2016年经济学人 一周要闻 印度经济增长迅猛 沙特为优步提供35亿美元融资

 

Yusuf Alireza unexpectedly quit as chief executive of Noble Group, Asia's biggest commodities-trading firm. Noble, which is based in Hong Kong, has been hit by the slump¹ in commodity prices and faces allegations from a research outfit² that it overstated its assets, which the company denies. On the day that Mr. Alireza's departure was announced Noble also said it would sell its profitable American retail-energy business; the proceeds will go towards repairing its balance-sheet.

亚洲最大商品贸易商来宝集团（Noble Group）首席执行官优素福·阿里(Yusuf Alireza)意外宣布离职。总部位于香港的来宝集团由于商品价格问题遭受重创。同时，有调查小组指控该公司夸大其资产价值，但来宝对此进行否认。就在阿里离职当日，宝来集团还宣布将出售旗下利润颇丰的美国能源零售业务，此作为改善财务负债的一项措施。

The Obama administration detailed³ new rules to regulate providers of payday loans. Such lending is aimed at people on low incomes and attracts very high interest rates. The government wants lenders to do more to assess a borrower's ability to repay.

美国政府公布了针对发薪日贷款（payday loans）放贷人的详细管理新规。该类贷款利息高，对象主要为低收入人群。政府希望贷方能够更加全面地评估借方的偿还能力。

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund ploughed $3.5 billion into Uber and got a seat on its board. It is the taxi-hailing app's biggest single infusion⁴ of cash, and brings the total from its latest round of financing to $5 billion. The privately⁵ held firm is estimated to be worth more than General Motors.

沙特阿拉伯主权基金向打车软件公司优步（Uber）投资35亿美元，由此成为优步股东之一。这是优步有史以来获得的最大单笔投资。获此投资后，优步新一轮融资总规模将达到50亿美元。据估计，该私营公司总资产已超过通用汽车（General Motors）。

SoftBank, a multinational⁶ telecoms and internet group that is based in Japan, decided⁷ to sell $7.9 billion-worth of the shares it holds in Alibaba, which will reduce its stake in the Chinese e-commerce company from 32% to 28%. SoftBank needs to repay the debt it accumulated to fund a number of big acquisitions, including the Sprint⁸ network in America. It is reportedly looking to offload some of its other stakes, including in Supercell, a Finnish mobile gaming firm.

日本电信和网络跨国集团—软件银行集团（SoftBank）决定出售其在阿里巴巴（Alibaba）持有的79亿美元股份，该举动将使其手中所持有的阿里巴巴股份由32%减至28%。因收购美国网络运营商Sprint等公司，这些大型收购项目使软银欠下大量债务。据报道，该公司正计划部分出售所持包括芬兰移动游戏公司Supercell在内的其他公司股份。

A jury in California rejected Oracle⁹'s $9 billion claim that Google infringed¹⁰ its copyright on Java by wiring the software into Android phones. Oracle took ownership of Java when it bought Sun Microsystems in 2010 and it has been battling with Google in the courts ever since. The jury found that Google's use of Java came under the “fair use” element of copyright law.

加州陪审团驳回了美国科网巨头甲骨文（Oracle）对谷歌（Google）的指控。该指控称，谷歌将Java程序编入其安卓手机中，侵犯了甲骨文公司的版权，应赔偿90亿美元。自2010年甲骨文收购太阳微系统公司（Sun Microsystems）同时获得Java所有权后，两家公司一直在法庭上就版权问题展开交锋。陪审团经研究后认为，谷歌使用Java是符合版权法“正当使用”条款的。

A former director at Barclays in New York was charged with allegedly passing inside information on forthcoming mergers¹¹ to his plumber¹², who has pleaded guilty to using the illegal tips to make money on the markets. The director has yet to enter a plea. The plumber repaid the banker in part by refurbishing his bathroom, but this apparently¹³ did not include plugging financial leaks.

纽约巴克莱银行（Barclays）前主任因其泄露内部消息的传言而遭指控。据称，该主任提前将合并案的内部消息透露给他的水管工，而后者也承认曾利用非法信息在市场上赚钱。对此，该主任尚未提出抗辩。尽管在某种程度上，水管工为这位前主任翻修厕所可以被看做是一种报偿，但显然，这一报偿远远无法弥补金融漏洞给前主任带来的损失。 

1 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

2 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

3 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

4 infusion   

n.灌输

参考例句：

• Old families need an infusion of new blood from time to time.古老的家族需要不时地注入新鲜血液。
• Careful observation of the infusion site is necessary.必须仔细观察输液部位。

5 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

6 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

7 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。

8 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

9 oracle   

n.神谕，神谕处，预言

参考例句：

• In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候，她祈祷神谕来指引她。
• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。

10 infringed   

v.违反（规章等）( infringe的过去式和过去分词 )；侵犯（某人的权利）；侵害（某人的自由、权益等）

参考例句：

• Wherever the troops went, they never infringed on the people's interests. 大军过处，秋毫无犯。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was arrested on a charge of having infringed the Election Law. 他因被指控触犯选举法而被拘捕。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

12 plumber   

n.(装修水管的)管子工

参考例句：

• Have you asked the plumber to come and look at the leaking pipe?你叫管道工来检查漏水的管子了吗？
• The plumber screwed up the tap by means of a spanner.管子工用板手把龙头旋紧。

13 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。