2020年经济学人 开放不再,繁荣落幕(2)

“Open” is clear, colourful and convincing, marshalling evidence from a range of eras and civilisations. The Roman Empire ceased to prosper¹ when it ceased to be open. Christianity became the established religion, and sought to crush all others. “This new intolerance…led to vicious conflicts… between Christians² and pagans, who saw their old gods being banned and their temples torn down.” Persecuted³ pagans joined Rome’s enemies, even welcoming barbarian⁴ invaders⁵ as liberators.

《开放》这本书清晰易懂、丰富多彩、令人信服，作者探寻了一系列时代和文明，并从中收集证据。罗马帝国停止开放的同时，繁荣也就落幕了。基督教成为了罗马帝国国教，并试图粉碎所有的其他宗教。“这样新的对异己的无法容忍引发了基督教和异教徒之间的恶性冲突，异教徒们看着自己信仰的旧神被明令禁止，目睹着庙宇被拆毁。”受到迫害的异教徒们加入了罗马的敌方阵营，他们甚至欢迎野蛮的入侵者来解放罗马。

Human history, in Mr Norberg’s telling, is a cacophony⁶ of drawbridges being lowered and then raised. Mathematics and medicine flourished under the cosmopolitan⁷ Abbasid caliphate, but froze when religious conservatives won control. By driving out Jews, Muslims and heretics, he argues, the Inquisition helped impoverish⁸ Spain (between 1500 and 1750 the Spanish economy actually shrank).

在诺伯格看来，吊桥先降后升，社会由开放到闭塞，人类历史就是大杂烩。在阿巴斯哈里发帝国世界性的统治下，数学和医学蓬勃发展，当宗教保守主义者掌权时，数学和医学发展停滞不前。诺伯格认为，宗教裁判所驱逐犹太人、穆斯林和异教徒，致使西班牙陷入困顿（实际上，1500年至1750年间，西班牙经济萎缩）。

China’s Song dynasty, which welcomed Muslim traders, Indian monks⁹ and Persians, developed paper money,water-powered textile machines and the makings of an industrial revolution 400 years before the West. But later dynasties turned inward and stagnated¹⁰. Ming officials smashed clever machines, banned overseas trade on pain of death and curbed¹¹ movement within China itself. The Manchus were even worse: to prevent contact with the outside world, in 1661 they forced the whole population of the southern coast to move 30km inland. A century later the Qianlong emperor banned or burned any books that seemed sympathetic to previous dynasties, including a great encyclopedia¹² of economic and technical matters.

中国在宋朝时期欢迎穆斯林商人、印度僧侣和波斯人，还早于西方国家400年就发展了纸币、水力纺织机和工业革命。但是宋朝以后的时代逐渐变得闭塞，停滞不前。明代官员捣毁巧妙的机器、禁止海外贸易且违者处死，还限制了中国国内的人口流动。满族的情况甚至更糟。1661年，满族政府强迫南部沿海的全部人口向内陆迁移30公里，以遏制与外国的接触。一个世纪后，乾隆皇帝查封或烧毁了大量有支持前朝倾向的书籍。包括一本记录经济和技术问题的大百科全书。

1 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

2 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

3 persecuted   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。

4 barbarian   

n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的

参考例句：

• There is a barbarian tribe living in this forest.有一个原始部落居住在这个林区。
• The walled city was attacked by barbarian hordes.那座有城墙的城市遭到野蛮部落的袭击。

5 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

6 cacophony   

n.刺耳的声音

参考例句：

• All around was bubbling a cacophony of voices.周围人声嘈杂。
• The drivers behind him honked,and the cacophony grew louder.后面的司机还在按喇叭，且那刺耳的声音越来越大。

7 cosmopolitan   

adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的

参考例句：

• New York is a highly cosmopolitan city.纽约是一个高度世界性的城市。
• She has a very cosmopolitan outlook on life.她有四海一家的人生观。

8 impoverish   

vt.使穷困，使贫困

参考例句：

• We need to reduce the burden of taxes that impoverish the economy.我们需要减轻导致经济困顿的税收负荷。
• America still has enough credibility to a more profitable path that would impoverish its creditors slowly.美国尚有足够的信用来让其得以选择一条更加有利可图的路径使它的债权人们渐渐贫困枯竭。

9 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 stagnated   

v.停滞，不流动，不发展( stagnate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句
• His mind has stagnated since his retirement. 他退休后头脑迟钝了。 来自辞典例句

11 curbed   

v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Advertising aimed at children should be curbed. 针对儿童的广告应受到限制。 来自辞典例句
• Inflation needs to be curbed in Russia. 俄罗斯需要抑制通货膨胀。 来自辞典例句

12 encyclopedia   

n.百科全书

参考例句：

• The encyclopedia fell to the floor with a thud.那本百科全书砰的一声掉到地上。
• Geoff is a walking encyclopedia.He knows about everything.杰夫是个活百科全书，他什么都懂。