A dangerous creature is haunting South Korean crossroads 一种危险的生物正在韩国十字路口出没

In South Korea smartphone cases come with rings mounted on the back, to prevent clumsy owners from dropping them. This makes people look like they are literally married to their phones. In many of Seoul’s most Instagrammable coffee shops, couples on dates spend vastly more time looking at their screens than at each other. The ramifications go beyond the potentially dire consequences for romance.
在韩国，手机壳的背面通常都安装有指环扣，以防笨手笨脚的主人不慎将手机摔落。这让人们看起来像是真的跟手机结婚了。在首尔很多最 Ins 网红风的咖啡店里，约会的情侣们绝大部分时间都在盯着手机屏幕，而不是看着彼此。这不仅可能会严重影响恋爱关系，而且还会带来其他后果。
Walk around the streets of Seoul or any other South Korean city, and there is a real risk of bumping into people whose eyes are glued to their smartphone screens. Insurers estimate that around 370 traffic accidents annually are caused by pedestrians using smartphones. That figure does not include those who bump into lamp posts and the like while perusing the latest cat videos.
在首尔或者随便哪个韩国城市街头走走，就很有可能撞上目不转睛地盯着手机屏幕的行人。据保险公司估计，每年约有 370 起交通事故是因为行人看手机造成的。这一数字还不包括那些聚精会神刷着最新猫咪视频而撞上路灯杆之类的东西的人。
The government initially tried to fight the “smombie” (a portmanteau of “smartphone” and “zombie”) epidemic by distributing hundreds of stickers around cities imploring people to “be safe” and look up. This seems to have had little effect even though, in Seoul at least, it recently replaced the stickers with sturdier plastic boards.
起初，政府为了抵抗泛滥成灾的“手机僵尸”，在各个城市张贴了数以百计的贴纸，恳求人们“注意安全”，（走路时）抬起头来。然而，即使最近政府（至少在首尔）又把贴纸换成了更坚固的塑料牌，该尝试似乎仍然收效甚微。
Instead of appealing to people’s good sense, the authorities have therefore resorted to trying to save them from being run over. Early last year, they began to trial floor-level traffic lights in smombie hotspots in central Seoul. Since then, the experiment has been extended around and beyond the capital. For the moment, the government is retaining old-fashioned eye-level pedestrian lights as well. But in future, the way to look at a South Korean crossroads may be down.
于是，当局不再寄希望于唤起行人的自觉性，转而选择保护他们不被（车辆）碾压。去年年初，有关部门开始在首尔市中心——“手机僵尸”高度集中的闹市区——试行地面红绿灯。之后，该尝试扩展到了整个首尔，继而又扩展到了首都以外的城市。目前，政府仍保留传统的视线高度的人行道红绿灯。但是从今往后，人们在韩国的十字路口也许都可以看着地面过马路了。

重点词汇

haunt/hɔːnt/
v. 经常出没，闹鬼；长期困扰
例句：The house is haunted.
英文释义：to make someone feel worried and upset for a long time
例句：For years she was haunted by guilt.

come in/with sth.
用来介绍某物的特点、形态
英文释义：to be sold, available, or found in a specified form
例句：The shirt comes in four sizes.
例句：The computer comes with a keyboard and mouse.

mount/maʊnt/
v. 安装
词性拓展：mount（n. 山峰）
搭配短语：Mount Everest（n.）
英文释义：If you mount an object on something, you fix it there firmly.
搭配短语：mount a TV on the wall
例句：The TV is mounted on the wall.

Instagrammable/ˈɪnstəɡræməbl/
adj. 值得发到 Instagram 上的
相关词汇：Instagram
词根词缀：-able（可以……的）
-able 相关词汇：adjustable；adaptable
搭配短语：10 most instagrammable spots

ramification/ˌræmɪfɪˈkeɪʃn/
n. 结果；衍生后果
英文释义：a complicated or unexpected way in which a decision, process, or event affects other things
搭配短语：the ramifications of human activities
搭配短语：The ramifications go (far) beyond…

dire/ˈdaɪər/
adj. 极度严重的，糟糕的
英文释义：extremely serious or terrible
例句：The ramifications of human activities would go beyond the dire consequences for the environment.

be glued to
全神贯注看着某物
相关词汇：glue（n. 胶水；v. 用胶水粘上）

pedestrian/pəˈdestriən/
n. 行人
相关词汇：cyclist（n. 骑自行车的人）
相关词汇：motorist，driver（n. 开汽车的人）

peruse/pəˈruːz/
v. 仔细地看；精读
近义词：read
英文释义：to read sth, especially in a careful way
搭配短语：peruse the document/report

smombie/smɑːmbi/
n. 手机僵尸
英文释义：pedestrians who walk slowly and without attention to their surroundings because they are focused upon their smartphones

portmanteau/pɔːrtˈmæntoʊ/
n. 混合词，混成词
例句：Microsoft is a portmanteau of microcomputer and software.
相关词汇：Microsoft（microcomputer+software）；Brexit（Britain+exit）
构词法
portmanteau, compound
portmanteau 是混成词，也就是取几个词的部分合在一起构成一个新词，如Microsoft 就是由 microcomputer 的前半部分和 software 的前半部分混成；而 compound 是合成词，是把几个完整的词合在一起构成一个新词，比如smartphone 就是由 smart 和 phone 合成。

sturdy/ˈstɜːrdi/
adj. 坚固的

appeal to
努力启发，劝说
英文释义：to try to persuade sb to do sth by suggesting that it is a fair, reasonable, or honest thing to do
例句：Adverts for charities that show children with tear-stained faces appeal to our sympathy.
搭配短语：appeal to one’s good sense

resort to
采取，诉诸于
英文释义：to do something that you do not want to do because you cannot find any other way of achieving something
例句：Some homeless teenagers resort to stealing when their money runs out.

hotspot/hɑːtspɑːt/
n. 热点地区；热闹场所
搭配短语：a tourist/vacation hotspot

retain/rɪˈteɪn/
v. 保留
近义词：keep
例句：Firms are struggling to recruit—and retain—people with the expertise they need.