在本专栏当中，我会从经济学人等英文外刊中精选一些地道的表达和句型进行精讲。所选取的表达一般都是一些可以用于各类话题的通用表达或者常用表达。
1 counterpart
As communication gets cheaper and transport gets faster, developing countries have closed the gap with their rich-world counterparts.随着通讯越来越便宜，交通越来越快，发展中国家已经缩小了与发达国家之间的差距。
这句话中的close the gap(缩小差距)属于常用搭配，建议记下来。也可以写成bridge/narrow the gap。【反义词】widen the gap(增大差距)。
counterpart表示职位/作用相当的人；对应的事物。比如先提到英国首相British Prime Minister Boris Johnson，那么接下来表示德国总理，就经常会写成his German counterpart。除了表示身份相当的人，也可表示不同种类的相似事物。比如上面的their rich-world counterparts=their counterparts in the rich world(富裕国家)=rich/developed countries。由于表示的是相对的意思，因此counterpart前面一般会加上代词his/her/their/its等，类似于peer(同龄人)。同时，在counterpart前面加上形容词，来表示具体的事物类别，即代词+adj+counterpart(s)。比如：
online stores--their physical counterparts(实体店)
cash--its digital counterpart(电子货币)
mail--its modern counterpart(电子信件)在对男性和女性进行对比时，也可以用到counterpart，即women--their male counterparts或men--their female counterparts。如：
In China, women sometimes face more barriers to employment and career progression than their male counterparts, for several reasons.在我国，女性有时会比男性面临更多的就业和职业发展障碍，原因有好几个。
2 be not without (its/their) problems
More than 70% of college students and 50% of workers are looking for jobs with social impact. Even so, the sudden demand for such jobs is not without its problems.如今，超过70%的大学生和50%的工作者在寻找具有社会影响的工作。即便如此，对这类工作的突然需求并不是没有问题。
be not without its problems就是字面意思：并不是没有问题。problems也可以换成其他类似的词，如risks/flaws/drawbacks/costs。not without这个双重否定起到了加强语气的作用。without后面的代词its/their可加可不加：be not without problems/risks/drawbacks/costs。
这个句型经常与上文构成转折。在进行利弊之间的衔接时，就可以用到。可以在这个句型前面加上However,/But/Yet/等词表示转折。如：
Online shopping does offer tremendous convenience, but/yet it is not without its drawbacks.网购确实提供了巨大的便利，但是网购并不是没有其缺点。
注意，不能将这句中的but/yet改为however。因为however是副词，不能连接前后两句话：
Online shopping does offer tremendous convenience, however, it is not without its drawbacks.(X)Online shopping does offer tremendous convenience. However, it is not without its drawbacks.(√)Online shopping does offer tremendous convenience. It is not without its drawbacks, however.(√)【母语人士有时会将however放在句末】
Many startups are branching out into new places. The reasons for this shift are manifold, but chief among them is the sheer expense of the Valley.许多初创公司都拓展到新的地方去了。造成这种转变的原因是有很多，但其中最主要的原因是硅谷的成本太大。
manifold表示多方面的；多种多样的，非常正式。其中后缀-fold经常与数词搭配，表示...倍的/地：a fivefold increase五倍的增长 | to increase tenfold增加十倍。
Sth are manifold.表示某事有很多方面。用来引出多个分论点。这里的sth可以是reasons/benefits/problems等词，但是一定要是复数。Sth are manifold, but chief among them is/are...用于引出最重要的一点。其中chief among them is/are...是个倒装句：...is/are chief among them. 这个句型可以用来替代短语first and foremost。
如：
The negative effects of social-media addiction are manifold, but chief among them are health risks. Spending hours staring at the screen may lead to failing eyesight. 沉迷社交媒体会造成很多负面影响，不过其中最主要的就是健康风险了。盯着屏幕看好几个小时可能会造成视力衰退。
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