本文摘自20221215《經濟學人》

標題：What an unusual auction says about the art market

??auction n. 拍賣

auctioneer n. 拍賣師

mountaineer n. 登山運動員

auction house n. 拍賣行

導語：Poking fun at status-obsessed buyers?

??poke fun at sb./ sth. 取笑某人/ 某事

= tease/ make fun of sb./ sth.

Some of the kids were poking fun at Judy because of the way she was dressed.

其中有些孩子正在嘲笑朱迪的穿著。

??obsess vt. 使...著迷；心神不寧

be obsessed with/ by sth.

sth.-obsessed adj. 對某事著迷的

status-obsessed adj. 對身份、地位著迷的

P1

Penny Pinch, a Chicago street artist, likes to have fun with art-world finances. His work—from?murals to paintings to tote bags made in collaboration with the Chicago Cubs baseball team—?uses scavenged or donated materials (hence the name). His latest experiment, hosted at A?Very Serious Gallery, in the city’s north-west, is in pricing.?

??art world n.?藝術界

A group or network of people involved in the production, commission, preservation, promotion, and sale of art.

??finances n. 財力；財務管理

the money available to a person, an organization or a country; the way this money is managed

EG. assets, stocks, funds, resources

??mural n. 壁畫

extramural adj. 面向校外人群的

extramural courses 非全日制課程

??tote bag/ tote n. 托特袋、環(huán)保袋

??collaboration n. 合作、協(xié)作

in collaboration with sb. 與某人合作

??Chicago Cubs 芝加哥小熊隊

??scavenge /?sk?v?nd?/ v. 拾荒、撿破爛

scavenger n. 食腐動物；拾荒者

??hence adv. 因此、由此

~ which leads to

He was a tiny, slight figure, hence his nickname,'the little Wonder'.

他身材矮小，“小奇人”的綽號由此得來。

??penny-pinching adj. 吝嗇的

penny-pincher n. 小氣鬼

penny-pinch vt. 吝嗇地花錢、斤斤計較

??experiment n. 嘗試、試驗

experiment in sth. 某方面的試驗

? pricing n. 定價、計價

pricing policy 定價策略/ 政策

段落大意：開門見山：介紹主角（街頭藝術家），引出其最新的藝術試驗。

P2

On December 16th Mr Pinch is due to sell 15 paintings, one of which is pictured, in a Dutch?auction. Each will start at a price of $3,000, which will be cut by $100 every hour until a buyer?emerges. According to Mr Pinch and Allan Weinberger, the gallery’s owner, it is the first-ever?such auction of new art (a claim your correspondent could not disprove).?

? due adj. 預期、預計

be due to do sth. 預計做某事

The coursework's due today.

課程作業(yè)今天要交。

? picture vt. 用圖片顯示；在報紙、雜志上刊登

? Dutch auction n. 荷式拍賣

? emerge v. 出現(xiàn)、浮現(xiàn)

? new art n. 新藝術

= art nouveau?

? disprove v. 證明...是錯的

段落大意：藝術試驗玩法簡介。

P3

Dutch auctions are more commonly used to sell homogenous goods, such as cut flowers in?17th-century Holland or government bonds today. Their use for unique works is considerably?rarer. Mr Pinch says the auction is “an opportunity for people who can’t normally buy large?pieces of work”. It is also an opportunity to poke fun at the art world.

? homogenous adj. 同種的、同類型事物組成的?

= homogeneous

homo-：同樣的、相同的

homogenize vt. 使...單一化

hetero-：不同的

heterogenous adj. 由不同成分組成的

= heterogeneous

? cut flower n. 切花

? government bond n. 政府債券

? piece of work ?

work of art n. 藝術品

? poke fun at sb./ sth. 嘲弄某人/ 某事

段落大意：背景補充：1.荷式拍賣簡介；2.藝術家采用荷式拍賣的原因。

P4

The opportunity may come at a cost. As Eric Budish of the University of Chicago notes, the?trick with a Dutch auction is knowing where to set the starting price. For Treasuries, the range?is?established by looking at previous auctions. For Mr Pinch’s art, there is no equivalent,?meaning he risks setting the price too low and leaving money on the table.?

? sth comes at a (huge) cost 某事有(巨大)代價

= sth comes at a (high) price

She won fame, but it came at a huge cost.

她出名了，但也付出了巨大代價。

? note v. 之處、特別提到

? trick n. 訣竅、竅門

? Treasury n. (政府）財政部

Department of the Treasury（美）財政部

the Exchequer (英）財政部

Treasuries n.（美國）國債

Treasury bond, note, bill（按單詞長短記）

T-bond 長期國債

T-note 中期國債

T-bill 短期國債

? leave money on the table（談判、理財、買賣）虧了

If you're going to college and you don't apply for any grants or scholarships, you're probably leaving money on the table.

如果你去念大學卻沒申請任何助學金或則獎學金，那真是虧了。

段落大意：采用荷式拍賣對藝術家有弊。

P5

Mr Pinch is unconcerned by this, as he has something else in mind. At a regular auction, a?potential buyer is influenced by the crowd. Clamour for an offering indicates a higher potential?resale value and a greater status gain if the auction is won. These sorts of considerations are?“icky”, reckons Mr Pinch, which is why he likes Dutch auctions, where they are not possible.?When somebody else bids, it is too late. Potential buyers must focus on how much they value?the art, not how much others do.?

? unconcerned adj. 不在意的

He seemed unconcerned by his companion's problems.

他對同伴的困難似乎毫不關心。

? clamour n. 喧鬧聲

? offering n. 報價

offer vt. 報價

? resale n. 轉售、轉賣

? icky adj. 黏糊糊的、令人討厭的

? reckon v.（非正式）想、認為

? bid v.（拍賣）出價、喊價

?

段落大意：藝術家并不在乎荷式拍賣的劣勢，認為這種拍賣方式能選出真正欣賞藝術的買家。

P6

Yet there is an irony to the experiment. By launching the first Dutch auction for art, Messrs?Pinch and Weinberger may generate enough hype to attract exactly the sort of buyers they?wish to repel—those motivated more by status than a love of art.

? irony n. 諷刺之處

The irony is that when he finally got the job, he discovered he didn't like it.

諷刺的是，當他最終得到那份工作時，他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己并不喜歡它。

? Messrs n. Mr的復數(shù)形式

Ms —— [pl] Mss/ Mses

Miss —— [pl] Misses

? hype n. 大肆宣傳、炒作

? repel vt. 驅逐、擊退

repellent n. 驅蟲劑

段落大意：諷刺的是，本次拍賣最終可能恰恰會吸引藝術家最想避開的那群人——圖身份而不是愛藝術的買家。

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