英语听力：澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2014-02-23

 Well, analysts¹ say the staggering 19 billion dollars Facebook has paid for Whatsapps demonstrates its drive to remain innovated² and fresh. The price, which will be paid in cash and stock, has stunned³ the Silicon⁴ Valley as Facebook moves to assert its dominance in response to the explosion in mobile social apps. The figure dwarfs⁵ Facebook's three-billion-dollar tilt⁶ at Snapchat and the one billion it paid for Instegram. 

 

“And this is actually the biggest tech deal bar one I think since the dot com boom. So we are back in deal mania⁷ over here in Silicon Valley.”

 

Whatsapp has 450 million users and the acquisition is seen as an attempt by the Facebook to engage the youth market which has been losing over recent quarters. It's also focused on competing with messaging services in Asia.

 

“So this is a very hot market at the moment. There have been many...ah.. different of these chat apps popping up. There's WeChat in China. There's Line in Japan and..ah..other parts of Asia. Ah...but Whatsapp is by far the biggest of all them...which is...why Facebook has paid such a huge price.”

 

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg says he's confident Whatsapp will reach a billion users. 

 

Well, let's take a look at the international markets now.

 

And when the markets did close in Europe a couple of hours ago, London's FSTE 100 was lower. The Dax and Euro also lost some ground. And America's market has closed. The Dow just lowered 0.2 percent. And the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also finished lower.

1 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

2 innovated   

v.改革，创新( innovate的过去式和过去分词 )；引入（新事物、思想或方法），

参考例句：

• He innovated a plan for increased efficiency. 他引进提高效率的（新）方案。 来自辞典例句
• We are using innovated metal detector which is imported from the U.K. 本工厂有先进的生产设备，拥有从英国进口的金属探测机。 来自互联网

3 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

4 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

5 dwarfs   

n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Shakespeare dwarfs other dramatists. 莎士比亚使其他剧作家相形见绌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The new building dwarfs all the other buildings in the town. 新大楼使城里所有其他建筑物都显得矮小了。 来自辞典例句

6 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

7 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。