对于政治、经济、科技、文史哲等方面的背景知识，很多同学是比较欠缺的。而这些背景知识在考试中却至关重要。同学们平时可以通过外刊精读，有意识得选择不同题材的文章，补齐背景知识的短板哦。

外刊精读的好处：

上外高翻MTI考研真题中，翻译基础和翻硕英语两门科目的很多试题都是选自外刊，尤其是一些西方传统大刊，如经济学人、纽约时报、金融时报等。

同学们平时的备考中，通过对外刊的阅读和解析，可以帮助提高阅读速度、积累词汇和表达(包括缩略语)、增强语句理解力，了解中英思维差异，培养英语思维，掌握分析文章逻辑的能力，提高总结能力。

学习英文表达和句型，为汉译英和作文积累地道表达、写作素材、扩展思路，提高写作能力。

下面是高译老师从本周的外刊中选取的一些题材，同学们在备考中也要多多涉猎哦：

【外刊选材一】

Digital platforms：The rickshaw wars

A battle of travel apps highlights the promise and perils of the India stack

【1】

In India’s startup capital of Bangalore, auto-rickshaw drivers are no less prized than software engineers. Given the city’s chaotic traffic, rickshaws are sometimes the fastest way to get around. But finding one isn’t easy. Threats, pleas and moral appeals are necessary before a driver accepts a ride. The experience is no better with Ola and Uber, two ride-hailing firms which offer rickshaw services for a commission.

【2】

Help is at hand. An app called Namma Yatri, launched in November by the rickshaw drivers’ union, directly connects riders to drivers, with no commission for digital middlemen. It averages around 68,000 trips a day, from only 2,000 at the start of the year, and boasts more than 78,000 drivers and 1.4m customers on its platform.

【3】

Namma Yatri is built on a new open network that represents the next phase of the “India stack”—a set of digital services created by the state. With a national biometric system and a hugely successful payments network in place, the government has now set its sights on reshaping India’s e-commerce market. The Open Network for Digital commerce (ondc) allows smaller retailers to reach buyers, bypassing private marketplaces like Amazon. In theory, it unbundles every part of the shopping process, allowing shoppers to choose from thousands of sellers and select delivery options by different providers rather than rely on overweening incumbents.

【4】

ondc is still new. Besides the ride-sharing app, early pilots have focused on food and local grocery deliveries. Questions abound about who bears responsibility when things go wrong, from fake products to payment disputes. No app has so far reached the scale to match the incumbents, which are also toying with the platform. In February Amazon announced that it would integrate its logistics services with ondc. In April PhonePe, a Walmart-backed payments system, launched a local delivery app on the open network. Still, the Indian government’s aim seems clear: it desires a noisy digital bazaar instead of one with a few big monopolies.

【5】

Or does it? Piyush Goyal, the commerce minister, wants big e-commerce firms to use ondc for all their operations. Fence-sitters risk being banned from the platform. He has also vowed to use the “full force of the government” to promote it, putting Amazon and Flipkart on notice. So much for openness and competition.

rickshaw drivers are no less prized than software engineers: 三轮车司机与软件工程师一样被珍视

rickshaws are sometimes the fastest way to get around: 有时候，三轮车是快捷的交通方式

threats, pleas and moral appeals are necessary before a driver accepts a ride: 在司机接受搭载之前，需要使用威胁、恳求和道义上的劝诱

rickshaw services for a commission: 收取佣金的三轮车服务

directly connects riders to drivers, with no commission for digital middlemen: 直接将乘客与司机连接起来，不需要为数字中间人支付佣金

averages around 68,000 trips a day: 每天平均约有6.8万次行程

the next phase of the "India stack": “印度堆栈”的下一个阶段

reshaping India's e-commerce market: 重塑印度电子商务市场

unbundles every part of the shopping process: 对购物过程的每个环节进行解构

a noisy digital bazaar instead of one with a few big monopolies: 喧嚣的数字市集，而不是只有几家大型垄断企业的市场

【外刊选材二】

Spiritualists：Clairvoyant cartel

mediums engage in anti-competitive behaviour, too

【1】

The gathering is like an auction crossed with a game of Mad Libs. Up steps a medium, mic in hand. Visions appear to her: the first, she says, is an old woman with a spinal deformity who liked caring for kids. The medium asks whether anyone recognises the spirit; a hand shoots up. “Know that she’s proud of you and wants you to treat yourself more!” Applause, then a second apparition, whom someone else recognises.

【2】

Such demonstrations of public mediumship are a staple of summers at Lily Dale, a hamlet in western New York founded in 1879. About 250residents live in gingerbread-trimmed houses in the gated community. All are adherents of spiritualism, a 19th-century movement that got its start 200km away, in Hydesville, New York. Spiritualists believe that the living can contact and glean insights from the dead; mediums are the conduit. At its peak spiritualism had somewhere between 4m and 11m followers in America, including Abraham Lincoln’s wife, who hosted séances at the White House.

【3】

Each year more than 20,000 people visit Lily D