2020年经济学人 一周要闻 谷歌延长远程办公时间 美国失业救济金下调 波音二季度亏损24亿美元

The world this week

世界国际要闻

Business

经济

The bosses of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google faced sharp questions (remotely) from a committee in America’s Congress about their companies’ market dominance and whether they should be broken up. It was the first time that Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, had appeared before lawmakers. He insisted that his platform accounts for only a small portion of overall retail¹ sales, and that it has supported a spurt² in growth at small and medium-sized businesses.

亚马逊、苹果、Facebook和谷歌的老板们面临着来自美国国会委员会的尖锐问题——关于他们公司的市场主导地位以及他们是否应该被拆分。这是亚马逊首席执行官杰夫·贝佐斯(Jeff Bezos)第一次在立法者面前露面。他坚称，他的平台只占零售总额的一小部分，而且支撑了中小企业的井喷式增长。

Google extended the period during which it expects employees to be working remotely because of covid-19. It will allow most staff to work from home until at least July next year.

由于新冠疫情的原因，谷歌延长了员工远程办公的期限。该公司将允许大多数员工居家邦，至少到明年7月份。

After terse³ negotiations⁴ within the party, the Republicans in Congress presented their plan for a new stimulus⁵ package, amounting to $1trn in spending. The bill extends a federal top-up to weekly unemployment benefits that has been in place since March, but slashes⁶ its generosity⁷ from $600 to $200; from September, the scheme would aim to replace 70% of workers’ lost wages. It also provides for another round of stimulus cheques to all households. The Democrats⁸ have alternative proposals.

经过党内的简短谈判，国会的共和党人提出了一项新的经济刺激计划，总额达1万亿美元。该法案延长了自3月份开始实行的每周联邦失业补助的上限，但将其金额从600美元下调至200美元；从9月开始，该计划的目标是弥补70%的工人的失业补贴。该法案还为所有家庭提供了另一轮刺激资金。民主党对此提出不同方案。

The German economy contracted by 10.1% in the second quarter compared with the first, or by 11.7% from the same three months last year. On both measures, it was the biggest decline in quarterly records that stretch back to 1970.

与第一季度相比，德国经济第二季度收缩了10.1%，较去年同期缩水了11.7%。从这两个指标来看，这是自1970年以来季度降幅最大的一次。

Russia’s central bank reduced its benchmark interest rate for the fourth time since January, lowering it by another quarter of a percentage point, to 4.25%. Elvira Nabiullina, the central bank’s governor, said that more cuts could come before the end of the year.

俄罗斯央行自1月份以来第四次下调基准利率，再次下调0.25个百分点至4.25%。该国央行行长埃尔维拉·纳比乌林娜(Elvira Nabiullina)表示，今年年底前可能会进一步降息。

Saddled with huge write-downs of assets, around half of which originated in its British retail bank, Santander reported a quarterly loss of 11.1bn euros ($12.2bn), the first in the Spanish lender’s 163-year history. It is the biggest loss in the banking⁹ industry since UniCredit’s 13.6bn euros-worth of red ink in the last quarter of 2016.

西班牙桑坦德银行(Santander)背负巨额资产减记，其中约一半的减值来自其英国的零售银行，该行公布季度亏损111亿欧元(约合122亿美元)。这是这家西班牙银行163年历史上的首次亏损。这是自意大利联合信贷银行在2016年第四季度亏损136亿欧元以来银行业最大的一次亏损。

Boeing reported a $2.4bn quarterly loss and made further cuts to production. It also confirmed that it will stop building the 747, which entered service in 1970, bringing cheaper long-haul flights to millions.

波音公布季度亏损24亿美元，并进一步削减了产量。该公司还确认将停产747，该飞机于1970年投入使用，让数百万人享受到更加划算的长途飞行。

1 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

2 spurt   

v.喷出；突然进发；突然兴隆

参考例句：

• He put in a spurt at the beginning of the eighth lap.他进入第八圈时便开始冲刺。
• After a silence, Molly let her anger spurt out.沉默了一会儿，莫莉的怒气便迸发了出来。

3 terse   

adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的

参考例句：

• Her reply about the matter was terse.她对此事的答复简明扼要。
• The president issued a terse statement denying the charges.总统发表了一份简短的声明，否认那些指控。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 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。

6 slashes   

n.（用刀等）砍( slash的名词复数 )；（长而窄的）伤口；斜杠；撒尿v.挥砍( slash的第三人称单数 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• They report substantial slashes in this year's defense outlays. 他们报道今年度国防经费的大量削减。 来自辞典例句
• Inmates suffered injuries ranging from stab wounds and slashes to head trauma. 囚犯们有的被刺伤，有的被砍伤，而有的头部首创，伤势不一而足。 来自互联网

7 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。