11月26日，世卫组织将南非发现的新型病毒的最新变异株命名为“奥密克戎变异株”。自此，本来争先恐后开放的世界各国又纷纷闭门户、断航班。然而奥密克戎变异株的扩散已难以阻挡，截至12月2号，奥密克戎变异株已经传播到三十余个国家和地区。令人们尤其担忧的是，该变异株与此前的新冠变异株差异较大，目前科学家还在努力了解其特征，以及现有疫苗对其是否仍然有效。Should uncertainty over the omicron variant of ultimately delay the decision to hike, it wouldn’t be the first time a lack of clarity has caused policymakers to err on the side of caution.如果英国央行因为奥密克戎变异株所带来的不确定性而最终推迟了加息的决定，这将不是第一次因为缺乏明确性而导致决策者做出更偏谨慎的决定。（英文摘自2021.12.02 Bloomberg网站）“Based on what we know about the potential for immune evasion, I would err on the side of giving the booster,” said Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist at Bellevue Hospital Center who had opposed the Biden administration’s boosters-for-all push.贝尔维尤医院中心的传染病专家塞琳·古德博士曾反对拜登政府推动全民加强针，现在认为：“根据我们对于奥密克戎变异株免疫逃避可能性的了解，我现在倾向于打加强针。”（英文摘自2021.12.01 NYTimes网站）Indeed, Omicron’s threat to the recovery is just the latest in a series of zigzags that the world economy has endured since the coronavirus began its march across continents last year.事实上，奥密克戎变异株对经济复苏的威胁，只是自去年新冠疫情开始肆虐各大洲以来，世界经济所经受的一系列波折的最新一个。（英文摘自2021.12.02 NYTimes网站）3、state of suspense 悬念、不确定的状态Skiers are facing the worst of the suspense. After the bad news of Switzerland imposing compulsory quarantine on British visitors, the good news is that it was confirmed this week that skiers landing in Geneva could continue straight on to the French Alps. 滑雪者正面临着最糟糕的不确定性。在瑞士对英国游客实施强制隔离的坏消息之后，好消息是，本周确认在日内瓦登陆的滑雪者可以继续直接前往法国阿尔卑斯山。（英文摘自2021.12.02 Telegraph网站）That provisional state, amplified across the world, has left the still-fragile economy in a state of suspense as spiking coronavirus infections and the new variant Omicron have popped up around the globe.随着新冠病例激增和新的奥密克戎变异株散布全球，这种全球临时状态使仍然脆弱的经济处于一个悬念。（英文摘自2021.12.02 NYTimes网站）4、threw a wrench 严重干扰、破坏了Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will tell a Senate committee Tuesday that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus could threw a wrench into US economic recovery efforts and hurt the country’s response to surging inflation.
美联储主席杰罗姆-鲍威尔周二将告诉参议院委员会，新冠病毒的奥密克戎变异株可能会破坏美国的经济复苏，并损害美国对飙升的通货膨胀的反应。（英文摘自2021.11.30 NYPost网站）The new regulations threw a wrench in Christmas plans for many of these travelers, who will have to self-isolate over the holidays. Previously, such travelers who had been fully vaccinated for at least two weeks were exempted from quarantine.（韩国政府）新的规定严重打乱了许多类似的旅行者的圣诞计划，他们将不得不在假期自我隔离。在此之前，已经完全接种疫苗了至少两周的旅行者可以免于隔离。（英文摘自2021.12.02 NYTimes网站）▲图片来源：Glee Consulting GroupShe said that telling the public about new variants of concern is about education and transparency, not instilling fear.她说，向公众解释新的“高关注变异株”是为了教育和透明度，而不是灌输恐惧。（英文摘自2021.11.30 FiveThirtyEight网站）The new omicron variant is instilling fear across America as experts say it has a large number of mutations which may allow it to spread more easily and possibly reduce existing immunity.新的奥密克戎变异株正在带给美国带来恐惧，因为专家说它有大量的突变，可能使它更容易传播，并可能降低现有的免疫力。6、surveillance infrastructure 监测系统Across California, labs like the one at the UC Davis Genome Center have been sequencing variants, and experts say quickly identifying the omicron variant in the state is a good thing as the science community works to learn more about the new variant. "It's a good test of our surveillance infrastructure," said Dr. David Coil with the UC Davis Genome Center.
在加州，像加州大学戴维斯分校基因组中心这样的实验室一直在对变异株进行测序，专家们说，随着科学界努力了解这种新的变体，迅速确定该州的奥密克戎变异体是一件好事。加州大学戴维斯分校基因组中心的大卫·科勒博士说：“这是对我们监测系统的一次很好的测试”。Travel bans have not been shown to prevent the spread of disease and could backfire by punishing the countries that built up viral surveillance infrastructure necessary to spot new variants early.旅行禁令并没有被证明可以防止疾病的传播，而且可能会适得其反，惩罚那些建立了必要的病毒监测系统以尽早发现新变种的国家。（英文摘自2021.11.30 FiveThirtyEight网站）中国论坛『热词解码』栏目，旨在通过中英双语解读热门词汇，帮助大家进一步了解国际热议话题及地道的英语表达方式
