本期精读的文章来自The Economist对于韩国男团的报道：The company behind BTS, K-pop’s biggest act, is going public

防弹少年团（BTS）是一个非常成功的韩国男子演唱组合，他们在全球各地也拥有众多粉丝。推出该组合的Big Hit Entertainment也将于本月在韩国上市。本文详细分析了BTS成功的原因：风格深受女性观众喜爱，以及能和年轻一代产生共鸣。

小标题中Woke blokes来自澳大利亚歌手Thelma Plum的一首同名歌曲。主标题中act是一词多义，这里意思相当于“演出者，表演者”，标题含义即：韩流舞台上最大的演出者“防弹少年团”，其背后的公司将要上市。

向公众号回复：BTS 可以获取本文的英文原文、译文以及音频。

开头段介绍了韩国流行音乐界在过去数年间遭遇种种挫折。

For the past couple of years, the biggest news in the world of k-pop has been decidedly unpleasant.

在过去数年间，关于韩国流行音乐界的大新闻无疑让人感到不快。

开头句对全段进行总结，接下来展开说明为何这些新闻会让人感到不愉快。

A scandal centred on “Burning Sun”, a glitzy nightclub in Seoul, South Korea’s capital, saw several male k-pop stars and industry executives accused last year of sexual abuse, procuring sex for business partners, drug-peddling and bribery.

去年韩国首尔一家高级夜总会“燃烧太阳”发生了一场丑闻，其中牵涉到几名男性韩流明星和行业高管。这些人被指控性侵、为商业伙伴拉皮条，以及贩毒和贿赂。

句子主干是：A scandal saw several male k-pop stars and industry executives accused of… 其中saw在这里的意思相当于“目睹，见证”，这是一个在外刊中经常出现的说法。

Later in the year two female idols committed suicide in the space of a few weeks. Both had been subject to misogynistic abuse for years.

去年下半年又有两名女明星在数周内相继自杀，她们多年来一直遭受厌女症者的虐待。

in the space of XX 是一个固定搭配，意思是“在XX的时间内”，例如：He fell asleep in the space of a few minutes. 没几分钟他就睡着了。

第二段介绍了防弹少年团的风格。

But the industry’s biggest stars seem untouched by its seedy side.

但韩流界的巨星们似乎并没有被行业内肮脏的一面影响。

第二段开头第一句对上一段进行了转折，同时引入对防弹少年团的介绍。

BTS, the world’s most successful k-pop group and the biggest boy band on the planet, has found global success by selling something close to the opposite of the machismo and aloofness that are usually required from k-pop idols.

防弹少年团是全球最成功的韩流组合，也是世界上最大的男团。他们在全球各地取得成功的方式是推销一种新的人设，这种人设与大男子气概和酷气有点相反，而后两者通常是韩流明星的必备素质。

The seven 20-something men present themselves as down-to-earth, frank about the pressures and downsides of fame, socially engaged and aware of their own shortcomings.

这七名20多岁的男孩以接地气的形象示人。他们坦率承认名气带来的压力和负面因素，他们积极参与社会活动，同时也能够意识到自己的不足之处。

Somebody presents himself/herself as adj. 是一个常见搭配，意思是“某人以……的形象示人”，句子中down-to-earth, frank about…, socially engaged, aware of… 四个部分为并列成分。

When fans got upset about a set of sexist lyrics a few years ago, the member who wrote them apologised for his ignorance and vowed to “study more” to avoid such lapses in future (he has since been spotted reading a feminist novel).

当防弹少年团的粉丝几年前对一组涉及性别歧视的歌词感到不满时，写歌的乐团成员站出来为自己的无知道歉，并发誓要“多加学习”，以防止在将来出现这样的疏忽（他在后面被人看到在读一本女性向的小说）。

And when American fans asked the group to support the Black Lives Matter protests this year, they promptly did.

当美国粉丝在今年要求乐团支持“黑人的命也是命”抗议活动时，他们也迅速跟进了。

第三段介绍了粉丝们对BTS的评价。

Such behaviour resonates with fans in South Korea and beyond. “The message they send is so different from other boy bands,” says Lim Hyun-jee, a 26-year-old from Seoul.

这种行为在韩国及其他地区的粉丝中引起了共鸣。来自首尔的26岁女孩林贤吉说：“他们传达的信息与其他男团有很大不同”。

“They talk about growth, mental health, bullying and anything that we can all relate to,” she gushes. “And they get along so well, it’s very appealing.”

她说：“他们谈到了成长、心理健康、霸凌以及其他我们都能产生共鸣的东西，而且他们相处得很好，这一点非常吸引人” 。

Somebody relates to something意思是“某人能够理解某事，某人能对某事产生共鸣”，例如：The culture that he describes is so different from mine that I sometimes find it hard to relate to. 他所描述的那种文化和我所处的文化如此迥异，有时我觉得很难理解。

第四段进一步分析了BTS成功的原因。

Hong Seok-kyeong of Seoul National University believes that BTS’s success stems partly from the hope they offer a generation of fans worn down by the pressure to compete and conform in their education and careers.

首尔国立大学的洪硕京认为，防弹少年团之所以能够成功，部分原因是他们给了粉丝希望，这一代粉丝心力交瘁，因为他们在学业和职业上要不断竞争，也要从众。

Something wears somebody down意思是“某事让某人心力交瘁”（to make someone tired or weak），比如要表达“家庭和工作上的压力正让她心力交瘁”，可以说：The pressure at home and at work is wearing her down.

“Both in their songs and in their interactions with fans they show that they can relate to these pressures,” she says. “Their whole story suggests that it’s ok to be different and that you can still be successful even if you don’t really fit in.”

她说：“他们在歌曲以及和歌迷的互动中都表明他们能够理解这些压力”。“他们的故事表明，与众不同是可以接受的。即使你无法合群，你仍然可以成功”。

She thinks that young women, in particular, like their softer, emotionally vulnerable brand of masculinity as an alternative to South Korean machismo.

她认为年轻女性尤其喜欢他们这种带有轻柔以及脆弱风格的男性气概，这种气质可以用来替代韩国的大男子主义。

a brand of something这里是熟词生义，意思相当于“一种……的风格，一种做……的方式”。

Being pretty helps, of course. “The way they make themselves beautiful is very much about providing visual pleasure to a female audience.”

当然，长得好看是很有用的。“他们让自己变得好看的方式与为女性观众提供视觉上的愉悦感密切相关”。

结尾段介绍了BTS背后经纪公司的上市计划。

Some Korean feminists speculate that the band’s woman-friendly image is too good to be true, given the sexist norms of the industry in which they work. Others take it at face value.

一些韩国女权主义者猜测，鉴于防弹少年团所在行业的性别歧视常态，该乐队的女性友好形象好得有点让人难以置信。其他人则相信乐队展现出来的形象。

Take something at face value是一个固定搭配，含义是“仅凭表象就对……信以为真”。

At the very least, BTS’s success has shown that niceness is a marketable quality, which may encourage others to give it a try.

至少防弹少年团的成功已经说明漂亮和友善是一个有市场潜力的品质，这可能会鼓励其他人也进行这样的尝试。

The numbers speak for themselves. After teetering on the brink of bankruptcy a decade ago, Bang Si-hyuk, who founded bts’s production company, Big Hit Entertainment, is now a squillionaire.

数字说明了一切。防弹少年团由“热门娱乐”公司推出，该公司创始人邦思赫十年前还处于破产边缘，但现在已经成为一名亿万富翁。

XX speaks for itself/XX speak for themselves意思是“XX是不言自明的，XX是有目共睹的”，比如要表达“学校的优秀成绩是有目共睹的”，可以说：The school's excellent record speaks for itself.

The company’s planned listing on the Korean stock exchange on October 15th looks set to make him and BTS even richer. Massively oversubscribed by both institutional investors and hardened fans, it is expected to value Big Hit at $4bn or so.

该公司计划于10月15日在韩国证券交易所上市，这看起来将会让他和防弹少年团变得更加富有。机构投资者和硬核粉丝大量超额认购公司股份，这一上市预计会将“热门娱乐”公司的市值推到约40亿美元。

Look set to do something是一个外刊常见表达，意思是“看上去将要做某事”，比如：Interest rates look set to rise again. 看样子利率又要提高了。

最后一句it is expected to…这里it指代上一句提到的the company’s planned listing on the Korean stock exchange