Now, interest rates are going up to deal with the crisis.

現在為了應對這個危機，利率正在上升。

This is News Review from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

這是 BBC 學英語的新聞評論節目。我是 Neil。

And I'm Beth.

而我是 Beth。

And we'll be looking at the vocabulary being used to talk about the global economy.

我們將學習用於談論關於全球經濟的字彙。

Remember, there's a quiz on a website about the vocabulary in this programme.

記得，我們的網站上有提供在這個節目中出現的字彙的測驗。

But now some more on that story.

現在開始進入正題。

Food and energy prices are rising across the world, meaning millions now face tough choices in their daily lives.

世界各地的食品和能源價格正在上升，這意味著數百萬人現在在日常生活中面臨艱難的選擇。

Economists blame a combination of COVID, the war in Ukraine, and poor harvests.

經濟學家將此歸咎於 COVID、烏克蘭戰爭和收成不佳等因素。

Now, central banks are putting up interest rates to try to control the crisis.

現在，中央銀行正在提高利率試圖控制住危機。

You've been looking at the headlines.

你看過今天要學習的頭條新聞了。

What's the vocabulary?

要學的字彙是什麼？

We have 'the spectre of something', 'into the mire' and 'tightrope'.

我們有「對於…的恐懼（或憂慮）」、「陷入困境」和 「處境危險」。

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

這是 BBC 學英語的新聞評論節目。

Let's have a look at our first headline.

讓我們看一下我們的第一個頭條新聞。

This one comes from The Guardian: Fight against inflation raises spectre of global recession

這篇報導來自《衛報》：對抗通貨膨脹引發全球經濟衰退擔憂

Now, the expression that we're looking at is 'the spectre of something'. A spectre is a ghost, isn't it?

我們正在看的用法是「對於…的恐懼（或憂慮）」。spectre 是一種鬼魂，對嗎？

Yeah, that's absolutely right.

是的，沒有錯。

And you're probably wondering, Neil, why are we talking about ghosts?

那你可能會想，我們為什麼要談論鬼？

Yeah. I am

是的，我確實很疑惑。

Is it because a ghost is a scary thing?

是不是因為鬼魂是個可怕的東西？

Well, yes it is. 'The spectre of something' is the possibility of something bad happening.

是的，它是。「The spectre of something」是指糟糕的事情可能發生。

So, in this case, it's a possible recession.

所以在這個情況下，是指有可能經濟衰退。

So, for example, we could talk about the spectre of climate change or the spectre of nuclear war.

舉例來說，我們可以說對於氣候變化的擔憂或對於核戰爭的擔憂。

These are really serious things.

這些都是非常嚴肅的事情。

But could we use this for more light hearted situations? For example, the spectre of my dentist appointment next week.

但我們能不能把它用於更輕鬆的情況？例如，我對於下週要去看牙醫擔憂。

No, not really.

不行。

We use this expression for unpleasant things that may happen in the future and will probably happen to a lot of people. And, by the way, there's a spelling difference.

我們用這種用法表示未來可能發生不好的事情，而且可能會發生在很多人身上。順便說一下，這個字在拼寫上有差別。

So, 'spectre' in British English ends in 're', but in the US it finishes with 'er'.

英式英語中的 spectre 是以 re，但在美國則以 er 結尾。

OK, let's have a look at that again.

讓我們再看一次這個用法。

Time now for our next headline.

接下來是下一個頭條新聞。

This one comes from City A.M.: Inflation and recession concoction sends global markets into the mire

這篇報道來自《城市快報》：通貨膨脹和經濟衰退的雙重打擊下造成全球市場陷入困境

The expression here is 'into the mire'. And the mire is an area of muddy, dirty, swampy ground - difficult to move through. You can get stuck.

這裡的用法是「陷入困境」。而 mire 是指一個滿是泥濘、骯髒的沼澤地區，難以移動。可能會被卡住。

Yeah. That's right.

沒錯，你說得對。

But in this case, and in this headline, we are not talking about a physical place, but we're talking about a tricky or difficult situation.

但在這種情況下，還有用在這個標題中，我們不是在談論一個實體的地方，而是一個棘手的或困難的情況。

So if the global markets are in the mire, it means they're in a bad situation.

如果全球市場處於泥潭之中，這表示它們處在很糟的狀態中。

Can we talk about people, though, using this expression 'into the mire' or 'mired in something'?

我們可以用「into the mire」或是「mired in something」來談論人嗎？

Yes, we can and we do very often hear this with politicians.

可以喔，而且我們確實經常聽到用在政客上。

So if there is some kind of political scandal, we can say that the politician is mired in scandal, and there is an element of them doing something bad or they've done something unpleasant.

如果有政客遭到政治醜聞纏身，我們可以說這個政客「深陷」醜聞之中，而且是因為他們做了什麼壞事或他們做了什麼不好的事。

OK. Let's take a look at that again.

讓我們再看一次這個新聞標題。

Now for our next headline, please.

現在請看我們的下一個頭條新聞。

This one comes from The Indian Express: Partha Sen writes: The inflation tightrope

這篇報道來自《印度快報》：Partha Sen 寫道：「通膨的困境」

'Tightrope'. Beth, have you ever been to the circus?

「鋼絲」。Beth，你去過馬戲團嗎？

Oh, I have when I was a child, but I really didn't like the clowns.

我小時候有，但我真的很不喜歡那些小丑。

What's wrong with the clowns?

小丑怎麼了嗎？

Do you know what I really like, though? It's that act where you walk along a rope.

你知道我喜歡的是什麼嗎？就是沿著繩子走的那個動作。

You could fall off. There's danger on either side.

你可能會掉下來。兩邊都有危險。

Now that is called a tightrope.

這被稱為走鋼絲。

And in the headline, we saw 'tightrope' used to talk about a situation where even a little mistake can lead to disaster.

而在頭條新聞中我們看到「走鋼絲」被用來談論即使是一個小錯誤也會導致災難的情況。

So, what the headline writer is saying is that dealing with inflation can be very difficult to do successfully.

所以，標題作者的意思是指，應對通貨膨脹可能很難成功。

There is risk. There is danger.

有風險。有危險。

There is also a longer version of this expression 'to walk a tightrope'.

這個說法還有一個更長的版本，就是「to walk a tightrope」。

That's right.

沒錯。

And 'to walk a tightrope' is to deal with a very difficult situation.

to walk a tightrope 就是要處理一個非常困難的情況。

So, imagine that you're planning a wedding,

所以，想象你正在計劃一場婚禮，

you've got to think about who you're going to invite, and also how much money do you have?

你得考慮你要邀請誰，還有多少錢。

Yeah. And who are you gonna leave off that guest list?

沒錯。還有你打算把哪些人從賓客名單中剔除掉。

OK, let's have a look at that again.

好吧，讓我們再看一次這個用法。

We've had 'the spectre of something' - a bad thing that is coming your way.

我們今天學了「對於…的恐懼（或憂慮）」——即將到來的壞事。

'Into the mire' - in a bad, difficult, perhaps scandalous situation.

「陷入困境」——在一個糟糕的、困難的、也許是醜聞的情況下。

And a 'tightrope' - a small mistake and everything could go wrong.

還有「困境」——只要一個小錯誤，一切都可能出錯。

So don't get stuck in the mire with your English.

所以不要讓你的英文陷入困境。

Head over to our website or app where you can practise all of the vocabulary from this programme with a quiz.

到我們的網站或 app，你可以透過測驗練習所有出自這個節目的字彙。

And there's more examples there as well.

而且那裡還有更多的例句。

Thank you for joining us, and goodbye. Bye.

謝謝你加入我們，再見。