2021年经济学人 能源价格经历了过山车般的一周

The world this week -- Business

本周国际要闻——商业

It was another roller-coaster week for energy prices.

能源价格又经历了过山车般的一周。

After OPEC and its allies resisted calls to increase output, the price of Brent crude surpassed $80 per barrel and reached its highest level in three years.

在石油输出国组织（OPEC）及其盟友抵制增产呼吁后，布伦特原油价格突破每桶80美元，达到三年来的最高水平。

The cartel said it would stick to the gradual increases in output it agreed to over the summer.

OPEC表示将遵循今年夏天达成的逐步增产协议。

The energy shortage rattled¹ other financial markets too, as investors² worried about the fallout.

由于投资者担心能源短缺的不良影响，金融市场也受到了冲击。

In America and Europe government bond yields climbed.

在美国和欧洲，政府债券收益率攀升。

In Britain the yield on ten-year gilts³ jumped to its highest since May 2019.

在英国，10年期国债收益率跃升至2019年5月以来的最高水平。

In Europe the price of natural gas front-month futures⁴ jumped by more than 60% in two days.

在欧洲，天然气当月期货价格在两天内上涨了60%以上。

But prices soon reversed when Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, hinted that his country could supply additional gas to Europe.

但当俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京暗示俄罗斯可能会向欧洲供应更多天然气时，天然气价格很快出现了逆转。

In Asia the coal shortage dragged on.

在亚洲，煤炭短缺的问题持续存在。

Power cuts have been reported across China.

据报道，中国各地都出现了停电现象。

Authorities there have told miners to increase production.

当地政府已要求矿商增加产量。

India is braced⁵ for power shortages.

印度准备应对电力短缺。

Half of its coal-fired power plants are on alert for blackouts.

该国一半的燃煤发电厂处于停电警戒状态。

In the euro area rising energy prices contributed to high inflation.

在欧元区，不断上涨的能源价格导致了高通胀。

In September the euro area’s inflation rate rose to 3.4%, the highest level in 13 years.

9月份，欧元区的通货膨胀率上升至3.4%，达到13年来的最高水平。

In Germany consumer prices rose by 4.1% in the same month, a 29-year high.

德国九月消费价格上涨4.1%，创29年来新高。

America’s trade deficit⁶ in goods and services grew to a record $73bn in August, up 4.3% from the previous month.

8月份，美国商品和服务贸易逆差增至创纪录的730亿美元，比上月增长4.3%。

Imports rose by $4bn from July, because of an increase in consumer demand.

由于消费者需求增加，进口较7月份增加了40亿美元。

But trade in vehicles and car parts fell, as a result of the semiconductor⁷ shortage.

但由于半导体短缺，汽车和汽车零部件贸易有所下滑。

Facebook users experienced a long outage this week.

Facebook用户本周经历了一次长时间的宕机。

The social-media platform and its subsidiaries, WhatsApp and Instagram, were down for several hours.

这家社交媒体平台及其子公司WhatsApp和Instagram宕机数小时。

The firm’s share price fell by 4.9% on Monday.

周一，该公司的股价下跌4.9%。

It blamed an internal malfunction⁸ and said there was no evidence that users’ data had been compromised.

公司将此归咎于内部故障，并称没有证据表明用户数据遭到泄露。

Meanwhile, Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee who is now a whistleblower, testified before a Senate subcommittee.

与此同时，前Facebook雇员、现为吹哨者的弗朗西丝·豪根在参议院一个小组委员会作证。

She claimed that Facebook’s products “harm children, stoke division and weaken...democracy”, and that documents she leaked to the Wall Street Journal showed the company is aware of this.

她声称，Facebook的产品“伤害儿童，助长分裂，削弱……民主”，她泄露给《华尔街日报》的文件显示，公司清楚这一点。

In a statement Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s boss, said that the firm’s work and motives⁹ have been mischaracterised.

Facebook的老板马克·扎克伯格在一份声明中说，公司的行为和动机被曲解了。

1 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

2 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

3 gilts   

n.镀金[银]材料，金[银]色涂层( gilt的名词复数 )；高度可靠的证券，金边证券；除去诱人的外表；让人扫兴

参考例句：

• They planned to have the gilts farrow down about the end of this month. 他们计划让母猪约在本月底下仔。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• As bank base rates rise, the price of gilts falls. 如果银行基本利率上升，国债的价格就下跌。 来自互联网

4 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

5 braced   

adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• They braced up the old house with balks of timber. 他们用梁木加固旧房子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The house has a wooden frame which is braced with brick. 这幢房子是木结构的砖瓦房。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

7 semiconductor   

n.半导体

参考例句：

• In the beginning,engineers hoped to use semiconductor lasers.在开始时，工程师们希望能够利用半导体激光器。
• The main agent of the company brand semiconductor sales.本公司主要代理各品牌半导体销售。

8 malfunction   

vi.发生功能故障，发生故障，显示机能失常

参考例句：

• There must have been a computer malfunction.一定是出了电脑故障。
• Results have been delayed owing to a malfunction in the computer.由于电脑发生故障，计算结果推迟了。

9 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。