2024年诺贝尔经济学奖揭晓

近日，2024年诺贝尔经济学奖揭晓，授予三位来自美国大学的经济学家达龙·阿杰姆奥卢（Daron Acemoglu）、西蒙·约翰逊（Simon Johnson）和詹姆斯·鲁滨逊（James A Robinson），以表彰他们在关于制度如何形成并影响经济繁荣研究领域的突出贡献（for studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity）。

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. According to the passage, what is a significant factor that differentiates the economic outcomes of former colonies?

A. The level of technological advancement during colonization.

B. The initial wealth of the colony before colonization.

C. Whether the colonizers aimed to settle or to exploit resources.

D. The geographic location and climate of the colony.

无注释原文：

Trio of professors win Nobel economics prize for work on post-colonial wealth

From: The Guardian

Three US-based professors, including two UK-born academics, have been awarded this year's Nobel prize in economics, for showing how the political and economic systems introduced by colonisers can determine whether a country is rich or poor today.

The explanation put forward by Turkish-American Daron Acemoglu, Sheffield-born Simon Johnson and Briton James A Robinson suggests that inclusive institutions set up for the long-term benefit of European migrants ended up resulting in more prosperous societies in the long term.

However, they found that in countries where the aim was to exploit the Indigenous population and extract resources for the colonisers' benefit, the impact has been detrimental, and resulted in far poorer societies, leaving some countries trapped in low economic growth cycles.

“The laureates demonstrated that this led to a reversal of fortune. The places that were, relatively speaking, the richest at their time of colonisation are now among the poorest,” the Nobel prize announcement said.

“This is an important reason for why former colonies that were once rich are now poor, and vice versa,” it added. “This reversal of relative prosperity is historically unique. If we look at the parts of the globe that were not colonised, we do not find any reversal of fortune.”

Acemoglu, speaking at a press conference after being named one of the winners of the prize, said: “Rather than asking whether colonialism is good or bad, we note that different colonial strategies have led to different institutional patterns that have persisted over time. Broadly speaking, the work we have done favours democracy.”

The trio of academics will share the award, which comes with an 11m Swedish kronor (￡810,000) cash prize and a gold medal.

Established in the 1960s, several decades after the original Nobel prizes, it is technically known as the Sveriges Riksbank prize in economic sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel.

“Reducing the vast differences in income between countries is one of our time's greatest challenges,” said Jakob Svensson, chair of the committee for the prize in economic sciences. “The laureates have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for achieving this.”

Acemoglu, 57, and Johnson, 61, are both professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, in the US. Together, they co-authored a book last year, called Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity.

Johnson is also known for a brief stint at the International Monetary Fund from March 2007 to August 2008.

Robinson, 64, a professor at the University of Chicago, wrote a book with Acemoglu – Why Nations Fail: the Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty – which was first published in 2012.

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Trio of professors win Nobel economics prize for work on post-colonial wealth

From: The Guardian

Three US-based professors, including two UK-born academics, have been awarded this year's Nobel prize in economics, for showing how the political and economic systems introduced by colonisers can determine whether a country is rich or poor today.

三位美国教授（其中两位出生于英国）因揭示殖民者引入的政治和经济制度如何影响一个国家今天的贫富，而荣获今年的诺贝尔经济学奖。

trio /ˈtriːəʊ/ 表示“三人小组；三件一套；三合一”，英文解释为“A trio is a group of three people together, especially musicians or singers, or a group of three things that have something in common.”

英式 colonise 美式 colonize /ˈkɒl.ə.naɪz/ 表示“使殖民地化；将…建为殖民地”，英文解释为“to send people to live in and govern another country”举个🌰：Peru was colonized by the Spanish in the 16th century. 秘鲁在16世纪沦为西班牙的殖民地。

colonizer 殖民者；殖民地开拓者。

The explanation put forward by Turkish-American Daron Acemoglu, Sheffield-born Simon Johnson and Briton James A Robinson suggests that inclusive institutions set up for the long-term benefit of European migrants ended up resulting in more prosperous societies in the long term.

土耳其裔美国人达龙·阿杰姆奥卢（Daron Acemoglu）、出生于英国谢菲尔德的西蒙·约翰逊（Simon Johnson）和英国人詹姆斯·鲁滨逊（James A Robinson）提出的理论表明，为欧洲移民的长期利益而建立的包容性制度最终促成了社会的长期繁荣。

Briton /ˈbrɪt.ən/ 表示“英国人”，英文解释为“a person from Britain”举个🌰：Six Britons are believed to have been involved in the accident. 据信事故中牵涉6名英国人。

inclusive /ɪnˈkluː.sɪv/ 表示“兼收并蓄；包容的；包容广阔的，范围广泛的”，英文解释为“If you describe a group or organization as inclusive, you mean that it allows all kinds of people to belong to it, rather than just one kind of person.”举个🌰：The academy is far more inclusive now than it used to be. 该学院如今比过去更为兼收并蓄。

📍gender-inclusive“性别中立，不分性别”。

prosperous /ˈprɒs.pər.əs/ 表示“繁荣的；富裕的”，英文解释为“successful, usually by earning a lot of money”举个🌰：In a prosperous country like this, no one should go hungry. 在这样一个繁荣的国家里，不应该有人挨饿。

However, they found that in countries where the aim was to exploit the Indigenous population and extract resources for the colonisers' benefit, the impact has been detrimental, and resulted in far poorer societies, leaving some countries trapped in low economic growth cycles.

然而，他们发现，在那些殖民者旨在剥削土著人口并攫取资源的国家，这种制度的影响是负面的，会导致社会更加贫困，部分国家陷入低经济增长周期。

indigenous /ɪnˈdɪdʒɪnəs/ 表示“土生土长的，本地的”，英文解释为“indigenous people or things have always been in the place where they are, rather than being brought there from somewhere else”

🎬电影《阿凡达》（Avatar）中的台词提到：We have an indigenous population of humanoids called the Na'vi. 这里有一种长得像人的土著 我们称其为“纳威”。

extract /ˈekstrækt; ɪkˈstrækt/ 作动词，表示“取出；拔出；提取”，英文解释为“to remove or take out something”举个🌰：The oil which is extracted from olives is used for cooking. 这种橄揽油是用于烹饪的。

作名词，1）表示“摘录；选段；引文”，英文解释为“a particular part of a book, poem, etc. that is chosen so that it can be used in a discussion, article, etc.”举个🌰：They published an extract from his autobiography. 他们刊登了他自传的一个片断。

2）表示“（尤指食物或药物的）提出物，精华，汁”，英文解释为“a substance taken from a plant, flower, etc. and used especially in food or medicine”举个🌰：The cream contained extracts of/from several plants. 这种护肤霜中含有数种植物萃取精华。

detrimental /ˌdet.rɪˈmen.təl/ 表示“有危害的，有损害的”，英文解释为“causing harm or damage”举个🌰：These chemicals have a detrimental effect/impact on the environment. 这些化学品对环境有危害。

“The laureates demonstrated that this led to a reversal of fortune. The places that were, relatively speaking, the richest at their time of colonisation are now among the poorest,” the Nobel prize announcement said.

“获奖者们表明，这导致了财富逆转。相对而言，殖民时期最富裕的地区现在却成了最贫穷的地区，”诺贝尔奖公告称。

laureate /ˈlɔːrɪɪt/ 表示“荣誉获得者；获奖者”，英文解释为“a person who has been given an official honour or prize for sth important they have achieved”如：a Nobel laureate 诺贝尔奖获得者。

demonstrate /ˈdem.ən.streɪt/ 表示“显示；表明”，英文解释为“to show or make something clear”举个🌰：Research has demonstrated that babies can recognize their mother's voice very soon after birth. 研究表明，婴儿出生后很快就能辨识母亲的声音。

reversal /rɪˈvɜː.səl/ 1）表示“反向；倒转；倒退；推翻”，英文解释为“the act of changing or making something change to its opposite”举个🌰：He demanded a reversal of the previous decision/policy. 他要求撤销原来的决定/废弃原先的政策。

2）表示“挫折；失败”，英文解释为“a problem or failure”举个🌰：We have suffered a couple of minor/temporary reversals. 我们遭遇了几次小/暂时的挫折。

英式 colonisation 美式 colonization /ˌkɑː.lə.nəˈzeɪ.ʃən/ 表示“殖民”，英文解释为“the act or process of sending people to live in and govern another country”举个🌰：European colonization of the Americas, with its cycle of war, disease and slavery, decimated the indigenous peoples. 欧洲对美洲的殖民统治，伴随着战争、疾病和奴隶制的次第出现，摧毁了土著人民。

“This is an important reason for why former colonies that were once rich are now poor, and vice versa,” it added. “This reversal of relative prosperity is historically unique. If we look at the parts of the globe that were not colonised, we do not find any reversal of fortune.”

“这是过去富裕的前殖民地现在变得贫穷，反之亦然的一个重要原因，”诺贝尔奖公告称。“这种相对繁荣的逆转在历史上前所未有。如果我们去看全球未被殖民的地区，就不会发现任何财富逆转的现象。”

表示“反过来也一样，反之亦然”，英文解释为“used to say that what you have just said is also true in the opposite order”举个🌰：He doesn't trust her, and vice versa (= she also doesn't trust him). 他不信任她，她也一样不信任他。

prosperity /prɒsˈper.ə.ti/ 表示“成功；（尤指经济上的）繁荣，昌盛”，英文解释为“the state of being successful and having a lot of money”举个🌰：A country's future prosperity depends, to an extent, upon the quality of education of its people. 一个国家未来的繁荣昌盛在一定程度上取决于国民的教育质量。

Acemoglu, speaking at a press conference after being named one of the winners of the prize, said: “Rather than asking whether colonialism is good or bad, we note that different colonial strategies have led to different institutional patterns that have persisted over time. Broadly speaking, the work we have done favours democracy.”

成为获奖者之一后，阿杰姆奥卢在新闻发布会上表示：“我们并不是在讨论殖民主义是好是坏，而是观察到不同的殖民策略导致了不同的制度模式，这些模式随着时间的推移持续存在。总体而言，我们的研究工作支持民主。”

persist /pəˈsɪst/ 1）表示“继续存在（发生）；持续；存留”，英文解释为“If something bad persists, it continues to exist or happen”举个🌰：If the pain persists, you must see a doctor. 如果一直痛，你就必须去看医生了。

2）表示“坚持；执意”，英文解释为“to continue to do something, although this is difficult, or other people oppose it”举个🌰：‘I don't think it's right,’ He persisted. “我认为那不对。”他坚持说道。

The trio of academics will share the award, which comes with an 11m Swedish kronor (￡810,000) cash prize and a gold medal.

这三位学者将共同分享这一奖项，其中包括1100万瑞典克朗（81万英镑）的奖金和一枚金牌。

kronor /'krəunə-ɔn:/ 克朗，瑞典货币单位。

“krona”和“kronor”都是瑞典货币瑞典克朗的名称，它们之间的区别在于单数和复数形式。Krona是单数形式。Kronor是复数形式。

Established in the 1960s, several decades after the original Nobel prizes, it is technically known as the Sveriges Riksbank prize in economic sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel.

该奖项设立于20世纪60年代，比最初的诺贝尔奖晚了几十年，正式名称为瑞典中央银行纪念阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔经济学奖（Sveriges Riksbank prize in economic sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel）。

“Reducing the vast differences in income between countries is one of our time's greatest challenges,” said Jakob Svensson, chair of the committee for the prize in economic sciences. “The laureates have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for achieving this.”

“缩小各国之间巨大的收入差距是我们这个时代面临最大的挑战之一，”经济学奖委员会主席雅各布·斯文森（Jakob Svensson）表示。“获奖者们展示了社会制度在实现这一目标中的关键作用。”

Acemoglu, 57, and Johnson, 61, are both professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, in the US. Together, they co-authored a book last year, called Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity.

57岁的阿杰姆奥卢和61岁的约翰逊都是美国剑桥麻省理工学院（Massachusetts Institute of Technology）教授。他们去年合著了一本书，名为《权力与进步：我们在技术与繁荣上的千年斗争》（Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity）。

Johnson is also known for a brief stint at the International Monetary Fund from March 2007 to August 2008.

约翰逊还曾于2007年3月至2008年8月在国际货币基金组织（International Monetary Fund）短暂任职。

stint /stɪnt/ 表示“工作期限；（从事某项活动的）规定期限”，英文解释为“a fixed or limited period of time spent doing a particular job or activity”举个🌰：He has just finished a stint of compulsory military service. 他刚刚服完义务兵役。

作动词，表示“限量提供；吝惜；节省”，英文解释为“to provide, take, or use only a small amount of something”举个🌰：The bride's parents did not stint on the champagne - there was plenty for everyone. 新娘的父母在香槟上一点儿也不小气——足够每个人喝的。Don't stint yourself - take another slice of cake. 别吝惜肚子——再来块蛋糕。

Robinson, 64, a professor at the University of Chicago, wrote a book with Acemoglu – Why Nations Fail: the Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty – which was first published in 2012.

现年64岁的鲁滨逊是芝加哥大学教授，他与阿杰姆奥卢合著了一本书——《国家为何会失败：权力、繁荣与贫穷的起源》（Why Nations Fail: the Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty），该书于2012年首次出版。

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