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As coronavirus has spread globally since February, a tenuous balancing act has been attempted in Britain and much of the rest of the world. Governments have assured populations that necessary precautions and preparations are being undertaken to deal with the potential pandemic. The media has, by and large, resisted the temptation to sensationalise and overdramatise the crisis.
自2月份新型冠状病毒在全球范围内扩散以来，英国以及除中国外的全球大部分地区都试图采取一种微妙的平衡措施。各国政府向民众保证，他们会采取必要的预防措施和准备工作，以应对这一潜在的世界性疫情。总的来说，媒体已经遏制住了煽动并夸大此次危机的欲念。
This approach has been understandable, as efforts and hopes are concentrated on containing the virus. But this strange state of pseudo-normality was shattered on Monday. Following a Cobra meeting – chaired for the first time by Boris Johnson – the government’s chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, said that coronavirus in Britain will soon spread “really quite fast”.
这种做法是可以理解的，因为所有的努力和希望都集中在遏制病毒上。但这种奇怪的伪正常状态在周一被打破了。在由鲍里斯·约翰逊首次主持的“科伯拉”会议之后，英国政府首席医疗官克里斯·惠蒂教授表示，冠状病毒很将“非常迅速”地席卷英国。
Meanwhile, global stock markets collapsed at a rate that recalled Black Monday in 1987. Increasingly, the sense is one of queasily living on the brink of a crisis that will be both lethal and transformative. Monday’s market meltdown suggested it will shine a pitiless light on some of the economic assumptions and complacencies of the post-crash decade.
与此同时，全球股市暴跌，暴跌程度堪比1987年的黑色星期一。这种感觉越来越像是一个人正濒临危机边缘的不安感，而这种危机既是致命的且具有变革意义。周一的市场崩盘表明，它将无情地揭示后危机时代的一些经济假设和自满情绪。
The immediate source of investor panic around the world was the decision by Saudi Arabia to enter into an oil price war with Russia. At a time when demand was plummeting due to coronavirus, this was dire news for oil companies. But the near-hysteria that broke out among traders in stock markets across the world also had a deeper explanation.
沙特决定与俄罗斯开展石油价格战是令全球投资者恐慌的直接原因。由于新型冠状病毒的爆发，石油需求直线下降，这对石油公司来说是个可怕的消息。但全球股市交易者中爆发的近乎歇斯底里的情绪，还有一种更深层次的解释。
The consequences of a pandemic threaten to stress-test the global economy in unprecedented ways, disrupting both supply and demand. There is justified fear that nation states are in no shape to cope with the kind of economic shock in prospect. Across the west, interest rates remain cut to the bone, but globally growth has been slowing for some time.
爆发世界性流行病的后果可能会以一种前所未有的方式对全球经济进行一场压力测试，扰乱供需。人们有理由担心，现代民族国家无法应对未来可能出现的那种经济冲击。在西方世界，利率仍被削减至最低水平，但全球经济增长放缓已有一段时日。
Analysts have warned that buoyant stock market figures, boosted by quantitative easing, have reflected excessive and unfounded optimism on the part of investors. Speculators have been content to enjoy the spoils of booming asset prices that bore little relation to the underlying strength of the real economy. The risk now is that a long-predicted correction will occur in the catastrophic context of societies that have ground to a halt as the result of a pandemic.
分析人士警告称，在量化宽松政策的推动下，股市数据呈上涨态势，反映出部分投资者过度且盲目的乐观情绪。投机者一直乐于享受资产价格飞速上涨所带来的破坏，而资产价格上涨与实体经济的潜在实力几乎没有关系。现在的风险是，由于一场世界性疫情导致社会陷入停滞，在这种灾难性的背景下，将会发生早期预测的市场修正。
本文节选自：Guardian（卫报） 发布时间：2020.03.10 作者：Editorial 原文标题：The Guardian view on the market meltdown: a wake-up call for Westminster
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词汇积累 1.pandemic 2.sensationalise 3.overdramatise 4.lethal 英 [ˈliːθl] 美 [ˈliːθl] n. 致死因子 adj. 致命的、可致死的、危害极大的
5.spoil 6.underlying ◆
词组搭配 1.the brink of ...的边缘 2.post-crash decade 后危机时代 3.in no shape to 无法 4.cut to the bone 大力削减、病入骨髓
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