2020年经济学人 爆炸后的黎巴嫩保险公司(1)

A homeowner in Achrafieh does not care if the investigation¹ is a sham², only that it rules that the explosion was an accident.

阿什拉斐叶区的一位私房屋主并不在乎调查的真假，只在乎调查是否会判定此次爆炸是一场意外。

Otherwise his insurance policy will pay nothing.

否则他的保险单将分文不付。

The owner of a ruined boutique down the hill in Mar³ Mikhael would prefer the opposite result:

马尔·米哈埃尓山下的一家被毁精品店的老板则更希望有相反的结果：

her policy covers terrorism, unlike most, and will compensate⁴ her for an estimated $100,000 in repairs and lost inventory⁵.

与大多数保单不同，她的保单包含恐怖袭击，并将赔偿她大约10万美元的维修和库存损失。

The manager of a car-rental firm wonders if his explosion cover will include one of the largest nonnuclear explosions in history,

一家汽车租赁公司的经理想知道，他的保单中的爆炸是否包括历史上最大的非核爆炸之一，

since his vehicles were flattened⁶ by falling debris⁷, not the blast itself.

因为他的汽车都是被坠落的碎片摧毁，而非爆炸本身。

The explosion that ripped through Beirut on August 4th,

8月4日，发生在贝鲁特的爆炸

caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored improperly⁸ for years at the port, devastated⁹ much of the city centre.

由多年来在港口储存不当的2750吨硝酸铵造成的，摧毁了市中心的大部分地区。

More than 200 people are dead or missing, thousands wounded, and an estimated 300,000 are homeless. The damage to property could reach $15bn.

有超过两百人死亡或失踪，数千人受伤，预估有30万人无家可归。财产损失可能高达150亿美元。

A chunk¹⁰ of that will land on insurance companies in Lebanon, with consequences for banks and foreign reinsurers.

其中的一大部分将落到黎巴嫩的保险公司身上，并对银行和外国再保险公司造成影响。

In 2018 Lebanese insurers paid out around $90m to settle property and casualty claims. Insured losses at the port alone could now run to $250m.

2018年，黎巴嫩保险公司支付了约9000万美元来解决财产和伤亡索赔。仅港口的保险损失现在就可能高达2.5亿美元。

Victims have filed 2,500 claims for $425m in damages across the city, according to Raoul Nehme, the caretaker economy minister.

根据临时代理经济部长拉乌尔·内赫姆，全市受灾群众共提出2500项赔偿要求，索赔金额为4.25亿美元。

Insurers expect the number of claims to quadruple and the final price tag to hit $3bn.

保险公司预计，索赔数量将增长3倍，最终金额将达到30亿美元。

That is almost double the annual revenue of Lebanon's 52 insurers, which wrote $1.7bn in gross premiums¹¹ in 2018.

这几乎是黎巴嫩52家保险公司年收入的两倍，2018年，这些保险公司的总保险费为17亿美元。

Claims are frozen until the government finishes investigating the blast.

在政府完成爆炸调查之前，索赔将被冻结。

Insurers would largely be off the hook if it were a deliberate act (there is no evidence to suggest it was).

如果爆炸是蓄意引发的，那么保险公司很大程度上能够摆脱困境（没有证据表明是蓄意的）。

An act of war would trigger force majeure clauses, and most policies do not cover terrorism.

战争行为将触发不可抗力条款，而大多数保单都不包括恐怖袭击。

The worst scenario¹² for insurers is also the most likely: that the blast was an accident.

对保险公司来说，最坏的情况也是最有可能的情况：爆炸只是一场意外。

That would trigger another set of claims, as insurers seek to collect from the owners of the warehouse¹³ where the ammonium nitrate was stored.

这将触发另一套索赔，保险公司试图从储存硝酸铵的仓库所有者那里收集这些索赔。

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 sham   

n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的)

参考例句：

• They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
• His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。

3 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

4 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

5 inventory   

n.详细目录，存货清单

参考例句：

• Some stores inventory their stock once a week.有些商店每周清点存货一次。
• We will need to call on our supplier to get more inventory.我们必须请供应商送来更多存货。

6 flattened   

[医]（水）平扁的，弄平的

参考例句：

• She flattened her nose and lips against the window. 她把鼻子和嘴唇紧贴着窗户。
• I flattened myself against the wall to let them pass. 我身体紧靠着墙让他们通过。

7 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

8 improperly   

不正确地，不适当地

参考例句：

• Of course it was acting improperly. 这样做就是不对嘛！
• He is trying to improperly influence a witness. 他在试图误导证人。

9 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

10 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

11 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

13 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。