美国有线新闻 CNN 疫情引发芯片短缺影响汽车行业

Hi, I'm Carl Azuz. What do the Ford¹ Model A, the Dusenberg SSJ Speedster and a Willys MB Jeep all have in common?

大家好，我是卡尔·阿祖兹。福特A型、杜森伯格SSJ Speedster和威利斯MB吉普车有何共同点？

If you said they're old, you're right.

如果你说共同点是‘老’，那你说对了。

But there's something else that ties these iconic vehicles together and it's related to our first topic today on CNN 10.

但还有其他因素将这些标志性汽车联系在一起，这与我们我们今天CNN10分钟新闻的首个话题有关。

That topic is computer chips. These cars ain't got 'em.

那就是电脑芯片。这些车都没有搭载芯片。

Today's cars do, dozens of them.

而现在的车辆都搭载了数十块芯片。

They're not just found in the touch screen infotainment systems that replaced the buttons and switches you played with as a little kid.

芯片不仅安装在触摸屏信息娱乐系统里，取代了大家小时候玩过的按纽和开关，不仅仅出现在取代你小时候玩过的按钮和开关的触摸屏信息娱乐系统中。

Keyless entry, engine operation, anti-lock brakes, automatic transmissions, airbag systems,

无钥匙进入、发动机操作、防抱死刹车、自动变速器、安全气囊系统，

all of these are controlled with semiconductors², computer chips

所有这些都由半导体和电脑芯片控制，

and one of the many strange ripple³ effects of the coronavirus pandemic is a global shortage of these chips.

冠状病毒疫情的众多异常连锁反应之一就是导致这些芯片的全球短缺。

About 12 percent of them go to car makers⁴ and the automotive industry is worth trillions of dollars worldwide.

其中约12%的芯片流向汽车制造商，汽车行业在全球价值数万亿美元。

So if car makers can't get chips into their vehicles and then can't produce them as quickly as they used to,

因此，如果汽车制造商不能将芯片装进汽车中，而且又不能像以前那样迅速生产，

economic problems could result around the world.

那可能会在全球范围内引发经济问题。

The makers of these semiconductors shutdown temporarily because of the pandemic but they're back up and running now.

这些半导体制造商因疫情而暂时停工，但他们现在已恢复生产。

So you'd think that would have just caused a delay in the production of things that use them.

因此，你会认为这只会导致使用芯片的产品延迟生产。

But with more people spending more time at home last year,

但随着去年更多的人花更多时间待在家里，

demand for computer chips went through the roof as consumers bought new computers, TVs and game consoles,

而且由于消费者购买新电脑、电视和游戏机，对电脑芯片的需求急剧上升，

so now car makers are having trouble getting the ones they need for new vehicles.

所以现在汽车制造商在制造新车时遇到了困难。

1 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

2 semiconductors   

n.半导体( semiconductor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Crystals may be insulators, semiconductors, or conductors. 晶体可以是绝缘体，半导体，或导体。 来自辞典例句
• Semiconductors containing such impurities are called p-type semiconductors. 含有这类杂质的半导体叫做P型半导体。 来自辞典例句

3 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

4 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》