《经济学人》双语：天线宝宝与英国牛津街

原文标题：

The Marble Arch moundOver the hillsHow to lure shoppers off their computers? With a heap of earth, apparently大理石拱门小丘

山丘之上

如何诱导购物者离开他们的电脑?显然是一堆土

[Paragraph 1]THE 25M-HIGH artificial hill at one end of Oxford Street dubbed the Marble Arch Mound opened in July.

25米高，位于牛津街的一端，这座名为“大理石拱门小丘”的人工山在七月份开放了。

It was supposed to help lure shoppers freed from lockdown away from internet stores and back to Britain’s best-known shopping thoroughfare.

这是为了吸引那些在封锁期间从网上商店中解放出来的购物者，回到英国最著名的购物大道。

But once the first visitors were allowed on it, it was revealed to be a mess.

但当第一批游客获准进入时，人们发现这里一片混乱。

Rain swept turf off the slopes, leaving bare scaffolding on view. What grass remained turned brown.

雨水冲走了山坡上的草皮，留下光秃秃的脚手架。剩下的草都变成褐色了。

To Britons familiar with children’s television, it was reminiscent of a shabby, low-rent Teletubby land.

对于熟悉儿童电视的英国人来说，它让人想起了破旧、租金低廉的天线宝宝乐园。

[Paragraph 2]During construction the cost ballooned from £3.3m ($4.7m) to £6m.

在施工期间，成本从330万英镑激增到600万英镑。

After it opened, plans to charge for entry were scrapped.

开放之后，收费入场的计划被取消了。

The deputy leader of Westminster Council, which commissioned the mound from MVRDV, a Dutch design company, resigned.

委托MVRDV（一家荷兰设计公司）修建此山丘的威斯敏斯特议会副主席辞职了。

Opposition councillors said the mound was “an international embarrassment” and called for it to be dismantled immediately.

反对派议员称这座山丘是“一场国际性的尴尬”，要求立刻拆除。

It is due to come down as planned on January 9th.计划将于1月9日拆除。

[Paragraph 3]It has managed to draw in passers-by, perhaps in search of a chuckle.

它成功地吸引了路人，也许他们是为了找点乐子。

By December 13th 215,000 had visited, not far off Westminster Council’s goal of 280,000 (which was based on plans to charge up to £8 for entry).

截至12月13日，已有21.5万名游客参观，离威斯敏斯特议会28万的目标不远了(该目标是基于门票收费高达8英镑的计划)。

On a sunny day the view is decent, taking in Hyde Park, the Shard and the London Eye (an unfortunate reminder that other, better views are available).

阳光明媚的时候，这里的景色还不错，可以看到海德公园、碎片大厦和伦敦眼(不幸的是提醒了人们还有更好的景色可以看)。

On a recent morning a dozen people milled about on its rickety viewing platform.

最近的一个早晨，十几个人在摇摇晃晃的观景台上漫无目的地转来转去。

“We wouldn’t have paid, mind you,” says a couple from Bristol.

来自布里斯托尔的一对夫妇说:“提醒你一下，我们不会付钱的。”

The structure feels “temporary”, says another sightseer.

另一位观光客说，这座建筑感觉是“临时的”。

You enter via a ramp alongside some scrappy planting, and leave through the interior, a maze of scaffolding that creaks with every step.你从一个旁边种着杂乱植物的斜坡进来，再从内部离开，迷宫般的脚手架每踩一步都嘎嘎作响。

[Paragraph 4]Before covid-19 Oxford Street was already struggling, over-dependent on department stores that were losing the retail battle to online shopping, and lacking the restaurants, bars and gyms that would attract visitors round the clock.

在新冠疫情以前，牛津街就处境艰难。过于依赖线下百货公司使它在和网购的竞争中败下阵来，并且缺少能够全天候吸引游客的餐馆，酒吧和健身房。

Air pollution and traffic made it a miserable place to stroll.

空气污染和交通也使这里变成一个不宜散步的地方。

Pedestrianising could have helped, but was opposed by residents of other parts of the West End who feared displaced traffic.

改造成行人专区本可以起到帮助作用，但遭到了伦敦西区其他地区居民的反对，他们担心交通拥堵。[Paragraph 5]During the pandemic Oxford Street also suffered disproportionately.

在疫情期间，牛津街也遭受了不成比例的损失。

According to Cushman & Wakefield, a property consultancy, and MyTraffic, a data-analytics firm, in the year from March 2020 footfall declined more than in any other major European shopping district.

根据戴德梁行（一家房地产咨询公司）和MyTraffic（一家数据分析公司）的数据显示，从2020年3月开始的一年中，客流量的下降幅度超过了欧洲其他任何一个主要购物区。

Sales are below the level of 2019, says Marie Hickey of Savills, an estate agent.

第一太平戴维斯的房地产经纪人玛丽•希基表示，销售额低于2019年的水平。

Between March 2020 and August 2021 a fifth of its stores closed.

在2020年3月和2021年8月期间，五分之一的商店都关闭了。

Five department stores are downsizing or converting retail space into offices.五家百货公司正在缩小规模或将零售店转型成办公室。[Paragraph 6]

Westminster Council’s proposal for revival, announced in February 2021, was a £150m facelift.

威斯敏斯特议会于2021年2月宣布了复兴提案，耗资1.5亿英镑进行翻新。

It included making temporarily widened pavements permanent, installing public art, upgrading nearby parks—and the mound.

包括将临时加宽的人行道固定下来，放置公共艺术品，升级附近的公园——以及这个小山丘。

Some of this is sensible, in particular the wider pavements: shoppers are more likely to visit bricks-and-mortar outlets if walking between them is more pleasant.

其中一些是合理的，特别是加宽的人行道：如果商店之间的路走起来让人更舒服，购物的人们会更有可能去实体商店。

Rents have come down since before the pandemic, too, which makes retail more viable.

自从疫情之前房租价格就降低了，让实体零售店店更切实可行。

But the only long-term solution for Oxford Street, says Ms Hickey, is becoming less retail-heavy and more mixed-use.

但希基女士表示，对于牛津街仅有的长期解决办法就是--减少零售，增加混合用途。[Paragraph 7]Look past the gimmicky mound, and there are early signs that things are heading in the right direction.

撇开花哨的小山丘，有早期的迹象表明现在正在朝着对的方向前进。

IKEA will open up shop in 2023. Some department stores are planning gyms, pools and restaurants.

宜家将于2023年开门营业。一些百货公司正在规划健身房、游泳池和餐厅。

Perhaps the pandemic was just what Oxford Street needed. Business had got so bad that it forced much-needed change.

也许疫情正是牛津街需要的。商业需要变得特别糟糕才能促使急需的改变发生。

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量585左右）

原文出自：2021年12月18日《The Economist》Britain版块。

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路

本文翻译整理：Fei Min

本文编辑校对: Irene

仅供个人英语学习交流使用

【补充资料】（来源于网络）

牛津街（Oxford street）：英国首要的购物街，是伦敦西区购物的中心，每年吸引了来自全球的3千万游客到此观光购物，长1.25英里的街道上云集超过300家的世界大型商场。交通：牛津街还为伦敦的中心提供了一条重要的交通干线，每小时有50辆公共汽车运行，4个地铁站与5条线路相连，从而确保了公共运输网的核心地理位置，也为商业的繁荣做了最好的铺垫。

历史：从罗马时代直到17世纪，牛津街主要作为从伦敦西城之外到牛津地区的道路而存在的。

【重点句子】（3个）

这是为了吸引那些从网上商店中解放出来的购物者回到英国最著名的购物大道。

During the pandemic Oxford Street also suffered disproportionately.

在疫情期间，牛津街也遭受了不成比例的损失。

But the only long-term solution for Oxford Street is becoming less retail-heavy and more mixed-use.

对于牛津街唯一的长期解决办法就是，要减少零售，增加混合用途。

自由英语之路