经济学人:一周商业要闻11

 　　Business this week 一周经济要闻

　　Barack Obama nominated Janet Yellen to replace Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve in February. 奥巴马总统提名珍妮特·耶伦担任下一届联储主席，以接替将在2014年1月任期结束后离职的伯南克。

　　Ms Yellen is Mr Bernanke's deputy and became the outright¹ favourite for the top job when Larry Summers withdrew his name from consideration. 珍妮特-耶伦为现任联储副主席，在劳伦斯·萨默斯主动退出这场竞争之后，她便成为这一宝座的首要人选。

　　She has been instrumental in creating the Fed's policy of monetary² stimulus³ and the" forward guidance" on interest rates that many central banks now give. 她曾对制定美联储的货币刺激政策提出建设性意见，并且对现行央行利率有前瞻性指引。

　　However, she could get a rough ride from Republicans at her confirmation⁴ hearing in the Senate. 但她可能在参议院的听证会上遭到共和党人的挑战。

　　The IMF's latest GDP forecasts shaved 0.3 of a percentage point off the world's economic growth rate for this year, to 2.9%. IMF最近将今年国际经济增长率预期下调三个百分点至2.9%。

　　The fund warned that the Fed should not taper⁵ its stimulus programme too quickly, or the subsequent rise in borrowing costs would hinder growth. IMF警告说，美联储不应过快减少其经济刺激计划，否则随后的借款成本上升会阻碍经济增长。

　　But it gave George Osborne, Britain's chancellor⁶, something to crow about by lifting Britain's growth forecast by half of a percentage point; in the spring the IMF had raised concerns that Mr Osborne's austerity measures could choke growth. 因此，英国财政大臣乔治·奥斯本将英国经济增速预期上调了0.5%,这一政策足以让他得意一番。而早在今年春天，IMF就担忧过奥斯本的紧缩政策可能造成经济增长速度放缓。

　　The IMF also cut its growth outlook for emerging markets. IMF同时也下调了发展中国家的经济增速预期。

　　Brazil raised its main interest rate for the fifth time since April, by half of a percentage point to 9.5%, as it battles stubbornly high inflation. 巴西苦苦挣扎于居高不下通货膨胀，将其基准利率上调至预期的一半至9.5%，这是该国自四月以来的第五次上调。

　　Serbia proposed severe spending cuts. 塞尔维亚提议大幅削减开支。

　　The government said it was also getting a loan" on favourable⁷ terms" that was almost a" gift" from the United Arab Emirates. 该国政府称其正在以“优惠的条件”申请贷款，这大抵算是从阿联酋得到的一份“礼物”。

　　After 40 years without much success, Airbus at last broke into the Japanese aviation market in a big way when Japan Airlines ordered 31 A350 widebody jets with a total list price of $9.8 billion, and placed an option for 25 more aircraft. 日本航空公司（日航，JAL ）以约为95亿美元的目录价格订购31架A350宽体飞机，并且保留追加购买25架A350飞机的选择权。这意味着在入驻日本民航市场40年未果之后，空客终于打入日本市场。

　　It is a blow to Boeing, which had a virtual monopoly in Japan. 这对于在日本保持垄断地位的波音公司来说无疑是一个打击。

　　Analysts⁸ wonder if JAL's decision to buy from Airbus is related to the technical problems that have beset⁹ Boeing's 787 Dreamliner; two JAL Dreamliner flights had to be diverted this week because of glitches¹⁰. 分析学家认为日航选择购买空客飞机可能跟波音787“梦幻客机”出现的技术问题有关。本周，两架“梦幻客机”由于小故障而不得不返航。

　　Demand for shares in Royal Mail was said to be heavily oversubscribed ahead of its flotation, the biggest sale of a state asset in Britain for two decades. 还未上市，英国皇家邮政股票就获得超额认购。皇家邮政上市是英国政府20年以来最大规模的私有化行动。

　　As with past privatisations, the government has been criticised by some for undervaluing what the market will pay for a public sector¹¹ company. 针对先前的私有化，有人批评英国政府低估了国有企业股票在市场中的价值。

　　Twitter provided much sought-after details of its finances ahead of its IPO. 还未进行首次公开募股，Twitter就披露了其引人瞩目的财政细节。

　　Revenue at the microblogging site was $253m in the first half of the year, double that from the same period last year, and it had 218m monthly active users, up by 44% from last year( around 5% of that is spam). 上半年，其微博网站收入为2.53亿美元，是去年同期的两倍。月活跃用户为2.18亿人，同比上升44%（其中约5%为垃圾邮件）。

　　HTC reported a worse than-expected quarterly loss, its first in 11 years. HTC称其季度亏损比预期的还要糟糕，是11年来的首次亏损。

　　The Taiwanese smartphone maker¹² has fallen further behind its cheaper Chinese rivals, and now accounts for 3% of global market share, down from 9% in 2011. 这家台湾智能手机制造商被中国内地价格更为便宜的竞争对手远远抛下。其所占有的全球份额由2011年的9%下降到现在的3%。

　　The Obama administration decided¹³ not to overturn a ban imposed by America's trade commission on some of Samsung's older phones for infringing¹⁴ patents held by Apple. 奥巴马政府未否决美国贸易委员会对侵权苹果的一些旧款三星产品颁布的禁令。

　　It is unlikely to hurt the South Korean company's sales much, though some have questioned the White House's motives¹⁵. 尽管有人质疑白宫的动机，但这不会对这家韩国公司的销量有太大影响。

　　In August it did quash a ban imposed by the commission on Apple's older iPads and iPhones that were found to infringe¹⁶ Samsung's patents. 而与之截然不同的是，今年八月，奥巴马政府解除了美国贸易委员会对侵权三星产品的苹果旧款iPads 和 iPhones发布的禁令。

　　Alcatel Lucent said it would cut 10,000 jobs, or around 15% of its worldwide labour force. 阿尔卡特朗讯公司称将裁员10000人，这相当于其全球范围内约15%的员工。

　　Since's France Alcatel and's America Lucent merged¹⁷ in 2006, the combined telecoms equipment maker has made a profit in just one year. 自2006年法国阿尔卡特公司与美国朗讯公司合并以来，这家电讯设备制造企业仅获一年盈利。

　　Others in the industry, such as Cisco, are also retrenching¹⁸. 其他同类型企业，如思科公司，也在缩减开支。

　　Although most of the cuts are outside France, the French government said it wanted" social dialogue" with the company about scaling them back. 虽然法国裁员人数并不多，法国政府称将针对裁员与该公司进行“社会性对话”。

　　Walmart brought the shutters¹⁹ down on its troubled joint²⁰ venture in India with Bharti. 沃尔玛决定关闭与印度巴帝公司合作并不顺利的合资企业。

　　Foreign supermarket retailers²¹ have yet to set up shop fully²² in India after last year's regulatory change that allows them to own up to 51% of their operations. 根据去年印度修改的外商投资条例，印度允许外国企业拥有其在当地经营的超市51%股份，但是仍没有任何一家海外超市零售商进入印度开设零售店。

　　Most are put off by the requirement that 30% of their produce must come from small local businesses. 印度规定海外零售商30%的商品必须在当地小型企业采购，这一规定使得他们望而却步。

　　Electronic cigarette companies were relieved when the European Parliament decided not to reclassify their products as medicinal, thereby²³ avoiding tougher regulations. 欧洲议会决定不将电子香烟产品归类为药品，这使得各大电子香烟公司如释重负，因为他们因此得以避免更为苛刻的管理条例。

　　European governments, however, still want strict restrictions²⁴ until more is known about the health effects of e cigarettes. 然而，在更多了解电子香烟对健康的影响之前，欧洲政府依然希望对其采取严格限制。

　　Men's Wearhouse, a clothing chain that has most of its stores in America's eastern states, rejected a $2.3 billion takeover bid from Jos A. Bank, a rival. 大部分专营店开设在美国东部各州的服装连锁Men’s Wearhouse拒绝其同行Jos A. Bank时装店以23亿美元的价格收购。

　　Last month the boss of's Men Wearhouse provided a novel explanation for a big quarterly drop in profit, saying that the13 in 2013 was causing suspicious brides( not grooms) to postpone²⁵ their wedding plans until next year. 上月，Men’s Wearhouse 老板对该企业季度大幅亏损做出了新奇的解释，称2013年中的13 这个不吉利的数字可能是造成新娘（不是新郎）将婚礼推迟到明年的原因。

1 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

2 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

4 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

5 taper   

n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小

参考例句：

• You'd better taper off the amount of time given to rest.你最好逐渐地减少休息时间。
• Pulmonary arteries taper towards periphery.肺动脉向周围逐渐变细。

6 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

7 favourable   

adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的

参考例句：

• The company will lend you money on very favourable terms.这家公司将以非常优惠的条件借钱给你。
• We found that most people are favourable to the idea.我们发现大多数人同意这个意见。

8 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。

9 beset   

v.镶嵌；困扰，包围

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• The plan was beset with difficulties from the beginning.这项计划自开始就困难重重。

10 glitches   

n.小过失，差错( glitch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Manufacturing glitches have limited the factory's output. 生产中的故障影响了该厂的产量。 来自辞典例句
• Another kind of period variation,\"Glitches,\" are seen in several pulsars. 在几个脉冲星中还看到了周期的另一种变化，即“自转突快”现象。 来自辞典例句

11 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

12 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

13 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。

14 infringing   

v.违反（规章等）( infringe的现在分词 )；侵犯（某人的权利）；侵害（某人的自由、权益等）

参考例句：

• The material can be copied without infringing copyright. 这份材料可以复制，不会侵犯版权。
• The media is accused of infringing on people's privacy. 人们指责媒体侵犯了大家的隐私。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

16 infringe   

v.违反，触犯，侵害

参考例句：

• The jury ruled that he had infringed no rules.陪审团裁决他没有违反任何规定。
• He occasionally infringe the law by parking near a junction.他因偶尔将车停放在交叉口附近而违反规定。

17 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

18 retrenching   

v.紧缩开支( retrench的现在分词 )；削减（费用）；节省

参考例句：

19 shutters   

百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门

参考例句：

• The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
• The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。

20 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

21 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

22 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

23 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

24 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

25 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。