2019年经济学人 一周要闻 《复联4》圆满收官 波音CEO保住职位 拜耳股价暴跌惹怒股东

 

In an unprecedented¹ show of no confidence in the management of a German company, 56% of shareholders² in Bayer voted against a measure supporting its business conduct. Investors³ are peeved⁴ at the collapse⁵ of the German conglomerate’s share price following costly⁶ litigation related to a glyphosate-based weedkiller made by Monsanto, which Bayer took over last year. The vote has no legal force, but it is the first time that a big German company has been censured⁷ by a majority of its shareholders.

拜耳56%的股东投票反对一项支持其商业行为的措施，这是对这家德国公司管理层前所未有的不信任的表现。拜耳(Bayer)去年收购了孟山都(Monsanto)公司，与孟山都生产的草甘膦除草剂相关的诉讼导致该公司付出了高昂代价，拜耳股价应声暴跌，投资者为此愤怒不已。此次投票虽然不具法律效力，但却是德国大型公司首次受到多数股东的谴责。

Boeing’s annual general meeting was also a testy⁸ affair. Following the grounding of the 737 max aircraft after two fatal crashes, Dennis Muilenburg survived an attempt to split his dual⁹ role as chief executive and chairman, though 34% of shareholders voted for the proposal. Meanwhile, American Airlines cut its profit forecast for the year, in part because of the grounding of the 737 max, which has caused it to cancel hundreds of flights.

波音的年度股东大会也很棘手。两起致命坠机事件导致波音737 max被停飞，而丹尼斯·穆伦伯格(Dennis Muilenburg)成功保住了自己首席执行官和董事长的双重身份，不过有34%的股东投票支持这一“分拆权力”的提议。与此同时，美国航空公司下调了今年的利润预期，部分原因是737 max飞机停飞，导致数百架航班取消。

The Euro zone’s economy grew by 1.5% in the first quarter at an annual rate, a much improved showing on the last three months of 2018. That was still some way behind America, which chalked up a growth rate of 3.2% in the quarter.

今年第一季度，欧元区经济同比增长1.5%，较2018年第四季度有明显改善。但是仍然落后于美国，美国同一季度的经济增长率为3.2%。

The John Bates Clark Medal, awarded annually¹⁰ by the American Economic Association to an economist¹¹ under the age of 40, was won by Emi Nakamura. A professor at Berkeley, Ms Nakamura won the award in part for her “distinctive approach” to a “painstaking analysis of data”.

美国经济协会每年都会向40岁以下的经济学家颁发约翰·贝茨·克拉克奖章(John Bates Clark Medal)，今年的获奖者是中村惠美（Emi Nakamura）。中村是伯克利大学的一名教授，她获奖的部分原因是她对“艰苦的数据分析”采取了“独特的方法”。

A judge approved a new agreement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Elon Musk¹² that restricts what he can say on Twitter about Tesla. Mr Musk has fallen foul¹³ of the regulator for tweeting what it says are misleading statements. Under the new deal, Mr Musk has to seek approval from lawyers before tweeting about Tesla’s finances, potential deals, production or any venture the company is considering. Mr Musk may also want to think twice before poking¹⁴ fun at the SEC on Twitter.

一名法官批准了美国证券交易委员会(SEC)和埃隆·马斯克之间的一项新协议，限制他在推特上谈论特斯拉的内容。马斯克因在推特上发布其所谓的“误导性声明”而与监管机构发生冲突。根据新协议，马斯克必须先获得律师批准，才能在推特上发布有关特斯拉的财务状况、潜在交易、生产情况或该公司正考虑的任何风险投资的信息。甚至马斯克想发推特调侃该委员会也得三思而后行。

“Endgame” is a fitting title to an all-dominating film franchise¹⁵. The 22nd film in Marvel¹⁶’s Cinematic Universe took a record-breaking $357m in its opening weekend in America. Less than a week into its run, it is already the fourth-most successful in the brand. The first, “Iron Man”, took a comparatively puny¹⁷ $680m worldwide during 2008. Including “Avengers: Endgame”, total revenue for the series is expected to top $22bn. With box office like that, it is not surprising that plenty more Marvel films are in the pipeline¹⁸.

《复仇者联盟4：终局之战》作为占据主导地位的电影系列的标题再合适不过。作为第22部漫威电影，该片在美国上映的首个周末就创下3.57亿美元的票房纪录。在上映不到一周的时间里，它已经成为该系列电影中第四大成功的影片。第一部《钢铁侠》在2008年的全球票房仅为6.8亿美元。包括《复仇者联盟:终局之战》在内，该系列电影的总收入预计将超过220亿美元。票房成绩如此喜人，那么筹拍更多漫威电影也就为期不远了。

1 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

2 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 peeved   

adj.恼怒的，不高兴的v.（使）气恼，（使）焦躁，（使）愤怒( peeve的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sounded peeved about not being told. 没人通知他，为此他气哼哼的。
• She was very peeved about being left out. 她为被遗漏而恼怒。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

6 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

7 censured   

v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的过去式 )

参考例句：

• They were censured as traitors. 他们被指责为叛徒。 来自辞典例句
• The judge censured the driver but didn't fine him. 法官责备了司机但没罚他款。 来自辞典例句

8 testy   

adj.易怒的；暴躁的

参考例句：

• Ben's getting a little testy in his old age.上了年纪后本变得有点性急了。
• A doctor was called in to see a rather testy aristocrat.一个性格相当暴躁的贵族召来了一位医生为他检查。

9 dual   

adj.双的；二重的，二元的

参考例句：

• The people's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.中华人民共和国不承认中国公民具有双重国籍。
• He has dual role as composer and conductor.他兼作曲家及指挥的双重身分。

10 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

11 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

12 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

13 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

14 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

15 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

16 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

17 puny   

adj.微不足道的，弱小的

参考例句：

• The resources at the central banks' disposal are simply too puny.中央银行掌握的资金实在太少了。
• Antonio was a puny lad,and not strong enough to work.安东尼奥是个瘦小的小家伙，身体还不壮，还不能干活。

18 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。