经济学人:一周经济要闻18

 　　The world this week-Business 本周经济要闻

　　In its biggest acquisition yet, Apple agreed to pay 3 billion for Beats Electronics, a specialist in pricey headphones and music-streaming.  在迄今最大的一笔收购中，苹果公司斥资30亿美元收购了一家专门经营昂贵的耳机和音乐流媒体服务的专业公司—Beats Electronics。

　　The growth of streaming services has posed a threat to music sales on Apple's iTunes.  流媒体服务的增长已经威胁到苹果旗下Itunes的音乐销量。

　　As part of the deal the co-founders of Beats, Jimmy Iovine and Dr Dre, will join Apple. 作为收购协议的一部分，Beats联合创始人吉米·艾尔文和安德烈·罗米尔·扬也会加入苹果公司。

　　Pfizer, an American drugs company, has conceded defeat, at least for now, in its pursuit of AstraZeneca, a British competitor.  美国制药公司辉瑞已经承认,至少目前还未能成功收购英国制药商阿斯利康。

　　The proposed 70 billion takeover would have created the world's biggest drugs firm.  这笔打算以700亿英镑成交的收购原本将创造世界最大的药品公司。

　　The deal was opposed by some politicians on both sides of theAtlantic.  但是大西洋两岸的一些政治家们却极力反对这笔收购。

　　British MPs voiced worries over potential job losses in research centres, while inAmerica the concern was Pfizer avoiding taxes.  英国的下院议员们表示他们担心这可能会造成各研究中心出现失业情况，而在美国人民担心辉瑞公司会借此逃税。

　　AstraZeneca's board rejected the offer, saying it undervalued the company.  阿斯利康的董事会拒绝辉瑞的报价，认为其市价被低估。

　　Under British takeover rules, Pfizer must wait six months before it can make another approach. 而根据英国的收购法规，辉瑞公司只有等到6个月后才能实施其他方案。

　　Google unveiled its latest driverless car.  近日谷歌发布了最新款的无人驾驶汽车。

　　It plans to build 100 prototypes from scratch, rather than modifying others' vehicles as it has done in the past.  谷歌计划从零开始，生产100原型车，而非像以往那样改造其他车型。

　　The car has no steering¹ wheel or pedals, only a stop and a go button.  这款车没有方向盘和脚踏板，仅仅只有停止按钮和启动按钮。

　　The two-seater electric vehicle can travel up to25mph and the firm hopes to pilot it on Californian roads within two years.  这款双座电动汽车时速可达25英里，谷歌希望在两年内在加州的公路上进行试驾。

　　However, there remain significant regulatory and legal barriers to its spread. 然而，该车的推广还会面临巨大的规章和法律的障碍。

　　A delicate truth 脆弱的真相

　　The Financial Times says it has found flaws in the data used in Capital in the Twenty-First Century, the bestselling analysis of inequality by Thomas Piketty.  《金融时报》称其发现了托马斯·皮克提的《21世纪资本论》中用于销售分析的数据有漏洞。

　　The paper said it had uncovered transcription errors and flawed formulae in spreadsheets and that some of the data appeared to be cherry-picked.  报道称书中的报表有录入谬误并运用了错误的公式，此外的一些数据似乎是刻意挑选的。

　　Mr Piketty responded that the FT was wrong to suggest that this casts doubts on his conclusion that inequality is becoming more entrenched². 皮克提则回应称，《金融时报》错误地质疑了自己世界变得越来越不平等的结论。

　　GlaxoSmithKline, a British drugmaker, is being investigated by the UK's Serious Fraud Office.  英国制药公司葛兰素史克正受到英国反严重诈骗办公室的调查。

　　The exact nature of the investigation³ is not known, but two weeks ago China charged three of the firm's executives with corruption,  虽然此番调查的具体性质尚不明晰，但是两周前，中国已经指控该公司的三位高管的腐败行为，

　　alleging⁴ that GSK had bribed⁵ doctors to prescribe its medicines.  称该公司贿赂中国医生在处方中使用其药品。

　　The firm said it intended to co-operate fully⁶ with the SFO. 该公司则称将全力配合SFO的调查。

　　The battle for control of Club Méditerranée, a French holiday firm, continues.  争夺法国度假酒店集团—地中海俱乐部的战斗仍在继续。

　　Last year, Fosun, a Chinese conglomerate⁷, and Ardian, a French private-equity firm, launched a joint⁸ bid to take Club Med private.  去年，一家中国企业集团复星国际和一家法国私募股权公司阿迪安联手竞标，欲将地中海俱乐部收入囊中。

　　Some shareholders⁹ took the matter to the French courts, arguing the bid was too low and lacked transparency.  一些股东将此事告到了法国法院，认为这个竞标价格太低且缺乏透明度。

　　Now it seems a rival bidder¹⁰, the Bonomi family from Italy, may attempt a takeover of its own.  如今，另一家竞标者—来自意大利的博诺米家族可能会成功完成收购。

　　Club Med has been successful at attracting Asian tourists to its all-inclusive resorts. 地中海俱乐部一贯以全方位服务的度假村成功吸引亚洲游客。

　　Coming in from the cold 摆脱孤立

　　BP signed a deal with Rosneft, a state-owned Russian oil company in which it owns a 20% stake, to explore for hard-to-reach shale¹¹ oil in the country.  英国石油公司与俄政府旗下的俄罗斯石油公司签署协议，将持有后者20%的股票，并开采该国的深层油页岩。

　　The agreement comes despite American sanctions against Igor Sechin, Rosneft's boss, relating to Russia's intervention¹² in Ukraine.  尽管美国因俄罗斯干涉乌克兰而对俄罗斯石油公司的掌门人伊戈尔·谢钦进行了制裁，但是该协议仍顺利达成。

　　The deal was signed at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum¹³, Russia's answer to Davos, which many Western firms boycotted¹⁴. 协议在圣彼得堡国际经济论坛上签署。

　　Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, provided some hints on how it intends to tackle the threat of deflation when its governing council meets in June.  欧洲央行行长马里奥·德拉吉透露了些许消息，即理事会在6月份碰头时将如何应对通缩带来的威胁。

　　In a speech he suggested that, along with interest-rate cuts,  他在最近发表的一次讲话中表示，除了要削减利率以外，

　　there will be an attempt to boost credit in southern Europe by providing long-term funding to banks on the condition that they deploy¹⁵ it to expand business loans. 还会通过向银行提供长期融资以刺激南欧的信贷，条件是南欧国家将这笔资金用于扩大商业借贷规模。

　　Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary¹⁶ Fund, said that banks have been too slow to reform themselves following the financial crisis.  国际货币基金组织主席克里斯蒂娜·拉加德表示，在金融危机爆发后，各大银行进行改革的节奏太慢。

　　Ms Lagarde said that some banks are still too big to fail and would pose a systemic risk if they got into trouble.  她还表示有些银行尾大不掉，一旦陷入困境，将会给银行体系带来风险。

　　In a subsequent speech, Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, said that growing inequality was undermining trust in capitalism¹⁷. 在接下来的讲话中，英格兰银行行长马克·卡尼称越发严重的不平等现象正在破坏人们对资本主义的信任。

　　Rio Tinto agreed on a $20 billion deal with the government ofGuinea to mine iron ore.  力拓矿业集团与几内亚政府达成价值200亿美元的协议以开采铁矿石。

　　The Simandou project had seen a decade of wrangling¹⁸ over who owns the concession¹⁹ to mine the site. 十年来，关于西芒杜开采项目特许权拥有者的问题一直纷争不断。

　　The firm will also build a650km railway and a deepwater port to service the mine. 此外，力拓还将修建650千米的铁路和一个深水港来服务该开采项目。

　　Soldier, spy 士兵，间谍

　　Unconfirmed reports suggested that China has told state-owned companies to stop working with American consulting and technology firms, for fear of industrial espionage²⁰.  未经证实的消息报道称，中国已经通告国企中断与美国咨询和技术公司的合作以防范行业间谍活动。

　　It has also reportedly told some banks to stop using IBM servers.  据称，部分中国银行还被告知停止使用IBM的服务器。

　　The tit-for-tat move, if true, comes after America indicted²¹ five Chinese army officers of cyber-spying on American companies, including Alcoa and US Steel. 此前，美国起诉5名中国军官通过网络监视包括美国铝业公司和美国钢铁公司在内的美国企业；如果报道属实，中方此举就是在报复美方的指控。

1 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

2 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 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。

5 bribed   

v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• They bribed him with costly presents. 他们用贵重的礼物贿赂他。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He bribed himself onto the committee. 他暗通关节，钻营投机挤进了委员会。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 conglomerate   

n.综合商社，多元化集团公司

参考例句：

• The firm has been taken over by an American conglomerate.该公司已被美国一企业集团接管。
• An American conglomerate holds a major share in the company.一家美国的大联合企业持有该公司的大部分股份。

8 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。

9 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

10 bidder   

n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder.电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。
• The bidder withdrew his bid after submission of his bid.投标者在投标之后撤销了投标书。

11 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

12 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

13 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

14 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

15 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

16 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

17 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

18 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

19 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

20 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

21 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。