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  3. Economists are scratching their heads to explain the pork price jump. Some blame

Economists are scratching their heads to explain the pork price jump. Some blame

游客2023-12-14  42
问题 Economists are scratching their heads to explain the pork price jump. Some blame it on blue-ear, a contagious disease which may have killed 18,000 or 20m pigs, depending on whom you believe. Others say the main cause is the surge in global grain prices, which have increased the cost of feed for pigs. It is not only the Chinese who are paying more for their pork. Capital Economics, a London-based economics firm, points out that American pork prices have also jumped by more than 50% over the past year.
    Economists, however, may recall the old "hog cycle" that they learnt about in their first year of economics. This explains why prices in certain markets are subject to periodic booms and busts, because of a lag between the response in production to a change of price. Chinese pork prices today are not much higher than at their peak in 2004. High prices then prompted farmers to produce more, and prices fell sharply for two years. That in turn discouraged farmers from raising pigs. The inevitable result was today’s higher prices, which will probably lead to glut and falling prices tomorrow. Pigs may fly. But not forever.
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答案 另有一些人认为主要原因是全球谷物价格的猛增拉高了养猪成本。“吃肉贵”①的还不仅仅是中国人。据伦敦一家经济资本公司称②．过去一年美国的肉价涨幅也超过了50%。
    但是，也许经济学家还记得刚接触经济学时学到的古老的“猪循环”理论③。这一理论解释了某一市场的物价为何受到周期性繁荣与萧条的影响④——因为生产对价格变化的反应总是滞后的。与2004年猪肉价格最高时相比，中国现在的肉价并没有高出很多⑤。当时的高价推动农民提高了肉产量，随后两年肉价便急剧下降。如此一来⑥农民养猪的积极性也随之减弱。这就不可避免地引起了今天肉价的上扬，而今后猪肉也可能会供应过剩，价格又降下来⑦。猪能“升天”⑧．但终会“降落”。
解析     ①“吃肉贵”译paying more for their pork，用的是地道的百姓语言，不满情绪跃然纸上。加引号是为了加强其作为本段中心内容的分量。
    ②Capital Economics, a London-based economics firm, points out…是英语中典型的某人士或机构表达某种观点的句式，译为“据伦敦一家经济资本公司称(指出)……”。
    ③hog cycle直译“猪循环”，加范畴词“理论”使其具体化。
    ④be subject to在此译为“受到……影响”。此短语的深层内涵是“把……置于(权威)之下”，英释throw…under(authority)，不同语境中可以衍变成多种表层语义。例如：Civility is not a sign of weakness，and sincerity is always subject to proof. 谦恭不是软弱的表现，诚意总是有待证明。
    ⑤Chinese pork prices today are not much higher than at their peak in 2004．内含英语比较结构，为了避免重复，使句子简练，than之后省略了pork prices，翻译时可以用“与……相比，……高(大、长)等”的句型，并补上原省略的内容，故此译为“与2004年猪肉价格最高时相比，中国现在的肉价并没有高出很多”。
    ⑥That指前句中所述猪肉价格急剧下降的情况，原来是主语，译为“如此一来”，变成汉语的话题，并引发其他语词和语序的变化，译文向译入语靠拢。
    ⑦翻译falling prices tomorrow时转换了词性，即将形容词falling转换为动词，译为“价格又降下来”。glut意为“充斥，供大于求”。
    ⑧将fly译为“升天”，是为了取得与原文类似的夸张幽默效果。
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