1月23日英语：头脑风暴纯属浪费时间?

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A new report based on a survey of 20,000 creatives from 197 countries suggests that, a majority of these professionals - including writers, musicians, photographers, and podcasters - find that brainstorming is largely unhelpful for solving a creative challenge. 
一项对197个国家2万名创意人才的新调查报告显示，大多数创意人才——包括作家、音乐家、摄影师和播客——发现头脑风暴对于解决创意难题基本没有帮助。

The survey, commissioned by the Dutch file-sharing company WeTransfer, attests to the perils of this form of groupthink. "In the creative world we hear an awful lot about collaboration, but it seems that while working together is essential to bring an idea to life, it's not that good for shaping ideas in the first place," notes Rob Alderson, WeTransfer's recently departed editor-in-chief. 
荷兰文件共享公司WeTransfer委托开展的这项调查证实了这种集体决策形式的风险。WeTransfer新近刚离职的主编罗伯·阿尔德森指出："在创意世界里我们听到了太多关于合作的言论，但是从调查结果来看，尽管群策群力对于创意的落实很关键，但似乎不是很有利于创意最初的形成。"

WeTransfer's survey suggests that dutiful meetings are a primary creativity killer. More than 40% of respondents now consider "work" - including the administrative tasks required of employees in big corporations - as a barrier to good thinking. "Send people off with the time and space to think properly and the quality of their ideas will probably improve," Alderson says.
WeTransfer的调查表明，常规会议是创造力的一大杀手。超过40%的受访者现在认为"工作"——包括大公司员工的行政事务——阻碍了他们好好思考。阿尔德森说："让人们有时间和空间充分地思考，这样他们的创意质量才会提高。"

重点词汇
1、podcaster
播客；播主

2、brainstorming 
英 /ˈbreɪnstɔːmɪŋ/  美 /ˈbreɪnstɔːrmɪŋ/ 
n. 集思广益，头脑风暴；突发的灵感
v. 集思广益找到解决方法（brainstorm 的现在分词）

3、attest
英 /əˈtest/  美 /əˈtest/
vt. 证明；证实；为…作证
vi. 证明；作证

4、peril
英 /ˈperəl/  美 /ˈperəl/ 
n. 危险；冒险
vt. 危及；置…于险境

5、depart
英 /dɪˈpɑːt/  美 /dɪˈpɑːrt/ 
vi. 离开；出发，起程；违反；去世
adj. 逝世的

6、dutiful
英 /ˈdjuːtɪfl/  美 /ˈduːtɪfl/
adj. 忠实的；顺从的；守本分的

Global economic inequality
全球贫富差距已经'失控'

The world's richest 1% have more than twice as much wealth as 6.9 billion people, according to Oxfam, a UK-based charity, underlining that "economic inequality is out of control." In an annual report published by Oxfam, the charity called the world's economy "a tale of two extremes," showing the number of billionaires has doubled in the last decade. 
总部位于英国的慈善组织乐施会的数据显示，世界上最富有的1%的人口所拥有的财富是69亿人的财富总和的两倍多，该组织强调"财富不平等已经失控"。乐施会在其发布的年度报告中表示，世界经济出现了"两个极端"，亿万富翁的数量在过去十年中翻了一番。

In 2019, the world's 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who make up 60% of the planet's population. The 22 richest men have more wealth than all the women in Africa. Taxing an additional 0.5% of the wealth of the richest 1% over the next 10 years is equal to investments needed to create 117 million jobs in education, health and elderly care and other sectors. 
2019年，全球最富有的2153位亿万富豪所拥有的财富超过了46亿人口(这部分人在全球人口中所占比例为60%)的财富总和。世界上22位最富男性所拥有的财富超过了非洲所有女性拥有的财富总和。在未来十年内，对最富有的1%人口所拥有的财富增加0.5%的税收将产生足够的资金，为教育、卫生、养老等领域创造1.17亿个就业机会。

The charity urged governments to "build a human economy that is feminist and values what truly matters to society, rather than fueling an endless pursuit of profit and wealth."
乐施会敦促各国政府"打造对女性友好的人性化经济，重视社会真实所需，而非助长对利润和财富的无尽追逐"。

重点词汇
1、underline
英 /ˌʌndəˈlaɪn/  美 /ˌʌndərˈlaɪn/
vt. 强调；在…下面划线；预告
n. 下划线；下期节目预告

2、feminist
英 /ˈfemənɪst/  美 /ˈfemənɪst/ 
n. 女权主义者，女权运动者
adj. 女权主义的，主张女权的

3、fuel
英 /ˈfjuːəl/  美 /ˈfjuːəl/
n. 燃料；刺激因素；（为身体提供能量的）食物
vt. 给……提供燃料；刺激，煽动；推动
vi. 得到燃料

More cases of viral pneumonia
全国确诊新型肺炎440例

Chinese health authorities announced Wednesday that 440 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) had been reported in the country by the end of Tuesday. The cases had resulted in nine deaths, said Li Bin, deputy director of the National Health Commission, at a news conference. 
国家卫生健康委员会副主任李斌22日在新闻发布会上说，截至21日24时，国内累计报告新型冠状病毒(2019-nCoV)感染的肺炎确诊病例440例，报告死亡病例累计9例。

Li also said that the coronavirus is transmitted via the respiratory tract and there "is the possibility of viral mutation and further spread of the disease." Experts suggested Wuhan residents remain in the city. Another expert at the press conference dismissed the rumor of the existence of a super-spreader in the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus. 
李斌表示，该病毒以呼吸道传播为主，存在变异可能，疫情存在进一步扩大风险。专家建议武汉市民不要出城。在发布会上，中国疾病预防控制中心主任高福否认已有超级传播者出现。

“There's no evidence to support the idea there are already super-spreaders," said Gao Fu, head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. "But we will keep monitoring the situation." 
他说："还没有证据说出现'超级传播者'，但我们会密切关注。"

重点词汇
1、result in
导致，结果是

2、dismiss
英 /dɪsˈmɪs/  美 /dɪsˈmɪs/ 
vt. 解散；解雇；开除；让...离开；不予理会、不予考虑
vi. 解散

3、super-spreader
超级传播者；超传播性；染源；超级带菌者

IMF lowers growth forecasts
IMF下调全球增长预期

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released an updated World Economic Outlook report on Monday in Davos, Switzerland. The IMF said in the report that the global economy would grow by an estimated 3.3% in 2020, down from a previous forecast of 3.4%. It also lowered the 2021 forecast by 0.2 percentage points, to 3.4%. 
国际货币基金组织(IMF)20日在瑞士达沃斯发布最新版《世界经济展望》。在报告中，IMF预计2020年全球经济增速为3.3%，较此前预计的3.4%有所下降；并将2021年全球经济增速预期从3.6%下调至3.4%。

Gita Gopinath, the IMF's chief economist, said that some risks mentioned in October's report have since partially receded with the announcement of a US-China phase one trade deal, the lower likelihood of a no-deal Brexit and the fact that monetary policy has continued to support growth and buoyant financial conditions. China's growth has been revised upward from October by 0.2 percentage point to 6% for 2020 due to the recent US-China trade breakthrough.
IMF首席经济学家格皮纳斯表示，随着中美第一阶段贸易协议的公布、英国无协议脱欧可能性的降低、货币政策继续支持增长和强劲的金融状况，去年十月报告中提及的部分风险有所降低。由于近期中美贸易取得突破性进展，IMF将中国2020年经济增速预期由去年10月时的5.8%上调至6%。

重点词汇
1、monetary
英 /ˈmʌnɪtri/  美 /ˈmɑːnɪteri/ 
adj. 货币的；财政的

2、recede
英 /rɪˈsiːd/  美 /rɪˈsiːd/ 
vi. 后退；减弱
vt. 撤回

3、likelihood
英 /ˈlaɪklihʊd/  美 /ˈlaɪklihʊd/
n. 可能性，可能

4、buoyant
英 /ˈbɔɪənt/  美 /ˈbɔɪənt,ˈbuːjənt/
adj. 轻快的；有浮力的；上涨的

5、breakthrough

英 /ˈbreɪkθruː/  美 /ˈbreɪkθruː/

n. 突破；突破性进展

Some words you should know from today's news

No.1  podcaster

No.2  brainstorming

A new report based on a survey of 20,000 creatives from 197 countries suggests that, a majority of these professionals - including writers, musicians, photographers, and podcasters - find that brainstorming is largely unhelpful for solving a creative challenge. 

No.3  peril

The survey, commissioned by the Dutch file-sharing company WeTransfer, attests to the perils of this form of groupthink. 

No.4  super-spreader

Another expert at the press conference dismissed the rumor of the existence of a super-spreader in the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus. 

No.5  likelihood

the lower likelihood of a no-deal Brexit

No.6  breakthrough

China's growth has been revised upward from October by 0.2 percentage point to 6% for 2020 due to the recent US-China trade breakthrough. 

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That's all for today. Thanks for listening. See you after the Spring Festival！

总策划：韩鹤

主播：Jocelyn Eikenburg

剪辑：马芮

编辑：马芮

文稿来源：中国日报网