名人教英文：世界秩序的基础
geopolitical weekly评论员george friedman认为，远航技术出现，是欧洲发展的转折点。航海技术不但促进欧洲的内河贸易，加快经济和科技发展，而且让欧洲人得以征服世界上其他地方，夺取更多资源。下文谈到此后欧洲国家的发展情况：
"at home, europe's growing economic development was exceeded only by the growing ferocity of its conflicts. abroad, europe had achieved the ability to apply military force to achieve economic aims - and vice versa. the brutal exploitation of wealth from some places (south america in particular) and the thorough subjugation and imposed trading systems in others (east and south asia in particular) created the foundation of the modern order. such alternations of traditional systems increased the wealth of europe dramatically."
上文首两句分别以"at home" 和"abroad" 开头，工整地带出欧洲境内和境外的发展状况。作者说 "europe's growing economic development was exceeded only by the growing ferocity of its conflicts"，意指当时欧洲的经济增长极快，但内部冲突的凶狠程度（ferocity）增长得更快。简而言之，"a is exceeded only by b" 有「a相当厉害，但b比a更甚」之意。
至于 "europe had achieved the ability to apply military force to achieve economic aims - and vice versa" 的 vice versa 是拉丁语，解作「反之亦然」。用上句为例：欧洲能够利用军事力量达到经济目的，反过来，也能够利用经济力量达到军事目的。
欧洲在南美恣意开采自然资源，在东南亚利用武力强行实施不公平的贸易制度。作者用了三组结构相似的词组形容欧洲诸国的行为：brutal exploitation（粗暴的开采）、thorough subjugation（彻底的征服）和imposed trading systems（强加的贸易制度）。这三套方法交替使用（"alternations" 即轮流交替），令欧洲财富突然大增（"dramatically" 形容事物突然或显著的变化，不一定要直译为「戏剧性地」）。现代世界秩序，其实建基于欧洲国家的巧取豪夺！
英语单词词汇学习：
brutal……粗暴的
exceed……超越
exploitation……开采
ferocity……凶狠
subjugation……征服
thorough……彻底的、完全的
vice versa……反之亦然