VOA慢速英语2016 威讯通信以50亿美元收购雅虎

AS IT IS 2016-07-26 Verizon Buys Yahoo for $5 Billion 威讯通信以50亿美元收购雅虎

This is What’s Trending Today.

这里是《正在发生》节目。

Many Americans are reacting to news that Verizon Communications will buy Yahoo, one of the first big internet companies.

很多美国人都对威讯通信收购雅虎这家最早的大型互联网公司之一做出了反应。

The deal is worth $4.8 billion.

这笔交易价值48亿美元。

Verizon is a telecommunications company in the United States. It provides wireless¹ service for cell phones and other mobile devices.

威讯通信是美国一家电信公司。该公司为手机和其他移动设备提供无线服务。

Yahoo opened in 1994. Back then, it offered a guide to websites on the internet. The company later graduated to email, web searches and news.

雅虎公司创办于1994年。当时，该公司提供网页导航服务。后来雅虎的业务范围就转向了电子邮件、网络搜索和新闻。

Yahoo made money by selling advertising² on its pages. In the late 1990s, the company may have been worth as much as $125 billion.

雅虎的盈利方式在页面上卖广告位。在20世纪90年代末期，该公司的估值可能已经达到了1250亿美元。

But its business has been struggling for a number of years. Some observers say Yahoo had trouble staying relevant as the internet developed. Google is now the most popular search engine in the U.S. Also, social networks like Facebook have changed the way people use the internet.

但是该公司已经连续多年经营困难。一些观察员称，随着互联网的不断发展，雅虎已经很难跟上节奏。谷歌现在是美国最流行的搜索引擎。而且像脸书网这样的社交网站已经改变了人们使用互联网的方式。

In 2008, Microsoft tried to buy Yahoo for $44 billion, but its offer was rejected.

2008年，微软曾试图以440亿美元的价格收购雅虎，结果因雅虎拒绝而宣告失败。

Many people were surprised how far the one-time internet giant fell.

很多人惊叹曾经风光无限的互联网巨头竟然沦落至此。

The business magazine Forbes called the agreement with Verizon “the saddest $5 billion deal in tech history.”

商业杂志《福布斯》称与威讯通信的协议是“科技史上最让人伤心的50亿美元合同”。

Critics noted³ how much money Yahoo’s chief Marissa Mayer made in her time with the company. She left her job with Google in hopes of reviving⁴ Yahoo in 2012. Mayer earned over $200 million in her four years. She is expected to stay with the company until Verizon takes over early next year.

有评论指出了雅虎CEO玛丽莎·梅耶尔在任期间的收入。她在2012年从谷歌离职，意图复兴雅虎。在任的四年里，梅耶尔的收入超过了2亿美元。她将一直留在雅虎，直到明年年初威讯通信接管公司为止。

One person compared her earnings⁵ to the total amount of a recent U.S. lottery⁶ jackpot.

有个人把她的收入比喻成近期美国所有乐透彩票头奖的总和。

Yahoo officials say they have no plans to sell the company’s shares in the Chinese online shopping company Alibaba. They are said to be worth about $40 billion.

雅虎管理人员称，他们没有出售持有中国电商阿里巴巴股份的计划。据称，这些股份大约价值400亿美元。

Words in This Story

graduate – v. to move from one level to another usually higher level

relevant – adj. relating to a subject in an appropriate way

revive⁷ – v. to make (someone or something) strong, healthy, or active again

jackpot – n. a usually large amount of money won in a game of chance

giant – n. someone or something that is very large or powerful

1 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

2 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 reviving   

v.恢复( revive的现在分词 )；苏醒；使再生效；回忆起

参考例句：

• There was a reviving pleasure in this intercourse. 交谈中，有一种令人振奋的乐趣。 来自辞典例句
• He had accused them of deliberately reviving militarism. 他曾指控他们蓄意复活军国主义。 来自辞典例句

5 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

6 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

7 revive   

v.（使）复苏，（使）重振活力，恢复生机，复兴

参考例句：

• These flowers will revive in water.这些花在水中会再活。
• They managed to revive the injured driver with cardiac massage.他们通过心脏按压使受伤的司机苏醒了过来。