英国卫报:走向失控的博姿药妆(5)

And it takes a lot of public money to do so: around 2bn pounds a year for prescriptions¹ alone,

而且这需要大量的公共资金：仅处方一项，每年就有约20亿英镑，

according to independent financial analysis, or a third of Boots’s annual income in the UK.

根据独立财务分析公司的数据，这个数字相当于博姿在英国年收入的三分之一。

Then come the patient-care services paid for by the taxpayer²,

然后是由纳税人支付的病人护理服务，

and the contracts Boots is now taking over from the NHS – to host GP surgeries in its stores,

现在，博姿药妆正从英国国家医疗服务系统手中接过合同——在其商店里进行全科医生的手术，

to run pharmacies³ in hospitals, to manage hearing test centres and specialist clinics monitoring drugs that prevent blood clots⁴.

在医院开设药房，经营听力测试中心和核查预防血栓的药物的专门诊所。

Boots gave Tony work experience in the 1980s while he was training to be a pharmacist.

上世纪80年代，托尼在接受药剂师培训时，博姿药妆给了他工作经验。

Back then, he said, it was a good employer, “a blue-chip, like Marks and Spencer”.

他说，当时它是一个好雇主，“像玛莎百货一样是蓝筹股”。

But by the time he rejoined in 2011, it was under very different owners.

但在他2011年重新加入时，这家公司的所有者已大不相同。

The transformation⁵ Tony was about to witness began in spring 2007, when Boots was bought for 11bn pounds.

托尼即将见证的转型始于2007年春天，当时博姿药妆以110亿英镑的价格被收购。

This was the frenzied⁶ peak of the greatest financial bubble in history and each day’s papers brought news of more crazy deals.

那是历史上最大的金融泡沫的疯狂顶峰，每天的报纸上都有更多疯狂交易的消息。

Still, this stood out: it was the biggest buyout ever seen in Europe.

不过，这笔交易还是凸显出来：它是欧洲历史上最大的一笔收购交易。

The deal was backed by one of the world’s largest private equity⁷ groups, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR),

该交易得到了全球最大私人股本集团之一科尔伯格·克莱维斯·罗伯特公司的支持。

the debt merchants synonymous with the excesses of 1980s Wall Street.

这些债务商人是上世纪80年代华尔街过度行为的代名词。

But it was led by the billionaire Stefano Pessina.

但它是由亿万富翁斯特凡诺·佩西纳领导的。

Barely a few months earlier, in July 2006, he had merged⁸ the wholesaling⁹ business he had created, Alliance UniChem, with the venerable British name.

就在几个月前，也就是2006年7月，他将自己创建的批发公司单化联盟与这家备受尊敬的英国公司合并。

The result had been Alliance Boots, a Europe-wide pharmacy¹⁰ chain, of which he was a director.

结果就出现了欧洲连锁药店联合博姿，佩西纳担任公司董事。

Now he was buying the entire business, whipping it off the FTSE 100 and into private ownership.

现在，他买下了整个公司，将其从英国股市中剥离出来，转为私人所有。

1 prescriptions   

药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划

参考例句：

• The hospital of traditional Chinese medicine installed a computer to fill prescriptions. 中医医院装上了电子计算机来抓药。
• Her main job was filling the doctor's prescriptions. 她的主要工作就是给大夫开的药方配药。

2 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

3 pharmacies   

药店

参考例句：

• Still, 32 percent of the pharmacies filled the prescriptions. 但仍然有32%的药剂师配发了这两张药方。 来自互联网
• Chinese herbal pharmacies, and traditional massage therapists in the Vancouver telephone book. 中药店，和传统的按摩师在温哥华的电话簿里。 来自互联网

4 clots   

n.凝块( clot的名词复数 )；血块；蠢人；傻瓜v.凝固( clot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• When you cut yourself, blood clots and forms a scab. 你割破了，血会凝固、结痂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Milk clots when it turns sour. 奶变酸就凝块。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

6 frenzied   

a.激怒的；疯狂的

参考例句：

• Will this push him too far and lead to a frenzied attack? 这会不会逼他太甚，导致他进行疯狂的进攻？
• Two teenagers carried out a frenzied attack on a local shopkeeper. 两名十几岁的少年对当地的一个店主进行了疯狂的袭击。

7 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

8 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

9 wholesaling   

n.批发v.批发( wholesale的现在分词 )；趸售，大规模买卖；批发（的）；大规模（的）

参考例句：

• The first is the wholesaling and retailing enterprises present a U-shaped structure. 首先，北京的批发、零售企业呈现U形结构。 来自互联网
• For the foreign-funded commercial enterprises that undertake wholesaling business. 从事批发业务的外商投资商业企业。 来自互联网

10 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。