经济学人:一周要闻 欧洲中央银行将停发500欧元大钞

 　　The world this week-Business Europe's big banks followed the trend of their American counterparts with generally dismal¹ first-quarter earnings².  本周经济要闻 欧洲大银行追随美国大银行走势，第一季度总体收益呈现低迷状态。

　　The share prices of UBS and Commerzbank fell sharply after each said net profit had fallen much more than had been expected compared with the same three months last year, to SFr707m (712m) at UBS of Switzerland and 163m (180m) at Commerzbank of Germany.  瑞士联合银行（UBS）和德国商业银行（Commerzbank）净利润同比出现明显跌势，分别跌至7.07亿法郎（折合7.12亿美元）和1.63亿欧元（折合1.8亿美元），远远超出了预想。

　　HSBC's pre-tax income dropped by 14% to 6.1 billion, but the bank pointed³ out it was on track in restructuring its business to focus more on Asia.  随后，两家银行股价也出现了大幅度的下跌。汇丰银行（HSBC）税前收入下跌14%至61亿美元，但银行指出，此次下跌是由于内部业务重组，以便将工作重心更多地集中于亚洲地区，一切都在掌控之中。

　　A share issue by Banca Popolare di Vicenza flopped⁴. Italy's tenth-largest bank had tried to raise capital to satisfy European regulators through a share sale,  意大利大众银行（Banca Popolare di Vicenza）股票发行计划以失败告终。作为意大利第十大银行，意大利大众银行试图通过出售股份进行筹资，以满足欧洲管理者们的要求，

　　but few investors⁵ were interested, leaving a bank-rescue fund created by other Italian financial firms to underwrite the whole issue.  但鲜有投资者对此感兴趣，使得其他意大利金融公司不得不成立银行救助基金，确保整支股票得以承销发行。

　　The European Central Bank decided⁶ to phase out the 500 banknote (570) by late 2018 because of the proclivity⁷ of criminals and terror groups to use them.  由于犯罪分子和恐怖组织青睐于使用500欧元面值纸币，欧洲中央银行（European Central Bank）决定于2018年年底前逐步停止该类钞票的发行。

　　The last time 500 bills were printed was 2014, but they are popular among law-abiding folk in Germany and some other European countries. 2014年，500欧元钞票进行了最后一次印刷，该钞票深受德国和其他欧洲国家守法人士的喜爱。

　　Intercontinental Exchange, which runs the New York Stock Exchange, decided not to bid for the London Stock Exchange, which has already agreed to a merger⁸ with Deutsche Borse.  纽约证券交易所（New York Stock Exchange）母公司洲际交易所（Intercontinental Exchange）决定不向伦敦证券交易所（London Stock Exchange）报价，并同意同德国证券交易所（Deutsche Borse）进行合并。

　　In March ICE announced that it was considering whether to make a rival offer; it says the London exchange displayed a disappointing level of engagement.  3月，洲际交易所宣布正在考虑是否报价伦敦交易所，随后表示伦敦证券交易所的表现令人失望。

　　In a surprise decision Australia's central bank reduced its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, to 1.75%.  澳大利亚中央银行做出了出人意料的决定，将基准利率表下调0.25个百分点至1.75%。

　　It was the first cut in a year and came after one measure of Australia's inflation rate dipped to 1.5%.  考虑到澳大利亚通胀率已降至1.5%，这是今年内首次进行下调。

　　Halliburton and Baker⁹ Hughes called off their 28 billion merger, which would have rivaled Schlumberger in size in the oilfield-services industry.  哈里伯顿（Halliburton）和贝克休斯（Baker Hughes）价值280亿美元的合并计划以失败收场。

　　The deal had run into opposition¹⁰ from antitrust officials, notably¹¹ in America where the Justice Department recently signaled its intent to block the merger. 在油田服务领域，两家公司合并后的规模将与斯伦贝谢（Schlumberger）相提并论。但此次合并却遭到了反垄断机构的反对，尤其是近日美国司法部门试图对此进行阻挠。

1 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

2 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

3 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。

4 flopped   

v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• Exhausted, he flopped down into a chair. 他筋疲力尽，一屁股坐到椅子上。
• It was a surprise to us when his play flopped. 他那出戏一败涂地，出乎我们的预料。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 proclivity   

n.倾向，癖性

参考例句：

• He has a proclivity toward violence.他有暴力的倾向。
• He has a proclivity for exaggeration.他总爱夸夸其谈。

8 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

9 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

10 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

11 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。