2016年9月8日 星期四

Paris Partygoers, Bored and Short on Cash, Look to Suburbs/巴黎太無聊 跑趴族改衝郊區


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讀紐時學英文
2016/09/09 第139期 訂閱/退訂看歷史報份
 
 
紐時周報精選 Paris Partygoers, Bored and Short on Cash, Look to Suburbs/巴黎太無聊 跑趴族改衝郊區
Tug of War in Fine Print of Your Electric Bill/美國某些州 家戶太陽能板難回本
紐時周報精選
 
Paris Partygoers, Bored and Short on Cash, Look to Suburbs/巴黎太無聊 跑趴族改衝郊區
文/Benoît Morenne
譯/陳韋廷

In a darkened makeshift theater in a former movie studio, dozens of 20-somethings recently sipped beer from plastic cups as they watched a film about their shared passion: the rise of suburban dance parties.

Even before the projector stopped and the film's soundtrack ended, a rising bass line of techno music drove the crowd toward an expansive dance floor, where a full-fledged party broke out at Espace Albatros, an arts center in Montreuil, a suburb east of Paris.

不久之前,在一處已經停用的電影片廠內一個暗黑的臨時電影院裡,數十名20來歲的青年邊喝著塑膠杯裝的啤酒,邊看著電影,電影的主題與他們的共同愛好有關,也就是郊區舞會的興起。

還等不到投影機停止與電影配樂結束,一個不斷上升的低音鐵克諾音樂已把這群人趕向一個寬廣的舞池,而一場不折不扣的派對就這麼在巴黎東郊蒙特勒伊的信天翁藝術中心驀然展開了。

Though most major European cities have lively urban party scenes — Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in Berlin and Leidseplein in Amsterdam — Paris has witnessed much of its night life decamp to the socially and historically estranged suburbs, like Montreuil.

There, a new generation of partygoers have homed in on local communities, establishing a cheaper, more energetic alternative to the mainstream urban dance clubs.

大多數歐洲主要城市都有舉行熱鬧城市派對的場地,例如柏林的腓特烈斯海因-十字山區,以及阿姆斯特丹的萊茲廣場,巴黎的夜生活卻有很大一部分撤往跟社會以及歷史有所隔閡的郊區,像是蒙特勒伊。

新一代的派對族群已向郊外的地方社區聚集,並且正在打造比主流城市舞蹈俱樂部更便宜、更有活力的替代品。

"They've been bored with the parties that used to be in Paris," said Leny Decret, a 26-year-old junior manager at a digital advertising agency. He is a co-founder of Tangible Utopia, a music collective that produced the documentary film shown at Espace Albatros.

Decret's parents came to watch the documentary and told him the whole phenomenon had a hippie vibe, he said.

"Maybe it's this thing about coming together for real, sharing a moment," he said.

26歲的數位廣告機構襄理萊尼.德克黑說:「他們對巴黎的派對已經感到厭煩。」他是「有形烏托邦」音樂社的共同創辦人,而在信天翁藝術中心播出的紀錄片就是這家音樂社製作的。

德克黑說,他的父母來看了紀錄片,並告訴他這整體現象帶有嬉皮味。

他說:「也許正是因為大家真正一起來,共享時光這回事。」

The shift of the dance party scene from the city to the outskirts started around 2009, when a headline in Le Monde called Paris the "European capital of boredom."

In an effort to revive the city's after-dark appeal, Eric Labbe, a record-store owner turned dance-club promoter, started an online petition to urge city authorities to ease strict noise ordinances and improve late-night public transportation. His effort garnered 16,000 signatures, but it did little to loosen public restrictions.

舞會的場景從城市轉往郊區始於2009年,當時世界報的標題稱巴黎為「歐洲的無聊之都」。

為了重振巴黎入夜後的吸引力,從唱片行老闆變為舞蹈俱樂部推廣人的艾希克.拉貝展開網路請願活動,呼籲市政府當局鬆綁嚴格的噪音管制條例,並改善深夜的公共運輸。他的努力獲得16000人連署,對鬆綁公共限制卻沒起什麼作用。

So young and mostly middle-class Parisians banded together to establish informal collectives of musicians and other artistic types to perform regularly at venues in suburbs, with immigrant and working-class histories.

"There's an adventurous side to going beyond the peripherique to party," said Labbe, who manages public relations for the Zig Zag club in the 8th Arrondissement of Paris, referring to the ring road that separates the French capital from its suburbs.

Organizers of these suburban dance-music festivals have created a more open, free-spirited milieu than the exclusive — and expensive — club scene in Paris.

於是,巴黎多屬中產階級的年輕人聯合起來,組成了非正式的音樂及其他藝術類型的團體,在具有移民和工人階級背景的郊區場地定期表演。

提到將法國首都與郊區隔開的環形道路時,巴黎第八區Z字型舞步俱樂部公關主管拉貝說:「越過環城大道去辦派對有著冒險的一面。」

這些郊區舞蹈音樂節的籌辦者,已經締造了一個比巴黎高貴也昂貴的俱樂部更開放、更自由奔放的環境與氛圍。

說文解字看新聞 文/陳韋廷

派對是巴黎人重要的生活內容,但近年新一代派對族群對於巴黎的派對已感厭煩,加上金錢方面的考量,紛紛轉戰郊區,尋求更便宜、更寬敞,而且更具有活力的派對場地。

Partygoer在文中譯作「派對族群」,意指熱中於參加派對聚會的人,其中goer在這當字根用,指的是經常去某個特定地方之人,而在英文中類似組成的單字還有很多,例如moviegoer(常看電影的人)、beachgoer(常去海灘的人)、churchgoer(常去教堂做禮拜的人)、racegoer(經常去看賽馬或賽車的人)等等。

此外,舉辦派對的英文常見說法有give/hold/host/throw a party,其中throw a party為口語用法,而party thrower則指籌辦派對的人。例句:The party was initiated by a girl who lives at the home and was given permission to throw a party by her parents.(這場派對由住在這間民宅的一個女孩所發起舉辦,並獲得她的父母同意)

 
Tug of War in Fine Print of Your Electric Bill/美國某些州 家戶太陽能板難回本
文/DIANE CARDWELL
譯/李京倫

It was only two years ago that Elroy Holtmann spent about $20,000 on a home solar array to help cover the costs of charging his new electric car. With the savings on his monthly electric bills, he figured the investment would pay for itself in about a dozen years.

But then the utilities regulators changed the equation.

不過才兩年前,霍特曼花了2萬美元安裝家戶太陽能發電系統,以省下錢來支應新購電動車的充電費。他盤算著每月節省的電費,估計這筆投資約能在12年內回本。

但後來公用事業管理單位改變了這個等式。

As a result, Pacific Gas & Electric recently did away with the rate schedule chosen by Holtmann, a retired electrical engineer, and many other solar customers in this part of California. The new schedule will make them pay much more for the electricity they draw from the grid in the evening, while paying those customers less for the excess power their solar panels send back to the grid on sunny summer days.

As a result, Holtmann's solar setup may never pay for itself.

於是,太平洋煤電公司最近廢除霍特曼與加州這區域其他許多安裝太陽能板客戶選擇的費率表。霍特曼是退休電力工程師。新費率表會讓他們夜間從電網取用電力時要付的電費貴得多,至於他們的太陽能板在晴朗夏天送回電網的多餘電力,公司付給他們的收購費則會變少。

這麼一來,霍特曼的太陽能系統可能永遠無法回本。

"They've taken any possibility for payback away," he said with resignation, looking up at the roof of his 1970s ranch-style house in this suburb a short drive east of Berkeley.

The paradox is playing out around the country. Even as policymakers at the federal and state levels promote clean energy to fight global warming, the economics of electricity can often be at odds with those goals.

霍特曼望著1970年代牧場風格的自家屋頂,無奈地說:「他們把回本的可能性完全拿走了。」他的家在柏克萊東郊,開車一下子就到了。

這種矛盾的情況在美國各地愈來愈多。聯邦與州決策者推廣潔淨能源以阻止全球暖化,電力的經濟因素卻常與這些目標牴觸。

Thrust in the middle are utility regulators. Even if they support greening the grid through technology adopters like Holtmann, the regulators are also responsible for ensuring that the utilities can afford to supply power to the largest number of customers at the most equitable rates. That includes people without the money or inclination to install solar collectors.

"The grid is no longer just a cheap way to get electrical commodities to people," said Michael Picker, president of the California Public Utilities Commission. "People want choices, they want customized services," he said. "And how do you make that fair to everybody, because not everybody is moving as adopters at the same pace?"

公用事業主管單位左右為難。雖然他們支持透過像霍特曼這樣勇於採用新科技的人來推廣綠色電力,但他們也有責任確保電廠能夠以最合理的費率對最大多數客戶供電,包括沒有財力或意願安裝太陽能板的人。

加州公用事業委員會主席皮克說:「電網不再只是為人們提供廉價電力商品的方式。人們想要有選擇,想要客製化服務。並不是每個人採用新科技的步調都一致,你要怎麼讓電費費率對每個人都公平?」

Similar dynamics are playing out in some parts of Europe, including Spain and Britain, as public officials push for green energy to justify its costs.

For more than a century in the United States, the public utility rate system assumed a one-way flow of electricity from central power plants to their customers. The role of utility regulators was to adjudicate reasonable rates for the consumer, while allowing an adequate rate of return on the money power companies spent generating and distributing the electricity.

類似的現象也在歐洲部分地區發生,包括西班牙與英國,官方要求綠色能源恢復合理價格。

100多年來,美國公用事業費率制度假定電力是從中央電廠單向輸送給客戶。電廠管理單位的角色是負責確保客戶有合理的費率,並允許電力公司花錢發電和配電後,有適當的投資報酬率。

說文解字看新聞 文/李京倫

太陽能在美國份量不重,僅占總能源消耗量的0.8%。近年美國「公用供電規模太陽能」發電量已有進展,從1997年的334百萬瓦增為2015年的1萬3406百萬瓦,但只占美國「公用供電規模」總發電量0.6%,比水力(hydroelectric)、生質(biomass)、風力(wind)等其他再生能源都少。

這篇用到幾個與電力相關的單字。utility(或public utility)是維護基礎設施以提供公共服務的組織,服務包括水、電、瓦斯與下水道汙水處理等,近年也有人把寬頻網路包含在內。grid是電網,包括發電廠、高壓輸電線路和配電線路。regulator文中指的是主管機關。以-or結尾的英文字未必一定是指人,也可能指單位、機構。

Thrust in the middle are utility regulators.是倒裝句,原句是Utility regulators are thrust in the middle.其中的thrust是thrust(猛推)的過去分詞,表示管理單位被推到中間,左右為難。

 
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