每日一篇经济学人——China ponders the humans behind “virtual idols“

Real-life problems

China ponders the humans behind "virtual idols"

Should they have more rights?

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ponder: think about(something)carefully, especially before making a decision or reaching a conclusion

think about/mull over/consider/chew on/sleep on sth./comtemplate

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Whether it's for marketing or entertainment, hiring a real -life celebrity is expensive and carries risks. Several Chinese stars have been caught up in scandals recently. Some get into trouble for being out of step with the Communist Party. The party, for its part, has attacked fan culture,banning online rankings of celebrities. It wants public figures to be upstanding role models. Little wonder, then, taht many Chinese firms are choosing to work with "virtual idols" isntead of the human kind.

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Expensive: pricey /costly / exorbitant  / extortionate(real expensive)  / a king's ransom(国王的赎金) /costing an arm and a leg

carry risks:risky / perilous / hazardous 

been caught up in scandals(卷入丑闻)：mired in scandals

catch up in something:involved in something(you don't intend to be in ) or involved in something or somebody taht you can not notice anything else

for its part: When you are describing people's thoughts or acitons ,you can say for her part or for my part, for example, to intruduce what a particular person thins or does.

The soldiers, for their part, agrred not to disrupt the eleciton campaign.

士兵们同意不干扰竞选活动。（注意，soldiers 是复数，但part不加s）

upstanding:honest, upright, reputable, respectable, moral

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Virtual idols are generated by computers. Often, though, these digital avatars are controlled by anonymous human performers wearing motion-capture gear. The most popular virtual idols sing and dance before millions of viewers on live-sreaming platforms. Fans tip real money and buy merchandise. Some virtual idols are influencers or used in marketing campaigns. It makes for big business. China's virtual-idol market was estimated to be worth nearly $16bn in 2021, says iiMedia, a consultancy.

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make for: to be one thins, or the most important thing, that causes something

Everyone agreed that filrming inside a chocolate factory would make for good television.

每个人都同意在巧克力工厂拍摄会很出片。

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Virtual idos have problems, too, though. Take Carol(pictured), the lead singer of A-SOUL, one of China's most popular virtual bands. Its creators are backed by ByteDance, a Chinese tech giant. Carol alone generated over 2m yuan($300,000)in revenue, mostly from tips, in a single month last year, according to reports. But in May it was announced taht Carol was leaving A-SOUL. According to fans, the performer behind the virtual idol had complained taht she was bullid,overworked and underpaid. Her employers denied all of this, noting that human performers receive 10% of live -stream earnings. Nevertheless, the virtual Carol has disappeared.

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 take something or someone:拿什么什么举例，不用再说take something as an example

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 supplement: ByteDance, the parent of the viral short video app TikTok,has been in the hot seat in China, amidst accusations of exploiting the five female employees behind the viral virtual idol group A-SOUL that was launched jointly with its invested arm Yuehua Entertainments in 2020.

in the hot seat: to be in a positon that is in trouble or is being asked many difficult or embarrassing questions

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Such issues will inevitably arise as Chinese firms pursue opportunities in the metaverse. They poured billions of yuan into such ventures last year; ByteDance spent a small fortune on Pico, a market of virtual-reality headsets. A paper published in October by the China Insitutes of Cintemporary International Relatinos, a state think-tank, spole of the need for laws and regulations surrounding "virtual labour". Young poeple, meanwhile, are increasingly fed up with "996" schedules(ie，working 9am to 9pm six days a week). Virtual idols offer them an escape. But behind some avatars are humans with similar gripes.

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arise:refers to an emergence or coming out of an issue or a problem

metaverse:元宇宙

fed up with: annoyed, unhappy,or bored, especially with a situation taht has existed for a long time.

gripe: a minor complaint,grumble / whine / grievance

【经济学人全英精讲Ep.124】虚拟偶像 VS 真实劳动者权益_哔哩哔哩_bilibili