2019年经济学人 韩国“低头族”

 

Smartphone addiction¹ in South Korea

韩国人对智能手机依赖成瘾

Smombie apocalypse

“低头族”末日

In South Korea smartphone cases come with rings mounted on the back, to prevent clumsy owners from dropping them. This makes people look like they are literally² married to their phones. In many of Seoul’s most Instagrammable coffee shops, couples on dates spend vastly more time looking at their screens than at each other. The ramifications³ go beyond the potentially dire⁴ consequences for romance.

在韩国，智能手机保护套的背面装有指环，以防笨手笨脚的主人滑落手机。这看起来就像人和手机结婚一样。在首尔许多网红Ins咖啡店里，情侣们在约会时盯着屏幕的时间要远远多于盯着对方的时间。这不仅会破坏他们之间的浪漫，而且还会带来其他后果。

Walk around the streets of Seoul or any other South Korean city, and there is a real risk of bumping into people whose eyes are glued to their smartphone screens. Insurers estimate that around 370 traffic accidents annually⁵ are caused by pedestrians⁶ using smartphones. That figure does not include those who bump into lamp posts and the like while perusing⁷ the latest cat videos.

走在首尔或其他韩国城市的街道上，很容易撞到目不转睛盯着智能手机屏幕的人。据保险公司估计，每年约有370起交通事故是由行人走路看手机造成的。这一数字还不包括那些在观看最新喵星人视频时撞到灯柱等物体的人。

The government initially⁸ tried to fight the “smombie” (a portmanteau of “smartphone” and “zombie”) epidemic⁹ by distributing hundreds of stickers around cities imploring¹⁰ people to “be safe” and look up. This seems to have had little effect even though, in Seoul at least, it recently replaced the stickers with sturdier plastic boards.

“低头族”一词“smombie”是由“smartphone智能手机”和“zombie僵尸”合成，这种人越来越多，政府最初试图通过在城市周围分发数百张贴纸呼吁人们注意安全，抬头看路。这种做法似乎收效甚微，尽管最近，至少在首尔，政府用更结实的塑料板取代了贴纸。

Instead of appealing to people’s good sense, the authorities have therefore resorted to trying to save them from being run over. Early last year, they began to trial floor-level traffic lights in smombie hotspots in central Seoul. Since then, the experiment has been extended around and beyond the capital. For the moment, the government is retaining old-fashioned eye-level pedestrian lights as well. But in future, the way to look at a South Korean crossroads may be down.

因而，政府是将“低头族”从车祸中拯救出来，而不是唤醒其安全意识。去年年初，开始在首尔市中心“低头族”多见区域试行地面交通灯。从那之后，这个实验逐步扩展到首都周边甚至更远的地方。目前，政府还保留了老式的与眼睛水平的行人信号灯。但在未来，在韩国，看红绿灯的方式可能会有所改变。

1 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

5 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

6 pedestrians   

n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 perusing   

v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的现在分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字）

参考例句：

• She found the information while she was perusing a copy of Life magazine. 她在读《生活》杂志的时候看到了这个消息。 来自辞典例句
• Hence people who began by beholding him ended by perusing him. 所以人们从随便看一看他开始的，都要以仔细捉摸他而终结。 来自辞典例句

8 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

9 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

10 imploring   

恳求的，哀求的

参考例句：

• Those calm, strange eyes could see her imploring face. 那平静的，没有表情的眼睛还能看得到她的乞怜求情的面容。
• She gave him an imploring look. 她以哀求的眼神看着他。