What makes trading between rich countries difficult?
Chickens slaughtered in the United States, claim officials in Brussels, are not fit to grace European tables. No, say the American: our fowl are fine, we simply clean them in a different way. These days, it is differences in national regulations, far more than tariffs, that put sand in the wheels of trade between rich countries. It is not just farmers who are complaining. An electric razor that meets the European Union’s safety standards must be approved by American testers before it can be sold in the United States, and an American-made dialysis machine needs the EU’s okay before is hits the market in Europe.
As it happens, a razor that is safe in Europe is unlikely to electrocute Americans. So, ask businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, why have two lots of tests where one would do? Politicians agree, in principle, so America and the EU have been trying to reach a deal which would eliminate the need to double-test many products. They hope to finish in time for a trade summit between America and the EU on May 28TH. Although negotiators are optimistic, the details are complex enough that they may be hard-pressed to get a deal at all.
Why? One difficulty is to construct the agreements. The Americans would happily reach one accord on standards for medical devices and then hammer out different pacts covering, say, electronic goods and drug manufacturing. The EU—following fine continental traditions—wants agreement on general principles, which could be applied to many types of products and perhaps extended to other countries.
In what way does echo-location in bats play an utilitarian role?
Not all sounds made by animals serve as language, and we have only to turn to that extraordinary discovery of echo-location in bats to see a case in which the voice plays a strictly utilitarian role.
To get a full appreciation of what this means we must turn first to some recent human inventions. Everyone knows that if he shouts in the vicinity of a wall or a mountainside, an echo will come back. The further off this solid obstruction, the longer time will elapse for the return of the echo. A sound made by tapping on the hull of a ship will be reflected from the sea bottom, and by measuring the time interval between the taps and the receipt of the echoes, the depth of the sea at that point can be calculated. So was born the echo-sounding apparatus, now in general use in ships. Every solid object will reflect a sound, varying according to the size and nature of the object. A shoal of fish will do this. So it is a comparatively simple step from locating the sea bottom to locating a shoal of fish. With experience, and with improved apparatus, it is now possible not only to locate a shoal but to tell if it is herring, cod, or other well-known fish, by the pattern of its echo.
It has been found that certain bats emit squeaks and by receiving the echoes, they can locate and steer clear of obstacles—or locate flying insects on which they feed. This echo-location in bats is often compared with radar, the principle of which is similar.
重点句子精讲与翻译
第一段重点句
句子1️⃣
原文:
Not all sounds made by animals serve as language, and we have only to turn to that extraordinary discovery of echo-location in bats to see a case in which the voice plays a strictly utilitarian role.
结构分析:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
主句1: Not all sounds ... serve as language (部分否定)
连接词: and
主句2: we have only to turn to ... to see ... (只需要...就能看到...) 定语从句: in which the voice plays a strictly utilitarian role (修饰 a case)
Everyone knows that if he shouts in the vicinity of a wall or a mountainside, an echo will come back.
结构分析:
1 2 3
主句: Everyone knows that... 宾语从句: if he shouts..., an echo will come back (条件状语从句 + 主句)
逐词翻译:
in the vicinity of = 在…附近,在…邻近
mountainside = 山坡,山腰
echo = 回声
come back = 返回
参考译文: 每个人都知道,如果在墙壁或山坡附近大喊,就会听到回声返回。
句子3️⃣ ⭐ 重点难句
原文:
A sound made by tapping on the hull of a ship will be reflected from the sea bottom, and by measuring the time interval between the taps and the receipt of the echoes, the depth of the sea at that point can be calculated.
结构分析:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
第一部分: 主语: A sound (made by tapping on the hull) [过去分词短语作定语] 谓语: will be reflected from...
第二部分: 方式状语: by measuring the time interval... 主语: the depth of the sea 谓语: can be calculated
So was born the echo-sounding apparatus, now in general use in ships.
结构分析:
1 2 3 4 5
倒装句: So was born the apparatus 正常语序: So the apparatus was born
插入语: now in general use in ships (现在在船上普遍使用)
逐词翻译:
So was born = 于是…诞生了(倒装强调)
echo-sounding apparatus = 回声测深仪
in general use = 普遍使用,广泛应用
now = 现在
参考译文: 回声测深仪就这样诞生了,现在已在船舶上普遍使用。
语法点:
倒装句用于强调”诞生”这个动作
“now in general use” 是插入语,补充说明现状
句子5️⃣ ⭐ 重点难句
原文:
Every solid object will reflect a sound, varying according to the size and nature of the object.
结构分析:
1 2 3 4
主句: Every solid object will reflect a sound
现在分词短语作状语: varying according to... (表示伴随情况)
逐词翻译:
solid object = 固体物体
reflect = 反射
varying = 变化(现在分词)
according to = 根据,按照
nature = 性质,特性
参考译文: 每个固体物体都会反射声音,反射效果因物体的大小和性质而异。
翻译技巧:
“varying according to” 直译是”根据…而变化”
意译为”因…而异”更地道
句子6️⃣
原文:
So it is a comparatively simple step from locating the sea bottom to locating a shoal of fish.
结构分析:
1 2 3
主语: it (形式主语) 真正主语: from locating... to locating... (从...到...)
逐词翻译:
comparatively = 相对地,比较地
simple step = 简单的一步
from A to B = 从A到B
locate = 定位
shoal of fish = 鱼群
参考译文: 因此,从定位海底到定位鱼群,这是一个相对简单的进步。
句子7️⃣ ⭐ 最难句
原文:
With experience, and with improved apparatus, it is now possible not only to locate a shoal but to tell if it is herring, cod, or other well-known fish, by the pattern of its echo.
结构分析:
1 2 3 4 5 6
状语1: With experience 状语2: with improved apparatus 形式主语: it 真正主语: to locate... but to tell... (not only... but (also)... 结构) 方式状语: by the pattern of its echo
It has been found that certain bats emit squeaks and by receiving the echoes, they can locate and steer clear of obstacles—or locate flying insects on which they feed.
结构分析:
1 2 3 4
主句: It has been found that... 宾语从句主干: bats emit squeaks and they can locate... 方式状语: by receiving the echoes 定语从句: on which they feed (修饰 insects)
How does the writer describe sport at the international level?
I am always amazed when I hear people saying that sport create goodwill between nations, and that if only the common peoples of the world could meet one another at football or cricket, they would have no inclination to meet on the battle field. Even if one didn’t know from concrete examples (the 1936 Olympic Games, for instance) that international sporting contests lead to orgies of hatred, one could deduce it from general principles.
Nearly all the sports practised nowadays are competitive. You play to win, and the game has little meaning unless you do your utmost to win. On the village green, where you pick up sides and no feeling of local patriotism is involved, it is possible to play simply for the fun and exercise: but as soon as the question of prestige arises, as soon as you feel that you and some larger unit will be disgraced if you lose, the most savagecombative instincts are aroused. Anyone who has played even in a school football match knows this. At the international level, sport is franklymimicwarfare. But the significant thing is not the behavior of the players but the attitude of the spectators; and, behind the spectators, of the nations who work themselves into feries over these absurd contests, and seriously believe—at any rate for short periods—that running, jumping and kicking a ball are tests of national virtue.
📖 全文翻译与深度讲解
🎯 第一段:反驳”体育促进和平”论
原文:
I am always amazed when I hear people saying that sport create goodwill between nations, and that if only the common peoples of the world could meet one another at football or cricket, they would have no inclination to meet on the battle field.
Even if one didn’t know from concrete examples (the 1936 Olympic Games, for instance) that international sporting contests lead to orgies of hatred, one could deduce it from general principles.
On the village green, where you pick up sides and no feeling of local patriotism is involved, it is possible to play simply for the fun and exercise:
翻译:
在乡村草地上,你随意分组,不涉及任何地方爱国主义情感时,确实可能只是为了娱乐和锻炼而比赛:
讲解:
🌳 理想场景:”village green”(乡村草地)象征纯粹、简单
👥 随意性:”pick up sides”(随便分队)
✅ 关键条件:”no feeling of local patriotism”(无爱国情感)
🎈 纯粹动机:”fun and exercise”(娱乐和锻炼)
原文:
but as soon as the question of prestige arises, as soon as you feel that you and some larger unit will be disgraced if you lose, the most savage combative instincts are aroused.
People are always talking about ‘the problem of youth’. If there is one — which I take leave to doubt — then it is older people who create it, not the young themselves. Let us get down to fundamentals and agree that the young are after all human beings — people just like their elders. There is only one difference between an old man and a young one: the young man has a glorious future before him and the old one has a splendid future behind him: and maybe that is where the rub is.
When I was a teenager, I felt that I was just young and uncertain — that I was a new boy in a huge school, and I would have been very pleased to be regarded as something so interesting as a problem. For one thing, being a problem gives you a certain identity, and that is one of the things the young are busily engaged in seeking.
I find young people exciting. They have an air of freedom, and they have not a dreary commitment to mean ambitions or love of comfort. They are not anxious social climbers, and they have no devotion to material things. All this seems to me to link them with life, and the origins of things. It’s as if they were, in some sense, cosmic beings in violent and lovely contrast with us suburban creatures. All that is in my mind when I meet a young person. He may be conceited, ill-mannered, presumptuous or fatuous, but I do not turn for protection to drearycliches about respect for elders — as if mere age were a reason for respsect. I accept that we are equal, and I will argue with him, as an equal, if I think he is wrong.
📘 深度解析:《如何对待年轻人》
🎯 文章结构图
1 2 3 4 5
引言:驳斥"青年问题" ↓ 个人经历:理解年轻人的需求 ↓ 核心观点:欣赏+平等对待
📖 逐句精讲
第一段:破除偏见
句1-2:
“People are always talking about ‘the problem of youth’. If there is one—which I take leave to doubt—then it is older people who create it, not the young themselves.”
解析:
“take leave to doubt” = 恕我怀疑(礼貌的质疑表达)
强调句 “it is…who…” 强调是老年人制造问题
逻辑: 即使有问题,责任也在老年人
句3:
“Let us get down to fundamentals and agree that the young are after all human beings—people just like their elders.”
解析:
get down to fundamentals = 回归本质
after all = 毕竟,归根结底
核心论点: 年轻人=人类=和老年人一样
句4-5:
“There is only one difference between an old man and a young one: the young man has a glorious future before him and the old one has a splendid future behind him: and maybe that is where the rub is.”
解析:
对比修辞:
before him (在前方) ↔ behind him (在身后)
glorious (光辉的) ↔ splendid (辉煌的)
“where the rub is” = 问题所在(出自莎士比亚《哈姆雷特》)
深层含义: 老年人可能嫉妒年轻人的未来,这才是代际冲突的根源
第二段:同理心视角
句1:
“When I was a teenager, I felt that I was just young and uncertain—that I was a new boy in a huge school…”
解析:
比喻: 青少年 = 大学校里的新生
体现年轻人的感受:渺小、不确定、缺乏归属感
句2:
“…and I would have been very pleased to be regarded as something so interesting as a problem.”
解析:
反讽手法: 被当作”问题”反而是好事
原因: 至少说明被关注了,有存在感
句3:
“For one thing, being a problem gives you a certain identity, and that is one of the things the young are busily engaged in seeking.”
解析:
核心洞察: 年轻人最需要的是身份认同(identity)
“busily engaged in seeking” = 忙于寻找
揭示青春期的本质任务:自我定位
第三段:作者的态度(重点段)
Part 1: 欣赏年轻人的品质
“I find young people exciting.”
解析:
开门见山表明态度:exciting(令人兴奋的,而非troublesome麻烦的)
“They have an air of freedom, and they have not a dreary commitment to mean ambitions or love of comfort.”
解析:
an air of freedom = 自由的气息/氛围
not…dreary commitment to mean ambitions = 没有对卑微野心的沉闷执着
dreary = 沉闷乏味的
mean = 卑微的、低劣的(指功利性的小目标)
对比: 年轻人有理想主义,不像成年人只追求实际利益
“They are not anxious social climbers, and they have no devotion to material things.”
解析:
anxious social climbers = 焦虑的社会攀登者(指热衷于提升社会地位的人)
devotion to material things = 对物质的热衷
总结年轻人的优点:
✅ 不功利
✅ 不攀附权贵
✅ 不物质主义
Part 2: 哲学性比喻
“All this seems to me to link them with life, and the origins of things.”
解析:
link them with life = 把他们与生命本质联系起来
the origins of things = 万物的起源
含义: 年轻人更接近生命的本真状态
“It’s as if they were, in some sense, cosmic beings in violent and lovely contrast with us suburban creatures.”
解析:
核心对比:
年轻人
老年人
cosmic beings(宇宙生命)
suburban creatures(郊区生物)
广阔、自由、本真
狭隘、世俗、平庸
violent and lovely contrast = 激烈而美好的对比
violent = 强烈的、激烈的(褒义)
体现年轻人的生命力
suburban 的隐喻:
字面:郊区的
引申:安于现状、缺乏冒险精神、生活模式化
Part 3: 实践原则
“All that is in my mind when I meet a young person.”
解析:
以上想法是作者遇到年轻人时的预设态度
先入为主地欣赏,而非挑剔
“He may be conceited, ill-mannered, presumptuous or fatuous…”
解析:
列举年轻人可能的缺点:
conceited = 自负的,自大的
ill-mannered = 没礼貌的
presumptuous = 放肆的,冒昧的
fatuous = 愚蠢的,昏庸的
“…but I do not turn for protection to dreary clichés about respect for elders—as if mere age were a reason for respect.”
解析:
turn for protection to = 求助于…来保护自己
dreary clichés = 陈腐的老生常谈
指”尊敬长辈”这类说教
破折号后的解释:
as if mere age were a reason for respect = 好像仅仅年龄就是值得尊重的理由
虚拟语气(were) 表示作者认为这是不成立的假设
核心观点: 年龄本身不值得尊重,值得尊重的是人品和智慧
“I accept that we are equals, and I will argue with him, as an equal, if I think he is wrong.”
解析:
三次强调”equal”(平等):
we are equals
as an equal
argue with him(辩论,而非训斥)
argue 的积极含义:
不是吵架,而是理性讨论
体现尊重对方的思考能力
🎨 写作手法分析
1. 对比手法
对比项
年轻人
老年人
时间维度
未来在前
过去在后
生活态度
自由、理想主义
功利、物质主义
存在状态
宇宙生命
郊区生物
对比效果
violent & lovely
dreary & mean
2. 反讽(Irony)
“被当作问题反而高兴” → 揭示年轻人渴望被关注
“尊重长辈的陈词滥调” → 讽刺以年龄压人的做法
3. 比喻(Metaphor)
新生 vs 大学校 → 年轻人的不确定感
宇宙生命 vs 郊区生物 → 本质 vs 平庸
未来在前 vs 过去在后 → 时间的方向性
4. 排比(Parallelism)
“not…dreary commitment / not…anxious climbers / no devotion…”
“conceited, ill-mannered, presumptuous or fatuous”
增强语气,强化观点
💡 深层主题
1. 代际关系的本质
不是”问题 vs 解决者”
而是”平等的人 vs 平等的人”
2. 尊重的真正含义
❌ 不是基于年龄的等级制度
✅ 是基于人格的相互理解
3. 青春的价值
不在于”完美”
而在于”生命力”和”可能性”
4. 成年人的反思
是否失去了理想主义?
是否变成了”郊区生物”?
📝 文章金句
“It is older people who create it, not the young themselves.”
问题的制造者往往是指责者
“Being a problem gives you a certain identity.”
存在感比完美更重要
“As if mere age were a reason for respect.”
年龄不等于智慧
“Cosmic beings in violent and lovely contrast with suburban creatures.”
Given a binary search tree and the lowest and highest boundaries as L and R, trim the tree so that all its elements lies in [L, R] (R >= L). You might need to change the root of the tree, so the result should return the new root of the trimmed binary search tree.
Initially, there is a Robot at position (0, 0). Given a sequence of its moves, judge if this robot makes a circle, which means it moves back to the original place.
The move sequence is represented by a string. And each move is represent by a character. The valid robot moves are R(Right), L(Left), U(Up) and D(down). The output should be true or false representing whether the robot makes a circle.
Given a non-empty special binary tree consisting of nodes with the non-negative value, where each node in this tree has exactly two or zero sub-node. If the node has two sub-nodes, then this node’s value is the smaller value among its two sub-nodes.
Given such a binary tree, you need to output the second minimum value in the set made of all the nodes’ value in the whole tree.
If no such second minimum value exists, output -1 instead.
Example 1:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Input: 2 / \ 2 5 / \ 5 7
Output: 5 Explanation: The smallest value is 2, the second smallest value is 5.
Example 2:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Input: 2 / \ 2 2
Output: -1 Explanation: The smallest value is 2, but there isn't any second smallest value.
We define a harmonious array is an array where the difference between its maximum value and its minimum value is exactly 1. Now, given an integer array, you need to find the length of its longest harmonious subsequence among all its possible subsequences. Example 1:
1 2 3
**Input:** [1,3,2,2,5,2,3,7] **Output:** 5** Explanation:** The longest harmonious subsequence is [3,2,2,2,3].
Note: The length of the input array will not exceed 20,000.
Given an integer, write an algorithm to convert it to hexadecimal. For negative integer, two’s complement method is used. Note:
All letters in hexadecimal (a-f) must be in lowercase.
The hexadecimal string must not contain extra leading 0s. If the number is zero, it is represented by a single zero character ‘0’; otherwise, the first character in the hexadecimal string will not be the zero character.
The given number is guaranteed to fit within the range of a 32-bit signed integer.
You must not use any method provided by the library which converts/formats the number to hex directly.