Back in the late 1700s, long before people understood the reason behind immunity, farmers and doctors in rural areas of Britain noticed that dairymaids and other people who got a mild disease called cowpox seldom caught its fearsome cousin, smallpox.Was there a connection?Some decided there was and inserted material from the cowpox into an incision they cut on the arm of healthy people, thus somehow protecting them from smallpox. This awful year could, paradoxically, be a good one for what economists call convergence. This normally takes place when poor economies grow faster than rich ones, narrowing the income gap between them. This year will be a bit different. Few emerging markets will grow at all-perhaps China, Egypt and Vietnam早在18世纪末，人们尚未理解免疫原理，当时英国农村的农民和医生就已经注意到一个现象：挤奶女工等人若患上牛痘，就几乎不会患上天花，天花是牛痘的近亲，牛痘症状轻微，而天花则凶险异常。感染牛痘和天花免疫之间是否存在关联？一些人认为，这二者的确存在关联。于是他们划破健康人的手臂，并将牛痘病灶分泌物挤入手臂的伤口中，使人免于感染天花，而当时人们并不理解其中原理。说来也反常/说来也矛盾，今年经济形势如此糟糕，却可能成为经济学家口中“趋同”利好之年。“趋同”通常发生在新兴经济体的增速超过发达经济体时，此时二者间收入差距也在不断缩小。今年的情况略有不同，或许除中国、埃及和越南外，新兴市场国家中鲜有增长者。注：1 dairymaids and other people who got a mild disease called cowpox seldom caught its fearsome cousin, smallpox.这句话没有理解难度，但注意处理思路，这里相关修饰信息，比如mild fearsome cousin等，如果按照原文去处理，很容易导致译文过长，且表述机械不地道，这里可灵活拆分出来，避免机械化译文可处理为：天花是牛痘的近亲，牛痘症状较轻微，而天花病症则凶险异常。此外，dairymaids and other people who got a mild disease 如果直译，因为定语从句的关系，导致译文同样较长，可灵活转换思路，处理为条件逻辑，即挤奶女工等人若患上牛痘，就几乎不会患上天花。注意，英文中，someone and other people或someone and others，这里无论and other people 还是and others 均为英语母语者常用表达，用于指“某人以及其他一些人”，翻译的时候为了简洁，可直接处理为：xxx等人……，比如这里处理为：挤奶女工等人。2 Was there a connection? 注意理解核心a connection，其指牛痘感染与天花免疫之间的关联，所以可处理为：感染牛痘和天花免疫之间是否存在关联？3 Some decided there was 这里some 明显之前前面提到的部分医生或农民；且注意，结合语境，这里decide=“判断、断定、认定”，其语义重心在认知结论的形成，而非意志的抉择。这里实际有省略，补充完整就是【some decided there was a connection】，即他们认为二者的确存在关联。4 注意，“convergence”在经济学中标准中文译法为“趋同”，特指低收入经济体增速高于高收入经济体，从而缩小收入差距的现象。5 Few emerging markets will grow at all—perhaps China, Egypt and Vietnam.否定强调结构：at all（丝毫、根本）与 few搭配，构成双重否定强化：“几乎没有任何新兴市场会增长”—perhaps China, Egypt and Vietnamperhaps破折号引导的补充说明，perhaps为情态副词，表示推测性例外，而China, Egypt and Vietnam：并列专有名词，作 few emerging markets的例外性同位语。初步译为：绝大多数新兴市场国家将毫无增长——或许只有中国、埃及和越南例外。进一步改为：或许除中国、埃及和越南外，新兴市场中鲜有增长者。
原文第2段：
But because advanced economies will probably retreat even faster, the gap between them will narrow. In the pandemic, like a 400m race, the laurels go to whoever slows down least.The last time there was such a decisive growth gap between advanced and emerging economies was in 2013.That was year of the "taper tantrum", an emerging-market sell-off prompted by fears that America would slow its pace of monetary easing. It marked the end of a decade of heady emerging-market optimism best symbolised by the enthusiasm for the "BRICs", an acronym coined by Goldman Sachs, which helped sell many investors on four of the most populous emerging markets: Brazil, Russia, India and China.但由于发达经济体的衰退或将加剧//但由于发达经济体或将加速衰退，新兴经济体和发达经济体之间差距仍将缩小。而在疫情期间，新兴经济体和发达经济体仿佛在进行一场400米跑步比赛，谁速度降的越慢/越少，谁就能胜出/谁就能摘得桂冠/谁就能赢得胜利。上一次发达经济体与新兴经济体之间出现如此悬殊的增长差距，还是在2013年/还得追溯到2013年，那一年正是“缩减恐慌”之年，由于市场担心美国将放缓货币宽松步伐，引发了新兴经济体资产抛售狂潮。新兴市场持续十年之久的狂热乐观主义时代由此终结，而这一乐观情绪最典型的象征，莫过于金砖四国（BRICs）这一由高盛公司创造的缩略词，它成功说服众多投资者，将目光聚焦于人口最多的四个新兴市场：巴西、俄罗斯、印度和中国。注：6 But because advanced economies will probably retreat even faster注意这里唯一难点是retreat，字面意思是后退，撤退，如果直译，在这个语境中明显不符。结合语境，发达经济体经济方面的retreat，其实就指经济出现衰退，经济衰退。可译为：但由于发达经济体的衰退或将加剧/但由于发达经济体或将加速衰退。7 the laurels go to短语 “the laurels go to” 是个源自西方古典传统的正式习语，其核心含义为：“荣誉/胜利归属于……” 或 “桂冠属于……”，“Laurels” 源自古希腊与古罗马时期，胜利者（如奥林匹克冠军、军事统帅、诗人）被授予月桂叶编织的冠冕（laurel wreath），作为荣耀的最高象征。结合这里语境，可处理为“胜出”或“摘得桂冠”或“赢得胜利”。8 That was year of the "taper tantrum"这里唯一难点是理解taper tantrum这个核心概念，taper”在货币政策语境中指“逐步缩减资产购买规模”，即量化宽松的退出；而“tantrum”原意为“发脾气、情绪失控”，在此比喻市场因预期突变而剧烈动荡；在金融语境中，taper tantrum固定翻译为“缩减恐慌”，指当组织或市场进行规模缩减（如裁员、减产、撤资）时，引发的连锁性市场或心理恐慌。9 which helped sell many investors on four of the most populous emerging markets: Brazil, Russia, India and China.这里唯一难点是sell 如何理解？这里“sell” 并非字面意义的“卖东西”，而是英语金融语境中一个高度凝练的修辞动词：“sell someone on something” = 通过叙事、数据或预期，成功说服某人相信并接受某事物，在语义上非常接近persuade或convince 说服。可译为：它成功说服众多投资者，将目光聚焦于人口最多的四个新兴市场：巴西、俄罗斯、印度和中国个人原创译文，仅供学习参考，可对照原文和译文，细细对比学习（注意划线句以及对应标颜色部分的处理），往期MTI/MA/CATTI 翻译真题解析，可点击下面名片，查看本号往期文章。27MTI/MA考研翻译批改班
