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1.guesswork
在中文写作中我们有时候会通过重复某个词语或者句子来起到加强语气的作用，英语中同样也有类似的手法。比如下面这个例子：
Those who back him are awaiting the biggest shake-up in Washington, DC, in half a century—though their optimism is an act of faith. Those who oppose him are convinced there will be chaos and ruin on an epoch-changing scale—though their despair is guesswork.
由于川普与之前的总统有着很大不同，因此很多人纷纷猜测他接下来的施政纲领：他的支持者们出于信念认为他会在华盛顿进行一场大改革，而他的反对者则坚信他会带来史无前例的灾难。作者在这里使用了 Those who ... are ... though their ... is ... 这个重复句式来说明这种情况，而且其中 Those who back him, Those who oppose him 以及 though their optimism, though their despair 这两处还互相对应，整个句子读起来非常整齐有力。
类似这样的例子并不少见：
这是《经济学人》的前主编 John Micklethwait 的离任感言，其中有这样一句话：
But for the things this newspaper cares about, the past nine years have been a battle, one that has left me in a state of paranoid optimism. Paranoia because so much remains under threat; optimism because, for the most part, the creed this newspaper lives by is strong enough to survive.
句子里面通过对 paranoid optimism 两个词的重复来阐述作者的希望与恐惧。
William Zinsser 在 On Writing Well 的序言中写过这样一段话：
So On Writing Well was born, in 1976, and it's now in its third generation of readers, its sales well above a million. Today I often meet young newspaper reporters who were given the book by the editor who hired them, just as those editors were first given the book by the editor who hired them. I also often meet gray-haired matrons who remember being assigned the book in college and not finding it the horrible medecine they expected. Sometimes they bring that early edition for me to sign, its sentences high-lighted in yellow. They apologize for the mess. I love the mess.
这里作者使用了不少重复单词和句式，比如 I often meet ... were given the book by the editor who hired them... the mess 这些重复使句子读起来非常有感情且富有节奏感。
2.spectrum
在对两个相反的事物进行比较时，我们经常使用的表达是 in / by contrast，这里给出另外一个常见的句式（文章段落来自《经济学人》对于全球经济的特别报告）：
The level of inequality differs widely around the world. Emerging economies are more unequal than rich ones. Scandinavian countries have the smallest income disparities, with a Gini coefficient for disposable income of around 0.25. At the other end of the spectrum the world’s most unequal, such as South Africa, register Ginis of around 0.6.
句子中出现的 at the other end of the spectrum 是一个很好用的表达。spectrum 本义是指光谱，at the other end of the spectrum 即“处于光谱的另一端”，它可以引申为“（用于同种事物对比）与之相反”。
at the other end of the spectrum 也可以写成 at the other end of the scale，它通常放在句子开头，用于提出一种相反的情形。
例如对于环境问题，我们可以写：
Opinion is divided as to whether human should drill for oil in the Arctic. Some countries argue that making good use of these oil reserves could help to resolve energy crisis. At the other end of the spectrum stand conservationists who believe that petroleum exploration in the North Pole would wreak environmental havoc.
3.axe
下面选段来自文章 How a nation went mad，文章分析了苏格兰脱离英国尝试的动机和历史。
Because Scots had no axe to grind against a British state that had rarely oppressed them, and under which they had in fact prospered, he noted, the politics of social and ethnic grievance that had delivered independence to Ireland and other colonies would not suffice.
上面句子涉及到一个很有意思的表达：have an axe to grind，这一短语相传来自本杰明•富兰克林。富兰克林幼年时，在院子里遇到一个带有斧头（axe）的陌生人。那人称赞院子里的磨石很好，想看看它好不好用，于是就用花言巧语让富兰克林转动磨石，而那人就在上面磨利自己的斧头。因此 have an axe to grind 引申为“别有企图，有私心”。上面句子的 had no axe to grind 即“对……没有私心”。
在写国际援助话题时可以用上该短语，比如：
Rich countries have an axe to grind when it comes to international aid. They seek to increase their economic and political clout in poor regions by providing financial assistance with strings attached.
4.low-hanging fruits
下面的段落来自Schumpeter专栏文章 Techno wars
Tyler Cowen, of George Mason University, says that the American economy has eaten all the low-hanging fruits of modern history and got sick.
这里出现了一个很形象的表达：low-hanging fruits，low-hanging fruits 是指结在低处容易被摘到的果实，它可以引申为“很容易获得的事物”，这里 the American economy has eaten all the low-hanging fruits of modern history 是指美国经济一直以来都过于专注眼前短期利益，而忽视了进行长期投入。
这是一个在问题解决类话题中可以使用的表达，比如：
To survive long-term competition, businesses should not satisfy themselves with low-hanging fruits. Rather, they should plan ahead and be reform-minded.
5.verb
用好动词能够使句子显得更加简洁有力，下面就是一个很经典的例子：
He has not stopped. Quitting the Trans-Pacific Partnership, demanding a renegotiation of NAFTA and a wall with Mexico, overhauling immigration, warming to Brexit-bound Britain and Russia, cooling to the European Union, defending torture, attacking the press: onward he and his people charged, leaving the wreckage of received opinion smouldering in their wake.
上面这一系列动词用得十分精彩：Quit, demand（demand 的语气比 ask 更为强烈）, overhaul, warm, cool（与前面的 warm 形成对比）, defend, attack, charge, leave, smoulder.
作者在一句话里连珠炮般地用了10个动词来谴责川普上台后的种种行径，语气的强烈程度可见一斑。使用这一系列动词的好处是句子读起来非常干脆利落且富有气势，如同檄文一般。这样的表达效果是单纯使用形容词和副词所无法达到的。
类似这样的例子在最近的《经济学人》中还有不少，比如在 Learning and earning 这篇文章的开头有这样一句话：
When education fails to keep pace with technology, the result is inequality. Without the skills to stay useful as innovations arrive, workers suffer—and if enough of them fall behind, society starts to fall apart.
其中 arrive, suffer, fall behind, fall apart 这些词都用得很精炼，这也是我们平时需要留意并学习的知识点。
以上是这一期赏析的内容，如果你也发现了精彩的句子，欢迎在评论区留言或者发到后台给我，我接下来会整理出来进行分享。
点击“阅读原文”查看经济学人赏析系列的往期文章。
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