标题 👇

The maturing of the smartphone industry is cause for celebration

It’s bad news for Apple shareholders, but good news for humanity

智能手机产业的成熟值得庆祝🎉 （虽然对苹果的股东来说是坏消息，但是对我们全人类来说却是好消息）

cause： 题目中就出现了我们每日一词cause，作为“理由”的含义，非常实用。上期《经济学人》的special report中一篇关于儿童上网的文章中也出现过：Daniel looked at all the evidence he could find, and found less cause for alarm than is often suggested. （原文太长，改写了一下）

Paragraph 1 👇

1⃣️  WHEN APPLE cut its revenue estimate for the last quarter of 2018 because of unexpectedly slow sales of iPhones, markets convulsed. 2⃣️  The company’s share price, which had been sliding for months, fell by a further 10% on January 3rd, the day after the news came out. 3⃣️ Apple’s suppliers’ shares were also hit. 4⃣️  This week Samsung, the world’s largest maker of smartphones by volume, which also sells components to other smartphone-makers, said its sales were weaker than expected for the quarter, too.

（一）段落大意

1⃣️ 2⃣️  句说，苹果公司的股价几个月来一直在下跌。因为iPhone销量意外减缓，苹果公司减少了2018年最后一个季度的预估收入，整个市场跟着出现震荡。消息一出，股价再跌10%。3⃣️ 4⃣️ 句说，苹果公司供货商股价遭到了冲击，比如三星。

（二）词句精读

1⃣️  WHEN APPLE cut its revenue estimate for the last quarter of 2018 because of unexpectedly slow sales of iPhones, markets convulsed. 

👉  convulse 基本含义是“痉挛抽筋，震动”，或是“因为笑或生气等而全身抖动”，现在网上流行的那句“🐯 虎躯一震”就可以用这个词：I'm convulsed with amazement. 这里用于跟markets市场搭配，可以说是非常形象了，市场受到冲击而震动。《经济学人》的一篇关于“美联储宣布停止债券购买计划” 的文章中也出现过这个用法：When the Fed first hinted that this day was coming in the summer of 2013, the investor s panicked and the market convulsed. 可以记住这个搭配。

2⃣️  The company’s share price, which had been sliding for months, fell by a further 10% on January 3rd, the day after the news came out. 

👉  slide&fall 两个表示下滑的词，在同一句话中出现，体现了英语行文中多用不同的词表达同个意思，避免重复的特点。第二段第一句出现的decline，可以放在一起记。

 3⃣️  Apple’s suppliers’ shares were also hit. 

👉  hit 基本含义是“打”，这里是“打击，产生不良影响”之义。Rural areas have been worst hit by the strike. 第一句里面的markets convulsed可以改写成markets were badly hit。

4⃣️  This week Samsung, the world’s largest maker of smartphones by volume, which also sells components to other smartphone-makers, said its sales were weaker than expected for the quarter, too.

👉  volume 有很多意思，“音量；体积；卷/册”，这里是指sales volume “销售额”。

值得注意的是，volume前面用的介词by，意思是“从...看”的意思，“从销售额来看，三星是世界上最大的智能手机制造商”。I could tell by the look on her face that something terrible had happened. 我从她的脸色就能看出有可怕的事情发生了。

拓展一个跟volume相关的表达：speak volumes （about/for sth/sb) "充分说明，清楚表明"，之前读“A Street Cat Named Bob”遇到的：The look she gave him spoke volumes. 比如你求朋友帮忙，人家没有马上答应你而是犹豫了一下，你就可以说 “Well, that pause speaks volumes.”

👉  weak 基本含义是“虚弱无力” ，但是经常被用在经济相关的话题中，表示“疲软的，萧条的”。这里是用来形容sales销售量的，下次想说销量低的时候，不要只想到low啦，还可以想到weak哦！Export sales were weak at that time.

Paragraph 2 👇

1⃣️  Analysts reckon that the number of smartphones sold in 2018 will be slightly lower than in 2017, the industry’s first ever annual decline. 2⃣️  All this is terrible news for investors who had banked on continued growth. 3⃣️  But step back and look at the bigger picture. 4⃣️  That smartphone sales have peaked, and seem to be levelling off at around 1.4bn units a year, is good news for humanity.

（一）段落大意

本段为过度段，点题并引起下文。1⃣️ 句说分析人士认为2018年卖出的智能手机数量会首次出现比上年减少的情况。2⃣️ 3⃣️ 4⃣️ 这对那些投资者来说是坏消息，但是观大局，对全人类来说却是好消息。

2⃣️  All this is terrible news for investors who had banked on continued growth. 

👉  bank on sb/sth 表示指望，依靠 。比如“请放心”，我们就可以说You can bank on it.  “别指望”就是“Don't bank on it.” 

 4⃣️  That smartphone sales have peaked, and seem to be levelling off at around 1.4bn units a year, is good news for humanity.

👉  peak 名词是高峰的意思，这里是动词“达到最高峰”之义，“手机的销量到了峰值”。再看个例句：Interestingly, traditional SMS text traffic actually peaked in 2011! 有趣的是，传统简讯服务在2011年达到高峰！

👉 level 我们比较熟悉的也是名词，在这里是个动词，level off/out，是“保持...水平”的意思，“手机销量达不再上升，保持在每年14亿左右”。这里需要注意，后面的小介词，用的是at，比如：Inflation is finally levelling out at around 11% a month. 通货膨胀率最终稳定在每月11%左右。也可以不提具体稳定在一个什么样的水平。比如：The figures show evidence that murders in the nation's capital are beginning to level off. 数据表明，该国首都谋杀案件的数量开始保持在稳定的水平。(根据上下文可以翻译成，不再上升，或者不再下降)。

本句是一个由that引导的主语从句，“手机销量达不再上升，保持在每年14亿左右” 这件事，对我们人类来说是个好消息。

Paragraph 3 👇

1⃣️  People have voted with their wallets to make the smartphone the most successful consumer product in history: nearly 4bn of the 5.5bn adults on the planet now have one. 2⃣️  And no wonder. 3⃣️  They connect billions of people to the internet’s plethora of information and services. 4⃣️ Phones make markets more efficient, compensate for poor infrastructure in developing countries and boost growth. 5⃣️  Yes, they can be used for wasting time and spreading disinformation. 6⃣️  But the good far outweighs the bad. 7⃣️  They might be the most effective tool of development in existence.

（一）段落大意

1⃣️ 2⃣️ 句说，智能手机是史上最成功的消费产品。3⃣️ 4⃣️ 句说了原因，因为智能手机让人们能获取网上大量的信息和服务，让市场更高效，为发展中国家弥补落后的基础设施，促进发展。5⃣️ 6⃣️ 7⃣️ 句说使用手机确实会导致浪费时间和散布虚假信息，但是手机的好处是远远超过坏处的，而且可能是最有效的发展工具。

（二）词句精析

1⃣️  People have voted with their wallets to make the smartphone the most successful consumer product in history: nearly 4bn of the 5.5bn adults on the planet now have one.  2⃣️  And no wonder. 

👉  voted with their wallets 哈哈，我看到这句的时候都笑了，写的真好，“用钱包投票”，可不是吗，我们都花大票子买的手机。以后要说哪个商品受欢迎，或是说哪个地方是旅游胜地等，我们也可以用到这个，比如：Girls have voted with their wallet to make lipstick the most popular cosmetic product. 

👉  And no wonder.  全世界55亿人，差不多40亿人都拥有智能手机，智能手机多受欢迎程度不言而喻。所以第二句就说了And no wonder. 我以前见到的，都是后面还接个从句的，比如：No wonder you're on your own, lad. 怪不得你还单身，小伙子。今天见到了单独也可以的用法，以后也可以用上啦！

3⃣️  They connect billions of people to the internet’s plethora of information and services. 

👉  plethora 对我来说是个生词，“过剩、过量”的意思，plethora of information and service，可以记住这个搭配，下次想用large amount of的时候，可以试着用plethora这个词替换，很高级的样子哈哈。

4⃣️  Phones make markets more efficient, compensate for poor infrastructure in developing countries and boost growth.

👉  make compensate boost 三个动词，把手机的好处简洁地说了出来。

5⃣️  Yes, they can be used for wasting time and spreading disinformation. 6⃣️  But the good far outweighs the bad. 

👉  disinformation，information我们都熟，是“信息”的意思，而disinformation就是们平时经常碰到的“虚假信息，假消息”啦！散布虚假信息“spread disinformation”。

👉  outweigh 之前的每日一词里学到过outlive“比...活得更长”的意思，引申含义，在...结束/消失后，继续存在：The machine had outlived its usefulness(=was no longer useful). outweigh也是out前缀，“重于”，我们原文中这句，可以改写成：The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

类似的词还有，outplay“战胜，击败”；outpace“比...快”；outperform“胜过”；outwit“智力上胜过”；outgrow"长得穿不下；比...长得高；年增志移" 如：He's outgrown his passion for rock music. She's outgrown her obsession with fancy appearance.

这两句的句式可以提炼一下。Yes...But... 看似挺简单的结构，但是我们却不一定想到会用。试着造个句子：Yes, getting up early to participate the morning reading was kind of hard for me. But the gain far outweigh the pain. (gain和pain的押韵，是得于下一段“ButApple’s pain is humanity’s gain.”这句的灵感。)