新闻周刊:新冠对世界的影响空前绝后(2)

The economy and working from home

经济和居家办公

In March 2020, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the U.S. was at 4.4 percent.

2020年3月，美国经季节性调整后的失业率为4.4%。

By April, it had more than tripled to 14.7 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor¹ Statistics.

据美国劳工统计局的数据，到2020年4月，失业率增加了两倍多，达到14.7%。

Another stark² figure is the number of unemployment insurance claims made per week in the U.S. at that time.

另一个残酷的数字是当时美国每周申请失业保险的人数。

In mid-March there were around 282 of these claims.

3月中旬，每周申请失业保险的人数约有282人。

By mid-April, there were 6,867.

截至4月中旬，每周申请失业保险的人数达到6867人。

There has also been a major shift in terms of where people want to work, according to a Pew Research poll of 5,858 U.S. adults between 13 and 19 October 2020.

根据皮尤研究公司2020年10月13日至19日期间对5858名美国成年人进行的民意调查显示，人们想要办公的地方也发生了重大转变。

Fifty-four percent of employed adults who said their work can be done from home

54%的就业成年人表示，他们的工作可以在家里完成，

also said they would want to carry out working from home after the pandemic.

他们也表示，他们希望疫情之后依旧居家办公。

While much of the global economy suffered—the IMF estimated it shrank by 4.4 percent in 2020—not all sectors³ did.

虽然全球大部分经济遭受重创（国际货币基金组织估计2020年经济萎缩了4.4%），但并非所有行业陷入低迷。

It has been predicted the global reusable face mask market will expand to over $7 billion by 2027,

据Grand View Research10月份的一份报告预测，到2027年，全球可重复使用的面膜市场将扩大到70亿美元以上，

with COVID playing a key role in the driving force, according to an October report by Grand View Research.

新冠将在其中发挥关键作用。

In addition, retail⁴ outlets⁵ Amazon and Walmart together earned an extra $10.7 billion over their 2019 profits during the pandemic, an increase of 56 percent.

此外，相较2019年的利润，亚马逊和沃尔玛的零售网点在大流行期间共获得107亿美元的额外收入，增长56%。

According to the Brookings Institute, the two companies could have quadrupled the extra COVID-19 compensation they paid to staff

据布鲁金斯研究所称，这两家公司可能已经将支付给员工的额外新冠补偿翻了两番，

and still increased profit from 2019.

而2019年之后的利润仍将增加。

Death toll⁶

死亡人数

In March 2020, then-President Donald Trump⁷ said that if the final U.S. death toll from COVID was between 100,000 and 200,000,

2020年3月，时任总统唐纳德·特朗普表示，如果美国死于新冠病毒的最终人数在10万至20万之间，

it would suggest "we all together have done a very good job."

这意味着“我们大家做得非常好”。

It came after an Imperial College study suggested the U.S. would see 2.2 million deaths if no action was taken to mitigate⁸ virus spread.

此前，帝国理工学院的一项研究表明，如果不采取行动缓解病毒传播，美国将有220万人死亡。

As of March 11, 2021 the U.S. had seen 526,213 deaths from COVID, more than any other country

截至2021年3月11日，美国死于新冠病毒的人数为52.6213万人，超过世界其他国家，

and ahead of Brazil, with the second-highest toll of around 270,000.

也超过巴西，巴西的死亡人数约为27万人，列世界第二。

Because of COVID, the life expectancy⁹ of American adults fell by one year in the first half of 2020, according to the CDC.

根据美国疾病预防控制中心的数据，由于新冠病毒，美国成年人的预期寿命在2020年上半年下降了一年。

That was the biggest drop since World War II.

这是二战以来最大的降幅。

Worldwide, there have been more than 2.6 million deaths from COVID out of 117.6 million cases.

在全球范围内的1.176亿确诊病例中，有260多万人死于新冠病毒。

If COVID were included in the WHO's death toll table for 2019 using this figure,

如果将新冠的死亡人数列入世界卫生组织2019年死亡人数表，

it would have been around the fourth leading cause of death globally,

新冠将是全球第四大死因，

roughly on par¹⁰ with lower respiratory infections

与下呼吸道感染大致持平，

and ahead of trachea, bronchus, lung cancers, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, and kidney diseases.

排在气管、支气管、肺癌、老年痴呆症和其他痴呆症以及肾病之前。

Ischaemic heart disease, stroke, and chronic¹¹ obstructive pulmonary disease were the top three causes of death in 2019, the figures show.

数据显示，缺血性心脏病、中风和慢性阻塞性肺疾病是2019年的前三大死因。

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

3 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

5 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

7 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

8 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

9 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

10 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

11 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。