新冠肺炎：为什么旅行再也回不到过去了：英语精读讲义

This is what the skies looked like in March.

三月份的天空是这样的。

And this was 1 month later,

而这是仅仅一个月后，

when passenger numbers were a staggering 94% lower than the previous year, 短語搭配

客流量比前一年惊人地下降了94%，

thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

这都拜新冠疫情所赐。

Business is now starting to pick up, 短語動詞

现在业务开始有所好转，

but travel is becoming increasingly localized and complicated. 用詞

但旅行正变得越来越本地化和复杂化。

This world of quite easy travel and relatively free movement just sort of has evaporated almost overnight. 講解

这个旅行相当容易、行动相对自由的世界似乎一夜之间蒸发了。

This will have consequences far beyond canceled holiday bookings.

它的后果将远远超出取消假期预订那么简单。

It could exacerbate existing inequalities, 短語搭配

它可以加剧现有的不平等，

create economic hardship,

造成经济困难，

and disrupt the workings of the globalized world. 短語搭配

并扰乱全球化世界的运转。

The tourism industry is enormous.

旅游业规模庞大。

Every year,

每年，

international holidaymakers spend $1.6 trillion.

国际度假者的花费高达1.6万亿美元。

That's more than Spain's GDP,

这超过了西班牙的GDP，

or at least they did before the coronavirus pandemic. 表達脈絡

或者说至少在新冠疫情爆发前是这样的。

The CDC just told everyone,

疾控中心刚刚告诉所有人，

do not travel.

不要旅行。

Postpone or cancel all non-essential travel. 用詞

推迟或取消所有非必要的旅行。

In April 2020,

在2020年4月，

planes carried just 31 million passengers around the world.

全世界飞机的载客量仅为3100万人次。

The sort of passenger levels last seen in the late 1970s. 語法

这种客流水平上一次出现还是在20世纪70年代末。

In April this year,

今年4月，

200,000 passengers went through Heathrow Airport in London,

只有20万名乘客经过伦敦希思罗机场，

which is fewer than would go through on any single day in a normal month. 語法

这甚至低于正常月份里任何一天的客流量。

IATA, the airline trade body, 語法

航空业贸易机构国际航协（IATA）

has said flights will not return to pre-pandemic levels for several years. 短語搭配

表示，航班数量在几年内都不会恢复到疫情前的水平。

In China,

在中国，

flights are now just 21% below normal levels,

现在的航班数量仅比正常水平低21%，

while in America,

而在美国，

air traffic began to pick up in May,

空中交通从5月开始回暖，

but remains 57% below normal.

但仍比正常水平低57%。

And in much of Europe,

在欧洲大部分地区，

flight numbers are still around 75% lower than the same time last year.

航班数量仍比去年同期低75%左右。

And while passenger numbers are creeping up, 短語動詞

虽然客流量正在缓慢上升，

some areas, like business travel,

但某些领域（如商务旅行），

may never recover.

可能永远无法恢复。

After the last financial crisis,

在上一次金融危机之后，

the number of overseas business trips taken per person in the UK fell by a third 短語搭配

英国人均海外出差次数下降了三分之一，

and never picked up.

并且再也没有回升。

Whereas leisure travel did eventually climb back to pre-crisis levels. 語法

而休闲旅行最终还是回升到了危机前的水平。

Were the same thing to happen again, 語法

如果同样的情况再次发生，

it could have a significant impact on airline profits.

可能会对航空公司的利润产生重大影响。

Business travelers actually subsidize leisure travelers. 用詞

实际上是商务旅客在补贴休闲旅客。

Your £250 transatlantic fare in the back of the plane is possible 文化背景

你能在机舱后部买到250英镑的跨大西洋机票，

because somebody at the front of the plane is paying £800 or £1,500

是因为机舱前部有人付了800或1500英镑。

Airlines are already struggling.

航空公司已经举步维艰。

Virgin Atlantic has announced plans to cut more than 3,000 jobs in the UK. 短語搭配

维珍大西洋航空已宣布计划在英国裁员3000多人。

Air Canada lost more than a billion dollars in the first quarter.

加拿大航空在第一季度亏损超过10亿美元。

In March,

在三月份，

IATA warned that without government aid,

国际航协警告称，如果没有政府援助，

just 30 of the world's 700 or so airlines would make it through the pandemic. 短語動詞

全球约700家航空公司中只有30家能挺过这场疫情。

The airlines that survive will determine the competition and prices on certain routes.

幸存下来的航空公司将决定某些航线的竞争和价格。

Some airlines are in pretty good financial shape. 習語

有些航空公司财务状况相当不错。

Within Europe,

在欧洲内部，

there remains a lot of competition.

仍然存在大量竞争。

Transatlantic flights,

跨大西洋航线，

there is still plenty of competition,

竞争也依然激烈，

but on routes where there's much thinner competition, 用詞

但在竞争较弱的航线上，

prices will go up.

价格必然会上涨。

There's no doubt about that. 語氣意圖

这一点毫无疑问。

For the well-off, 用詞

对于富裕阶层来说，

the price increases may be an annoyance,

价格上涨可能只是有些烦人，

but they could also have a significant impact on global mobility,

但这也会对全球人口流动产生重大影响，

as lower-income travelers may find themselves priced out of the skies. 習語

因为低收入旅客可能会发现自己再也坐不起飞机了。

What happens with airfares and with the prices of flights

机票和航班价格的变化

affects not just summer holidays. 表達脈絡

影响的不仅仅是暑假。

Migrants have parents or spouses in one country and work in another.

移民的父母或配偶在另一个国家，而自己在这个国家工作。

And for all of these people,

对于所有这些人来说，

it is quite important that they continue to be able to go home.

能够继续回家非常重要。

In June,

今年六月，

189 countries had imposed some form of travel restriction, 短語搭配

189个国家实施了某种形式的旅行限制，

ranging from measures like quarantine to border closures. 語法

措施从隔离到关闭边境不等。

And governments are desperate to open up travel as quickly as possible. 短語動詞

各国政府都迫切希望尽快开放旅行。

The government is to make it easier for British holidaymakers to travel to much of Europe this summer. 語法

政府将使英国度假者今年夏天更容易前往欧洲大部分地区。

Though these arrangements may help tourists, 語法

虽然这些安排可能有助于游客，

they could also create an increasingly inequitable system.

但它们也可能造成一个越来越不公平的体系。

The British government is working to allow Brits to go off on holiday to say Spain or France, 講解

英国政府正努力允许英国人去西班牙或法国等地度假，

and come back without the need for quarantine. 短語搭配

而且回来后无需隔离。

But that doesn't take into account the fact that someone may have a partner in America, 短語搭配

但这没有考虑到有些人可能有伴侣在美国，

parents in Nigeria,

父母在尼日利亚，

or siblings in Pakistan,

或兄弟姐妹在巴基斯坦，

and they won't be able to go see the people who are very, very important to them.

他们将无法去见那些对他们来说非常非常重要的人。

The risk is that we end up with a very uneven and possibly unfair system. 講解

风险在于，我们最终会面对一个非常不平衡且可能不公平的体系。

The relatively free movement enjoyed by many tourists is a modern phenomenon 文化背景

许多游客享有的相对自由的流动是一种现代现象，

that has played an increasingly important role in globalization and domestic economies. 短語搭配

它在全球化和国内经济中发挥了越来越重要的作用。

Take China. 表達脈絡

以中国为例。

For around 30 years until the end of the 1970s,

在直到20世纪70年代末的大约30年里，

travel to and from China was heavily restricted.

进出中国的旅行受到严格限制。

But today,

但今天，

China sends more tourists abroad than any other country,

中国出境游客数量居世界之首，

and they spend more money.

并且花费最多。

In 2018,

2018年，

Chinese tourists spent over $270 billion overseas,

中国游客在海外花费超过2700亿美元，

almost double that spent by Americans. 語法

几乎是美国游客的两倍。

And the limitations on travel caused by the pandemic

疫情导致的旅行限制

could have a knock-on effect on global cooperation and economic growth. 習語

可能会对全球合作和经济增长产生连锁反应。

The worry is that these restrictions persist in the long term and then become entangled in all sorts of other things, 講解

令人担忧的是，这些限制会长期存在，进而与各种其他事情纠缠在一起，

such as reciprocity,

比如互惠原则、

trade negotiations,

贸易谈判、

any sort of geopolitical dispute between countries.

或是国家间的任何地缘政治争端。

And so we return to a sort of mid-20th century world of closed borders, 表達脈絡

这样一来我们就会回到20世纪中叶那种封闭边境的世界，

lots of restrictions and paperwork,

充满繁文缛节和限制，

and just less interchange between countries.

国家间的交流变得更少。

Faced with an ever-changing array of travel restrictions, 講解

面对不断变化的旅行限制，

many travelers are looking closer to home for their holidays. 習語

许多旅行者在寻找离家更近的度假地点。

In May,

在五月，

80% of total reservations on Airbnb were made domestically.

爱彼迎（Airbnb）上80%的预订都是国内旅行。

And between January and April,

在一月到四月之间，

foreign searches for summer holiday accommodation in Spain fell by as much as 94%. 短語搭配

外国人对西班牙暑假住宿的搜索量下降了多达94%。

The rise in localized travel could be good news for the environment.

本地旅行的增加对环境来说可能是个好消息。

In 2018,

在2018年，

carbon dioxide emissions from commercial flights accounted for 2.4% of global fossil fuel emissions. 短語搭配

商业航班的二氧化碳排放量占全球化石燃料排放量的2.4%。

The answer to this quandary is not to stop people from flying, 表達脈絡

解决这一困境的办法不是阻止人们坐飞机，

rather it's to make planes more efficient and to focus on innovation in the industry. 短語搭配

而是让飞机变得更高效，并专注于行业的创新。

The pandemic has accelerated the shift towards efficiency. 短語搭配

疫情加速了向高效率的转变。

So some older planes are being taken out of the sky.

因此，一些老式飞机正在被淘汰。

The COVID-19 pandemic will dramatically affect the way in which people move around the world. 語法

新冠疫情将极大地改变人们在世界各地的移动方式。

But rather than driving economic growth, 語法

新的限制措施非但不能

as the travel industry has in the past,

像过去的旅游业那样推动经济增长，

new restrictions could affect globalization,

反而可能会影响全球化，

sowing division, 習語

播下分裂的种子，

and increasing inequality.

并加剧不平等。

My name is Leo Mirani.

我的名字是Leo Mirani。

I'm a correspondent on the Britain desk at The Economist. 文化背景

我是《经济学人》英国部门的记者。

And if you'd like to read more about the impact that COVID-19 is having on international travel,

如果你想了解更多关于新冠疫情对国际旅行影响的内容，

click the link opposite.

请点击对面的链接。