[1010G]【决战2010精英组Economist阅读贴】by TEAR(xingfuhbj)

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GRE红宝词汇(有把页码标出来~~)  

自己觉得不错的词汇

不错的句子

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2010-4-6

The future of publishing

E-publish or perish(vt. 毁减，死亡)

The iPad and its kind are both a boon(n.恩惠,天赐福利P56) and a bane(n.祸根[谐音”背运”]P45) for book publishers

Mar 31st 2010 | SAN FRANCISCO | From The Economist print edition

JOHN GRISHAM, aprolific(adj.多产的,多结果的P348)
author of legal thrillers(法律惊悚小说), long refused to allow his books to be sold in electronic form. In a television interview last year, he lamented(哀悼,挽歌，悼词) that e-books and heavy discounting(注意discount搭配的形容词heavy) of printed books by big retailers were “a disaster in the long term” for the publishing industry. But last month Mr Grisham’s publisher announced that the author had had a change of heart(改变主意,洗心革面): henceforth(从今以后) all of his books will be available in virtual form. His timing was impeccable.(他选了个绝佳时机) On April 3rd Apple is due to start shipping the first of its iPad tablet computers, which are expected to give a big boost(推进，提高，增加P56) to e-book sales.
The iPad’s impending (adj.逼近的，行将发生的P229) arrival has created commercial intrigue(v.密谋,引起极大兴趣 P253) worthy of a Grisham yarn (n.纱线,此处作奇闻漫谈P471). A group of big publishers, including Macmillan and HarperCollins, have been using Apple’s interest in e-books to persuade Amazon, which currently dominates sales of digital books, to renegotiate its pricing model. At one point in January an angry Amazon briefly removed many of Macmillan’s books from its own virtual shelves before reinstating(V.使恢复P369) them after some authors kicked up a fuss(V.起哄，惹麻烦).

Like many other parts of the media industry, publishing is being radically reshaped by the growth of the internet. Online retailers are already among the biggest distributors of books. Now e-books threaten to undermine(v.破坏,损坏P449) sales of the old-fashioned kind. In response, publishers are trying to shore up(v.支撑，支持) their conventional business while preparing for a future in which e-books will represent a much bigger chunk of sales.

Quite how big is the subject of much debate. PricewaterhouseCoopers, a consultancy, reckons e-books will represent about 6% of consumer book sales in North America by 2013, up from 1.5% last year (see chart). Carolyn Reidy, the boss of Simon & Schuster, another big publisher, thinks they could account for 25% of the industry’s sales in America within three to five years. She may well be right if the iPad and other tablet computers take off, the prices of dedicated e-readers (电子书阅读器)such as Amazon’s Kindle(v.着火,点燃 P261 此处Amazon Kindle是亚马逊设计和销售的电子书阅读器) keep falling and more consumers start reading books on smart-phones. Mobclix, an advertising outfit, reckons the number of programmes, or apps, for books on Apple’s iPhone recently surpassed that for games, previously the largest category.

Alert to(随时注意,对…敏感) such shifts(可以用alert to 作为过渡句的开头), publishers are trying to undo a mess(搭配) that is largely of their own making. For some time they have operated a “wholesale” pricing model with Amazon under which the online retailer pays publishers for books and then decides what it charges the public for them. This has enabled it to set the price of many new e-book titles and bestsellers at $9.99, which is often less than it has paid for them. Amazon has kept prices low in order to boost demand for its Kindle, which dominates the e-reader market but faces stiff(adj.僵直的，呆板的，严厉的 P414 此处与competition搭配以为激烈的竞争) competition from Sony and others.

Publishers fret（n./v. 烦躁,焦虑 P195） that this has conditioned consumers to expect lower prices for all kinds of books. And they worry that the downward spiral will further erode their already thin margins—some have had to close imprints(v.盖印,印刻 P232) and lay off staff in recent years—as well as bring further dismay(n. 沮丧，气馁 P140) to struggling bricks-and-mortar(传统的实体企业 mortar原意为n.臼,研钵,迫击炮P292) booksellers (see article). Unless things change, some in the industry predict that publishers will suffer a similar fate to that of music companies, whose fortunes faded when Apple turned the industry upside down by selling individual songs cheaply online.

Ironically(又一过渡句开头词，铭记铭记), publishers have turned to Apple to help them twist Amazon’s arm(twist one’s arm说服某人,强迫某人做某事). Keen to line up lots of titles for new iPad owners, the company has agreed to an “agency model” under which publishers get to set the price at which their e-books are sold, with Apple taking 30% of the revenue generated. Faced with these deals, Amazon has reportedly agreed similar terms with several big publishers. As a result, the price of some popular e-books is expected to rise to $12.99 or $14.99.

Once Apple and Amazon have taken their cut, publishers are likely to make less money on e-books under this new arrangement than under the wholesale one—a price they seem willing to pay in order to limit Amazon’s influence and bolster（n.枕垫v.支持,鼓励 P55）
print sales. Yet there are good reasons to doubt whether this and other strategies, such as delaying the release of electronic versions of new books for several months after the print launch, will halt the creeping commoditisation(趋同化) of books.

Apple, for instance, is rumoured to(记住这个搭配 ) have kept the option of(记搭配) charging much less for popular e-books if they are being heavily discounted elsewhere. Other firms, including the mighty(adj.强大的 P285) Google, are likely to enter the fray(n.吵架,打斗) soon, which will only increase the competitive pressure.

This is particularly alarming for publishers because digital margins are almost as slender as print ones. True, e-books do not need to be printed and shipped to retailers. But these costs typically represent only a tenth of a printed book’s retail price, estimates Credit Suisse(瑞士信贷银行), an investment bank. Meanwhile, as David Young, the boss of Hachette Book Group, points out, publishers are incurring(v.招惹 P237) new costs in the form of investment in systems to store and distribute digital texts, as well as to protect them from piracy(n.非法盗印).

Publishers are investing in the internet in other ways too. (很典型的过渡句)A few are starting to build their own online groups of readers. For instance Tor.com, a publisher-run website for science-fiction and fantasy enthusiasts, highlights content relevant to its members, even if some of it comes from rival publishers. “This is a rare sign that the light’s finally gone on in publishing,” says Mike Shatzkin of Idea Logical, a consultancy. Sourcebooks, a medium-sized publisher that has developed an online group focused on poetry, found that sales of its books rose by more than 50% in the six weeks after poems from them had featured on the site. (用丰富的事实案例、引用话语来具化)

Publishers are also pumping plenty of money into what Hachette’s Mr Young calls “enriched e-books”, which combine the printed word with audio, video and other media to create content that can command a premium price（溢价）. The launch of the iPad will speed up this experimentation, but it is not the only device to catch publishers’ attention. HarperCollins, for instance, has sold hundreds of thousands of cartridges in Britain that let users read electronic versions of classic texts on Nintendo DS portable game consoles（v.安慰,抚慰 P98 此处意为控制台，操纵台）. Charlie Redmayne, the “chief digital officer” of one of its units, reckons many of the buyers would not have splashed out(大肆挥霍) on print editions, so the move to a new platform has created fresh demand for books.

Indeed, many publishing executives like to argue that the digital revolution could usher in(迎来) a golden age of reading in which many more people will be exposed to(处于…作用之下) digital texts. They also point out that new technologies such as print on demand, which makes printing short runs of physical books more economical, should help them squeeze more money out of the old-fashioned format. And they insist that the shift away from printed books will be slow, giving them more time to adapt to the brave new digital world.

Perhaps. （这个连接词好玄妙啊）But there are still plenty of inefficiencies in the supply chain for conventional books that firms such as Amazon and Apple can exploit. Many publishers, for example, still take far too long to get books to market in print or electronic form, missing valuable opportunities. Ms Reidy at Simon & Schuster says she has brought functions such as typesetting in-house（使…功能在机构内部完成） to boost efficiency. At Sourcebooks responsibility for making books has even been shifted from the editorial team to the firm’s head of technology, underlining the need to think digitally right from the start of the commissioning(试运转) process.

The publishing firms that survive what promises to be a wrenching transition will be those whose bosses and employees can learn quickly to think like multimedia impresarios(n.(剧院或乐团等)经理人，主办者
P232) rather than purveyors(n.供应货物或提供服务的人或公司 P356) of perfect prose(n.散文 P351). Not all of them will be able to turn that particular page successfully.(记住turn…page successfully.)

corns126UID: 2762771

感谢楼主，今天做了3个阅读，回头再来看这篇文章感觉很舒服，还有这么多背景介绍，麻烦问下LZ是自己整理的吗？

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2# corns126
啊~  没想到 还有人回复我呀~~

是自己整理的啊~
因为要按计划来做ECO阅读啊~
谢谢鼓励啊~^_^~!

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7th April:


The endangered bookstore
Edited out(不晓得标题是啥意思…)The sickliest part of(记住这个表达) the books business is the shops that sell themMar 31st 2010 | NEW YORK | From The Economist print edition
THESE are not easy times for booksellers.(开门见山,简洁的说明主旨,紧接着马上接实例以具化主旨) Borders, a big American one, ditched(本意为丢弃，沟渠，这里的意思应该是开除了现在的老板吧) its boss in January and has closed stores, but is still at risk of collapse(这算是濒临破产的又一说法吧), some analysts say.
The British chain of the same name, which it once owned, failed last year. Barnes & Noble, the world’s biggest bookseller, appointed a new boss last month to help it confront（面临，对抗P95） the triple（三重的） threat of the recession（经济萧条时期P364）, increased competition and e-books.
The struggles of booksellers can be explained in part by a surge（波涛汹涌，波动P424） in competition. More than half of book sales in America take place not in bookshops but at big retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target, which compete to peddle（兜售，沿街叫卖） bestsellers at ever steeper discounts（超大折扣的又一搭配，正好和上一篇的heavy discount对应）. Online retailers, too, are wreaking（发泄，造成（破坏）记住这一搭配） havoc（大破坏，混P215）. In 2009 Amazon sold 19% of printed books in North America, reckons Credit Suisse（注意reckon的用法）, compared with Barnes & Noble’s 17% and Borders’ 10%.(作比较的表达之一) By 2015, the bank estimates, Amazon will sell 28%.
Booksellers are labouring（忙于，注意其用法，可用于替代be busy at, engaged in）to raise their profile（固定搭配，意为提高声望）online and win back(赢回，恢复) the customers they have lost. Barnes & Noble’s online sales rose by 32% to $210m in the quarter（注意’季度’的表达） ending in January, compared with a year earlier(作比较的表达之一). It has started selling its own e-reader, called the “Nook”, and digital books to go with it.
Will bookshops disappear completely, as music shops seem to be doing?(以反义疑问句作段首句吸引读者阅读) Most are pinning their hopes on（固定搭配，寄希望于…） giving people more reasons to come inside. “Consumers will need some entity to help them make sense of the morass(湿地,沼泽,困境,此处应该是意指实体书店吧),” says William Lynch, the new boss of Barnes & Noble, which plans to put a renewed emphasis(原来emphasis还可以用renewed修饰~) on service, including advice on e-books. Many shops have started to offer free internet access to keep customers there longer and to enable them to download e-books. Other survival strategies include hosting book clubs or other community groups and selling a wider variety of goods, such as wrapping paper, jewellery, cards and toys.(写AW时如果要体现service,可作材料)
Independent bookshops face a particularly grave threat(注意threat的修饰词), because they are unable to match bigger rivals’ prices. Many are branching out by offering new services, such as creative-writing classes. BookPeople, a bookshop in Austin, Texas, runs a literary summer camp for around 450 children. Steve Bercu, the shop’s co-owner(合作者), says that independent booksellers can still thrive(茁壮成长P436), provided they “reinvent(改造) themselves”.

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Germany and the euro

May the best man share（译言上翻成‘英雄所见不同’）

What the Germans see as economic virtue(n.美德,优点P436), some of its partners see as vice(n.缺点,弱点)(这句话在译言上被译成’甲之甘露,乙之砒霜’，有点意思哟~)

Mar 31st 2010 | BERLIN | From The Economist print edition

Angela prepares for battle

IT WAS Greece that let public spending（固定搭配，(政府)公用事业支出） rip（开篇就是一个强调句）, lied about it and is now trying to stave off(避开，阻挡，延缓) default（拖债，未履行的责任 P120）. But the Greek crisis has somehow
morphed into（演变为，morph本意为变化，变形） the German problem. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor(总理，大错，大学校长P72), led resistance to a bail-out(跳伞，应急措施
bail本意为保释金P44) of Greece. For her pains, she was lionised（同lionize崇拜，看重P269） at home (Bild, a tabloid, depicted her as a sword-bearing（译言译为‘执政者’） reincarnation（化身，转世） of Bismarck（俾斯麦）) but denounced（指责，谴责，告发P125） by her neighbours（此处指欧盟其他成员国）. “Angela, have a little courage,” pleaded Viviane Reding, vice-president of the European Commission（欧盟委员会）. Other countries see Germany’s huge current-account（现金账户，等于净出口） surpluses as almost as big a problem as Greece’s deficits.（这个比较方式有些些special，三个as连着用） They keep expecting a history-chastened Germany to contribute generously to the European project and to demand less than its due（预定的，应付的，到期的，应有的）. Now it stands accused of （注意stand和accused of 的搭配）turning away（回绝，打发走，译言翻译为‘不作为’）.

On March 25th European leaders patched up their differences（固定搭配，消除分歧） over Greece. Under a deal cooked up（此处cooked up用的非常玄妙，借用了deal的另一意思，译为‘促成的协议’） by Mrs Merkel and the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, Greece’s euro partners will come to its aid（固定搭配，援助某人） as a last resort（度假胜地，此处译为‘手段，方法’P361）
(see article). That would be the bail-out that Mrs Merkel wanted to avoid, but it may never happen. Any help will require the unanimous（全体意见一致的P448） approval of the 16 euro-area members, giving Germany a veto（否决，禁止P461） IMF(abbr. 国际货币基金组织(=International Monetary Fund)) involvement will shield（掩护，遮挡,保护P396） Germany from blame for imposing tough conditions. The hope is that the mere talk（我对于talk前面用个mere感到很迷惑） of a rescue will be enough to ease speculative（投机的，推理的，思索的P408
此处与attack作固定搭配，译为‘投机冲击’） attacks on Greece.

Yet the contradictions（矛盾，反驳P103）
that caused the crisis, which go back to the euro’s birth in 1999, remain unresolved. Germany greeted the single currency as a levelling(n. 水准测量，成水平，矫正，平整) of the commercial playing-field and has been honing（磨刀，磨光 P220与competitiveness搭配译为‘增强竞争力’） its competitiveness ever since. Greece and other Mediterranean（地中海地区） countries saw the euro as an opportunity to engage in business as usual, but（这句想来想去逻辑上想不通，最后发现我学了这么多年英语才知道but原来还有’除…之外’的意思…）
with the benefit of lower interest rates. There is broad agreement(注意’共识’的翻译) that Greece and the rest must change. The question is, must Germany, Europe’s biggest economy(注意’经济体’的翻译), change too?(注意疑问句的使用)

To most Germans the idea verges on(接近,濒临) the ridiculous. Germany entered the single currency handicapped, they say, by a strong D-mark(德国马克) and the cost of unification(统一,一致P451). Employers and trade unions(工会) co-operated to keep a lid on（隐瞒某事） labour costs(劳工成本). The government contributed by liberalising(使自由化) the jobs market. It also cut social-security contributions(社会保障税), partly making up the shortfall（差额，注意其与‘make up’的搭配） with higher value-added tax. Between 2000 and 2008 unit labour costs declined by 1.4% a year in Germany while rising by nearly 1% a year in France and Britain. Germany breached（破坏，违反） the euro’s budget-deficit ceiling（天花板，最大额度，最大限额） of 3% of GDP, but eliminated its deficit by the eve of the crisis.

But this abundance of virtue looks like vice to several of Germany’s EU partners. Germany’s duel with China to be the world’s top exporter demands that it suppress(压制，缩减) incomes and so Germans’ ability to consume.（注意这个并列结构）
Its current-account surpluses—and the mirror-image deficits of others—are a prime cause of instability. When France’s finance minister, Christine Lagarde, recently called for surplus countries to “do a little something” to promote European growth, she was casting doubt on Germany’s export-driven model.

She did not explicitly（清楚说明地，明白地P176） propose France as a role model（模范，榜样） but IMK, a German research institute close to the unions, does. France’s wage growth has kept up with productivity and inflation. Its exports have grown more slowly than Germany’s, but private consumption has advanced at almost triple the rate.（比较方式之一） Between 1999 and 2007 French GDP grew a third faster and employment twice as fast as Germany’s. （比较方式之一）Gustav Horn of IMK reckons that Germany’s focus on exports created 400,000 jobs, but weak demand（注意这俩词的搭配）
cost another 1m.

Many Germans detect a plot to nobble（诈骗，译言译为‘收买’） their exporters. A sprinter（短跑运动员） should not have to “put lead weights in his shorts”, snarled（纠缠，混乱P403） the economy minister, Rainer Brüderle. The idea of imitating France, with its budget deficits and sickly manufacturing sector, seems bizarre. German officials reject the most obvious ways of shrinking the current-account surplus. Markets, not governments, set wages, they say. To push them up artificially would merely raise unemployment, which would depress consumption and imports still further.

One answer, Mrs Lagarde argues, would be to cut taxes, an idea supposedly(大概) favoured by Germany’s coalition(结合，联合P81) government, which combines Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union with the Free Democratic Party. But a new balanced-budget amendment to the constitution will force Germany to slash(大幅度削减) spending or raise taxes next year—the opposite of what is needed to correct Europe’s imbalances and shore up growth.

There are other ways to shrink the gap between Germany’s high savings rate and relatively low investment, the underlying reason for its current-account surplus. A new OECD survey of Germany says the key is to boost investment, for example by encouraging innovation, which Mrs Merkel is keen to do; and by liberalising entry into professions such as law and accounting, which she may not want. （举例的格式）But these are not quick fixes. Europe will be stuck with Germany’s surpluses for years to come.

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The Caribbean brain drain(人才流失)

Nursing a
grievance(n.委屈，抱怨 P208)

Raise wages, or lose staff

Apr 8th 2010 | PORT OF SPAIN | From The Economist print edition

Mary Seacole, pioneer migrant

A JAMAICAN nurse, Mary Seacole, cared for British soldiers during the Crimean war in the 1850s. Many more have followed in her footsteps. (想要说跟着谁的脚步走可以模仿这句写)According to a report last month by the(report后面没有接任何动词?可以思索下~) World Bank, almost three-quarters of the nurses who train in the English-speaking Caribbean leave to work in the United States, Britain or Canada. That is causing a problem. Only 7,800 nurses are left in a region with a rapidly ageing population(快速老龄化,注意老龄化的表达) of 6m—and 3,300 unfilled nursing posts. Many rich countries have ten times as many nursing staff per head. (作比较方式之一)

One answer,(提出解决方案的一种不俗套且十分自然的表达方式,同时可以领起新的一段.) says the bank, is to train more nurses. There is no shortage of applicants. Countries that recruit them might help by contributing to the costs of nursing education in the Caribbean. But even if the region trained twice as many nurses, hospital wards would still be understaffed (人手不足的)by 2025. A few come in from Cuba, India, Nigeria and the Philippines, but most of them quickly move on to North America.

Another answer(与上一段相对应) is to improve pay and conditions. Qualified nurses in Jamaica start on just over $600 a month. The matron(主妇,护士长) of a 500-bed public hospital earns only about three times that amount—or around the same as a trainee nurse in Britain. Three-quarters of Jamaican nurses are fed up with their working conditions, says a survey quoted by the bank. The disillusioned(梦想破灭的P139) move to other careers as much as to other countries. (这个句式可以学习一下)

Nurses are not allowed to leave before they have repaid their student loans. This restriction rankles(怨恨,激怒), and is ineffective: some recruitment agencies(猎头公司) lend Caribbean nurses the money to pay off their debt. Graduates in accountancy or advertising are free to travel, repaying their loans from wherever they choose to settle.

The World Health Organisation(世界卫生组织) is developing a code of practice(注意a code of 和practice的搭配,此处code译为’准则’) regarding the international recruitment of health-care staff, to be discussed at its general assembly(联合国大会) in May. It wants to strike a balance (寻求平衡的绝好搭配,把两者安排得当,避免走极端)between the human right to health, and the right of health-care professionals to make their own career choices. These are fine principles. The reality for small debt-laden(负债累累
也有debt-redden) Caribbean countries is that they will have to find ways of spending more to keep more nurses at home.

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New York's troubled politicians

The fall of the Harlem Clubhouse

The scandals surrounding New York’s governor and its leading representative in Washington mark the demise(死亡 P124) of a powerful political machine

Mar 4th 2010 | NEW YORK | From The Economist print edition

IN LESS than a week the legendary “Harlem Clubhouse” has suffered two mortal (致命的,与blow组合译为’致命打击’) blows. On March 3rd Charles Rangel (above), the last of the political machine’s original
“Gang of Four”(四人帮,这词儿好玩~) still in elected office, stepped down as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee(财政立法委员会) of the House of Representatives(众议院) amid(被…环绕,包围) charges of ethics violations. Officially this is a temporary leave of absence, but he may not return. Five days earlier David Paterson, New York’s governor, ended his election campaign amid allegations (断言,无证据的指控P18)that he had abused his position, and intense pressure for his resignation. Mr Paterson is the son of Basil, another member of the Gang of Four, which mentored both Malcolm X and Al Sharpton and, since the 1960s, has been a launch-pad(发射台) for New York’s black political leaders.

The fall of the Clubhouse—not a physical place but an elitist fraternity(社团,协会,精英团体)—comes not long after its two greatest triumphs. Mr Rangel had become the first black chairman of the powerful spending committee, after a long wait, in 2007, at the age of 76. Mr Paterson became New York’s first black governor—as well as its first legally blind (注意这不是法盲的意思~,是法律上的盲人,视力太差了~)one—in the wake of(作为…的结果,随着…而来,紧紧跟随) another scandal, as Eliot Spitzer, his predecessor(前任,前辈) and running-mate(竞选伙伴), was forced to resign after being caught consorting with prostitutes. At first, the unexpected promotion of Mr Paterson was widely welcomed; he was a likeable, pragmatic(实际的，实用主义的，务实的P338) alternative to the arrogant Mr Spitzer, and seemingly scandal-free. (Asked if he had ever gone with prostitutes, he quipped(讽刺,托辞,调侃): “Only the lobbyists(活动议案通过者，说客).”) However, it was not a good omen that the day after taking office he was forced to admit to a string of adulterous affairs.

According to a recent exposé in the New York Times, David Johnson, one of the governor’s closest advisers, was involved in domestic violence. Mr Paterson is said to have meddled(干涉,干预P280) in the matter by telephoning Mr Johnson’s accuser(原告,记得被告是defendant) in a bid to(为了,以便) dissuade(劝阻,阻止P143) her from taking legal action. He also supposedly asked state workers to ring the woman. The state police intervened(干涉, 介入P253) as well, prompting the governor’s chief law-enforcement(执法) officer to resign in disgust and the state police superintendent (主管,监管,负责人)to retire unexpectedly. Pushed in part by other leading Clubhouse members and Democratic Party leaders, Mr Paterson announced on February 26th that he was abandoning his campaign for the governorship, only six days after launching it. (Ironically, the Gang of Four—Mr Rangel, Mr Paterson senior, David Dinkins, a former mayor of New York, and Percy Sutton, a former Manhattan borough(自治城镇,行政区) president—had criticised the original selection of the younger Mr Paterson as a candidate for the post of lieutenant-governor(副州长).)

Governor Paterson claims he quit the race because he is “realistic(同上pragmatic) about politics” and can now concentrate on running the state, with its crippling(造成严重后果的) $8.2 billion deficit. But even before this controversy, his popularity had plummeted(垂直或突然落下P335) and political gaffes(n.(社交上令人不快的)失言，失态) had almost destroyed his credibility. He mucked up(弄脏，使一团糟，同messed up) the process of filling Hillary Clinton’s vacant Senate seat by drawing out the selection process needlessly, alienating his former supporters in the Kennedy clan by toying with(轻率地对待), and then not appointing, Caroline Kennedy. Last year he insinuated(暗示，含沙射影的说P246) that he was the victim of racially clouded media attacks and predicted that Barack Obama would be the next target, a charge from which the president quickly distanced himself(此处是distance himself from a charge). Last September the White House was said to have urged Mr Paterson to step aside to allow a clear run(顺利角逐) for Andrew Cuomo, the state attorney-general(检察长) and son of a former governor.

Mr Cuomo, once married to a Kennedy, alienated the Gang of Four when he ran against(和…对抗,违反,偶然碰见) their anointed(选定的,涂油,此处与choice一起译为’选定的人选’) choice in a failed 2002 campaign for governor. His office is investigating “Aide-Gate”, so the attorney-general is unlikely to announce a run until the case is over. Mr Paterson, with arm raised, swore during a recent press conference, “I have never abused my office, not now, not ever.” He is determined to serve the 300 or so days left of his term. But this looks less and less likely. Everyone—editorial boards, party and legislative leaders, and Kirsten Gillibrand, whom he appointed senator last year instead of Ms Kennedy—is calling for him to resign.

Hank Sheinkopf, a political consultant, thinks Mr Paterson could be gone within a month. If he were a bookmaker(收受赌注者,著作家,靴匠), he says, “I’d give it seven-to-one odds(七比一的赔率)”—though a recent Marist poll showed that 66% of New Yorkers want the governor to finish his term. Thanks to a court ruling last year, which granted Mr Paterson the power to appoint Richard Ravitch as his lieutenant-governor, there is, at least, someone with gravitas(庄严的举止) and integrity ready to assume leadership(注意 assume 与leadership的搭配). Those qualities have long been in short supply in New York’s capital, which has been nicknamed “Dysfunctional(机能障碍) Albany” and is frequently cited as the nation’s worst state government—a title for which there is intense competition.

Quite a record

“Corruption(贪污,腐败P107) and ineptitude are bipartisan(两党一致,此处译为二者不分家), but Dems(‘民主党’的缩写) at the moment seem to have the edge in(占优势) criminality and incompetence,” observes Doug Muzzio of Baruch College. Several former Democratic assemblymen have rap-sheets(犯罪记录,前科). One was sentenced to ten years last May for racketeering(敲诈勒索); another is serving six years (serve的用法，表服役、服刑)for fraud after a 30-year career in the state Assembly. Hiram Monserrate was expelled(开除,排出P175) from the state Senate last month after he was convicted of attacking his girlfriend. Other legislators are under investigation. Mr Paterson, a state legislator for two decades before he became lieutenant-governor, is as much a product of corrupt Albany as of the Harlem Clubhouse.

In fact the Gang of Four’s power has been waning(衰退，变弱P466) for some time. Fred Siegel, of the conservative Manhattan Institute, remarks that “Playing the race card is not the trump(王牌,法宝) card it once was.” So perhaps Mr Rangel’s departure as head of the Ways and Means Committee is not the beginning of the end, but the end itself. The veteran(老手，经验丰富的人) congressma(国会议员), who first won national attention for his effective questioning during the Nixon impeachment hearings, has been investigated several times in recent years. His ethics stumbles (which included not paying taxes on a Caribbean villa(别墅), and taking a number of sun-filled trips which were paid for by corporations), were many and well known, yet went unpunished by Congress until last month, when he was admonished by the House Ethics Committee(众议院道德委员会) for violating gift rules. Republicans and some fellow Democrats called on him to resign. A proposed Republican resolution would have pushed him out, and he remains under investigation. His prolonged survival in such a powerful position says as much about Congress as the Paterson scandal does about Albany.

The decline of the old Harlem machine is creating a vacuum( 真空，空间) which other minority groups from Brooklyn and Queens can fill. And it may help the Working Families Party, a progressive political party largely made up of labour unions, which already has more grassroots(草根) support than the fragmented Democrats. The state party was recently frightened by the possibility that Harold Ford, a black former Tennessee congressman, might run against Ms Gillibrand. (He has now ruled it out(把…排除在外，排除…的可能性).) Leaders wanted to avoid a primary, fearing that the charismatic Mr Ford could divide their members and strengthen the state Republicans. Running for office in New York is expensive: a primary(译言上译为’初选’) could cost $10m and a general election(对应的译为’总选’) $20m. Jay Jacobs, the state party chairman, told Mr Ford that there are other options for him in New York politics.

Could that include becoming governor?(反义疑问句引起阅读兴趣) Mr Cuomo will probably be the Democrats’ choice—barring a rumoured, but surely implausible(难以置信的P230), run by Mrs Clinton. Rick Lazio, an also-ran for the Senate in 2000, is hoping to be on the Republican ticket; Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, apparently meant it when, late last year, he said he was not interested. And then there is Kristin Davis, the so-called “Manhattan Madam” who supplied call-girls(应召女郎) for Mr Spitzer, who is running as an independent. She could hardly be any more scandalous than the princes of the political dynasty she aims to replace.

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The origins of selflessness

Fair play(该词此处为名词，译为‘公平的比赛’即‘公平’)

It is not so much that cheats don’t prosper, but that prosperity does not cheat(我真不知道这是什么意思)

Mar 18th 2010 | From The Economist print edition

FOR the evolutionarily minded, the existence of fairness is a puzzle. What biological advantage accrues to those who behave in a trusting and co-operative way with unrelated individuals? And when those encounters are one-off(一次性的) events with strangers it is even harder to explain why humans do not choose to behave selfishly. The standard answer is that people are born with an innate(生来的,天赋的 P244) social psychology that is calibrated(已校准的 P63) to the lives of their ancestors in the small-scale societies of the Palaeolithic(旧石器时代的). Fairness, in other words,(下定义的方式之一) is an evolutionary hangover(残留物,遗物,宿醉) from a time when most human relationships were with relatives with whom one shared a genetic interest and who it was generally, therefore, pointless(无意义的,无目标的) to cheat.

The problem with this idea is that the concept of fairness varies a lot, depending on which society it happens to come from—something that does not sit well with(感觉这个表示’与…一致’的说法非常native) the idea that it is an evolved psychological tool. Another suggestion, then, is that fairness is a social construct that emerged recently in response to cultural changes such as the development of trade. It may also, some suggest, be bound up with(与 ... 关系密切，和 ... 息息相关,感觉这也是比较native的表达) the rise of organised religion.

Joseph Henrich at the University of British Columbia and his colleagues wanted to test these conflicting hypotheses(二者的搭配很native). They reasoned(’分析’的一native说法) that if notions(notion与concept的替换) of fairness are, indeed, calibrated to the Palaeolithic, then any variation from place to place should be random. If such notions are cultural artefacts(=artifacts,人工制品,赝品 P35), though, they will vary systematically with some aspect of society. In a study just published in Science, Dr Henrich and his team looked at the relationship between notions of fairness and two social phenomena: the degree to which a society is economically integrated(注意’经济一体化’) and how religious the individuals within it are.

Play up, play up and play the game

To do the study Dr Henrich recruited 2,148 volunteers from 15 contemporary, small-scale societies. The societies in question(表示’involved’的非常native的词!!!) included the Dolgan (hunters in Siberia), the Hadza (foraging nomads in Tanzania) and the Sanquianga (fishermen in Colombia).

First, the volunteers were asked to play a series of games that would measure their notions of fairness. One of these is called the dictator (独裁者)game. In it, two players (who do not actually meet) are given a sum of money. One of them then divides the money and gives whatever fraction he chooses to the other. Not much of a game, (好native的表达,可能是今天写了作文的原因,老是注意native的表达~)perhaps, but it provides a good measure of the first player’s sense of fairness, since he has the power to be as unfair as he likes.

Another game the researchers asked participants to play was more subtle(微妙的,精巧的 P421). In it, the second player has the opportunity to reject the sum offered by the first, in which case neither player receives anything. In this version, however, the second player must decide what offer he would accept (within a 10% margin of error), and do so before he hears what the offer actually is. That provides a measure of willingness to punish, even at a cost to the punisher. Yet another game looked at(好native… 考虑,研究) interactions with third parties.

Having established prevailing(盛行很广的，一般的，最普通的 P344) notions of fairness in each of the societies they were examining, the researchers then calculated a measure of that society’s market integration. They arrived at (得到,提出
再次感叹native…)this by working out the percentage of a household’s total calories that were purchased from the market, as opposed to being grown, hunted or fished. The volunteers were also asked whether they participated in a world religion (rather than a tribal one).

The results
back(不用说了~native) a cultural explanation of fairness—or, at least, of the variable levels of fairness found in different societies. In fact, those societies that most resemble the anthropological consensus of what Palaeolithic life would have been like (hunting and gathering, with only a modicum of trade) were the ones where fairness seemed to count least. People living in communities that lack market integration display relatively little concern with fairness or with punishing unfairness in transactions. Notions of fairness increase steadily as societies achieve greater market integration (see chart).(这是它的结论,highlight一下) People from better-integrated societies are also more likely to punish those who do not play fair, even when this is costly to themselves.

For progressives,(译言上以为’进一步说’,感觉很native..) this finding brings great comfort. It suggests that people are, if not perfectible, at least morally malleable(可塑的,易改变的 P276) in positive ways. If economic integration is the driving force(native) for fairness then it may make sense to view it as something like a type of technology. As societies have become more complex, those that have developed systems of sanitation(.公共卫生，卫生设施), transport, energy and so on have been more successful than those which have not. It may be that the notion of fair play is an intangible equivalent of these systems.

Dr Henrich also, however, found that the sense of fairness in a society was linked to the degree of its participation in a world religion. Participation in such religion led to offers in the dictator game that were up to 10 percentage points higher than those of non-participants.

World religions such as Christianity, with their moral codes, their omniscient(无所不知的,博识的 P306), judgmental gods and their beliefs in heaven and hell, might indeed be expected to enforce notions of fairness on their participants, so this observation makes sense. From an economic point of view, therefore, such judgmental religions are actually a progressive force. That might explain why many societies that have embraced them have been so successful, and thus why such beliefs become world religions in the first place.

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COMMENTARY:
This paragraph has a clear and sound logical line.
At the beginning of this article, the author indicate that the existence of fairness is a puzzle, and with two interrogative sentence he successfully seized reader’s eyes(想了好久才想出这个表达，至少比attract attention好多了~刚查出个stolen the spotlight，感觉蛮不错的，不过直觉觉着不适合用在这。)
Then he proposed two conflicting hypothesis, followed by a study looked at the relationship between notions of fairness and two social phenomena: the degree to which a society is economically integrated and how religious the individuals within it are.
After that, he described the study in detail, which scientifically indicated that notions of fairness increase steadily as societies achieve greater market integration and found that the sense of fairness in a society was linked to the degree of its participation in a world religion.
Generally speaking, the author provides clear and relevant examples and is cogent reasoning. What’s more, the words the author used is very native(其实我觉得这句好欠扁~) and is easy to understand while he was giving a description of a scientific research.

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Schumpeter
The tale of Mr JacksonThe public sector has had its fill of management consultantsJan 21st 2010 | From The Economist print edition
Illustration by Brett Ryder
MARGARET THATCHER(撒切尔夫人) regarded Beatrix Potter’s “Ginger and Pickles” as the only business book worth reading. The BBC recently elaborated(详尽地说明,阐明P155) on this insight in a series on “The Beatrix Potter Guide to Business”. “Jemima Puddleduck” is a treatise(论文P444) on enterprise. “Samuel Whiskers” is a parable(寓言,比喻P316) about the importance of
rolling audits(是流动审计的意思么?不是这专业的不懂啊~). And “Mrs Tittlemouse”? It is a warning about the dangers of employing management consultants.
Mrs Tittlemouse is “a most terribly tidy particular() little mouse”, forever cleaning her house and shooing away intruders(闯入者,打扰者P254). But one day Mr Jackson, a “fat-voiced” toad, arrives and makes himself at home, lounging in the rocking chair and putting his feet on the fender. He not only refuses to leave, he
scours(四处搜索；洗涤；冲刷) the house for tasty morsels(一小块(食物) P292), spreading chaos as he goes. It takes Mrs Tittlemouse a day to clear up after him when he finally leaves.
Management consultants have been hopping all over(受责骂) the public sector for years. The growing pressure to get “more for less(译言译为’物美价廉’)” persuaded governments to turn to the private sector for inspiration. And the challenges of adopting information technology prompted(促进,激起P349) them to turn to IT consulting giants such as IBM and Accenture. Britain’s New Labour government led the world in its infatuation(迷恋P240) with consultants. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown talked excitedly about “transforming” Whitehall and its fuddy-duddy(唠叨的人，守旧者) ways. Consultants crawled over everything from the Cabinet Office to the health service. New Labour apparatchiks(职业政党工作人员) were much more likely to wax lyrical about Tom Peters and Michael Porter than Keir Hardie and Nye Bevan.
The result was a bonanza(走运，发财) for the management-consulting industry. Money poured into the consultants’ pockets(native表达), especially during 2004-06. Over that period, spending on consultancy increased by a third(比较方法之一). And a New Labour-consultancy complex formed at the heart of government. The Downing Street Policy Unit was full of former McKinsey consultants. Lord Birt, a former BBC boss, was much criticised for working simultaneously(同时,一起) for Downing Street (唐宁街(英国政府所在地))and McKinsey(麦肯锡). Patricia Hewitt, a former head of research at Accenture(埃森哲) (then called Andersen Consulting) was health secretary in 2005-07; David Blunkett got a consultancy job when he resigned as work and pensions secretary in disgrace (耻辱，不名誉)
Consultants are nothing if not(记住这个表达) ingenious(机灵的，精制的，有独创性的同original,InventiveP242) in getting their feet on the fender. The Obama administration looked like a perfect mark(满分) when it came to Washington, DC, on a wave of hope and hype(大肆宣传，炒作) (Mr Obama even created the new job of “chief performance officer”). Monitor Group, based in Boston, has signed up Libya’s Colonel(上校) Qaddafi as a client. McKinsey actually scented(嗅到) an opportunity in the credit crunch(信用紧缩): an article in the consultancy’s house magazine urged that governments needed to go in for(从事，参加；爱好) “whole-government transformation” if they were to cope with the mess. But even the most ingenious consultants will be challenged in the coming years.
Yawning deficits will force governments worldwide to cut back on necessary expenditure, let alone unnecessary splurging(炫耀，摆阔P409). And there are many who argue that consultants represent unnecessary splurging. In Britain, consultancy fatigue is even more pronounced(明显的,明确的) than New Labour fatigue. Successive parliamentary(议会的，国会的) inquiries have revealed appalling examples of waste. From the NHS to the BBC, consultants are regarded as fork-tailed devils.
This counterblast(强硬的抗议，猛烈的反对) against consultants is largely to the good. They have frequently left devastation in their wake and have treated the public sector as dumping grounds(垃圾倾倒场) for airy-fairy(空想的) ideas such as “transformation” that have been rejected by the private sector. They have built overly elaborate management structures that make it harder for people to do their jobs. And they have demotivated people who like to feel that they are working for the public good. The government has wasted huge amounts of money on botched(拙笨地修补，糟蹋) IT projects designed by consultants. The worst example, a £12.7 billion project to improve the health service’s systems, has now been partially abandoned; but the Ministry of Defence is still struggling with a project that is currently £180m over budget.
Blame the paymaster, mostly
That said, it is worth adding two qualifications to the general chorus of condemnation. The first is that (写AW时可以考虑用上这种表达)just because some consultants have given bad advice does not prove that they are incapable of giving good advice. Civil services are congenitally(天生地，先天地) inward-looking organisations, led by people who are plucked(pull or pick off or out 摘
拔P334) from elite universities and shielded from the rest of the world in government palaces; it helps to expose them to innovations from the private sector. The private sector routinely(通常地) introduces reductions in costs and improvements in performance that are almost unknown in the public sector. The IT debacles(解冻，崩溃P117) may be dispiriting(令人沮丧的). But few government departments possess the internal expertise to master new technology on their own.
The second is that(表述观点的方式之一) the people who are ultimately responsible for the debacles are not the hired hands(雇员) but their political masters. Gordon Brown and Tony Blair were suckers for flashy but insubstantial ideas about transformation. Lower-level politicians were lazy managers. In 2006 the National Audit Office (国家统计局)provided a devastating(’令人震惊的’native表达) list of ways in which the government had failed to make the best use of consultants—ranging from failing to appreciate what could be achieved with their own staff to refusing to learn from what the consultants were telling them.
But the biggest reason(表述观点的方式之一)

for the failure is that politicians have repeatedly used consultants to avoid dealing with the difficult questions by dressing up antiquated institutions in fashionable business garb. Back in 1995 Peter Drucker argued that if politicians were serious about “really reinventing government” they would go back to first principles and ask if large parts of government needed to be there in the first place. Tell Mr Jackson to follow Drucker’s advice and he might yet produce value for money.
COMMENTARY:
This passage is mainly arguing about the management consultants that have been hopping all over the public sector. Show the fact that the public sector has had its fill of management consultants.
The author first referring to a serious of book written by beatrix Potter, as a natural opening to drawing his point out. Then he start to describe the situation both in past or current with many examples and figure. Blaming the so-called “transformation” suggested by management consultant which led to yawning deficit instead of improving the management of government of departments.
However, the author is impersonal to reveal some unobvious reasons behind the appearance. Indicate that political masters should be responsible for the debacles. And show the biggest reason for the failure is that politicians have repeatedly used consultants to avoid dealing with the difficult question. Ending the passage with a blaming on politicians.

链接几个文中提到的几本书的内容：

The Tale of Ginger and Pickles (originally, Ginger and Pickles) is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in 1909. The book tells of two shopkeepers who extend unlimited credit to their customers and, as a result, are forced to go out of business. It was originally published in a large format which permitted Potter the opportunity to lavish great detail on the illustrations and also allowed her to include black-and-white vignettes. Potter filled the tale with characters from her previous books. The book was eventually republished in the standard small format of the Peter Rabbit series and was adapted to drama in 1931.

The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter, and first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in 1910. The book tells of a wood mouse named Thomasina Tittlemouse and her efforts to keep her house in order despite numerous uninvited visitors, particularly Mr. Jackson, a sloppy toad. Mrs. Tittlemouse made her debut in The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies in 1909, and, the following year, became the heroine in her own book. The insects in the book are meticulously drawn with Potter's unsentimental eye and are not humanized like Mrs. Tittlemouse, her party guests, or Mr. Jackson. Potter has been charged with drawing them simply for their own sake, or to produce an effect of horror and disgust in her audience. The book has been adapted to an animated television film and Mrs. Tittlemouse has been sculpted in Beswick and Schmid pottery figurines.

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COMMENTARY:
This passage is mainly arguing about the management consultants that have been hopping all over the public sector. Show the fact that the public sector has had its fill of management consultants.
The author first referring to a serious of book written by beatrix Potter, as a natural opening to drawing his point out. Then he start to describe the situation both in past or current with many examples and figure. Blaming the so-called “transformation” suggested by management consultant which led to yawning deficit instead of improving the management of government of departments.
However, the author is impersonal to reveal some unobvious reasons behind the appearance. Indicate that political masters should be responsible for the debacles. And show the biggest reason for the failure is that politicians have repeatedly used consultants to avoid dealing with the difficult question. Ending the passage with a blaming on politicians.

xingfuhbjUID: 2769976

Afghanistan(阿富汗) and America
He said what?President Karzai(卡尔扎伊) threatens to join the TalibanApr 8th 2010 | KABUL | From The Economist print edition
IN THE weeks between Barack Obama’s night-time stopover in Kabul(喀布尔(阿富汗首都)) and Hamid Karzai’s scheduled trip to Washington, DC, in May, American officials might have expected a patch of calm(注意搭配) in the stormy relationship between the two countries. Not a bit of it.(事实并非如此) In the past week, the troublesome(令人烦恼的，讨厌的，麻烦的) Afghan president has caused alarm anddismay(惊恐 P140) among his allies with three extraordinary outbursts.
First, in seemingly off-the-cuff(未预备的，即席的) remarks to election workers, he accused the allies of “massive fraud” during last year’s presidential poll, claiming America, Britain and the United Nations were all plotting to undermine him. That was, to say the least(退一步说，最起码), a bold rewriting of history: the Election Complaints Commission, a hybrid(混合体) Afghan-international watchdog that Mr Karzai has tried to seize control of, found evidence of industrial-scale(大规模的 native表达) fraud last year in the president’s favour.
Next, after the American ambassador had demanded “clarification” of what on earth Mr Karzai was talking about, the president went further, telling a private meeting with members of Parliament that if foreign interference continued he would “join the Taliban”. Finally, in Kandahar for talks with elders about this summer’s military operations, he reaffirmed that he meant every word of his original outburst.
Mr Karzai depends on international support for his survival, so is he going completely mad? Rumour(n.传闻，谣言)in Kabul suggests that yes, he might be. Abdullah Abdullah, the opposition leader and an ophthalmologist(n. 眼科医师) by training, describes the president’s behaviour as “erratic(反复无常的,古怪的 P167)” and says that “as a former colleague and doctor, I think this is beyond a normal attitude”. Peter Galbraith, the former deputy head of the UN mission in Kabul (who had been singled out(挑选) by Mr Karzai for his role in the alleged plot(密谋,阴谋P334)), said the president’s tirades(激烈演说,长篇的攻击性讲话 P438) raised “questions about his mental stability” and that he had (according to palace insiders) “a certain fondness for some of Afghanistan’s most profitable exports”. Mr Karzai’s team promptly(敏捷地，迅速地) called Mr Galbraith a liar. The diplomat offered no evidence for his assertions, which were also dismissed by the White House.
There are a number of explanations for Mr Karzai’s outbursts, other than the psychotropic or psychotic. Many believe, as the Afghan president himself said this week, that he was simply asserting his country’s sovereignty(.主权，统治权 P406) against meddling foreigners. America has increased its demands on the president of late because it needs his help in a counterinsurgency(反游击战与破坏的) strategy that calls not only for more allied troops but also for a clean-up of the corrupt and ineffective government. Others think Mr Karzai is just talking from the heart, and remains enraged(激怒的 P162) by the blame heaped on(聚集(把 ... 放在堆上)) him during last summer’s election which he genuinely believes he won outright(无疑的；彻底的) in the first round.
Either way, the outbursts have raised questions about his capacity to deliver his side of the bargain(协议) in Afghanistan—more troops for better government—which Mr Obama needs to show is working before America’s mid-term elections in November. With the administration almost as reliant on him as he is on them, months of turbulence(喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流) lie ahead.

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COMMENTARY:
This passage is mainly talk about the latest movement between Karzai —— the president of Afghanistan and his aliens.
Against the expected claim, Karzai’s three outbursts during one week have dismayed his aliens. First, he accused the aliens of “massive fraud” for the purpose to undermine him, as a counterattack for the statement that he has tried to seized control of last year’s presidential poll. Then he even threatens to join the Taliban. All his outbursts had made his alies questioned whether he was going completely mad or not.
However, the author points out the outbursts of Karzai have brought doubts about Barack Obama bargain, ending the passage in a query.

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Magnesium power

White-hot energy

New power sources could be made using magnesium

Apr 19th 2010 | From The Economist online

STORING energy is one of the biggest obstacles to(注意搭配) the widespread adoption(注意此处此词的使用
很native) of alternative sources of power.(开门见山的开头) Batteries can be bulky and slow to charge. Hydrogen, which can be made electrolytically from water and used to power fuel cells, is difficult to handle. But there may be an alternative: magnesium. As school chemistry lessons show, metallic magnesium is highly reactive and stores a lot of energy. Even a small amount of magnesium ribbon burns in a flame with a satisfying(充分的
注意此处此词的使用
很native) white heat. Researchers are now devising ways(注意native搭配) to extract energy from magnesium in a more controlled fashion(注意fashion还有’方式’的意思).

Engineers at MagPower in White Rock, British Columbia, for example, have developed a metal-air cell(注意其有’电池’的意思) that uses water and ambient(adj. 周围的，包围着的) air to react with a magnesium fuel supply, in the form of a metal anode(阳极,正极), to generate electricity. Doron Aurbach at Bar-Ilan University, Israel(以色列), has created a magnesium-based version of the lithium-ion(锂离子) rechargeable cell, a type of battery known for its long life and stability. It would be ideal for storing electricity from renewable sources, says Dr Aurbach. And Andrew Kindler at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena is developing a way for cars to generate hydrogen on board by reacting magnesium fuel with steam(n. 蒸气，水蒸气). The reaction produces a pure form of hydrogen suitable for fuel cells(燃料电池,固定搭配), leaving behind only magnesium oxide(n. 氧化物), a relatively benign(无危险的) material, as a by-product.

But there is, of course, a catch. (不错的转折过渡句)Although magnesium is abundant, its production is neither cheap nor clean, says Takashi Yabe of the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Various industrial methods are used to extract magnesium, ranging from an electrolytic process to a high temperature method called the Pidgeon process, but the energy cost is high. Producing a single kilogram of magnesium requires 10kg of coal, says Dr Yabe.

To change this, he is developing a process using only renewable energy. Dr Yabe’s solution is to use concentrated solar energy to power a laser, which is used to heat and ultimately burn magnesium oxide extracted from seawater—where, he says, there is enough magnesium to meet the world’s energy needs for the next 300,000 years. A solar-pumped laser is necessary, he says, because concentrated solar energy alone would not be enough to generate the 3,700˚C temperatures required. Dr Yabe calls his approach the Magnesium Injection Cycle.

The pure magnesium can then be used as a fuel (its energy density is about ten times that of hydrogen). When the magnesium is mixed with water, it produces heat, boiling the water to produce steam, which can then drive a turbine(n.涡轮机，汽轮机) and do useful work. The reaction also produces hydrogen, which can be burned to produce even more energy. The byproducts are water and magnesium oxide, which can then be converted back into magnesium using the solar laser.

The trouble is that concentrated solar collectors tend to be huge and costly, and solar-pumped lasers are normally very low powered. Dr Yabe’s trick is to use relatively small Fresnel lenses—transparent and relatively thin planar lenses made up of concentric rings(同心环) of prisms. These are commonly found in lighthouses to magnify light in a way that would normally require a much larger, thicker lens. His other trick is to boost the output power of the lasing material, neodymium(钕)-doped(掺杂其他物质的, 服用兴奋剂的) yttrium(钇) aluminium garnet(n. 石榴石，深红色). It normally only absorbs about 7% of the energy from sunlight, but when doped with chromium(铬) this figure increases to more than 67%.

Dr Yabe has built a demonstration plant at Chitose, Japan, in partnership with Mitsubishi(三菱). It is capable of producing 80 watts of power from the laser, enough to cut steel and extract 70% of the magnesium in seawater. The process will, says Dr Yabe, become commercially viable when the laser power reaches 400 watts, which could happen later this year. “As a starting point we are planning to use 300 lasers to produce 50 tonnes of magnesium per year,” he says. After that, it is just a small matter of convincing the world to start thinking about a magnesium economy instead of hydrogen one, he adds.

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COMMENTARY：
The author begins the passage by a emphasis on the problem of storing of the new energy, focusing on the use of one ideal new resources – magnesium.
He first briefly explained why that magnesium is a ideal new energy. Then refer to a metal-air cell design by Engineers at MagPower in White Rock, British Columbia, which is renewable, lasting, stable and clean. But every question met with another question. The perfect bring about the problem of product the magnesium, which is neither a cheap or clean process.
However, the question had already been solved by an Japanese scientist. Although he also meet some question about cost, but he had manage to put his theory into affect, which may have a profound influence on the energy resources of the whole world.