2020年经济学人 一周要闻 加密货币Libra更名Diem Airbnb首秀股价翻番 Salesforce收购Slack

The world this week

本周国际要闻

Business

经济

Salesforce agreed to buy Slack for $27.7bn, combining its range of business software with a chat platform tailored to companies. United they will increase competition for Microsoft, which has pulled ahead of many rivals in this year of working from home, when firms have relied on cloud services more than ever. Microsoft’s Teams platform has also been a formidable challenger to Slack. Shares in Slack have performed poorly compared with other providers of remote tech.

Salesforce同意以277亿美元收购软件开发商Slack，将其商业软件系列与一个为企业量身定制的通讯平台结合起来。这次强强联合，对微软而言将面临更大的竞争。当今年企业比以往任何时候都更加依赖云服务时，微软在“居家办公”领域领先于许多竞争对手。微软的Teams办公软件也是Slack的有力竞争对手。与其他远程技术提供商相比，Slack的股价表现不佳。

What looms¹ for Zoom²?

Zoom将面临什么危机？

Zoom, one of the chief beneficiaries from the turn to remote working, reported that revenue soared by 367% in its latest quarter, year on year, to $777m. But its share price took another knock, as the news on vaccines³ and the prospect⁴ of a return to office normality raised more questions about its future.

Zoom是转向远程办公的主要受益公司之一，该公司报告称，最近一个季度的收入同比飙升367%，达到7.77亿美元。但该公司股价再次遭受打击，因为有关疫苗的消息和恢复正常办公环境的前景引发了更多关于其未来的疑虑。

There was more consolidation⁵ in the data-provision industry, as S&P Global , best known for compiling credit ratings, struck a deal to acquire IHS Markit, an American-British information provider. At $44bn, it is the largest takeover in America this year.

数据提供行业出现了更多的整合，以编制信用评级而闻名的标普全球(S&P Global)达成了一项收购美英信息提供商IHS Markit的交易。440亿美元的收购价成为今年美国最大的收购案。

Airbnb said it would price its forthcoming IPO at between $44 and $50 a share, which would value it at up to $35bn. That is double a private estimate from earlier this year, when the home-rental firm was hit by lockdowns. It has since bounced back, as people seek remote dwellings⁶ either to work in or to get away from it all. The pandemic “has accelerated the ability to live anywhere” Airbnb recently said.

Airbnb表示，其即将进行的股票发行定价将位于每股44美元至50美元之间，这将使其估值最高达到350亿美元。这一估值是年初个人估值的两倍，当时这家房屋租赁公司受到封锁令的打击。此后，随着人们寻找偏远的住所来工作或逃离封锁措施，业务已经出现反弹。Airbnb最近表示，这次疫情“提高了人们在任何地方生活的能力”。

The organisation⁷ that runs Libra, a cryptocurrency that has been proposed and backed by Facebook, renamed the project “Diem”. Following criticism from regulators around the world the payments system has much less scope than its creators had hoped, but according to reports the first Diem dollar, backed by the American dollar, could be launched next month.

天秤币（Libra）是由Facebook推出并支持的加密货币，其运营机构将该加密货币重新更名为“Diem”。由于受到全球各地监管机构的批评，该支付系统的推广范围比其创始者预期的要小得多，但据报道，由美元支持的首个Diem dollar将于下月推出。

1 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

3 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

4 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

5 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

6 dwellings   

n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The development will consist of 66 dwellings and a number of offices. 新建楼区将由66栋住房和一些办公用房组成。
• The hovels which passed for dwellings are being pulled down. 过去用作住室的陋屋正在被拆除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。