2021年经济学人 商业巨头通用电气一分为三

The world this week -- Business

本周国际要闻——商业

After years of complaints from investors¹ that its sprawling² empire of businesses was hindering profits, General Electric decided³ to split into three, independently run companies.

多年来，投资者一直抱怨其庞大的商业帝国阻碍盈利，通用电气决定将其拆分为三家独立运营的公司。

Its health-care assets will be spun⁴ off in 2023; energy and power will be rolled into one and spun off in 2024; and aviation is to remain the sole focus of today’s GE.

其医疗保健资产将于2023年剥离；能源和电力将合二为一，并于2024年剥离；航空将留下成为如今的通用电气唯一的业务重点。

The conglomerate⁵ has been shedding businesses for over a decade.

十多年来，该集团一直在剥离业务。

The decision to split heralds⁶ the end of arguably the world’s best-known conglomerate, a titan of American business throughout the 20th century.

拆分的决定预示着这家可以说是世界上最著名的企业集团的终结，它是整个20世纪美国商界的巨人。

Rivian, a maker⁷ of electric vehicles backed by Amazon, had a successful stockmarket debut⁸ on the Nasdaq.

由亚马逊资助的电动汽车制造商Rivian在纳斯达克成功上市。

Its stock rose by 30% above the offer price, giving it a market capitalisation of over $100bn, more than either Ford⁹ or General Motors.

其股价比发行价上涨了30%，使其市值超过1000亿美元，超过福特和通用汽车。

The company raised around $12bn, making it the biggest IPO in America since Alibaba’s listing in 2014.

该公司融资约120亿美元，成为自2014年阿里巴巴上市以来美国规模最大的IPO。

At the opposite end of the motoring business, Hertz’s share price fell by 10% on its first day on the stockmarket since the company emerged from bankruptcy¹⁰.

而在汽车行业的另一端，赫兹的股价在其走出破产后上市的第一天就下跌了10%。

The European Union’s General Court, the lower tribunal of the Court of Justice, dismissed Google’s appeal against the 2.4bn euro ($2.8bn) fine that the European Commission imposed on the company in 2017 for anti-competitive practices that favoured its own comparison-shopping service.

欧盟普通法院是欧盟高等法院的下级法庭，它驳回了谷歌针对欧盟委员会在2017年对该公司处以24亿欧元（合28亿美元）罚款的上诉。欧盟委员会认为，谷歌的反竞争行为有利于其自身的比较购物服务。

In the one ray of light for Google, which is also appealing against two other blockbuster antitrust fines in Europe, the court said that general search is not included in its ruling.

谷歌还在对欧洲的另外两笔重磅反垄断罚款提起上诉，法院表示，普通搜索功能不包括在其裁决中，这对谷歌来说是一线曙光。

Rolls-Royce said it had received enough investment from private partners to start building small modular reactors¹¹, or small nuclear power stations, in Britain.

劳斯莱斯表示，它已经从私人合作伙伴那里获得了足够的投资，可以开始在英国建造小型模块化反应堆或小型核电站。

The government is contributing towards the project as part of its “green industrial revolution”.

作为其“绿色工业革命”的一部分，政府在为该项目作出贡献。

Britain’s economic growth rate slowed in the third quarter, to 1.3%.

英国经济增长率在第三季度放缓至1.3%。

As in other countries, supply-chain problems are hindering the recovery.

与其他国家一样，供应链问题正在阻碍经济复苏。

GDP is still 2.1% smaller than in the final three months of 2019.

GDP仍比2019年最后三个月低2.1%。

Oil prices climbed higher, with Brent crude once again over $85 a barrel.

油价攀升，布伦特原油价格再次突破每桶85美元。

In America the price of petrol at the pump hit an average seven-year high of $3.41 a gallon.

在美国，加油站的汽油价格达到了每加仑3.41美元的七年平均高点。

California remains¹² the most expensive state in which to fill your car, with petrol averaging $4.64 a gallon, according to the American Automobile¹³ Association.

根据美国汽车协会的数据，加州仍是汽油价格最高的州，汽油平均价格为每加仑4.64美元。

The price of fuel is a big factor behind America’s surging inflation.

燃料价格是美国通胀飙升背后的一个重要因素。

The annual rise in the government’s consumer-price index leapt to 6.2% in October, up from 5.4% in September, the largest jump since late 1990.

政府消费者价格指数的年增长率从9月份的5.4%跃升至10月份的6.2%，这是自1990年末以来的最大涨幅。

Stubborn inflation is putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to bring forward an interest-rate rise.

居高不下的通货膨胀给美联储带来了提前加息的压力。

1 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

2 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

5 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。

6 heralds   

n.使者( herald的名词复数 )；预报者；预兆；传令官v.预示( herald的第三人称单数 )；宣布（好或重要）

参考例句：

• The song of birds heralds the approach of spring. 百鸟齐鸣报春到。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The wind sweeping through the tower heralds a rising storm in the mountain. 山雨欲来风满楼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

8 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

9 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

10 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

11 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。