新冠肺炎：為何旅行再也回不到從前：英語精讀講義

This is what the skies looked like in March.

三月份的天空是這樣的。

And this was 1 month later,

而這是短短一個月後，

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

客流量比前一年驚人地下降了94%，

thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

這都拜新冠疫情所賜。

Business is now starting to pick up, 片語動詞

現在業務開始有所好轉，

but travel is becoming increasingly localized and complicated. 用詞

但旅行正變得越來越本地化和複雜化。

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

這個旅行相當容易、行動相對自由的世界似乎一夜之間蒸發了。

This will have consequences far beyond canceled holiday bookings.

它的後果將遠遠超出取消假期預訂那麼簡單。

It could exacerbate existing inequalities, 片語搭配

它可以加劇現有的不平等，

create economic hardship,

造成經濟困難，

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

並擾亂全球化世界的運作。

The tourism industry is enormous.

旅遊業規模龐大。

Every year,

每年，

international holidaymakers spend $1.6 trillion.

國際度假者的花費高達1.6兆美元。

That's more than Spain's GDP,

這超過了西班牙的GDP，

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

或者說至少在新冠疫情爆發前是這樣的。

The CDC just told everyone,

疾管署剛剛告訴所有人，

do not travel.

不要旅行。

Postpone or cancel all non-essential travel. 用詞

推遲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.

全世界飛機的載客量僅為3100萬人次。

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

這種客流水準上一次出現還是在20世紀70年代末。

In April this year,

今年4月，

200,000 passengers went through Heathrow Airport in London,

只有20萬名乘客經過倫敦希斯洛機場，

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

這甚至低於正常月份裡任何一天的客流量。

IATA, the airline trade body, 文法

航空業貿易機構國際航協（IATA）

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

表示，航班數量在幾年內都不會恢復到疫情前的水準。

In China,

在中國，

flights are now just 21% below normal levels,

現在的航班數量僅比正常水準低21%，

while in America,

而在美國，

air traffic began to pick up in May,

空中交通從5月開始回暖，

but remains 57% below normal.

但仍比正常水準低57%。

And in much of Europe,

在歐洲大部分地區，

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

航班數量仍比去年同期低75%左右。

And while passenger numbers are creeping up, 片語動詞

雖然客流量正在緩慢上升，

some areas, like business travel,

但某些領域（如商務旅行），

may never recover.

可能永遠無法恢復。

After the last financial crisis,

在上一次金融危機之後，

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

英國人均海外出差次數下降了三分之一，

and never picked up.

並且再也沒有回升。

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

而休閒旅行最終還是回升到了危機前的水準。

Were the same thing to happen again, 文法

如果同樣的情況再次發生，

it could have a significant impact on airline profits.

可能會對航空公司的利潤產生重大影響。

Business travelers actually subsidize leisure travelers. 用詞

實際上是商務旅客在補貼休閒旅客。

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

你能在機艙後部買到250英鎊的跨大西洋機票，

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

是因為機艙前部有人付了800或1500英鎊。

Airlines are already struggling.

航空公司已經舉步維艱。

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

維珍航空已宣布計畫在英國裁員3000多人。

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

加拿大航空在第一季虧損超過10億美元。

In March,

在三月份，

IATA warned that without government aid,

國際航協警告稱，如果沒有政府援助，

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

全球約700家航空公司中只有30家能挺過這場疫情。

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

倖存下來的航空公司將決定某些航線的競爭和價格。

Some airlines are in pretty good financial shape. 慣用語

有些航空公司財務狀況相當不錯。

Within Europe,

在歐洲內部，

there remains a lot of competition.

仍然存在大量競爭。

Transatlantic flights,

跨大西洋航線，

there is still plenty of competition,

競爭也依然激烈，

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

但在競爭較弱的航線上，

prices will go up.

價格必然會上漲。

There's no doubt about that. 語氣意圖

這一點毫無疑問。

For the well-off, 用詞

對於富裕階層來說，

the price increases may be an annoyance,

價格上漲可能只是有些煩人，

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

但這也會對全球人口流動產生重大影響，

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

因為低收入旅客可能會發現自己再也坐不起飛機了。

What happens with airfares and with the prices of flights

機票和航班價格的變化

affects not just summer holidays. 表達脈絡

影響的不僅僅是暑假。

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

移民的父母或配偶在另一個國家，而自己在這個國家工作。

And for all of these people,

對於所有這些人來說，

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

能夠繼續回家非常重要。

In June,

今年六月，

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

189個國家實施了某種形式的旅行限制，

ranging from measures like quarantine to border closures. 文法

措施從隔離到關閉邊境不等。

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

各國政府都迫切希望盡快開放旅行。

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

政府將使英國度假者今年夏天更容易前往歐洲大部分地區。

Though these arrangements may help tourists, 文法

雖然這些安排可能有助於遊客，

they could also create an increasingly inequitable system.

但它們也可能造成一個越來越不公平的體系。

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

英國政府正努力允許英國人去西班牙或法國等地度假，

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

而且回來後無需隔離。

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

但這沒有考慮到有些人可能有伴侶在美國，

parents in Nigeria,

父母在奈及利亞，

or siblings in Pakistan,

或兄弟姊妹在巴基斯坦，

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

他們將無法去見那些對他們來說非常非常重要的人。

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

風險在於，我們最終會面對一個非常不平衡且可能不公平的體系。

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

許多遊客享有的相對自由的流動是一種現代現象，

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

它在全球化和國內經濟中發揮了越來越重要的作用。

Take China. 表達脈絡

以中國為例。

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

在直到20世紀70年代末的大約30年裡，

travel to and from China was heavily restricted.

進出中國的旅行受到嚴格限制。

But today,

但今天，

China sends more tourists abroad than any other country,

中國出境遊客數量居世界之首，

and they spend more money.

並且花費最多。

In 2018,

2018年，

Chinese tourists spent over $270 billion overseas,

中國遊客在海外花費超過2700億美元，

almost double that spent by Americans. 文法

幾乎是美國遊客的兩倍。

And the limitations on travel caused by the pandemic

疫情導致的旅行限制

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

可能會對全球合作和經濟成長產生連鎖反應。

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

令人擔憂的是，這些限制會長期存在，進而與各種其他事情糾纏在一起，

such as reciprocity,

比如互惠原則、

trade negotiations,

貿易談判、

any sort of geopolitical dispute between countries.

或是國家間的任何地緣政治爭端。

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

這樣一來我們就會回到20世紀中葉那種封閉邊境的世界，

lots of restrictions and paperwork,

充滿繁文縟節和限制，

and just less interchange between countries.

國家間的交流變得更少。

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

面對不斷變化的旅行限制，

many travelers are looking closer to home for their holidays. 慣用語

許多旅行者在尋找離家更近的度假地點。

In May,

在五月，

80% of total reservations on Airbnb were made domestically.

Airbnb上80%的預訂都是國內旅行。

And between January and April,

在一月到四月之間，

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

外國人對西班牙暑假住宿的搜尋量下降了多達94%。

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

本地旅行的增加對環境來說可能是個好消息。

In 2018,

在2018年，

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

商業航班的二氧化碳排放量佔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

解決這一困境的辦法不是阻止人們坐飛機，

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

而是讓飛機變得更高效，並專注於行業的創新。

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

疫情加速了向高效率的轉變。

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

因此，一些老舊飛機正在被淘汰。

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

新冠疫情將極大地改變人們在世界各地的移動方式。

But rather than driving economic growth, 文法

新的限制措施非但不能像過去的旅遊業那樣

as the travel industry has in the past,

推動經濟成長，

new restrictions could affect globalization,

反而可能會影響全球化，

sowing division, 慣用語

播下分裂的種子，

and increasing inequality.

並加劇不平等。

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《經濟學人》英國部門的記者。

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

如果你想了解更多關於新冠疫情對國際旅行影響的內容，

click the link opposite.

請點擊對面的連結。