家小店的平均面积不到5平方米。他们将东京提名为宜居大城市的典范,并探索其运作方式—在此过程中显示出对它的看法是如何演变的。
段三
For much of its modern history, it was "the world city that everyone loved to knock", observes Paul Waley, author of several books on it. Tokyo did not conform to traditional notions, Western or Chinese, of how a city should look, feel and function. In place of neat street grids that signal order and authority, it had a patchwork of meandering neighbourhoods. Disasters left little in the way of visible heritage. There is no overarching style or sense of monumentality. Visitors have often been baffled and underwhelmed: in the late 19th century Isabella Bird, a British traveller, dismissed Tokyo as "a city of 'magnificent distances' without magnificence". Edo, as Tokyo was first known, grew only when the Tokugawa shoguns chose it as their seat of power after consolidating control of Japan at the start of the 17th century.
conform to 符合;遵照;1. The lamp has been designed to conform to new safety standards. 这盏灯的设计符合新的安全标准。2. conform v. 遵守,符合;
notion n. 观念;1. foster notions 形成观念;2. Before I started the job, I had no preconceived notions of what it would be like. 开始做这工作之前,我并未预想过它的实际情况。
patchwork n. 拼布工艺(品);拼凑之物;1. From the plane, the landscape was just a patchwork of fields. 从飞机上俯瞰,满目是田园交错的景色。
meandering adj. 曲折的;1. meandering river 曲流河;迂回河流;2. We crossed a small iron bridge over a meandering stream.我们穿过了蜿蜒小溪上的一座小铁桥。
heritage n. 遗产;1. cultural heritage 文化遗产;2. The building is part of our national heritage. 这个建筑是我们民族遗产的一部分。
overarching adj. 首要的;支配一切的;包罗万象的;1. overarching strategy 支配性战略;2. Now logistics costs are an overarching priority. 现在,物流成本是首要考虑的因素。
monumentality n. 巨大;纪念碑状;1. monumentality of appreciation 审美纪念性;
baffle vt. 使困惑,难住;1. Sometimes the decisions baffle and enrage me. 有时候作出的决定使我困惑甚至愤怒。
underwhelm vt. 未给……留下好印象,令……失望;
dismiss vt. 开除,解雇;1. dismiss laborer 开除工人;
magnificence n. 壮丽,宏伟;1. excessive magnificence washed 洗尽铅华;
shogun n.(日)幕府时代的将军,幕府的首领;1. Once in debt, neither the individual samurai nor the shogun himself found it easy to recover. 一旦债台高筑,无论是武士个人还是幕府将军本人都很难收回。
consolidate vt. 使巩固,使加强;1. consolidate ideas 坚定思路;2. We think it's time to consolidate our position by merging. 我们认为现在是通过合并来加强我们公司的时候了。
参考译文
在其现代历史的大部分时间里,它是 "每个人都喜欢去看看的世界城市",关于它的几本书的作者Paul Waley说。就一座城市应该有怎样的外观、给人什么样的感觉以及如何运转来说,东京并不符合许多国家的传统观念。这里没有象征着秩序的整齐划一的街道网络,取而代之的是看似杂乱无章的街区。灾难几乎没有留下可见的痕迹,这里没有完全统一的风格或壮丽的感觉,游客们往往感到困惑和无趣:19世纪末,英国旅行家伊莎贝拉·伯德将东京贬称为“一座缺乏壮观感的城市”。江户,作为东京最初的名字,只是在德川幕府在17世纪初巩固了对日本的控制后选择它作为他们的权力所在地时才发展起来。
精听党每日单词
outsider
/ˌaʊtˈsaɪdər/ n. 局外人,
disparage
/dɪˈspærɪdʒ/ vt. 贬低;轻视;
have/has lessons to offer
有课给你上;
denizen
/ˈdenɪzn/ n.(某地区的)居民;
metropolis
/məˈtrɑːpəlɪs/ n. 大都会;大城市;
grand
/ɡrænd/ adj. 宏伟的,宏大的;
arterial
/ɑːrˈtɪriəl/ adj. 干线的;
boulevard
/ˈbʊləvɑːrd/ n. 林荫大道;
lifeblood
/ˈlaɪfblʌd/ n.(事物的)命脉;生命线;
tangle
/ˈtæŋɡ(ə)l/ n. 乱团,乱糟糟的一堆;
alley
/ˈæli/ n. 小巷,胡同;
up the stairs
沿着楼梯;
slim
/slɪm/ adj. 纤细的;单薄的;
cramped
/kræmpt/ adj. 狭窄的;
eatery
/ˈiːtəri/ n. 饭馆;饮食店;
drunkard
/ˈdrʌŋkərd/ n. 酒鬼,酗酒者;
charmingly
/ˈtʃɑːrmɪŋli/ adv. 迷人地;快乐地;
defiant
/dɪˈfaɪənt/ adj. 违抗的,反叛的,蔑视的;
cluster
/ˈklʌstər/ n. 组,簇;星团;
establishment
/ɪˈstæblɪʃmənt/ n. 企业;
emergent
/ɪˈmɜːrdʒənt/ adj. 新兴的,处于发展初期的;
nominate
/ˈnɑːmɪneɪt/ vt. 提名;推荐;
liveable
/ˈlɪvəbl/ adj. 适于居住的,舒适的;
megacity
/ˈmeɡəsɪti/ n. 大城市(人口超过1000万的);
perception
/pərˈsepʃ(ə)n/ n. 看法,认识;
conform to
符合;遵照;
notion
/ˈnoʊʃ(ə)n/ n. 观念;
patchwork
/ˈpætʃwɜːrk/ n. 拼布工艺(品);拼凑之物;
meandering
/miˈændərɪŋ/ adj. 曲折的;
heritage
/ˈherɪtɪdʒ/ n. 遗产,
overarching
/ˌoʊvərˈɑːrtʃɪŋ/ adj. 首要的;支配一切的;包罗万象的;
monumentality
/,mɔnjumen'tæləti/ n. 巨大;纪念碑状;
baffle
/ˈbæf(ə)l/ vt. 使困惑,难住;
underwhelm
/ˌʌndərˈwelm/ vt. 未给……留下好印象,令……失望;
dismiss
/dɪsˈmɪs/ vt. 开除,解雇;
magnificence
/mæɡˈnɪfɪsns/ n. 壮丽,宏伟;
shogun
/ˈʃoʊɡən/ n.(日)幕府时代的将军,幕府的首领;
consolidate
/kənˈsɑːlɪdeɪt/ vt. 使巩固,使加强;
精听党文化拓展
目前日本把全国划分为47个一级行政区,包括1都1道2府43县。它们分别是广岛、神奈川等43个县,京都、大阪2个府以及北海道、东京都。东京都是日本47个一级行政区里唯一以“都”命名的。
日本学习的中国汉字“都”用在行政区划名称当中就是“首都、都城”的意思。并且我们也知道,实际上“京”这个汉字,也有“首府、首都”的意思。比如中国的古都南京、北京、“西京”西安、“东京”开封与洛阳。
有人又要说了,东京都不是唯一,还有一个京都。没错,京都也是“都”,不过是日本过去的“都”,也是日本的古都。日本古代深受中国文化的影响,各方各面都向中国学习。比如城市的建设与首都的设立。“京都”这个名字为什么既有“京”,又有“都”,正说明它是日本古代的首都。
实际上,京都就是仿中国唐代都城长安而建的,自公元794年到公元1868年,一直都是日本的首都。1868年,日本元首(某皇)行幸东京,之后便迁都东京。而现在的京都,虽然也有“都”之名,但它的全名是京都府,是府而不是都,与东京都是有区别的。
东京原本叫江户,为什么后来改名“东京”,实际上就是因为1868年的迁都而改的名。江户在日本原首都京都的东面,迁都之后,就变成了首都,也就成了“京城”。为了与原首都京都相呼应,就成了东京。实际上,当时的日本对于首都的设置,与我们明朝时期设置的南京、北京双都类似。日本当时设置的就是东京与“西京”双都,“西京”就是原首都京都。
精听党每日美句
He who has an art has everywhere a part.
一招鲜,吃遍天。