2019年经济学人 一周要闻 WhatsApp现安全漏洞 iPhone用户起诉苹果 脱欧重创钢铁行业

 

WhatsApp, a popular encrypted-messaging app owned by Facebook, reported a security flaw that allows hackers¹ to install surveillance software on smartphones by placing calls in the app. It was reported that a team of Israeli hackers-for-hire had used the vulnerability to inject spyware onto phones belonging to human-rights activists³ and lawyers.

有报道称，Facebook旗下一款受欢迎的加密消息应用WhatsApp存在安全漏洞，黑客可以通过智能手机拨打电话来安装监控软件。据报道,以色列一个受雇的黑客团队利用漏洞将间谍软件安装到人权活动家和律师的手机上。

America’s Supreme⁴ Court gave the go-ahead for iPhone users to sue Apple. The case centres on whether Apple’s App Store, which takes a 30% cut of all sales, constitutes an unfair monopoly. Unlike Android-based rivals, Apple’s phones are designed to prevent users from installing apps from other sources.

美国最高法院允许iPhone用户起诉苹果公司。这起诉讼案的焦点在于，苹果的App Store是否构成了不公平的垄断行为，App Store的销售额占苹果总销量的30%。与使用android系统的竞争对手不同，苹果的手机旨在防止用户安装其他不明来源的应用程序。

Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel abandoned a plan to merge⁵ their European steel assets because of stiff resistance from the EU’s antitrust regulator. Pushed by activist² investors⁶ demanding reform at Thyssenkrupp, the proposal had been announced in September 2017. The German company will now spin off its lifts division, its most profitable business.

蒂森克虏伯(Thyssenkrupp)和塔塔钢铁(Tata Steel)放弃了合并其欧洲钢铁资产的计划，原因是欧盟反垄断监管机构强烈抵制。在要求蒂森克虏伯进行改革的维权投资者的推动下，该提议已于2017年9月宣布。这家德国公司现将拆分其最盈利的电梯业务。

British Steel told the British government that it needs more state aid because of “uncertainties around Brexit”. That is in addition to the 100m pounds ($130m) loan from the government the company had recently secured to pay its EU carbon bill. A no-deal Brexit would hit British Steel hard, subjecting it to 20% tariffs⁷ under WTO rules.

英国钢铁公司向英国政府表示，由于“脱欧的不确定性”，该公司需要更多的国家援助。除此之外，该公司最近还获得了1亿英镑(1.3亿美元)的政府贷款，用于支付欧盟的碳排放账单。“无协议脱欧”将对英国钢铁行业造成沉重打击，根据世界贸易组织的规则，其将面临20%的关税。

Global investment in renewables has stalled, according to the International Energy Agency, taking the world further away from meeting the goals of the Paris agreement on climate change. This is aggravated⁸ by the continued expansion of spending on coal-fired power plants, especially in Asia. Investment in coalmining rose by 2.6% in 2018. By contrast, growth in new renewable installations was flat for the first time since 2001.

国际能源署表示，全球对可再生能源的投资已陷入停滞，使全球距达成《巴黎气候变化协定》的目标又远了一步。尤其是在亚洲，燃煤电厂的投资不断扩大，加剧了这一状况。2018年，煤炭投资增长了2.6%。相比之下，自2001年以来，新型可再生能源设施的增长首次持平。

The most eagerly awaited stockmarket flotation in years turned out to be a damp squib. Uber priced its IPO at $45 a share, the low end of the offer’s price range, which did little to entice⁹ investors. The stock closed 8% down on the first day of trading, valuing the company at $70bn, well below most expectations. Optimists¹⁰ pointed¹¹ to the experience of Facebook, which, despite a poor ipo and share price that sagged¹² for months, eventually became one of the world’s most valuable companies. Pessimists¹³ said Uber’s ride-hailing business will struggle to make sustainable profits.

多年来最备受期待的股票发行结果却让人大跌眼镜。优步将其IPO发行价定在每股45美元，为发行价区间的低端，这对吸引投资者没有多大帮助。该股在首日交易中下跌8%，导致公司估值为700亿美元，远低于普遍预期。乐观主义者指出了Facebook的“前车之鉴”。尽管IPO表现不佳，股价连续数月下跌，但Facebook最终成为全球市值最高的公司之一。而悲观主义者表示，优步的叫车业务将难以实现可持续的利润。

1 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

6 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

7 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

8 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

9 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

10 optimists   

n.乐观主义者( optimist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Even optimists admit the outlook to be poor. 甚至乐观的人都认为前景不好。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Optimists reckon house prices will move up with inflation this year. 乐观人士认为今年的房价将会随通货膨胀而上涨。 来自辞典例句

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

12 sagged   

下垂的

参考例句：

• The black reticule sagged under the weight of shapeless objects. 黑色的拎包由于装了各种形状的东西而中间下陷。
• He sagged wearily back in his chair. 他疲倦地瘫坐到椅子上。

13 pessimists   

n.悲观主义者( pessimist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pessimists tell us that the family as we know it is doomed. 悲观主义者告诉我们说，我们现在的这种家庭注定要崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Experts on the future are divided into pessimists and optimists. 对未来发展进行预测的专家可分为悲观主义者和乐观主义者两类。 来自互联网