The pandemic: forgotten, but not gone

题材：社会生活类出处：The Guardian《卫报》01[1] Once we could talk of nothing else. Now we barely speak of it at all. A leading Chinese epidemiologist has warned that there could be up to 65m cases of Covid-19 a week in his country by the end of June. Yet there appears to be little concern within China, and there is certainly little attention outside it. When the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared earlier this month that the Covid pandemic was no longer a global health emergency, the announcement was greeted not with cheers or even muted celebration, but with what seemed to be utterindifference.

译文

【我们曾经每时每刻都在讨论。现在我们几乎不提它了。一位著名的中国流行病学家警告说，到6月底，中国每周可能会有多达6500万例新冠肺炎病例。然而，中国国内似乎没有什么担忧，国外当然也没有什么关注。当世界卫生组织（世卫组织）本月早些时候宣布，新冠肺炎疫情不再是全球卫生紧急事件时，人们对这一消息的反应不是欢呼，甚至不是悄无声息的庆祝，而是似乎完全漠不关心。】

【重点词汇】

pandemic /pænˈdemɪk/ n. （全国或全球性）大流行病

emergency /ɪˈmɜːdʒənsi/ n. 紧急情况；突发事件

muted /ˈmjuːtɪd/ adj. 静静的

utter /ˈʌtə(r)/ adj. 完全的

indifference /ɪnˈdɪfrəns/ n. 漠不关心

02[2] To some it may have seemed a statement of the obvious.Vaccines and treatments have made the disease far less dangerous and frightening to most. A disease that claimed millions of lives, ravaged economies and upended societies has become an afterthought – though as the WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, pointed out, it is still killing someone every three minutes.

译文

【对一些人来说，这似乎是一个显而易见的声明。疫苗和治疗方法已经大大降低了这种疾病对大多数人的危险和恐惧。这种疾病夺去了数百万人的生命，严重损害了经济，颠覆了社会，但它已经成为一种事后的想法——尽管正如世卫组织总干事特沃德罗斯·阿达诺姆指出的那样，它仍然每三分钟就导致1人死亡。】

【重点词汇】

vaccine /ˈvæksiːn/ n. 疫苗

treatment /ˈtriːtmənt/ n. 治疗

ravage /ˈrævɪdʒ/ v. 严重损害

upend /ʌpˈend/ v. 使颠倒

afterthought /ˈɑːftəθɔːt/ n. 事后想法

03

[3] But the silence is also, perhaps, a reflection of the pandemic’s enduring impact. It dominated our lives for so long that for many the instinctive reaction is to try to put it from their minds. For those who lost a loved one, or battled to save lives in ICUs, the subject may be too traumatic to revisit. Some may feel embarrassed to discuss the lingering effects of unemployment, loneliness, or concerns about elderly parents or stressed children, when for others life was even worse. The cost of living crisis, the war in Ukraine and the growing impact of the climate emergency have brought new worries.

译文

【但这种沉默或许也反映了疫情的持久性影响。它在我们的生活中占据了如此长的时间，以至于许多人的本能反应是试图把它从他们的脑海中抹去。对于那些失去至亲的人，或者在重症监护室奋力抢救生命的人来说，这个话题可能太过痛苦，无法重提。有些人在谈论失业、孤独、担心年迈的父母或压力大的孩子等挥之不去的影响时可能会感到尴尬，而对其他人来说，生活甚至更糟。生活成本危机、乌克兰战争以及气候紧急情况日益严重的影响带来了新的担忧。】

【重点词汇】

enduring /ɪnˈdjʊərɪŋ/ adj. 持久的

instinctive /ɪnˈstɪŋktɪv/ adj. 本能的

traumatic /trɔːˈmætɪk/ adj. 痛苦的

revisit /ˌriːˈvɪzɪt/ v. 重提

lingering /ˈlɪŋɡərɪŋ/ adj. 挥之不去的

04

[4] To others, this silence can seem uncanny, even incomprehensible. Some are living with the pandemic’s consequences in the most literal sense: on one estimate, 65 million people worldwide have experienced long Covid, though most have recovered. For those who are clinically vulnerable, the abandonment of precautions and lack of discussion of risks may make them feel less safe.

译文

【对其他人来说，这种沉默似乎不可思议，甚至不可理解。有些人正承受着这种大流行病最直接的后果：据估计，全球有6500万人经历了漫长的新冠肺炎，尽管大多数人已经康复。对于那些临床上身体脆弱的人来说，放弃预防措施和缺乏对风险的讨论可能会使他们失去安全感。】

【重点词汇】

uncanny /ʌnˈkæni/ adj. 不可思议的

incomprehensible /ɪnˌkɒmprɪˈhensəb(ə)l/ adj. 无法理解的

literal /ˈlɪtərəl/ adj. 字面上的

recover /rɪˈkʌvə(r)/ v. 康复

clinically /ˈklɪnɪkli/ adv. 临床地

vulnerable /ˈvʌlnərəbl/ adj. （身体上或情感上）脆弱的

abandonment /əˈbændənmənt/ n. 放弃

precaution /prɪˈkɔːʃ(ə)n/ n. 预防措施

05

[5] Health systems are struggling to recover. Tens of millions of children have missed routine vaccinations. And economic consequences have played out around the world – bearing out a 2020 IMF analysis which found that social unrest often arrives around a year after pandemics, because of lower economic growth and increased inequality. A World Bank report released this spring warned of the decades-long consequences of reduced human capital. In Bangladesh, for example, toddlers tested on their cognitive and social-emotional development in 2022 lagged far behind those tested pre-pandemic — a decline that the report suggests could translate into a 25% reduction in earnings as adults. The impacts were markedly worse for children from poorer backgrounds. A global literacy survey has shown widespread significant declines in reading levels.

译文

【卫生系统正在努力恢复。数千万儿童没有接种常规疫苗。经济后果已经在世界各地显现出来——证实了国际货币基金组织2020年的一项分析，该分析发现，由于经济增长放缓和不平等加剧，社会动荡往往在大流行病后一年左右出现。世界银行今年春季发布的一份报告发出了警告，人力资本减少将带来长达数十年的后果。例如，在孟加拉国，2022年对幼儿进行的认知和社会情感发展测试远远落后于大流行病发生之前的测试——报告指出，这种下降可能会导致成年后收入减少25%。家庭背景较差的孩子受到的影响更大。一项全球扫盲调查显示，阅读水平普遍大幅下降。】

【重点词汇】

routine /ruːˈtiːn/ adj. 常规的

bear out 证实

unrest /ʌnˈrest/ n. 动荡

inequality/ˌɪnɪˈkwɒləti/ n. 不平等

capital /ˈkæpɪt(ə)l/ n. 资本

toddler /ˈtɒdlə(r)/ n. 刚学会走路的孩子

lag behind 落后于

markedly /ˈmɑːkɪdli/ adv. 显著地

literacy /ˈlɪtərəsi/ n. 读写能力

06

[6] Amid the immense costs, there are perhaps some small gains. While mothers took on a disproportionate share of household labour in the pandemic, there are some signs that it may have encouraged a long-term shift towards greater paternal involvement in caregiving in the UK. Remote working has been a true boon to some employees.

译文

【在巨大的代价中，也许有一些小的收获。虽然母亲在大流行病期间承担了不成比例的家务劳动，但有一些迹象表明，这可能鼓励了英国父亲更多地参与照顾孩子的长期转变。对一些员工来说，远程办公确实是一件好事。】

【重点词汇】

immense /ɪˈmens/ adj. 巨大的

disproportionate /ˌdɪsprəˈpɔːʃənət/ adj. 不成比例的

paternal /pəˈtɜːnl/ adj. 父亲的

involvement /ɪnˈvɒlvmənt/ n. 参与

boon /buːn/ n. 益处

【长难句分析】

【结构分析】

让步状语从句：While mothers took on a disproportionate share of household labour in the pandemic

同位语从句：that it may have encouraged a long-term shift towards greater paternal involvement in caregiving in the UK

07

【7】Talking about what went right and wrong matters not only in trying to fix some of the ongoing damage from this pandemic, but also in preparing for the next one. It might allow us to better protect health workers or safeguard vulnerable children, minimise disruption to schooling or find better ways to ensure elderly people don’t lose essential social ties. Covid is still costing us. We should at least heed its lessons.

译文

【讨论哪些是对的，哪些是错的，这不仅对试图修复这次大流行病造成的一些持续性损害来说很重要，而且对为下一次大流行病做准备也很重要。它可能使我们能够更好地保护卫生工作者或弱势儿童，最大限度地减少对学校教育的妨碍，或者找到更好的方法来确保老年人不会失去至关重要的社会联系。新冠肺炎仍在让我们付出代价。我们至少应该吸取教训。】

【重点词汇】

ongoing /ˈɒnɡəʊɪŋ/ adj. 持续存在的

safeguard /ˈseɪfɡɑːd/ v. 保护

disruption /dɪsˈrʌpʃn/ n. 妨碍

essential /ɪˈsenʃ(ə)l/ adj. 至关重要的

heed /hiːd/ v. 听从（劝告或警告

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