TikTok网红聚集华盛顿，反对美国封禁计划

近日，美国越来越多立法者认为，短视频应用程序TikTok对美国国家安全构成了潜在威胁，希望禁止该应用程序。日前，TikTok CEO周受资参加了美国众议院能源与商务委员会听证会。

🤔️小作业：

1. beholden是什么意思？

2.「网红」怎么表达？

3. weigh in是什么意思？

无注释原文：

TikTok Stars Rally in Washington Against App’s Potential U.S. Ban

From: The Wall Street Journal

TikTok launched a battalion of influencers in the nation’s capital Wednesday to send a message to Congress: Banning the app would be met with widespread popular opposition. 

“TikTok is not a children’s dancing app,” said Aidan Kohn-Murphy, a college freshman with close to 300,000 TikTok followers and founder of the advocacy group Gen-Z for Change. “It is one of the most powerful tools that young people have to engage each other and to get civically involved.” 

Mr. Kohn-Murphy was one of more than 20 TikTok personalities with wide followings who traveled to the capital this week at the company’s invitation to lobby lawmakers and others in advance of TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew’s appearance before a House committee on Thursday.

The influencers’ blitz is part of TikTok’s response to persistent concerns among U.S. officials. 

The Biden administration recently demanded that TikTok’s Chinese owners sell their stakes in the company or face a possible U.S. ban of the app, and members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are expected to question Mr. Chew about the security concerns and other issues.

TikTok maintains that it isn’t beholden to any government and is a vital platform for 150 million American users—a theme the influencers worked to underscore in a meeting with journalists near the Capitol on Wednesday. 

“It would be difficult to be able to support a candidate that would take away something that is so integral to the direction we’re going as a society,” said Baedri Nichole, a bakery owner from Columbus, Ohio, whose “hot cocoa bomb” confection is a hit on TikTok.

Kenny Jary, an 81-year-old retiree known on TikTok as Patriotic Kenny, said he uses the app to raise money to buy mobility scooters for fellow veterans. Others said the app provided a platform to launch small businesses or discuss topics such as eldercare and mental health. 

TikTok covered the group’s travel and accommodation expenses. The company bused the influencers on Wednesday to the Capitol grounds, where they gathered on a scenic rooftop to shoot their own videos and stand for journalists’ interviews. 

Later in the day, the influencers met with lawmakers and held a news conference near the Capitol building with Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.) and others.

“Why the hysteria and the panic and the targeting of TikTok?” asked Mr. Bowman, before suggesting xenophobia against China was at play and Congress should focus instead on addressing broader concerns about social media. “American social-media companies have been used to facilitate harms.”

After threats of banning the app started during the Trump administration, the company has spent recent years building a U.S.-based security apparatus to wall off U.S. user data and give officials the ability to inspect the computer code that recommends videos to users.

TikTok stars were a crucial factor in the company’s successful effort to fight off a proposed ban during the Trump years. Whether they will have the same influence this time around remains to be seen.

“I’m aware of the popularity of the platform. I’m not oblivious,” said Rep. Yvette Clarke (D., N.Y.), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee who hasn’t yet taken a position on a potential ban. “However, it’s important to weigh our equities here. National security has to be addressed.”

Ahead of Mr. Chew’s appearance, TikTok has ramped up lobbying efforts with the help of Oracle Corp., its U.S. data-security partner. Advertisements at the capital’s Metro subway stops tout the company’s commitment to user safety.

Mr. Chew also asked the platform’s users to weigh in, in a TikTok post this week disclosing that 150 million Americans are on the app.

“Some politicians have started talking about banning TikTok,” he said. “This could take TikTok away from all 150 million of you.”

- ◆ -

注：中文文本为华尔街日报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

TikTok Stars Rally in Washington Against App’s Potential U.S. Ban

TikTok网红聚集华盛顿，反对美国封禁计划

From: The Wall Street Journal

TikTok launched a battalion of influencers in the nation’s capital Wednesday to send a message to Congress: Banning the app would be met with widespread popular opposition.

周三，TikTok在美国首都召集了一群网红，向国会喊话：禁止该应用将激起民众的广泛反对。

表示“（有组织的）队伍”，英文解释为“a large group of people, especially an organized group with a particular purpose”如：a battalion of supporters 由支持者组成的队伍。

字面上的意思就是影响者，有影响力的人，柯林斯词典中的解释分为两种，一个就是字面上的意思：any person or thing that exerts an influence；另一种解释为：a person who uses social media to promote lifestyle choices, commercial products, etc to his or her followers. 利用社交媒体向自己的粉丝推广或推荐产品和服务的人，就是类似于现在网络中的“网红、博主”，或者说关键意见领袖，Key Opinion Leader，KOL.

“TikTok is not a children’s dancing app,” said Aidan Kohn-Murphy, a college freshman with close to 300,000 TikTok followers and founder of the advocacy group Gen-Z for Change. “It is one of the most powerful tools that young people have to engage each other and to get civically involved.” 

“TikTok不是一款儿童舞蹈应用，”在TikTok拥有近30万粉丝的大一新生、倡导组织Gen-Z for Change的创始人Aidan Kohn-Murphy说。“它是年轻人相互交流和参与公民事务的最有力工具之一。”

advocacy /ˈæd.və.kə.si/ 表示“拥护，主张，提倡”，英文解释为“public support for an idea, plan, or way of doing something”如：a nonprofit advocacy group 一个非盈利性的倡议团体。

Generation Z (or Gen Z) is the demographic cohort after the Millennials. Demographers and researchers typically use the mid-1990s to early-2000s as starting birth years. There is little consensus regarding ending birth years. Most of Generation Z have used the Internet since a young age and are comfortable with technology and social media.

Z世代（Generation Z），美国及欧洲的流行用语，意指在1990年代中叶至2000年后出生的人。一般来说，他们主要是X世代的小孩，但也有较年轻的婴儿潮世代或是较年长的Y世代的小孩。他们又被称为M世代（多工世代，multitasking）、C世代（连结世代，Connected Generation）、网络世代（Net Generation），或是互联网世代（the Internet Generation）。（Wikipedia）

Mr. Kohn-Murphy was one of more than 20 TikTok personalities with wide followings who traveled to the capital this week at the company’s invitation to lobby lawmakers and others in advance of TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew’s appearance before a House committee on Thursday.

有20多位TikTok网红本周应TikTok邀请前往华盛顿游说国会议员和其他人士，Kohn-Murphy就是其中之一；周四，TikTok首席执行官周受资将出席众议院能源和商务委员会的听证会。

作动词，表示“游说”；作名词，1）表示“游说团体，游说集团”，英文解释为“a group of people who try to persuade the government or an official group to do something”如：the anti-smoking lobby 反吸烟游说团体。

2）表示“大堂，大厅，门厅”，英文解释为“the (large) room into which the main entrance door opens in a hotel or other large building”

3）表示“（英国议会的）接见厅，会见厅，表决厅”，英文解释为“in the UK parliament, a room where someone meets a member of parliament who they have arranged to talk to, or one of the two passages that members of parliament walk through as a way of voting”

The influencers’ blitz is part of TikTok’s response to persistent concerns among U.S. officials. 

上述网红的闪电行动是TikTok对美国官员的持续担忧作出的回应之一。

blitz /blɪts/ 表示“集中力量的行动；闪电式行动”，英文解释为“a lot of energetic activity”举个🌰：

The car was launched with a massive media/advertising blitz, involving newspapers, magazines, television and radio. 该车投放市场时做了大量宣传/广告，投放媒介包括报纸、杂志、电视和广播。

📍此前在双十一这个千亿大项目，你贡献了多少呢？一文中提到了“双十一购物狂欢节”，BBC用了the 24-hour shopping blitz，来表示。

1）表示“持续的；存留的；顽强存在的”，英文解释为“lasting for a long time or difficult to get rid of”举个🌰：

Symptoms of the illness include a high temperature and a persistent dry cough. 病症包括高烧和持久的干咳。

2）表示“坚持不懈的；执意的”，英文解释为“Someone who is persistent continues doing something or tries to do something in a determined but often unreasonable way.”举个🌰：

Be persistent - don't give up. 要坚持不懈——别放弃。

The Biden administration recently demanded that TikTok’s Chinese owners sell their stakes in the company or face a possible U.S. ban of the app, and members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are expected to question Mr. Chew about the security concerns and other issues.

拜登政府最近要求字节跳动出售所持TikTok股份，否则可能面临美国对该应用的封禁。

表示“股本，股份”，英文解释为“a share or a financial involvement in something such as a business”举个🌰：

He holds (= owns) a 55 percent stake in/of the company. 他拥有公司55%的股份。

补充：

📍have a stake in sth表示“对…有强烈的兴趣；与…有利害关系”，英文解释为“If you have a stake in something, it is important to you because you have a personal interest or involvement in it.”举个🌰：

Employers have a stake in the training of their staff. 雇主很重视员工培训。

TikTok maintains that it isn’t beholden to any government and is a vital platform for 150 million American users—a theme the influencers worked to underscore in a meeting with journalists near the Capitol on Wednesday. 

TikTok坚称不受制于任何政府，是1.5亿美国用户不可或缺的一个平台。周三，上述网红在国会附近与记者见面时着力强调了这一点。

beholden /bɪˈhəʊl.dən/ 表示“受惠的；感激的；欠人情的”，英文解释为“feeling you have a duty to someone because they have done something for you”举个🌰：

She wanted to be independent and beholden to no one. 她想独立，不想依赖任何人。

表示“突出显示；强调”，英文解释为“If something such as an action or an event underscores another, it draws attention to the other thing and emphasizes its importance.”举个🌰：

The figures underscore the state of the economic recovery.数据突出显示了经济复苏的状态。

🎬电影《笔下求生》（Stranger Than Fiction）中的台词提到：lts desperate attempts to escape... only underscore the hopelessness of its plight. 它绝望的挣扎 只能强调它无望的处境。

“It would be difficult to be able to support a candidate that would take away something that is so integral to the direction we’re going as a society,” said Baedri Nichole, a bakery owner from Columbus, Ohio, whose “hot cocoa bomb” confection is a hit on TikTok.

来自俄亥俄州哥伦布市的面包房老板Baedri Nichole说：“我将很难支持一个要夺走对我们社会发展方向不可或缺之物的候选人。”他的“热可可炸弹”甜点在TikTok上很受欢迎。

integral /ˈɪn.tɪ.ɡrəl/ 表示“构成整体所必需的”，英文解释为“necessary and important as a part of a whole”举个🌰：

He's an integral part of the team and we can't do without him. 他是球队不可缺少的一员，没有他我们可不行。

confection /kənˈfek.ʃən/ 表示“（精制的）糕点，甜点，甜食”，英文解释为“a decorated cake or unusual sweet dish”

表示“（唱片、电影或戏剧的）成功；很受欢迎的人（或事物）”，英文解释为“If a CD, film, or play is a hit, it is very popular and successful.”举个🌰：

The song became a massive hit in 2022. 这首歌在2022年取得了巨大成功。

Kenny Jary, an 81-year-old retiree known on TikTok as Patriotic Kenny, said he uses the app to raise money to buy mobility scooters for fellow veterans. Others said the app provided a platform to launch small businesses or discuss topics such as eldercare and mental health. 

在TikTok上名为“爱国者Kenny”(Patriotic Kenny)的81岁退休人员Kenny Jary称，他用这个应用程序筹集资金，为退伍军人购买电动代步车。其他人表示，在该应用程序提供的平台上，人们可以白手起家做一些小生意，或者讨论老年人护理和心理健康等话题。

可以指“小型摩托车”英文解释为“A scooter is a small light motorcycle which has a low seat.”也可以指“踏板车，滑板车”（A scooter is a type of child's bicycle which has two wheels joined by a wooden board and a handle on a long pole attached to the front wheel. The child stands on the board with one foot, and uses the other foot to move forward.）

此前经济学人一篇讲述电动滑板车的文章就用的“e-scooters”来表达。

「经济学人」电动滑板车的兴起

veteran /ˈvetərən/ 1）表示“老手，（在某方面）经验丰富的人”，英文解释为“someone who has had a lot of experience of a particular activity”，如：veteran leader/veteran journalist/actor/goalkeeper etc 资深领袖/资深记者/资深演员/经验丰富的守门员等。

2）表示“老兵，退伍军人”，英文解释为“someone who has been in the armed forces during a war”如：a Vietnam veteran 越战老兵。

TikTok covered the group’s travel and accommodation expenses. The company bused the influencers on Wednesday to the Capitol grounds, where they gathered on a scenic rooftop to shoot their own videos and stand for journalists’ interviews. 

TikTok承担了这批人的旅行和住宿费用。该公司周三用大巴将这些网红带到国会大厦处，他们聚集在一个风景优美的天台上，各自拍摄视频，并接受记者的采访。

bus 作动词，表示“用大客车运送”，英文解释为“to take people somewhere by bus”

scenic /ˈsiː.nɪk/ 表示“风景优美的”，英文解释为“having or allowing you to see beautiful natural features”如：an area of outstanding scenic beauty 风景优美的地区。

rooftop /ˈruːf.tɒp/ 表示“屋顶；外屋顶”，英文解释为“the outside surface of the roof of a building”如：a magnificent view of the rooftops 屋顶的壮观景色。

Later in the day, the influencers met with lawmakers and held a news conference near the Capitol building with Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.) and others.

当天晚些时候，网红们与议员们会面，并在国会大厦附近与新泽西州民主党众议员Jamaal Bowman等人举行了新闻发布会。

“Why the hysteria and the panic and the targeting of TikTok?” asked Mr. Bowman, before suggesting xenophobia against China was at play and Congress should focus instead on addressing broader concerns about social media. “American social-media companies have been used to facilitate harms.”

Bowman问道：“为什么会出现这样的歇斯底里和恐慌？为什么要这样针对TikTok？”他暗示，这是针对中国的仇外心理在起作用，国会应该着力解决有关社交媒体的更广泛的担忧。“美国的社交媒体公司被用来为虎作伥。”

hysteria /hɪˈstɪərɪə/ 表示“歇斯底里；情绪狂暴不可抑止；大肆鼓吹；狂热夸张；大惊小怪”，英文解释为“a state of extreme excitement, fear or anger in which a person, or a group of people, loses control of their emotions and starts to cry, laugh, etc. ”，如：mass hysteria 人群的狂热情绪，举个🌰：

There was mass hysteria when the band came on stage. 乐队登台时观众一片疯狂。

xenophobia /ˌzɛnəˈfəʊbɪə/ 很早之前在经济学人文章中我们学到这个词：Xenophobia，表示“对外国人（或外国习俗、宗教等）的憎恶（或恐惧）；排外情绪；恐外症；仇外”（extreme dislike or fear of foreigners, their customs, their religions, etc.）

跟着「经济学人」学个词 Xenophobia

表示“促进；促使；使便利”，英文解释为“to make something possible or easier”举个🌰：

The new ramp will facilitate the entry of wheelchairs. 新坡道将方便轮椅进入。

📍《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述国内电动车行业的文章中提到：The state also facilitates the roll-out of advanced technical features for the benefit of the public at large. 政府也在提供便利来促进企业推出能造福普罗大众的先进技术功能。

After threats of banning the app started during the Trump administration, the company has spent recent years building a U.S.-based security apparatus to wall off U.S. user data and give officials the ability to inspect the computer code that recommends videos to users.

在特朗普政府开始威胁要封禁TikTok后，该公司近年来已成立一个设在美国的安全分支机构，以保护美国用户数据，并让官员能够检查向用户推送视频的计算机代码。

apparatus /ˌæp.əˈreɪ.təs/ 表示“（尤指政治）机构，组织，机制”，英文解释为“an organization or system, especially a political one”

TikTok stars were a crucial factor in the company’s successful effort to fight off a proposed ban during the Trump years. Whether they will have the same influence this time around remains to be seen.

特朗普执政期间，TikTok网红博主是该公司成功抵制拟议禁令的一个关键因素。这一次，他们是否拥有同样的影响力还有待观察。

“I’m aware of the popularity of the platform. I’m not oblivious,” said Rep. Yvette Clarke (D., N.Y.), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee who hasn’t yet taken a position on a potential ban. “However, it’s important to weigh our equities here. National security has to be addressed.”

“我知道这个平台的受欢迎程度。我并不是毫无察觉，”众议院能源和商业委员会高级成员、纽约州民主党议员Yvette Clarke表示。“但在此事上权衡我们的利益至关重要。国家安全问题必须得到解决。”Clarke尚未就潜在的禁令表明立场。

oblivious /əˈblɪv.i.əs/ 表示“（尤指对周围发生的事情）毫不在意的，毫无知觉的，未察觉的”，英文解释为“not conscious of something, especially what is happening around you”举个🌰：

Absorbed in her work, she was totally oblivious of her surroundings. 她专心于工作，对周围的一切毫无知觉。

Ahead of Mr. Chew’s appearance, TikTok has ramped up lobbying efforts with the help of Oracle Corp., its U.S. data-security partner. Advertisements at the capital’s Metro subway stops tout the company’s commitment to user safety.

在周受资出席听证会之前，在美国数据安全合作伙伴甲骨文公司(Oracle Co., ORCL)的帮助下，TikTok加大了游说力度。美国首都地铁站的一些广告宣传该公司对用户安全的承诺。

1）表示“（公司）扩大，增加，增多（业务等）”，英文解释为“If a business ramps up its activity, it increases it.”举个🌰：

The company announced plans to ramp up production to 10,000 units per month. 这家公司宣布了每月生产1万件的增产计划。

2）表示“加快（速度）；增加（威力）；提高（费用）”，英文解释为“to increase the speed, power, or cost of something”举个🌰：

Mitsubishi has ramped up the speed of its new micro-controllers. 三菱公司已经提高了其新生产的微控制器的运行速度。

表示“标榜；吹捧；吹嘘”，英文解释为“to try to persuade people that sb/sth is important or valuable by praising them/it”举个🌰：

A local car dealership was touting its services/wares on the radio. 一家地方汽车特许经销商正在当地电台作宣传。

🎬电影《大谎言家》（Big Fat Liar）中的台词提到：Big Fat Liar is already being touted as next summer's must-see movie event. 《大谎言家》已被誉为明年夏天必看的电影。

Mr. Chew also asked the platform’s users to weigh in, in a TikTok post this week disclosing that 150 million Americans are on the app.

周受资还呼吁TikTok用户参与进来，他本周在一则TikTok视频中披露，该应用目前有1.5亿美国用户。

此前在“我不能呼吸了”美国警察暴力执法致黑人死亡文中出现过，表示“（在讨论、辩论等中）发表有分量的意见，发挥作用”，英文解释为“to join in a discussion, an argument, an activity, etc. by saying sth important, persuading sb, or doing sth to help”举个🌰：

We all weighed in with our suggestions. 我们都提出了建议。

📺美剧《生活大爆炸》（The Big Bang Theory）第6季第5集中谢尔顿就说到：Care to weigh in? 可以理解为想参与讨论，想说点什么吗（To put your opinion into a matter or situation），字幕组将其解释为：有何高见？

📺还是《生活大爆炸》第7季第9集中提到：Can I weigh in here? 所以我能插一句吗?

📺还有如第7季第21集中也提到了：And yet you get to weigh in. 可是你还有话语权啊。

“Some politicians have started talking about banning TikTok,” he said. “This could take TikTok away from all 150 million of you.”

周受资表示，政界一些人士已开始谈论封禁TikTok。他称，如果这么做，就可能导致1.5亿美国用户都无法使用TikTok。

- 今日盘点 -

- Generated By ChatGPT -

As a Gen Z influencer, Lisa had always been persistent in her advocacy for the environment. She had recently joined a battalion of young activists who lobbied for climate change policies. During a blitz of protests, Lisa found herself on the rooftop of a scenic bus station, riding a scooter to get there. Beholden to the cause, she weighed in on the issue of xenophobia and underscored the integral role of diversity in the fight for a better future. As a veteran activist, she knew the apparatus of activism well and how to facilitate change. Despite the hysteria of the crowd, she remained focused on her mission. She disclosed to her fellow activists that they needed to ramp up their efforts and tout their cause. Lisa knew that she was staking her future on this fight, but she was willing to hit the pavement for the sake of the planet. As she made her way down from the rooftop, she couldn't help but indulge in a confection, feeling energized by the progress they had made that day.