英语沙塔|经济学人|如何用英语讲述《啥是佩琪》中的故事

本文节选自《经济学人》2019.02.02期，China版块中的一篇关于《啥是佩琪》短片的报道。

建议大家先自主阅读原文，再学习精读笔记。原文内容因politics原因，不便发表，故篇幅较小，本文节选三段，读完笔记后，回头再读原文段落，测试自己是否能够流畅阅读。

文末会总结此次学习写作可以使用的词句，读者也可自己总结。会定期将内容进行总结，做成word分享，希望大家也能坚持学习

Until now links between social-realist cinema and “Peppa Pig”, a sweet British-made animated television series for children, have been hard to spot. Then came “What is Peppa?”, a beautifullycrafted film about China’s rural-urban divide, family ties and the sadness of old age that hasaccumulated hundreds of millions of online views over the past few days.

social-realist：社会写实主义者

animated television series：动画系列

spot：看出，看见【写作推荐】写作词汇积累，可以和notice替换，it’s hard to notice the difference between A and B

crafted：精心制作。The umbrella is carefully crafted, 这把伞是精心制作的【写作推荐】写作词汇积累

rural-urban divide：城乡分离，城乡差距

old age：暮年，晚年。she had her child in his old age 她是在年老的时候生的孩子

accumulated：积累，积聚。【地道表达/电影相关表达】accumulate many online views，引发热议/获得了很多评论

hundreds of millions of：数以亿计

直到现在，社会写实类电影和供儿童观看、形象可爱的英国系列动画“小猪佩琪”之间很难看出有什么联系，随之而来的是一个精心制作的影片—“啥是佩琪？”，主要表现了中国城乡差距，家庭纽带以及老年人的哀伤，过去几天在网上引发了热议。

Officially, the six-minute short is an advertising trailer for a children’s feature film made for theChina market, “Peppa Pig Celebrates Chinese New Year”. It is timed to cash in on the festival:day one of a pig-year in the Chinese zodiac falls on February 5th. Yet many grown-ups felt a pang of recognition as they watched the trailer’s bittersweet, live-action depiction of Li Yubao, agruff-but-loving Chinese villager striving to please his city-dwelling grandson, notably bypuzzling out the toddler’s request for a Peppa-themed gift. Filmed in the village of Waijinggou, in the dusty, hardscrabble hills that encircle northern Beijing, the short film is rather honest about modern inequalities. The mystery of Peppa’s identity is solved by a village woman who worked in Beijing as a nanny. When grandfather and toddler meet, the child’s eyes show fear at this wild-haired, over-loud old man, as well as excitement

the six-minute short：6分钟短片【地道表达】短片的表达， the 时间 short

trailer：预告片，先导片【电影相关表达】

feature film：故事片【电影相关表达】

China market：中国市场，在这里，其主体可以理解为是中国的观众【电影相关表达】

It is timed to cash in on the festival【电影相关表达】

time, 为……安排时间，选择时期；

cash in (on sth）：从……中牟利，捞到好处；乘机利用……赚钱

【地道表达】it is timed to do/ sth is timed to，某事被特地安排在某个时间发生。

day one：首日，第一日

a pig-year in the Chinese zodiac：十二生肖当中的猪年

a pang of recognition：一阵似曾相识的心痛

bittersweet：苦乐参半的

gruff-but-loving：声音粗哑却又充满爱心的

striving to：strive to do努力做某事【写作推荐】写作词汇积累

city-dwelling：生活在城市的

notably：尤其；特地；特别地【写作推荐】不要只会一个especially，可以替换

puzzling out：puzzle out弄清楚，苦苦思索 He tried hard to puzzle out all these mysteries 他努力地想要弄清楚这些秘密

hardscrabble：艰难困苦的，贫困的

官方称这个六分钟短片是一个为中国观众打造的儿童故事片的先导片，《小猪佩奇过大年》，该片于中国农历猪年首日—2月5日上映，期望获得不错的票房成绩。然而很多成年人在看到苦乐参半的先导片主角李玉宝，这个声音粗哑却又充满爱心的中国农民努力地想让孙子开心，尤其是为了孙子想要佩琪这个礼物的请求而苦苦寻找时，心里感到一阵酸痛。该片拍摄于外井沟村，这里十分贫困，尘土飞扬的小山丘环绕着北京北部。这个短片对现代贫富不等描绘十分写实。关于佩琪的秘密被一个在北京当保姆的农村妇女解决。当爷爷和他的孙子见面时，对这个头发长乱、声音高亢的老人，孩子眼中同时透露着恐惧和兴奋。

A bleak truth lurks in “What is Peppa?”. Many Chinese feel for that film’s hero, rattling aroundhis half-empty village. They also understand why such places are abandoned. Tellingly, the trailer’s emotional climax involves the grandfather relishing the big city with his family.

Bleak：不容乐观的，无望的

lurks in：潜行于，潜藏于

feel for：同情

rattling around：在空荡的房间里居住（to be in a room, house, or building that is much bigger than is required）

Tellingly：很明显地

Relishing：享受，喜欢 = enjoy

《啥是佩琪》暗藏着一个不容乐观的事实。很多中国人都同情影片中的英雄，留守在空荡的农村里。他们也了解为什么这些农村被抛弃。显然，预告片的高潮包括了爷爷和他的家人一起享受大城市的欢愉。

总结