Aerospace
Down in flames
A tragedy casts doubt on Russia’s civil-aviation renaissance
航空工业
火中坠落
一场悲剧令俄罗斯民航业的复兴蒙上阴影
了解时事的童鞋都知道,俄罗斯本月初发生了一场重大航空事故,造成41人遇难。此篇文章即为经济学人就该事件对俄罗斯飞机制造业发展所进行的梳理。
前两段说到,俄罗斯在UAC身上倾注了很大的期望,但一场事故彻底打破了这种希望。那么在事故之前,UAC有着什么样的目标呢?而它的实际情况又是否能支撑它达成那样的目标?
① Before the accident UAC was aiming to increase its share of global revenues from civilian aircraft, from 17% in 2017 to 40% by 2025. ②The target now looks unreachable. ③Yet even beforehand Sukhoi had been making only slow progress towards it. ④The company has grabbed 20% of the global market for regional jets and secured a similar number of orders as rival aircraft from Bombardier of Canada and Embraer of Brazil, the two firms which have historically dominated the sector. ⑤But although the SuperJet is cheaper to buy, even Russian airlines were already falling out of love with it, says Tom Chruszcz of Fitch, a rating agency. ⑥The lack of a global maintenance network made servicing Sukhois more expensive, and the amount of time not in the air longer, than for the Canadian and Brazilian jets. ⑦Sanctions on Russia have crimped the availability of spare parts outside of Russia. ⑧Alexei Navalny, a former member ofAeroflot’s board turned vocal critic of Mr Putin, has previously deridedSuperJets as “always standing idle” and generating losses for the flag carrier.
第①句给出了UAC在事故之前给自己定下的目标。
本句语言点:
Aim此处是用作动词: I] to try or intend to achieve something力求达到;
Share: [singular,单数] the part of something that you own or
are responsible for〔某人拥有或应负担的〕一份; 此处即为UAC在全球营收中的所占份额;
Revenue:N-UNCOUNT Revenue is money that a company,
organization, or government receives from people. (公司、组织或政府的) 收入;
civilian aircraft顾名思义是“民用飞机”,相对应的“军用飞机”则为military aircraft;
本句语法结构:
Before the accident(时间状语) UAC(主语) was aiming(谓语) to increase its share of global revenues from civilian aircraft, from 17% in 2017 to 40% by 2025(状语).
主干则为:
UAC was aiming toincrease its share.
第②句比较简单,一针见血地指出,该目标现在看来是遥不可及了。
The target now looks unreachable.
第③句进一步指出,UAC在某些方面还是做的不错的。
本句语言点:
Beforehand: ADV If you do something beforehand, you do it earlier than a particular event. 事先; 预先; 表达“事情的进展”用make progress, 常见搭配有:
Slow/steady/rapid/good/significant/littleprogress
本句语法结构
Yet(表示转折) even beforehand(状语) Sukhoi (主语)had been making (谓语)only slow progress(宾语)towards it.
主干即为:
Sukhoi had beenmaking only slow progress.
第④句紧接第三句,具体描述UAC在此前怎么就进展缓慢了。
本句语言点:
Grab抓取,这里的取义也是相关的:
[ VN ] to take sth for yourself, especially in a selfish or greedy way (尤指自私、贪婪地)捞取,赚取,抢占;从释义可以看出,如果采用该词,则后面的市场份额、数额、金额、占比都应该是相对较大的,此处UAC占有全球20%的支线客机市场,是个不小的份额;
regional jet: 支线客机(此处建议与前文的civil aircraft统一记忆);
支线客机:支线客机(regional aircraft)通常是指100座以下的小型客机,一般设计座位为35~100座;
干线客机(trunk-liner):在客流量大的城市之间的干线上飞行的民航客机叫干线客机。我国一般把100座以下航程在3000千米以内的飞机划分为支线客机,而100座以上的飞机算做干线客机。
secure此处不是安全,而是一个动词,常常与orders搭配:
~ sth (for sb/sth)~ sb sth ( formal ) to obtain or achieve sth, especially when this means
using a lot of effort (尤指经过努力)获得,取得,实现, 除了与orders搭配,还常常与deal/contract搭配,表示“订立合同、达成协议”,当然也可以有其它的用法:
He secured a place for himself at law school. 他在法学院取得了学籍。
Rival此处是名词,表示“对手”,但也可以作为修饰成分,比如:
a rival bid/claim/offer 竞争投标
rival groups 竞争团体;
rival gang 敌对团伙;
Dominate: to control or have a lot of influence over sb/sth, especially in an unpleasant way 支配;控制;左右;影响;
Sector代表一个行业:a part of an area of activity, especially of business, trade etc〔尤指商业、贸易等领域的〕部门;行业;
本句语法结构:
The company(主语) has grabbed(谓语1) 20% of the global market(宾语1) for regional jets(介词短语做后置定语) and secured(谓语2) a similar number of orders(宾语2) as rival aircraft from Bombardier of Canada and Embraer of Brazil(此处省略了have secured), the two firms(前面2家公司的同位语) which(定从,修饰firms) have historically dominated(定从谓语) the sector(定从宾语).
主干很简单:
The company hasgrabbed 20% of the global market and secured a similar number of orders.
第⑤句来了个转折,表示Superjet这个项目发展并不好。
本句语言点:
Fall in love with…爱上…
“不爱了”就是这里的fall out of love with…
Rating agency在读外刊的时候会经常碰到,指“评级机构”;
本句语法结构:
But although the SuperJet is cheaper to buy(转折状语从句), even Russian airlines(主句主语) were already falling out of love (主句谓语)with it, says Tom Chruszcz of Fitch, a
rating agency(Fitch的同位语).
主干:
Russian airlineswere already falling out of love with it.
第⑥句紧跟第五句,阐述为什么Superjet会发展受阻。
本句语言点:
Maintenance: ~ (of sth) the act of keeping sth in good condition by checking or repairing it regularly 维护;保养;
Service此处也是“维修、维护”的意思:
[ usually passive] to examine a vehicle or machine and repair it if necessary so that it continues to work correctly 检修;维护;维修;保养,比如:
We need to have the car serviced. 我们得把车送去检修一下了。
这句话主要难点在它的结构:
The lack of a global maintenance network(主语) made (谓语)servicing Sukhois (宾语1)more expensive(宾语补足语), and the amount of time not in the air(宾语2) longer(宾语补足语), than(此处省略the amount of time not in the air) for the Canadian and Brazilian jets(比较状语).
than for the Canadian and Brazilian jets,此处省略了the amount of time not in the air,即比较的对象是“不在空中的时间”;
除了第六句提到的维修网络问题,第⑦句指出还有美国对俄罗斯的制裁也是原因之一。
本句语言点:
Sanctions: [ Cusually pl. ] ~ (against sb) an official order that limits trade, contact, etc. with a particular country, in order to make it do sth, such as obeying international law 制裁;
Crimp:( NAmE informal ) to restrict the growth or development of sth 妨碍(或阻止)…的发展,比如:
The dollar'srecent strength is crimping overseas sales and profits.
美元最近的坚挺削减了海外的销售和利润。
spare part指“零部件”;
本句语法结构:
Sanctions on Russia(主语) have crimped(谓语) the availability of spare parts(宾语) outside of Russia(地点状语).
要阐述观点,总要找点权威人士说过的话,第⑧句就引用了Alexei Navalny的言论。
本句语言点:
Board此处指“董事会”;
Vocal跟声音有关:telling people your opinions or protesting
about sth loudly and with confidence 大声表达的;直言不讳的,比如:
Foley has beenparticularly vocal in his criticism of the government.
福利批评政府时尤其直言不讳。
Critic“批评者”;
Deride: [ VNV speech ] ~ sb/sth (as sth) ( formal
) to treat sb/sth as ridiculous and not worth considering seriously 嘲笑;愚弄;揶揄;
Idle: ( of machines, factories, etc. 机器、工厂等 ) not in use 闲置的, 常见搭配有:
to lie/stand/remain idle 闲置着;
flag有“国旗”的意思,此处代表俄罗斯;
本句语法结构:
Alexei Navalny(主语), a former member of Aeroflot’s board(同位语) turned vocal critic of Mr Putin(过去分词短语后置修饰member), has previously derided(谓语) SuperJets(宾语)as “always standing idle” and generatinglosses for the flag carrier.
主干:
Alexei Navalny has previously derided SuperJets.
本段中文:
此次空难发生前,UAC的目标是到2025年将其民用飞机在全球收入中的份额从2017年的17%提高到40%。现在看来这一目标是遥不可及了。然而,即便在这之前,苏霍伊公司朝此目标迈进的速度也很缓慢。苏霍伊公司已经占据了全球支线客机20%的市场份额,并获得了与加拿大庞巴迪公司(Bombardier)和巴西航空工业公司(Embraer)生产的竞争机型差不多数量的订单。后两家公司长期以来处于该领域主导地位。但评级机构惠誉(Fitch)的汤姆·赫鲁什奇(Tom Chruszcz)表示,尽管SuperJet的价格更便宜,但是就连俄罗斯自己的航空公司也已经不再青睐它。由于缺乏全球性的维修网络,SuperJet的维修费用高于加拿大和巴西的客机,维修停飞的时间也更长。对俄罗斯的制裁影响了俄罗斯以外地区的零部件供应。俄航前董事、后来常公开批评普京的阿列克谢·纳瓦尔尼(Alexei Navalny)此前就曾嘲讽SuperJet“永远闲着”,导致这家国家航空公司亏钱。
本段有不少长句子,只要仔细剖析一下,主干支干都很清晰,所以对长句子不可有畏难情绪哦