||1:Virgin Galactic became the first space-tourism venture to become a publicly traded company when it floated in New York (it avoided an ipo by combining the business with an already-listed investment vehicle).||2:Galactic thinks it can eventually turn a profit by persuading enough rich folk to pay $250,000 for a 90-minute, 50-mile trip above the Earth’s surface, part of its “mission” of “democratising space”.

||1:当维珍银河公司在纽约上市时，成为首家上市的太空旅游公司(它通过将业务与已上市的投资工具相结合而避开了IPO程序)。||2:维珍银河公司认为，通过说服足够多的富人花25万美元在地球表面上空进行一次90分钟、50英里的旅行，这是其“太空民主化”的“使命”的一部分，最终可以实现盈利。

||1:The plan will require two transformations, one micro and one macro.||2:The first is an unruly, subsidy-fed explosion of wind, solar and biomass power, a “strange mixture of idealism and greed,” as one energy boss calls it.||3:The second is the effort to pull this into a system providing reliable and affordable electricity.||4:Protagonists of the micro version see themselves as democratising economic and political power.||5:The renewable-energy law entitles anybody who puts in a solar panel or a windmill to sell surplus power to the grid, receiving a generous “feed-in tariff” guaranteed over 20 years.||6:This gives renewable electricity priority over conventional power.||7:Not surprisingly, renewables grew ten times faster than the OECD average from 1990 to 2010 and now account for 20% of electricity output (see chart).||8:The government’s target is 35% by 2020.||9:Germany gets more electricity from renewable sources than any other big country.

||1:能源转型计划将需要从微观和宏观两个层面进行转化。||2:第一个是依靠政府的补贴，大力开发风能、太阳能以及生物能源，某能源老总称之为一个“理想主义和贪婪主义奇怪的混杂物”。||3:第二个指为把开发出的能源转入一个能够提供可靠且可负担的电流体制所做的努力。||4:微观版的支持者视自己为民主化经济和政治力量。||5:每位通过太阳能板或风车向电网出售剩余电力的公民，都可凭借《可再生能源法》赋予的权利，在未来20多年内享受“上网电价补贴政策”。||6:这使人们在可再生能源与传统能源二者中，优先考虑前者。||7:1990年至2000年间，德国的可再生能源增幅比世界经合组织（OECD）的平均值快十倍自然也不足为奇，如今可再生能源占德国发电量的20%。||8:德国政府的目标是，在2020年将该比率扩大至35%。||9:德国利用可再生能源产电量为所有大型国家之首。

In 1998, Bill Clinton, US president, spoke about the "revolutionary democratising potential" of the internet.

1998年，美国总统比尔•克林顿（BillClinton）曾谈到互联网具有“革命性的民主化潜力”。

But there are radical opportunities too, particularly in restating the economic case for social investment and democratising policy.

但是，我们应当注意到一些根本的刺激因素，特别是社会经济投资环境和民主政策的重组。

So who is to blame for idealising the democratising nature of the internet?

那么，理想化互联网的本质究竟应该怪谁？

They suggest that Pei’s implicit faith in the democratising impact of economic development is misplaced.

他们认为，裴毫无保留地信奉经济发展对民主进程的影响属于错置。

The most pernicious lie in politics is that the press is a democratising force.

在政治中，最有害的谎言是媒体是一个民主化的力量。

China shows no signs of democratising as it grows wealthier.

中国在变得更为富有之际，丝毫没有显示出任何民主化迹象。