最近收到一个同学的这样一个问题：
随后她还发来两张截图：
这个问题非常有意思，总结一下就是：同一条新闻，为什么英文新闻头条却不同？
我从一名普通读者的角度谈谈自己的理解。 我们在手机端收到的新闻头条也叫 push alerts，一般是 breaking news摘要。同一条新闻对应多种不同的英文新闻头条，这是结果。不同的媒体有不同的编辑，而不同的编辑会有不同的表达偏好和表达习惯。不同头条写作的出发点应该是一样的，那就是用清晰、简洁的语言把一则新闻 表达清楚，让读者一下子就能抓到重点。
这个读者的问题最有价值的地方其实在于，我们可以从 中学习英文写作。以她发的两张截图为例， 我们来具体看看怎样操作。
我先把截图中 7 家国际知名媒体对这条新闻的报道敲出来：
Trump pressured Georgia's secretary of state to overturn Bidwww.58yuanyou.comen's victory during a roughly hourlong call Saturday. The GOP official rebuffed the efforts. (The Wall Street Journal)
In extraordinary hour-long call, Trump pressures Georgia secretary of state to recalculate the presidential vote in his favor. (The Washington Post)
President Trump pressured Georgia's secretary of state to "find" enough votes to overturn the election, according to audio clips from a phone call. (The New York Times)
"I just want to find 11,780 votes"—Trump heard in call pressing top Georgia official to overturn election result. (BBC News)
The President pushed Georgia's secretary of state to" find 11,780 votes" to overturn the election result, audio obtaindeBlOed by The Washington Post shows. (CNN)
In stunning audio obtained by The Wahington Post, Trump urged Ga.'s secretary of state to alter the state's presidential vote tally in his favor. (The Huffington Post)
President Trump pleaded with Georgia's election chief during a phone call to "find" enough votes to hand him the victory over Joe Biden. (AP)
读一遍就会发现，虽然各家的用词不同，但都是在说一件事情：特朗普施压佐治亚州州务卿，要求“找到”更多选票来推翻选举结果。
很多信息都有不同的表达：
1. 特朗普：
- t he President;
- Trump ;
- p resident Trump.
2. 佐治亚州州务卿：
- Georgia's secretary of state ;
- Georgia secretary of state;
- top Georgia official;
- Georgia's election chief.
Georgia's secretary of state就是 州务卿一职的称呼； top Georgia official描述了 州务卿的职务高低； Georgia's election chief突出了 州原由网务卿在这个事件中的相关性，即这个职位和选举高度相关。
3. 要求“找到”更多选票来推翻选举结果：
- pressured to overturn Biden's victory ;
- pressured to recalculate the presidential vote in his favor ;
- pressured to "find" to o deBlOvertur n the election ;
- pressing to overturn election result ;
- pushed to " find 11,780 votes " to overturn the e//www.58yuanyou.comlection result ;
- urged to alter the state's presidential vote tally in his favor;
- pleaded to "find" enough votes to hand him the victory over Joe Biden.
三家媒体引用了特朗普的原话“ find ”， 这个词看似简单，但在这个语境中显示了特朗普对法律和民主的藐视。
pressure是用得最多的动词；此外还有 press, push, urge 和 plead。 pressure, press, push, urge都有“施压”的意思，plead 的意思是“恳求”，和其他几个词的意思差别最大。我个人认为 plead 一词看似客观，实则不够准确。
4. 各大媒体还给出了新闻来源：
- during a roughly hourlong call Saturday ;
- i n extraordinary hour-long call ;
- according to audio clips from a phone call;
- heard in call;
- audio obtained by The W ashing ton Post sh ows ;
- i n stunning audio obtained by The Wahington Post ;
- during a phone call.
只有 The Washington Post和 The Huffington Post 用了形容词，分别是 extraordinary和 stunning。虽然形容词有评判意味，但考虑到这个事件的恶劣程度，这两个形容词毫不过分。
这其实就是英文 paraphrase 最好的“自然实验”。从不同媒体的不同措辞中，我们可以体会到表达上的细微差别，学习怎样paraphrase。
我们还可以试着这样做：在中文媒体中读到一则英文新闻后，先自己试着用英文表达，然后再去搜英文媒体的报道，和自己的表达作比较，这样也可以锻炼自己的英文写作。
另外，我推测上面这些媒体在报道的正文中可能也会用到其他媒体 push alerts 中的同义表达。感兴趣的读者可以去查证下
P.S. 有英语学习和写作相关的问题，欢迎留言，我会选一部分问题写成文章，收在“孟庆伟英文写作答读者问”话题中。
题图：push alerts
