24考研题源外刊阅读《经济学人》双语精读版训练--日本是如何在全球电动汽车竞赛中落败的

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全文字数：2011字

阅读时间：20分钟

上期划线句答案

In one research study, many participantsplaceda million approximately halfway between 1,000 and a billion on a number line. Even people who know bettercan struggle toreally conceptualise just how vast the difference between a million and a billion is.

在一项研究中，很多参与者把100万放在了数轴上1000到10亿中间的位置。即使是更了解这些数的人，也很难真正理解一百万和十亿之间的巨大差异。

（这个实验的意思是，研究人员让实验者把100万这个数字放在数轴上，但很多人把这个数字放在了10亿和1000中间，错误地估计了百万的量级，实际上中间的位置大约为5亿）

本期内容

双语阅读

For decades, JATCO, likethe rest ofJapan’svauntedauto industry, has perfected carmaking. Japan has been at the forefront of the industry, pioneering just-in-time manufacturing and leading the development of hybrid cars. But the next big evolution—the shift to electric vehicles (EVs)—has become a source of angst. “The EV shift will be a big transformation, there’s no denying that,” says Sato Tomoyoshi, JATCO’s CEO. “Our company will have to change drastically.”

几十年来，作为日本引以为傲的汽车工业的一分子，加特可和其他制造商一道，让汽车制造技术精益求精。日本一直处于汽车工业的前沿，它开创了“准时制”生产方式，并引领了混合动力汽车的发展。但接下来这一次向电动汽车的重大演变给日本带来了焦虑。“不可否认，向电动汽车转变将是一次重大转型，”加特可的社长佐藤朋由表示，“我们必须做出彻底改变。”

So far, Japan and its carmakers are lagging in the race towards EVs, the industry’s fastest-growing product area. Battery-powered electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) accounted for around 13% of all cars sold globally in 2022, up from 2.6% in 2019. In some markets, including China, the share is some 20%. But in Japan, it was just 2%. The firmspulling aheadin the EV race include newcomers, such as Tesla and China’s BYD, and established giants such as Germany’s Volkswagen.

电动汽车现在是汽车行业增长最快的产品领域，而到目前为止，日本及其汽车制造商在这个赛道上落于人后。2022年，纯电动汽车和插电式混合动力汽车占全球汽车销量的比例从2019年的2.6%上升到13%左右。这一比例在包括中国在内的一些市场中约为20%，而在日本仅为2%。在电动车竞赛中领先的既包括特斯拉和中国的比亚迪等新入局者，也包括德国的大众等老牌巨头。

Critics worry that this early stalling on EVs could cause the wheels to fall off the Japanese auto industry as a whole. Some see parallels with semiconductors and consumer electronics, industries where Japanese firms were initially dominant, then missed important trends abroad and ended up losing out tonimblercompetitors. A similar decline in the auto industry, which accounts for nearly 20% of Japan’s exports and some 8% of Japanese jobs, would have massive economic and social implications.

批评人士担心，在电动汽车方面的这种初期停滞可能会导致日本汽车行业出现整体下滑。一些人认为这与半导体和消费电子行业有相似之处，日本公司最初在这些行业占据主导地位，然后错过了国外重要的发展趋势，最终输给了更机智的竞争对手。翻译划线句，长按文末小程序码打卡，答案下期公布~

Japan’s slow start on EVs stems in part from its earlier successes—or as Mr Sato of JATCO puts it, it is a classic case of the innovator’s dilemma. Industry leaders hesitated to embrace a new technology that might undermine areas where Japan leads, such as standard hybrid vehicles, which combine an internal combustion engine (ICE) and an electric motor powered by batteries that capture energy from regenerative braking. Engineers at Japanese firms that fine-tuned complex hybrids were also unimpressed by eVs, which are simpler mechanically.

日本在电动汽车行业起步缓慢，部分原因在于其早前取得的成功——或者正如JATCO的佐藤先生所说，这是创新者困境的一个经典案例。在一项新的技术可能会破坏日本领先的领域时，行业领袖们会犹豫是否要接受这样的新技术，比如标准混合动力汽车，它将内燃机和由电池驱动的电动机结合起来，从再生制动中捕获能量。曾对复杂的混合动力车进行过微调的日本公司的工程师对机械结构更简单的电动汽车也不感兴趣。

Japan also made an early wrong turn with hydrogen, another emergent auto technology with the potential to be carbon-free. Toyota, Japan’s biggest and most influential carmaker, bet that hydrogen fuel-cells would become the leading method to electrify cars. While hydrogen may come to play a big role indecarbonisinghard-to-electrify sectors, such as steel production, or fuelling long-haul trucks, it has so far turned out to make little sense as a technology to electrify light consumer vehicles.

日本另一个错误的做法是选择了氢能，氢能是另一种新兴的有可能发展成无碳的汽车技术。日本最大、最具影响力的汽车制造商丰田曾押注氢燃料电池将成为电动汽车的主要供能方式。尽管氢可能会为钢铁生产、为长途卡车货运提供能源等难以实现电气化的行业在脱碳方面发挥重要作用，但迄今为止，作为一种为轻型消费汽车提供电气化的技术，它似乎没有什么意义。

本文节选自：The Economist（经济学人）

发布时间：2023.05.04

作者：Technology

原文标题：How Japan is losing the global electric-vehicle race

词汇积累

1.vaunt

英/ vɔːnt /

vi.自夸；吹嘘

vt.自夸；吹嘘

n.自吹自擂

2.nimble

英/ ˈnɪmb(ə)l /美/ ˈnɪmb(ə)l /

adj.（行动）灵活的；（头脑）聪敏的

3.decarbonise

英/ ˌdiːˈkɑːbənaɪz /美/ ˌdiːˈkɑːrbənaɪz /

v.脱碳，使碳减排

词组搭配

1.the rest of 其余的；剩下的

2.pull ahead 领先；超到前面去

写作句总结

原句：While hydrogen may come to play a big role in decarbonising hard-to-electrify sectors, such as steel production, or fuelling long-haul trucks, it has so far turned out to make little sense as a technology to electrify light consumer vehicles.

结构：While XX may come to play a big role in XX, it has so far turned out to make little sense as XXX.

虽然A在B方面可能发挥着很大的作用，但目前为止，作为角色C，它没有什么意义。

例句：While technology may come to play a big role in education, it has so far turned out to make little sense as a substitute for face-to-face learning interaction.

阅读理解题

Which of the following statements about Japan’s auto industry is true according to the article?

A. Japan has been leading the development of electric vehicles.
B. Japan’s share in the global market of battery-powered electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids is higher than that of China.
C. Critics worry that Japan’s slow start on EVs could harm the nation’s economy and society.
D. Japanese firms were initially dominant in semiconductors and consumer electronics, but they missed important trends abroad and lost out to nimbler competitors.

C。选项A不正确，因为文章中提到日本在混合动力轿车方面有领先优势，但在电动汽车方面滞后；选项B不正确，文章中提到中国在全球市场占有率约为20%，而日本则仅为2%；选项D也不正确，虽然文章提到了这一点，但与题目问到的汽车行业无关。

打卡作业

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外刊君为同学们汇总了《经济学人》，戳码回复“J88”，下载pdf源文件。

（戳码回复“J88”）

• END •

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