The battle for digital Supremacy
数字领域霸主争夺战
1
How to engage and how not to
如何接招？不接招又如何？
DESIGNED by Apple in California. Assembled in China”. For the past decade the words embossedon the back of iPhones have served as shorthand for the technological bargain between the world’s two biggest economies: America supplies the brains and China the brawn.
“加州设计中国组装”。过去的十年中，这些刻在iPhone手机背面的字暗含着全球两个最大经济体之间的技术博弈：美国负责脑力工作，中国负责体力工作。
Iphone X 发布会
【小结】
由苹果手机这一人人都熟悉的电子产品引入中美科技的博弈，可谓以小见大。
生词
supremacy/su'prɛməsi/至高，无上权利
the position in which you are more powerful or advanced than anyone els
例句：Japan’s unchallenged supremacy in the field of electronics.日本在电子领域无可动摇的霸主地位。
注意这个词和潮牌“supereme/sə'prim/”词根相同，但拼写和发音不同
engage/ɪn'ɡedʒ/答应，保证；从事；交战；啮合
这里是对应标题battle，取的“应战”的意思。
embossed/ɛmˈbɔs/装饰，浮雕【GRE】
shorthand/'ʃɔrthænd/ 速记
但这里是另一个含义：a shorter but less clear way of saying something,对某件事的委婉说法
例句：He’s been ‘relocated’, which is shorthand for ‘given a worse job a long way away’.他被调岗，重新安置了。现在工作地点很远，工作也没有以前好了。
本文含义是把“加州设计中国组装”解读成了“中国没有设计能力”的委婉说法，跟下一段开头“Not any more"形成对比。
brawn/brɔn/发达的肌肉
physical strength, especially when compared with intelligence 体力，尤其用来跟智力做对比
brain和brawn发音相近，是英语“押头韵”（alliteration/ə,lɪtə'reʃən/）的写作手法
句式
For the past decade 过去的十年当中
A served as shorthand for B A 是B的委婉说法
technological bargain 科技博弈
America supplies the brains and China the brawn. 美国负责脑力，中国负责体力
Not any more. China’s world-class tech giants, Alibaba and Tencent, have market values of around $500bn, rivalling Facebook’s. China has the largest online-payments market. Its equipment is being exported across the world. It has the fastest supercomputer. It is building the world’s most lavishquantum-computing research centre. Its forthcoming satellite-navigation system will compete with America’s GPS by 2020.
现在已今非昔比。中国世界级的科技公司阿里和腾讯市值约5000亿美元，可以和facebook一争高下。中国的线上支付市场世界最大。中国的设备出口全球。中国有最快的超级计算机。中国正在建设世界造价最高的量子计算机研究中心。中国即将研制成功的卫星导航系统在2020年将同美国的GPS一同竞争。
【小结】
通过中国各种世界领先的成绩，说明现在中国国力跟十年前已经不可同日而语，侧面说明了美国和其他国家的危机感。
生词
supercomputer/'supɚkəmpjutɚ/ super+computer超级计算机
lavish/'lævɪʃ/丰盛，浪费【雅思】【托福】
quantum-computing量子计算机
a very advanced and powerful type of computer that is being developed, which uses the principles of quantum mechanics 使用量子机械原理设计，运力强大的高级计算机
forthcoming /ˌfɔrθ'kʌmɪŋ/即将到来的，唾手可得的
句式
have market values of 市值为...
rivalling 与...一较高下
online-payments 线上支付/移动支付，注意中间有个连字符
America is rattled. An investigation is under way that is expected to conclude that China’s theft of intellectual property has cost American companies around $1trn; stinging tariffs may follow. Earlier this year Congress introduced a bill to stop the government doing business with two Chinese telecoms firms, Huawei and ZTE. Eric Schmidt, the former chairman of Alphabet, Google’s parent, has warned that China will overtake America in artificial intelligence (AI) by 2025.
美国感受到了危机。美国正在着手进行一项调查，旨在指控中国窃取了美国 公司价值1000亿美元的知识产权；严苛的关税（惩罚）可能紧随其后。今年早些时候，国会引入了一项法案，要求政府停止与华为和中兴这两家中国电信公司的业务往来。Eric Schmidt，Google母公司Alphabet公司前总裁，已经发出警告言论称，到2025年，中国将在人工智能（AI）领域赶超美国。
AI竞争
【小结】
美国紧张的种种表现，从政府到科技公司无不如此，中国的飞速进步，让美国感受到了深深的压迫感。
生词
rattle/'rætl/咯咯，喋喋不休，慌张
1）if you rattle something, or if it rattles, it shakes and makes a quickseries of short sounds 东西振动发出的短促高频的声音
2）if a vehicle rattles somewhere, it travels there while making a rattling sound汽车运行时发出的声音（比如汽车在马路刹车的声音）
3） informal to make someone lose confidence or become nervous让某人失去信心或感到紧张
stinging/ˈstɪŋɪŋ/刺人的，激烈的
句式
is expected to 达到...目的
introduced a bill 宣布法案
This week President Donald Trump abruptly blocked a $142bn hostile takeover of Qualcomm, an American chipmaker, by Broadcom, a Singapore-domiciled rival, citing national security fears over Chinese leadership in 5G, a new wireless technology. As so often, Mr Trump has identified a genuine challenge, but is bungling the response. China’s technological rise requires a strategic answer, not aknee-jerk one.
本周美国总统特朗普突然拒绝了交易额为1420亿美元，新加坡芯片制造商博通收购美国竞争对手高通的收购案。总统认为这次收购案有阴谋，声称国家安全受到5G，这种新型无线科技技术引领者--中国 的威胁。和通常一样，特朗普已经确定这是明目张胆的挑战，但他的回应却并不高明。中国的技术崛起需要以战略应对，而不是听从应激反应。
【小结】
通过特朗普针对博通高通收购案的应对，来说明在面对来自ZG威胁时，美国的反应过于单一和缺乏战略思考。水只能顺势疏导，堵的话，迟早会爆发。
生词
hostile/'hɑstl/【GRE】
domiciled/'dɑmə'saɪld/定居的，Singapore-domiciled 这里指总部位于新加坡
用英语介绍华为，可以说Shenzhen-domiciled，逼格比“located”高级不是一点点
cite/saɪt/引用，举例
bungling/'bʌŋɡliŋ/粗劣、笨拙的
knee-jerk/'ni:dʒə:k/膝跳反射
句式
block takeover of 拒绝对...的收购
2
The motherboard of all wars
所有贸易战的源头
To understand what America’s strategy should be, first define the problem. It is entirely natural for a continent-sized, rapidly growing economy with a culture of scientific inquiry to enjoy a technological renaissance. Already, China has one of the biggest clusters of AI scientists. It has over 800m internet users, more than any other country, which means more data on which to hone its new AI. The technological advances this brings will benefit countless people, Americans among them.For the United States to seek to keep China down merely to preserve its place in the pecking order by, say, further balkanising the internet, is a recipe for a poorer, discordant—and possibly warlike—world.
要理解美国的战略，首先要定义问题所在。对于美国这一领土面积接近一个大洲，经济快速增长并带动科技文化繁荣的国家来说，想要享受科技文艺复兴带来的红利实属国之常情。中国已经成为了AI科学家最大的聚集地之一。中国有8亿网民，这个数字比其他任何国家都多，这意味着有更多的数据可以打磨新人工智能技术。技术的进步会使包括美国人在内的无数人受益。美国通过诸如分裂互联网的方式打压中国，其原因无非是想维持自己的经济地位。这会导致世界更加贫穷、无序，并可能引起战争。
【小结】
中国的人口红利成为了收集数据的天然土壤，与欧洲英法德和美国相比，体量足够大的数据库无疑会使得AI越来越聪明，人工越来越智能。
生词
motherboard/'mʌðɚbɔrd/底板，母版
clusters/'klʌstɚ/一团，一群
hone/hon/磨刀，想念【GRE】
to improve your skill at doing something, especially when you are already very good at it. 改进某方面的技能，尤其是在你本来已经擅长的领域。可以翻译成时下付费学习领域流行的“精进”
pecking order /ˈpɛkɪŋ/ + /'ɔrdɚ/ 社会等级，社会地位
wiki传送门：https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecking_order_theory
balkanising 原型balkanise，巴尔干化
Balkanization, or Balkanisation, is a pejorative geopolitical term, originally used to describe the process of fragmentation or division of a region or state into smaller regions or states that are often hostile or uncooperative with one another.指一个地区不断分裂，彼此充满敌意，不愿意合作的状态
discordant/dɪs'kɔrdənt/不和谐的，不一致的
句式
It is entirely natural for sb. to do sth 某人做某事来说，是人之常情
clusters of 一团，一群（同类事物）
benefit countless people 使无数人受益
preserve its place in the pecking order 维持现有地位
Yet it is one thing for a country to dominate televisions and toys, another the core information technologies. They are the basis for the manufacture, networking and destructive power of advanced weapons systems. More generally, they are often subject to extreme network effects, in which one winner establishes an unassailable position in each market. This means that a country may be squeezed out of vital technologies by foreign rivals pumped up by state support. In the case of China, those rivals answer to an oppressive authoritarian regime that increasingly holds itself up as an alternative to liberal democracy—particularly in its part of Asia. China insists that it wants a win-win world. America has no choice but to see Chinese technology as a means to an unwelcome end.
中国还在电视和玩具领域领先，这也需要核心信息技术。这些是制造业，网络，破坏力和先进武器系统的基础。而且经常受制于极端网络效应：一旦一个国家在某个特定市场站稳脚跟，地位便牢不可破。这意味着一个国家可能由于外国国家力量支持下，在关键技术中出局。（由于众所周知的原因，此段略。）
【小结】
说明了科技领域的“马太效应”。
生词
unassailable/ˌʌnə'seləbl/攻不破的
oppressive/ə'prɛsɪv/压抑，残暴【GRE】
regime/re'ʒim/政权，社会制度【GRE】
句式
pumped up激发
The question is how to respond. The most important part of the answer is to remember the reasons for America’s success in the 1950s and 1960s. Government programmes, intended to
surpass the Soviet Union in space and weapons systems, galvanised investment in education, research and engineering across a broad range of technologies. This ultimately gave rise to Silicon Valley, where it was infused by a spirit of free inquiry, vigorous competition and a healthy capitalist incentive to make money. It was supercharged by an immigration system that welcomed promising minds from every corner of the planet. Sixty years after the Sputnik moment, America needs the same combination of public investment and private enterprise in pursuit of a national project.
问题（的关键）在于如何回应。回应最重要的部分是要牢记美国在上世纪50、60年代成功的原因：国家规划，在太空和武力系统领域超越苏联，教育领域加大投入，研究的技术范围非常广阔。环境自由，竞争激烈，资本形成良性循环，这些是导致硅谷最终崛起的原因。硅谷蓬勃发展是由吸引全球人才的移民制度保证的。苏联卫星时刻60年后，美国在打造国家项目的过程中，也需要将公共投资和私企结合起来。
【小结】
总结上个世纪美国繁荣的原因，告诉美国如果能够重现当年的自由竞争，就有可能重新当年的繁荣景象。
生词
galvanise/'ɡælvənaiz/镀锌，使...激动
infuse/ɪn'fjuz/灌输，注入
supercharged超动力的
Sputnik /'spʌtnɪk/ （苏联）人造卫星
句式
across a broad range of横跨多领域
gave rise to Silicon Valley 硅谷崛起的原因
in pursuit of 追逐，打造
3
Why use a scalpel when a hammer will do?
杀鸡焉用牛刀？
The other part of the answer is to update national-security safeguards for the realities of China’s potential digital threats. The remit of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS), a multi-agency body charged with screening deals that affect national security, should be expanded so thatminority investments in AI, say, can be scrutinised as well as outright acquisitions. Worries about a supplier of critical components do not have to result in outright bans. Britain found a creative way tomitigate some of its China-related security concerns, by using an evaluation centre with the power to dig right down into every detail of the hardware and software of the systems that Huawei supplies for the telephone network.
另一种回应要升级国家安全防护，以应对中国未来数字领域崛起带来的威胁。负责审理威胁国家安全交易的综合机构--美国外资投资委员会（CFIUS），其工作范围应该扩大，以便可以像审查其它案件一样审查为数不多的人工智能案件。对关键部件有所担忧情有可原，但没有必要全面限制。英国建立了一个评估中心，深入审查华为供应电话系统软件和硬件的每一个细节，以一种缓和的方式处理中国相关的安全问题。
【小结】
针对这种情况，从监管方面给出了具体的解决策略。
生词
scalpel/skæl'pɛl/解剖刀【GRE】
remit/'rimɪt/免除，宽恕，缓和，移交【GRE】
该词条下有两个含义，一个是免除，但这个意思显然不符合语境。
真正的含义是它第二个意思：British English formal the particular piece of work that someone has been officially asked to deal with，是“职责”、“工作范围”的意思，其后面的动词expanded“扩大”可以跟“职责”对应，也证实了这一点（British English英国常用，TE就是英国的报刊，也是一个证明）。
学英语尤其是中文不常用的含义，查字典一定要彻底，争取查一次就记住一次，学习这件事，对自己认真点总不会错。
outright/'aʊtraɪt/完全，彻底，当场
mitigate/'mɪtɪɡet/缓和
句式
the answer is to ...的答案
so that 以便
高通
Set against these standards, Mr Trump falls short on every count. The Broadcom decision suggests that valid suspicion of Chinese technology is blurring into out-and-out protectionism. Broadcom is not even Chinese; the justification for blocking the deal was that it was likely to invest less in R&D than Qualcomm, letting China seize a lead in setting standards.
针对这些标准，特朗普每一步都走错了。美国对博通案的决议暗示着对中国的正当调查已经逐渐变成了彻头彻尾的保护主义。博通甚至都不是中国公司，拒绝收购交易的裁定，很可能是因为收购后投入研发的费用比收购前要低，这就给了中国行业领先、建立标准的机会。
生词
out-and-out 彻底的 adj.
句式
blur into 模糊的
Mr Trump has reportedly already rejected one plan for tariffs on China to compensate for forced technology transfer but only because the amounts were too small. Were America to impose duties onChinese consumer electronics, for example, it would harm its own prosperity without doing anything for national security. An aggressively anti-China tack has the obvious risk of a trade tit-for-tat that would leave the world’s two largest economies both worse off and also more insecure.
新闻报道特朗普拒绝通过关税计划来强制赔偿技术转让，其原因仅仅是因为交易金额过低。如果美国向中国的诸如电子产品等商品收税，则会影响美国经济繁荣，对国家安全也没有任何益处。激进的反中国策略风险很大，很可能引起贸易冲突，不利于世界上两个最大的经济体发展，增加不确定因素。
【小结】
客观说明，美国目前的策略存在哪些潜在危险。
句式
impose duties on 对...加税
worse off 恶化
Mr Trump’s approach is defined only by what he can do to stifle China, not by what he can do to improve America’s prospects. His record on that score is abysmal. America’s federal government spending on R&D was 0.6% ofGDP in 2015, a third of what it was in 1964.
特朗普的政策只能通过扼制中国来实现，而不是他能够为改善美国前景做出何种努力。特朗普之前处理类似事情的经历就非常糟糕。美国联邦政府2015年在研发上的投入占GDP比值为0.6%，这个数字只有1964年的三分之一。
【小结】
美国研发投入比例下降，是导致不发展自身，反而去遏制中国的原因之一。
生词
stifle/'staɪfl/窒息vt.vi.；后膝关节n.
abysmal/ə'bɪzməl/深不可测的，糟透的adj. 【GRE】
例句：For all that, India's relations with the countries that ring it are abysmal.尽管如此，印度与其周边国家的关系只能用糟糕透顶来形容。
句式
one's record on that score is 某人之前在某件事上的表现
Yet the president’s budget proposal for 2019 includes a 42.3% cut in non-defence discretionaryspending by 2028, which is where funding for scientific research sits.He has made it harder for skilled immigrants to get visas to enter America. He and some of his party treat scientific evidence withcontempt—specifically the science which warns of the looming threat of climate change. America is right to worry about Chinese tech. But for America to turn its back on the things that made it great is no answer.
但是美国总统2019年的预算提案中，截止到2028年，科研基金所在的非国防弹性预算消减了42.3%。特朗普此举抬高了高端人才进入美国的门槛。他和他的政党对科学依据持轻蔑态度，尤其是与隐现的气候变化相关的科研（成果）。美国对中国科技有所担忧是合情合理的。但是美国拒绝能够让自己强大的事物，并不会对警惕中国有任何作用。
生词
non-defence/nɔn-dɪˈfɛns/非国防的adj.
discretionary /dɪ'skrɛʃə'nɛri/ 任意的，无条件的adj.
上面两个词连起来是“非国防弹性预算”的意思，相关链接如下：https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/policy-basics-non-defense-discretionary-programs
contempt /kən'tɛmpt/轻视，轻蔑 n.
looming/'lʊmɪŋ/ 海市蜃楼n.;隐约的 adj.;逼近v. ，这里是“隐约”的含义
句式
treat something with contempt 藐视某事
【总结】
《经济学人》Leaders文章一项以公正著称，先描述结果，中间描述结果产生的原因，最后部分给出解决方案，给事件定性。中美贸易近几天不断升级，这里面确实有中国不断强大，美国作为霸主感受到威胁和不安的原因，但两国作为世界经济最重要的两只力量，唯一合作共赢才是唯一出路。不然美国的汽车谁来买？苹果、微软谁来买？美剧电影谁来看？14亿人口是一个巨大的消费市场，对外汇的增长起着至关重要的作用。全球化大背景下，各国经济交流不断加深，美国如果不顾中国和其他国家反对，一意孤行，那么可预见的未来里，“分则两败”是唯一的可能。
我是迷路的指南针，指南针英语社群创始人，英语专业八级，BEC高级，高铁行业英语翻译。
2年英语培训经验，深知国人学英语痛点，熟悉各种主流英语学习方法；
4年翻译经验，熟悉美音英音日音印度阿三音；
累计翻译英语考研题源《经济学人》Leaders近50篇；
《老友记》资深粉丝；近2年，通过“一对一英语学习法订制”，让近百人爱上英语。
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