grid, power grid, Off the Grid, parity, umbilical cord

California’s Governor Goes Off the Grid

By ADAM NAGOURNEY

“Nobody likes the place but me,” Gov. Jerry Brown said of a property without electricity or cell service that his family has owned for almost 150 years. It might be his retirement home.

He asked the nurse if he could cut his son's umbilical cord.

比喻 If we can't cut the umbilical cord that ties us to the power grid, here's a way to at least make it look pretty.

umbilical cord 
noun [C usually singular]

the long tube-like structure which connects a baby which has not yet been born to its mother's placenta (= the organ which provides it with food and oxygen):臍帶

parity Show phonetics
noun [U]
equality, especially of pay or position:
British nurses would like to see pay parity with nurses in other major European countries.

這份由“國際比較項目”(International Comparison Program)編寫的報告解釋稱﹐如果一份巨無霸漢堡在美國賣4

美元﹐而在法國賣4.8歐元﹐那無論官方匯率如何﹐1美元就相當於1.2歐元。換句話說﹐在法國用1歐元能買到的巨無霸（至少在法國如此）﹐在美國只用花83美分就可以買到。

而國際對比項目所統計的商品可遠遠不止漢堡包。為了將各國貨幣按照“購買力平價”(purchasing power parity)換算成美元﹐這個項目統計了全球100個國家超過1,000種商品和服務的價格。

而中國經濟在這次修訂中受到的影響尤其大﹐原因在於此乃首次在中國進行嚴格的物價採樣。而據世界銀行稱﹐過去一直是根據1986年時的中美物價對比來推算中國的購買力平價﹐而且自打那時起就從來沒有將物價變化考慮在內。

parity
━━ n. 同等, 同格 ((with)); 【商業】等価; 類似; 〔米〕 【経済】農産物価格水準, 平衡価格, パリティ; 【コンピュータ】パリティ, 偶奇性.
parity bit　【コンピュータ】パリティ・ビット, 偶奇検査ビット.
parity check　【コンピュータ】偶奇検査, パリティ・チェック （parity checking）.
parity error　【コンピュータ】偶奇誤り, パリティ・エラー.
parity grid　【経済】パリティ・グリッド, 平衡価格方眼 ((ECUに対する各国通貨の許容変動幅の設定表)).
parity of exchange　為替相場平価.