the Economist

A world upside down

閱讀時間：20分鐘

1. issue a Bond villain's laugh

issue: come, go or flow out 出來; 出去; 流出: blood issuing from a wound

The James Bond novels and film series feature a number of villainous characters who serve as primary antagonists. Each story normally features a main villain bent on world domination or destruction who seeks to defeat or kill Bond, often with the assistance of secondary characters. Bond typically confronts the villain during the story's climax and exposes the evil plot.

2. turbine 渦輪機

3. Photovol'taics 太陽能光伏

4. anathem? [??n?θ?m?]

something that you strongly dislike or strongly disagree with ? 極其討厭的人或事物

5. incumbent

person holding an official position, esp in the church 現(xiàn)任者, 在職者（尤指神職）

the present incumbent of the White House, ie the US President 現(xiàn)任美國總統(tǒng)

6. pricey: expensive

7. to date

until now

There have been no reports of the animal being seen to date.

8. Carbon pricing

— the method favored by many economists for reducing global-warming emissions — charges those who emit carbon dioxide (CO2) for their emissions.

That charge, called a carbon price, is the amount that must be paid for the right to emit one tonne of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Carbon pricing usually takes the form either of a carbon tax or a requirement to purchase permits to emit, generally known as cap-and-trade, but also called "allowances".

9. perennial?? [p??reni?l] adjective

?always existing, or never seeming to change

Money is a perennial source of disagreement among couples.

The Wizard of Oz? is a perennial favourite with children.

10. a revenue-neutral economy-wide carbon tax

11. rebate? [?ri?be?t] noun [countable]

an amount of money that is officially given back to someone ?回扣

a tax/?rent rebate

12. impose

to introduce something such as a new law or new system, and force people to accept it

rules and regulations imposed by national governments

impose something on someone/?something: They have imposed restrictions on trade with foreign companies.

13. glut? 供過于求

an available amount of something that is more than people want or need

glut of: a glut of cars on the market

14. the shale-gas revolution 頁巖氣革命

隨著社會對清潔能源需求不斷擴(kuò)大，天然氣價格不斷上漲，人們對頁巖氣的認(rèn)識迅速提高。特別是水平井與壓裂技術(shù)水平不斷進(jìn)步，人類對頁巖氣的勘探開發(fā)正在形成熱潮。

世界上對頁巖氣資源的研究和勘探開發(fā)最早始于美國。依靠成熟的開發(fā)生產(chǎn)技術(shù)以及完善的管網(wǎng)設(shè)施,美國的頁巖氣成本僅僅略高于常規(guī)氣,這使得美國成為世界上唯一實現(xiàn)頁巖氣大規(guī)模商業(yè)性開采的國家。

美國的“頁巖氣革命”已經(jīng)動搖了世界液化天然氣市場格局,并且這一影響還將愈發(fā)顯著,進(jìn)而改變世界能源格局。

15. stark 明顯的

used for describing a building or scene that is very clear and plain to look at, often in a slightly unpleasant or frightening way

She disliked the stark brick walls and the steel window frames.

The hill formed a stark silhouette against the sky.

16. megawatt ?兆瓦

megawatt-hour 兆瓦時

17. havoc [?h?v?k]

a situation in which there is a lot of damage or destruction, or in which something cannot continue in its normal way because of problems ?混亂，大破壞

18. write off

say officially that someone does not have to pay an amount of money

The US government agreed to write off debts of $170 billion.

19. deregulate

to take away the rules that control something such as an industry ?撤銷管制，控制

20. at first blush

when you first think about or see something

At first blush it looks like any other car.

21. intermittent ?? adjective

happening sometimes but not regularly or often ?斷斷續(xù)續(xù)的

a dull day with intermittent rain

22. hydroelectricity ? 水力發(fā)電

23. the doldrums? [?dɑldr?mz] noun [plural]

a situation in which there is a lack of success, activity, or improvement

He’s just the player the team needs to lift it out of the doldrums.

in the doldrums: After years in the doldrums, the market is finally picking up.

24. cling on

~ (on) to sb/sth; ~ on; ~ together：

hold on tightly to sb/sth 緊抓住或抱住某人[某物]:

They clung to each other/clung together as they said goodbye. 他們告別時, 緊緊地?fù)肀г谝黄? Cling on tight! 抓緊!

25. brown coal 褐煤

26. diesel 柴油

27. backup

people or equipment that can be used when extra help is needed

I’ve got my mother as a backup in case the babysitter cancels.

They realized that Sykes was armed, and radioed for backup.

a backup generator/?crew

28. portfolio

set of investments (eg stocks and shares) owned by a person, bank, etc （個人﹑ 銀行等所有的）投資組合（如債券和股票）:

My stockbroker manages my portfolio for me. 我的證券經(jīng)紀(jì)人替我管理投資組合

29. peg

（economics） to keep prices, salaries, or the amount of something at a particular level, often in relation to something else

peg something to something: The country’s peso is pegged to the dollar.

30. buck

buck the trend/system

to succeed in doing something, even though there is a general tendency for this not to happen

Scottish industry bucked the UK trend with a 5% rise in exports.

31. eat into

if an activity or cost eats into your time or money, it uses more of it than you intended

32. not least

used for emphasizing the importance of a particular aspect of a situation

George is an excellent manager, not least because he is genuinely willing to listen.

Not least among our difficulties is our lack of funding.

33. incipient

just beginning to appear or develop 剛開始的

the incipient signs of economic recovery

34. dromedary 單峰駱駝

35. precipitous

happening more quickly than expected

36. offshore

at sea not far from the land 近海的:

an,offshore oil rig, island, anchorage 近海的石油鉆塔﹑ 島﹑ 錨地

37. slash

reduce something by a large amount

The budget had been slashed by ￡3 million.

The company has slashed production by 50%

38. all-in

an all-in price includes everything, with no extra charges

an all-in package holiday

39. lucrative

bringing a lot of money

a lucrative business/?deal/?contract

40. bolster 支持

to make something stronger or more effective

The campaign is designed to bolster the government’s image as being tough on crime.

His score will bolster his confidence for the next match.

41. big data/ megadata 大數(shù)據(jù)

42. liken

compare 把...比做

His works have been likened to those of Beckett.

43. gigawatt 千兆瓦

44. crowdsourcing，群眾外包

是互聯(lián)網(wǎng)帶來的新的生產(chǎn)組織形式?！哆B線》（Wired）雜志記者Jeff Howe于2006年發(fā)明的一個專業(yè)術(shù)語，用來描述一種新的商業(yè)模式，即企業(yè)利用互聯(lián)網(wǎng)來將工作分配出去、發(fā)現(xiàn)創(chuàng)意或解決技術(shù)問題。

45. thermostat?? [?θ??(r)m??st?t]

n,恒溫器

46. nibble v,啃

to eat something by taking a lot of small bites

Sheep were nibbling the grass.

nibble at/?on: Mel was nibbling at a chocolate biscuit.

47. scream blue murder

British informal phrase

to shout or protest very loudly because you are very angry or feeling a lot of pain

She screamed blue murder when they tried to give her the injection.

48. fitful ? ? a,斷斷續(xù)續(xù)的

starting and stopping often

fitful sleep

49. unabated? [??n??be?t?d] adjective

unable to be stopped or controlled

Fighting continued unabated for several hours.

或 (of a storm, an argument, a crisis, etc) as strong,violent, serious, etc as before

（指風(fēng)暴﹑ 論爭﹑ 危機等）仍然強烈﹑ 猛烈﹑ 嚴(yán)重等, 并未消減:

The gales continued unabated. 風(fēng)勢毫未稍減

Our enthusiasm remained unabated. 我們的熱情一如既往.