2020年经济学人 一周要闻 脸书面临反垄断诉讼 优步出售子公司 波音737 MAX复飞

The world this week

本周国际要闻

Business

经济

America’s competition regulator filed an antitrust lawsuit¹ against Facebook, alleging² that it bought WhatsApp and Instagram, two social-media rivals, to suppress competition. Separately, a coalition³ of 46 American states, led by New York, launched a similar lawsuit against the company. Facebook argues that the legal actions are an attempt to revise history, as the takeovers were scrutinised and approved by regulators at the time.

美国竞争监管机构对Facebook提起反垄断诉讼，称其收购WhatsApp和Instagram这两家社交媒体竞争对手，以抑制竞争。另外，一个由美国46个州组成的联盟，以纽约州为首，对该公司发起了类似的诉讼。Facebook辩称，这些法律诉讼是试图修改历史，因为当时这些收购已经得到监管机构的审查和批准。

Uber decided⁴ to sell its autonomous⁵-vehicles subsidiary to Aurora⁶, a startup that counts Amazon among its backers. Uber spent billions on self-driving cars, which it can no longer afford as the pandemic eats into its ride-hailing business (it is also selling its flying-car division, Uber Elevate, to a separate startup). The project unnerved investors⁸ in 2018 when one of its cars killed a woman in Arizona, the first fatal collision involving an autonomous car and a pedestrian. Uber is not getting out of the business entirely⁹. It will take a stake in Aurora and may eventually integrate the technology with its platform.

优步决定将其自动驾驶汽车子公司出售给Aurora，这家初创公司的支持者包括亚马逊。优步在自动驾驶汽车上花费了数十亿美元，但由于疫情侵蚀了其叫车业务，优步再也负担不起自动驾驶汽车了(优步还将其飞行汽车部门Uber Elevate出售给了一家独立的初创公司)。2018年，该项目的一辆汽车在亚利桑那州撞死了一名女性，这是首次自动驾驶汽车与行人发生致死的碰撞事故，该事故令投资者感到不安。优步并没有完全退出这个行业。它将持有Aurora的股份，并可能最终将该技术与自己的平台整合在一起。

Back in the sky

重返蓝天

The first commercial flight of a Boeing 737 MAX took place, 20 months after the fleet was grounded worldwide following two fatal crashes. Gol airline flew passengers from Sao Paulo to Porto Alegre after its pilots completed training to fly the revamped jet, which has been certified¹⁰ as safe in Brazil and the United States. Meanwhile, Boeing delivered its first 737 max aircraft since the ban was lifted, to United Airlines, which will test the plane before entering it into service.

20个月前，波音737 MAX因两起致命事故在全球范围内停飞。如今，该机型首次进行商业飞行。在飞行员完成这架改装喷气式飞机的驾驶训练后，Gol航空公司的旅客乘机圣保罗飞往阿雷格里港，改装后的飞机经过了巴西和美国安全认证。与此同时，波音向美联航交付了自禁令解除以来的首架737 max飞机，后者将在飞机投入使用前对其进行测试。

Huge investor⁷ appetite for the stockmarket debut¹¹ of DoorDash, America’s leading meal-delivery app, pushed its share price up by 86% on the first day of trading, valuing it at $60bn. DoorDash raised $3.4bn from its IPO. Facing similar demand for its ipo, Airbnb priced its shares above the target range it had set out to investors, as it prepared to float on the Nasdaq exchange.

美国领先的送餐应用DoorDash上市首日，投资者的巨大胃口推动其股价在首日交易中上涨86%，使其市值达到600亿美元。DoorDash通过首次公开募股融资34亿美元。面临类似的股票发行需求，Airbnb在准备在纳斯达克(Nasdaq)上市时，将股价定在高于向投资者设定的目标区间的水平。

1 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

2 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 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。

5 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

6 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

7 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

8 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

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

11 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。