经济学人:一周商业要闻14

 　　The world this week-Business 本周经济新闻

　　Amazon showed off its first smartphone, which will go on sale next month.  亚马逊展示了将在下月发售的第一款智能手机。

　　Priced at the high end of the market, the device runs on a version of Google's Android system, the main difference being that it is designed around Amazon's shopping ecosystem¹.  亚马逊展示了将在下月发售的第一款智能手机。

　　It also has 3D features.  该款机型还装有三维显示屏。

　　But although it dominates e-commerce in America and Europe, Amazon's tiny profits and big spending projects are starting to worry investors²; its share price is down by almost a fifth since the start of the year. 然而，即使其在欧美电子商务中占主导地位，亚马逊的微薄利润和巨大的项目开支仍让投资者开始担心；其股价自年初以来下跌了大约五分之一。

　　Google's YouTube threatened to pull videos from its site by independent recording³ artists, 谷歌公司的YouTube威胁将从其网站上移除那些,

　　who have refused to sign up to the terms for its forthcoming subscription-based music service.  由拒绝签署即将到来的付费音乐服务条款的独立唱片公司创作的音频。

　　Universal, Sony and Warner have agreed to the terms, but the smaller labels accuse YouTube of a lack of respect and understanding for the independent sector⁴. 环球唱片、索尼和华纳已经同意该条款，但小型唱片公司指责YouTube对独立机构缺乏尊重和理解。

　　Sunk 僵局

　　In a surprise move China's commerce ministry⁵ blocked a proposed alliance of three European shipping⁶ companies, including Maersk.  中国商务部否决了包括马士基在内的三家欧洲船舶公司联盟的提议引发了不小的震动。

　　The P3 alliance sought to pool 250 ships to reduce overcapacity, but it would have controlled 40% of transatlantic and Asia-Europe seaborne trade.  P3联盟试图联合运营旗下250艘货轮以减少产能过剩，但这将使得该联盟控制横跨大西洋和亚欧海上贸易40%的份额。

　　Regulators in America and Europe had given the nod to the alliance.  美国和欧盟的竞争监管机构批准了该联盟，

　　China's commerce ministry disagreed, saying smaller shippers would suffer and consumers would pay.  但中国商务部不同意，认为此举将损害其他运输公司的利益并使得消费者最终买单。

　　The takeover battle for various bits of Alstom intensified⁷ ahead of a deadline. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan.  对阿尔斯通各种业项业务的收购战在截止日前愈演愈烈。

　　Jeffrey Immelt, the chief executive of General Electric, flew to Paris for talks with the government on securing jobs if it buys some of Alstom's assets.  通用电气的首席执行官杰夫瑞?伊梅尔特已飞赴巴黎与政府协商在购买部分阿尔斯通资产后的担保工作。

　　Complicating⁸ his plans is a rival joint⁹ bid from Siemens of Germany and 但对手德国西门子和日本三菱重工的联合竞标使得其计划变得复杂起来。

　　Mary Barra, the boss of General Motors, appeared before a congressional committee, 通用汽车公司的老板玛丽博拉面对国会委员会，

　　to answer questions about faulty ignition switches in GM's cars that it acknowledges led to 13 deaths.  就其公司生产的汽车点火开关故障导致13人死亡的事实进行回答。

　　An internal report at GM blamed the carmaker's unquestioning corporate¹⁰ culture for the ten-year delay in recognising the problem. 一份通用公司内部的报告指责该制造商顽固的企业文化：对于一个延续十年的问题都缺乏认知。

　　Capital holding 资本持有

　　Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, set markets abuzz when he said that interest rates could rise sooner than expected.  英格兰银行的行长马克卡尼声称利率将超预期而快速增长，这给市场强烈反响。

　　The betting had been that the base rate, set at 0.5%, would start to rise in the first quarter of 2015, but markets are now anticipating an increase towards the end of the year.  有人笃定原为0.5%基准利率将在2015年一季度开始上调，但现在市场预计到今年年底就会增长，银行习惯于提振英国经济。

　　The bank is adapting to the strengthening British economy. The housing market in particular has been supported by ultra-low rates and house prices are surging;  特别是房产市场由于超低利率的支撑导致房价飙升；

　　they were up by an average of 9.9% in April compared with the same month last year.  在四月份相较去年同期平均增长9.9%。

　　Officials at the Federal Reserve's latest meeting slightly raised the forecast of its benchmark interest rate for the end of 2015, to 1.2%.  最近的议息会议中，美联储将2015年年底预期基准利率微升到1.2%。

　　America's overall consumer-price index rose by 2.1% in the year to May. 美国总体消费者价格指数五月同比增长2.1%。

　　Japan's government proposed gradually lowering the country's corporate-tax rate, one of the highest in the world, from 35% to below 30%.  日本政府提出逐渐将该国企业所得税税率由35%降低至30%。

　　This will form part of the third arrow of reforms that Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, hopes will boost growth. 这是期望提振经济的安倍改革的第三支箭的组成部分。

　　Medtronic agreed to buy Covidien in a $43 billion deal that shakes up the medical-device industry.  在一场震惊世界医疗器械行业的430亿美元的交易中，美敦力同意收购柯惠医疗。

　　It is another example of a tax inversion¹¹ acquisition that takes advantage of lower corporate-tax rates outside America.  这是利用美国以外地区较低的企业所得税率而进行的税收倒置收购的又一案例。

　　Medtronic is based in Minneapolis; Covidien's base is near Boston, but it is domiciled in Ireland, which has a corporate-tax rate of only 12.5%.  美敦力设在明尼阿波利斯，柯惠医疗设在波士顿附近，但交税在爱尔兰，那里的企业所得税税率只有12.5%。

　　The World Gold Council called a meeting of the gold industry for July 7th to discuss alternatives to the London gold fix,  世界黄金协会将在7月7日的召开黄金行业会议，

　　a 95-year-old mechanism¹² for setting the price at which gold products and derivatives¹³ are traded.  探讨是否取代具有95年历史的设定黄金产品及其衍生产品价格的伦敦黄金定盘价机制。

　　The price is fixed¹⁴ by four banks, but, as with other financial benchmarks in the wake of the LIBOR scandal, it has been criticised for a lack of transparency. 该价格由四家银行操控，但是正如在伦敦银行同业拆借利率制定方面的丑闻之后的其他金融基准一样，由于缺乏透明度而饱受批评。

　　American Apparel suspended its founder¹⁵ and chief executive, Dov Charney, with an intention to sack him because of alleged¹⁶ misconduct.  美国服饰将其创始人和首席执行官多夫?查尼停职，并由于其行为不当意图解雇他。

　　Mr Charney is a colourful character in the clothing business and a strong supporter of immigration reform. 查尼在服装行业是一位响当当的人物，也是移民改革的坚定支持者。

　　He kept his company's manufacturing base in Los Angeles rather than moving its operations abroad.  他坚持将公司的工厂建在洛杉矶而不是移往海外。

　　But he has faced accusations¹⁷ of inappropriate sexual behaviour in the past, and once said he felt comfortable working at his factory in his underwear. 但是此前他已经受到多项关于不当性行为的指控，有一次他曾说在自己的工厂穿内衣上班真爽。

　　War cry 呼喊

　　America's office of trademarks¹⁹ cancelled the Washington Redskins trademark¹⁸, because it reckons the team's name is disparaging²⁰ to native Americans.  美国商标局取缔了华盛顿红皮队的商标，这是由于其认定球队的名字有蔑视美洲土著之嫌。

　　The team successfully challenged a similar ruling in 1999.  该队曾在1999年相类似的案子中获胜。

　　This week's decision does not mean it will have to change its name or stop selling merchandise, but it does weaken its ownership of the trademark under law.  本周的决定并不意味着该队必须更名或者停止销售球队纪念品，但确实是削弱了其在法律范围内的品牌所有权。14

1 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

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 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

7 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。

9 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

10 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

11 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。

12 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

13 derivatives   

n.衍生性金融商品；派生物，引出物( derivative的名词复数 )；导数

参考例句：

• Many English words are derivatives of Latin words. 许多英语词来自拉丁语。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These compounds are nitrosohydroxylamine derivatives. 这类合成物是亚硝基羟胺衍生物。 来自辞典例句

14 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

15 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

16 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

17 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

18 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

19 trademarks   

n.（注册）商标( trademark的名词复数 )；（人的行为或衣着的）特征，标记

参考例句：

• Motrin and Nuprin are trademarks of brands of ibuprofen tablets. Nuprin和Motrin均是布洛芬的商标。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many goods in China have the trademarks of a panda. 中国的许多商品都带有熊猫的商标。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 disparaging   

adj.轻蔑的，毁谤的v.轻视( disparage的现在分词 )；贬低；批评；非难

参考例句：

• Halliday's comments grew daily more and more sparklingly disagreeable and disparaging. 一天天过去，哈里代的评论越来越肆无忌惮，越来越讨人嫌，越来越阴损了。 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡
• Even with favorable items they would usually add some disparaging comments. 即使对好消息，他们也往往要加上几句诋毁的评语。 来自互联网