黄皮书《题源外刊》第十期

小老虎不吹笛

【题源外刊】第十期：美国商业街的凋零

原文期刊：卫报

原文标题：

We can't rely on shops to revive our town centres

考研英语阅读话题-实体商业

电商和外卖行业的快速发展，挤占了实体零售行业的空间。商业街的高租金已经难以带来高回报。实体商业街必须在新科技的挑战下进行转型和升级才能熬过寒冬，迎来新的机遇--适应市场需要，既让顾客享受电商价格般的优惠，又提供心理+物质双重感受的场景化零售。电商巨头正在加大对线下实体经济的投资，比如，作为电商龙头的阿里巴巴加速转型线下，已经在全国相继投资了银泰、联华超市、高鑫零售等零售巨头，“猫狗之战”的京东更是扬言要在5年之内开100万家便利店。随着消费模式的不断革新，消费习惯和消费场景的升级，以“新零售”为主的体验式消费模式更加依赖于实体店面。实体商业将重新吸引消费者的目光。

本文选自《卫报》2019年12月12日刊出的一篇文章，主题是商业街颓势已不可逆转,复兴市镇中心需要新的吸引力。

脉络:

论述商业街的价值,指出英国商业街在衰落, 并分析该现象的时代原因(第一段)→ 分析现象主观原因：英国政府的规划不合理;财政部不公平的税收政策(第二段)→ 应对市镇中心凋零,美法两国对策不同(第三段)→ 解决市镇中心凋零问题的必要 性及方法(第四、五段)→批判英国政府/规划者(第六段)。

Part 1

原文

Ⅰ  High streets are seen by planners as places where people shop. They are not. They are places of character, where people communicate and feel at home in company. Their shops can be replaced by out-of-town hypermarkets, and now by online warehouses. But their society is irreplaceable. The two best-known high streets, in central London and rural Wales, are the heart of their communities. But they are collapsing. The reason is simple: “clicks for bricks”. In 2017, online shopping was forecast to rise from 17% of consumer spending to 40% by 2030. Clothing has reached those heights already.

Ⅱ Is there any light? Not much. In Britain, governments have done all they can to kill off high streets. Ministers have allowed out-of-town to replace high street wherever it wanted. High streets from Chichester to Penrith have had the commercial blood sucked from them. Acres of countryside have vanished to car-borne shoppers at hypermarkets, which will soon lie as deserted as petrol stations. This was mindless planning. Meanwhile the Treasury has hit town centre shops with murderous business rates, while letting off out-of-town retail virtually free. The wheel has now travelled full circle, as out-of-town now howls about online retail getting away with fiscal murder.

Ⅲ In the US, the fightback is desperate. High streets may be dying, but malls are shifting to become “social and sensory experiences”. At the other end of the scale, French town halls are being converted into one-stop local shops and service centres.

Ⅳ   If there is social wrong that cries out for a solution, it is personal isolation. The bonds that once held people of all ages in the embrace of neighbourhood and community are breaking down. This stretches from the Facebook agonies of the young to the greatest curse of old age, not ill-health, but loneliness. The institutions of the high street—the pub, the library—were all remedies for such ailments. But the magnet was the need to shop.

Ⅴ  That magnet now must become the desire to gather round, the search for company and enjoyment. The marketplace is clearly shifting to services and experiences, but one solution would be a version of France's town hall enterprise. It would be the commandeering of the one building that is immovable and familiar to all, the local church. In the middle ages, the church was a true one-stop shop for local activity and welf are. For young and old, it should be that again.

Ⅵ British government policy towards high streets has been like the French revolution towards all manifestations of localism. It was to crush identity under the hammer of uniformity. Whitehall policy at present is to replace the old vigour of the high street not with new, but with acres of anonymous housing estates, serviced by the drones of Amazon.

Part 2

词汇短语

1.high street 商业街

2.hyper market [ˈhaɪpəˌmɑːkɪt] n.大型超市

3.warehouse [ˈweəhaʊs] n.仓库

4.vanish [ˈvænɪʃ] v.突然不见,消失

5.car-borne [kɑːbɔːn] a.车载的

6.business rate 营业税

7.howl [haʊl] v.(因疼痛、愤怒等)大声叫喊

8.fiscal [ˈfɪskəl] a.财政的

9.one-stop [ˌwʌnˈstɒp] a.一站式的

10.agony [ˈæɡənɪ] n.痛楚;苦恼

11.curse [kɜːs] n.祸因;祸根

12.remedy [ˈremədɪ] n.补救

13.ailment [ˈeɪlmənt] n.小病;微恙

14.enterprise [ˈentəpraɪz] n.复杂的大项目;事业

15.Commandeer[ˌkɒmənˈdɪə]v.征用

16.manifestation [ˌmænəfeˈsteɪʃən] n.表现

17.vigour [ˈvɪɡə] n.活力

18.anonymous [əˈnɒnɪməs] a.无名的;无特色的

19.housinge state 住宅区

20.drone [drəʊn] n.无人机

Part 3

长难句语法点拨

本句主句为The bonds are are breaking down. 纽带在断裂。纽带后接一个定语从句，描述是什么样的纽带。定语从句的主语是bond，谓语是hold，hold+宾语+宾补。

Part 4

写作句型借鉴

If there is XX that cries out for a solution, it is YY.如果现在有亟待解决的XX，那么这一XX就是YY.

原文例句：If there is social wrong that cries out for a solution, it is personal isolation.如果说现在有亟待解决的社会问题，那这一问题便是“个人隔离”。

This （前文的问题）stretches from XX to YY. AA,BB and CC are/were all remedies for such ailments.

问题从XX 延伸到了YY,AA,BB和CC 是/曾经是这些问题的好的解决办法。

原文例句：This stretches from the Facebook agonies of the young to the greatest curse of old age, not ill-health, but loneliness.The institutions of the high street—the pub, the library—were all remedies for such ailments.这一情形从年轻人的脸书苦恼延申至老年人的最大困扰——并非身体欠佳，而是情感孤独。商业街上的酒吧、图书馆等机构都曾是化解这些病痛的良药。

（黄皮书《题源外刊》）