经济学人:本周经济要闻19

 　　The world this week-Business 本周经济要闻

　　General Electric won its battle to buy Alstom's energy businesses,  通用电气赢得了争购阿尔斯通能源业务的战斗，

　　but only after it substantially altered its bid and gave a commitment to keep Alstom's base and workforce¹ in France.  但前提是通用电气需大大改变其报价，并承诺保留阿尔斯通在法国的基地和就业岗位。

　　The French government is taking a 20% stake in Alstom as part of the rejigged 17 billion acquisition, GE's biggest.  作为重新调整的高达170亿美元并购案的一部分，法国政府占有阿尔斯通20%的股份，而通用电气是其最大股东。

　　GE's initial proposal was accepted by Alstom's board but rejected by Franois Hollande's government as a threat to the national interest.  阿尔斯通公司董事会接受了通用电气的初始投标，但弗朗索瓦?奥朗德政府以威胁国家利益为由反对该项交易。

　　A potential spoiler offer for Alstom had also emerged from Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. 西门子公司和三菱重工则是潜在的阿尔斯通收购案搅局者。

　　Demolition² job 自毁工作

　　Dubai's stockmarket fell by almost 7% on June 24th, extending a six-week slump³.  迪拜股市在6月24日重挫7%，延续长达了6周的不景气。

　　Property companies account for 31% of the index and investors⁴ are nervous about the management and direction of Dubai's biggest construction firm,  房地产公司占该指数31%，投资者们担心迪拜最大建筑公司，

　　Arabtec, which built the Burj Khalifa skyscraper⁵.  阿拉伯特科的管理和方向问题。

　　Arabtec's share price has plunged⁶ this month, though it was lifted on June 25th by reassurances⁷ that its restructuring would cut costs, prompting a rally in the stockmarket. 该公司建造了哈里发塔摩天大楼。本月阿拉伯特科公司股票暴跌，虽然该公司股价曾因其再三保证公司改组以降低成本而在6月25号上升，促使其股市反弹。

　　Etihad, a global airline based in Abu Dhabi, came to the rescue of Alitalia, Italy's loss-making national carrier, which was facing bankruptcy,  总部位于阿布扎比的阿提哈德航空公司，来拯救亏损的意大利国有航空公司，

　　by agreeing to buy a 49% holding.  后者正面临破产。阿提哈德公司同意购买49%股份。

　　The deal is Etihad's eighth stake in a foreign airline. 该项交易是提哈德公司第八次入股外国航空公司。

　　New York state's attorney-general brought charges against Barclays for allegedly  纽约州总检察官指控巴克莱涉嫌在安全措施上

　　lying to investors about its safeguards to protect them from predatory high-frequency traders in the bank's dark-pool investments.  欺骗投资者，这些安全措施是为了保护投资者避免掠夺性高频投资者在银行暗池投资方面的侵害。

　　These allow portfolio⁸ managers to shift sizeable positions in shares anonymously⁹.  这些运行股票经理以匿名方式在股票中转变相当大的位置。

　　New York has warned of a clampdown on high-speed trading. 纽约已经警告要取缔高速交易。

　　America's economy shrank by 2.9% at an annual rate in the first three months of the year, according to a final official estimate,  根据最终的官方统计，按年利率计算，美国经济萎缩了2.9%。

　　the biggest contraction¹⁰ in GDP since the first quarter of 2009.  这是自2009年一季度以来最大的GDP萎缩。

　　A notably¹¹ harsh winter is said to have depressed¹² spending and investment, but exports also suffered. 据称，这个显著严酷的冬天抑制了支出和投资，出口也受其影响。

　　Turkey's central bank cut its main interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, to 8.75%.  土耳其中央银行下调主要利率0.75%，至8.75%。

　　This followed a half-point cut last month that was described as a joke by the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,  紧随着上个月被总理雷杰普?塔伊普?埃尔多安称之为一个笑话的降息0.5%。总理埃尔多安向银行施压，

　　who has put pressure on the bank to do more to boost economic growth. 要求其采取措施促进经济增长。

　　There was some scratching of heads in the City after Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England,  在国央行行长马克?卡尼试图通过指出正不断增长的英国经济的弱点来

　　sought to dampen expectations of an interest-rate rise by pointing out the weak spots in the growing British economy.  寻求抑制提升利率期望后，伦敦就有点摸不着头脑了。

　　Mr Carney had earlier given a strong signal that the central bank would raise rates this year for the first time since 2009.  较早前，卡尼先生发出强烈信号，即自2009年以来，中央银行将在今年首次提高利率。

　　Markets are still betting on that happening, though a senior Conservative MP has remarked that Mr Carney likes to give quite a lot of guidance,  市场仍在这件事上押宝，虽然一位资深保守党议员评论，卡尼先生喜欢给许许多多的指示，

　　not all of it seeming to point in the same direction. 看起来并不是所有的指示都朝一个方向。

　　Meanwhile, the bank's Financial Policy Commitee introduced new guidelines to curb¹³ excessive mortgage lending in Britain's housing market.  与此同时，银行的金融政策委员会出台了新指导措施，以遏制英国房地产市场过度的按揭贷款。

　　It said household debt did not pose an immediate¹⁴ threat to economic stability, but it was taking action to stop it from rising much further. 它说，家庭债务并没有立即威胁经济稳定，但金融政策委员会正采取措施，以防止其进一步恶化。

　　Inversion¹⁵ method 反演方法

　　Shire, a British drug company, rejected a 27 billion bid from AbbVie,  一家英国制药公司，夏尔，拒绝了美国竞争对手艾伯维公司高达270亿英镑的投标。

　　an American rival, in the latest instance of an unsolicited takeover approach from a cash-rich American company  这是这家资金充裕的美国公司寻求在企业税率较低国家

　　seeking to establish business in a country with a lower corporate-tax rate.  建立商业的最新的不请自来的并购方式。

　　Shire itself is domiciled in Ireland. 夏尔公司总部位于爱尔兰。

　　A crippling five-month strike by platinum¹⁶ miners in South Africa was declared to be over when the biggest union signed a wage deal with the mining companies.  在南非，当最大的工会和矿业公司签订工资协议后，由铂矿工发起的长达五个月的严重罢工宣布结束。

　　It was the most expensive strike to hit South Africa, resulting in a combined 2 billion in lost revenues for the biggest firms. 这是发生在南非最昂贵的罢工，导致了最大的公司总计20亿美元的收入损失。

　　The war of words continued between Dov Charney, the ousted¹⁷ boss of American Apparel, and the board that sacked him.  被赶下台的美国服饰老板多夫查尼和赶他下台的董事会之间的口水战在继续上演。

　　Mr Charney has faced allegations from female employees of inappropriate conduct.  查尼先生面临女性员工指控其不当行为。

　　The company has also run up a pile of debt and sales have slackened.  该公司还积欠着一堆债务并且销售放缓。

　　But Mr Charney has pledged to fight his dismissal, accusing the board of being hateful. He owns 27% of the company. 但是查尼先生发誓为免职维权，指责董事会行为可恶。他拥有该公司股权的27%。

　　In a victory for television and cable networks,  在这次传统电视和有限网络的胜利中，

　　America's Supreme¹⁸ Court ruled that a streaming service run by Aereo that uses tiny antennae¹⁹ to divert TV programmes to computers and phones violates copyright laws. 美国最高法院裁定由天空公司运营的使用微型天线转变电视节目到电脑和手机的流媒体服务违反了版权法。

　　The Yo rider 哟，新骑手

　　Yo, a messaging app through which people can send only a one-word text—Yo—was downloaded 1m times in just a few days on the back of publicity²⁰ about it being hacked²¹.  哟，一个消息应用程序，通过它人们可以传递仅有一个字的信息—哟—紧随着被曝遭黑客攻击后的几天内，下载了一百万次。

　　Investors have reportedly stumped²² up 1m in startup funding for the business. 据说，投资者为该项生意拿出1百万美元起始资金。

1 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

2 demolition   

n.破坏,毁坏,毁坏之遗迹

参考例句：

• The church has been threatened with demolition for years. 这座教堂多年来一直面临拆毀的威胁。
• The project required the total demolition of the old bridge. 该项目要求将老桥完全拆毁。

3 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。

4 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

5 skyscraper   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• The skyscraper towers into the clouds.那幢摩天大楼高耸入云。
• The skyscraper was wrapped in fog.摩天楼为雾所笼罩。

6 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

7 reassurances   

n.消除恐惧或疑虑( reassurance的名词复数 )；恢复信心；使人消除恐惧或疑虑的事物；使人恢复信心的事物

参考例句：

• We have had some reassurances from the council that the building will be saved. 理事会保证会保留那座建筑，这使我们得到了些许安慰。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Everybody's reassurances have encouraged me. 大家的勉励鼓舞了我。 来自辞典例句

8 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

9 anonymously   

ad.用匿名的方式

参考例句：

• The manuscripts were submitted anonymously. 原稿是匿名送交的。
• Methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 536 teachers anonymously. 方法采用自编“中小学教师职业压力问卷”对536名中小学教师进行无记名调查。

10 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。

11 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

12 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

13 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

14 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

15 inversion   

n.反向，倒转，倒置

参考例句：

• But sometimes there is an unusual weather condition called a temperature inversion.但有时会有一种被称作“温度逆增”的不平常的天气状态。
• And finally,we made a discussion on the problems in the cooperative inversion.最后，对联合反演中存在的问题进行了讨论。

16 platinum   

n.白金

参考例句：

• I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
• Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。

17 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

18 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

19 antennae   

n.天线；触角

参考例句：

• Sometimes a creature uses a pair of antennae to swim.有时某些动物使用其一对触须来游泳。
• Cuba's government said that Cubans found watching American television on clandestine antennae would face three years in jail.古巴政府说那些用秘密天线收看美国电视的古巴人将面临三年监禁。

20 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

21 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

22 stumped   

僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说

参考例句：

• Jack huffed himself up and stumped out of the room. 杰克气喘吁吁地干完活，然后很艰难地走出房间。
• He was stumped by the questions and remained tongue-tied for a good while. 他被问得张口结舌，半天说不出话来。