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Three Cities Rewarded for Their Ideas

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Shanghai joined Charleroi and Liverpool as the first winners of a new World Intellectual Property Organization prize for future plans.

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Three Cities Rewarded for Their Ideas

In October, a United Nations forum was held in Geneva, Switzerland. At the event, the World Intellectual Property Organization gave out a brand new prize called the Innovative City Award. Fifteen cities from eleven countries had been shortlisted. In the end, only three took the prize home: Charleroi in Belgium, Liverpool in Britain, and Shanghai in China.

The prize is not a report card on the past. It rewards a promise. Each winning city must explain what it plans to do over the next twelve months to help new ideas grow. Shanghai said it would widen its lessons and services on intellectual property, share its research equipment and data with more people, and support its cultural and creative industries. It also promised to link scientists, companies, young founders and investors more tightly together.

Shanghai’s record helps explain why the judges chose it. Last year the city’s economy reached 5.67 trillion yuan, putting it among the five largest city economies in the world. It spends about 4.5 percent of that output on research, a share that few places can match. Its three main future industries, microchips, medicine and artificial intelligence, now pass two trillion yuan in total size.

Just as important is the type of result. The city is no longer known for a single lucky invention. In recent years it has produced the first brain implant device approved for sale in the country and a new kind of cancer treatment, among other firsts. A local researcher said that such world-first results have moved from single cases to a steady flow.

Prizes like this one are easy to forget a week later. Their value lies elsewhere. They force a city to write down its ambitions and then face questions about them. For Shanghai, the useful part is not the medal but the deadline: what it promised, it now has one year to start doing.

Words to know:

长难句拆解 · 名词性从句与并列结构

第一句：Shanghai said it would widen its lessons and services on intellectual property, share its research equipment and data with more people, and support its cultural and creative industries. 主干是 Shanghai said，后面跟着一个宾语从句，连词 that 被省略。这个宾语从句里由 would 引出三个并列的动词短语：widen…, share…, and support…。三个动词共用同一个主语和同一个情态动词，只在最后一项前加 and，这是英文并列结构的标准写法。翻译时可以按中文习惯拆成几个短句。 直译：上海表示，它将扩大知识产权课程与服务，与更多人共享科研设备和数据，并支持其文化创意产业。

第二句：For Shanghai, the useful part is not the medal but the deadline: what it promised, it now has one year to start doing. 主干是 the useful part is not the medal but the deadline，not… but… 是固定的对比结构，表示「不是……而是……」。冒号后的 what it promised 是 what 引导的主语从句，作后面 it now has one year to start doing 的宾语并前置，正常语序是 it now has one year to start doing what it promised。把宾语提前是为了让它紧挨冒号，起强调作用。 直译：对上海而言，有用的部分不是奖牌，而是那个期限：它承诺过的事情，现在只有一年时间去开始兑现。

同义替换 · 雅思阅读利器

雅思阅读的题干很少照抄原文，它更喜欢把同一个意思换一种说法。下面这些替换在本题材里很常见，先自己盖住右边，试着回忆。

  • gave out a brand new prize → handed over an award for the first time（首次颁奖的改写）
  • Fifteen cities had been shortlisted → fifteen cities made the final list（入围的释义）
  • not a report card on the past → not a mark for what has already been done（不是评价过去的改写）
  • widen its lessons and services → offer more training and help（扩大服务的替换）
  • a share that few places can match → a level most cities cannot reach（占比之高的释义）
  • moved from single cases to a steady flow → no longer one-off events（从个案到常态的替换表达）
  • the useful part is not the medal but the deadline → the value lies in what comes next（结尾金句的改写）
阅读自测 · 3 题
  1. 判断正误：The Innovative City Award looks mainly at what a city has already achieved.
  2. 简答：How many cities won the prize, and which countries are they from?
  3. 选词填空：Shanghai spends about ____ percent of its output on research. (A. 4.5 B. 9 C. 12)
参考答案与解析
  1. False（错误）。原文明确指出 The prize is not a report card on the past. It rewards a promise，奖励的是城市对未来的承诺。题干用 mainly at what a city has already achieved 把「面向未来」偷换成「评价过去」，属典型的「偷换结论」干扰项。
  2. Three. They are from Belgium, Britain and China.（三个。分别来自比利时、英国和中国。）原文为 only three took the prize home: Charleroi in Belgium, Liverpool in Britain, and Shanghai in China；注意十五个入围城市来自十一个国家，那是干扰信息。
  3. A. 4.5。原文为 It spends about 4.5 percent of that output on research。B 的 9 出自三大先导产业增长 9.6%、C 的 12 出自基础研究经费占全社会研发经费的约 12%，都是文中原数，但与「占产出比重」问的不是同一件事，属「偷换对象」的干扰项。
中文译文

今年十月，一场联合国论坛在瑞士日内瓦举行。会上，世界知识产权组织颁发了一个全新的奖项——「创新城市奖」。共有来自十一个国家的十五座城市入围。最终，只有三座城市把奖捧回了家：比利时的沙勒罗瓦、英国的利物浦和中国的上海。

这个奖并不是对过去打分，而是奖励一份承诺。每座获奖城市都必须说明，它打算在未来十二个月里做些什么来帮助新创意成长。上海表示，它将扩大知识产权课程与服务，与更多人共享科研设备和数据，并支持其文化创意产业。它还承诺，将更紧密地把科学家、企业、年轻创业者和投资者联结起来。

上海自身的成绩也解释了评委为何选中它。去年，这座城市的经济总量达到 5.67 万亿元，跻身全球城市经济体量前五。它把约 4.5% 的产出投入研发，这个比例很少有地方能比得上。它的三大先导产业——集成电路、生物医药和人工智能——总规模如今已突破两万亿元。

同样重要的是成果的类型。这座城市不再只以某一项偶然的发明闻名。近年来，它诞生了全国首个获批上市的脑机接口医疗器械和一种新型癌症疗法，以及其他多项首创。一位本地研究者说，这类全球首创的成果已经从单个案例变成了源源不断的产出。

像这样的奖项，一周之后很容易被忘记。它的价值在别处。它迫使一座城市把自己的抱负写下来，然后面对由此而来的追问。对上海而言，有用的部分不是奖牌，而是那个期限：它承诺过的事情，现在只有一年时间去开始兑现。