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The New York Times《纽约时报》商业新闻精读-0

The New York Times《纽约时报》商业新闻精读-0

作者: 04d04bf4460e | 来源:发表于2018-06-28 14:16 被阅读0次

    精读无疑是提升英语能力的有效方式,但是完成一篇精读需要花费大量时间,不如让我们一起先来浏览一下经典外刊里的最新文章报道,专注最有效的内容,提炼出重点难点,快速掌握适用于日常的短语和句子吧。

    本期精读来自于The New York Times(2018.6.7)的Business Day版块的5篇文章。

    1.Microsoft Buys GitHub for $7.5 Billion, Moving to Grow in Coding's New Era

    (1) The more programmers on a company's platform, the more software applications are created, attracting customers and still more developers - a flywheel of growth and profit.
    这句话前半部分并不难,重点要说的是a flywheel of growth and profit

    flywheel (n.) 飞轮、调速轮
    英文释义:A flywheel is a heavy wheel that is part of some engines. It regulates the engine's rotation, making it operate at a steady speed。

    从中我们可以看出,flywheel有几个特点:自身有分量、是某一体系组成部分、匀速循环运转。

    这一句在形容平台发展和利益增长时用了flywheel一词,呼应前半句提到GitHub上“开发者越来越多”,就会“开发出更多软件”,吸引“更多消费者”,再反来吸引“更多开发人员”。这个过程像飞轮一样,以一个良性的速度不断运转,所以GitHub不断壮大。

    (2) It has been a champion of the open-source software movement, with its ethos of freely sharing code in public.
    这一句讲了GitHub的核心价值,或理念,用的词是“ethos”。Ethos也同样出现在很多公司的价值定位和理念陈述上。

    (3)The $7.5 billion purchase, an all-stock deal, is the second-largest acquisition Microsoft has made since Mr. Nadella became chief executive in early 2014.
    翻译:微软以75亿美元的价格全股价收购GitHub,这是微软首席执行官纳德拉自2014年上任以来,微软的第二大收购。

    an all-stock deal是商业并购里面常见的词,同all-cash相对应,指收购的形式为股份交换。
    英文释义:The terms “all-stock deal” and “all-paper deal” are often used in reference to mergers and acquisitions. In this type of acquisition, shareholders of the target company receive shares in the acquiring company as payment, rather than cash.

    2.Schultz 2020? Other C.E.Os Will Be Watching Closely

    (1) Last year, Mir. Zuckerberg crisscrossed the United States in what looked very much like a listening tour in advance of a political campaign.

    crisscross (v.) 多次往返,来回奔波

    in what后面接从句,进一步描述扎克伯格在美国各地穿梭,看起来就像是为参加政治选举做的“倾听之旅”。

    Listening tour (n.) 英文释义:a structured allocation of time to question a carefully selected group of people with the belief that hearing their answers will provide critical clarity on the right decision to make。

    可以看到这个listening是有明确目的的,一般是级别高对象对级别低对象的倾听,在美国政治、商业中经常出现。

    (2) Although no chief executive has thus far undertaken a formal bid for the White House, and Mr. Trump's victory may well prove an historical anomaly, many have been pegged as potential candidates, including Oprah Winfrey; Bob Iger, the chief executive of Disney; and Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

    这一句看起来比较长,可以先做一下拆分,结构并不复杂,基本是平铺直叙:“虽然……,并且……,但是……,包括……和……。”

    值得留意的短语有:

    undertake a formal bid for:这里bid又是一个小词,有很多含义,比较常见的是“投标”。但其实更常用的含义是“尝试、争取”(an attempt or effort to win, achieve, or attract),这个含义某种程度上同“投标”是一个意思,都是在结果未知的情况下,进行某种尝试。搭配的动词是undertake,当然make也可以。

    小插曲:这里有个形容川普当选的词“historical anomaly”,纵观浩瀚历史,都是反常事件,可谓“历史罕见”,不经意间又吐槽了川普。

    (3) American companies - including Starbucks - have become more political in recent years, wading into issues like immigration, gun rights and climate policy. …… Mr. Schultz is not alone in having deep pockets, of course.

    wade into 进入、介入
    wade (v.) to set to work with determination or vigor 带有决心或充满活力地开始某项工作

    Deep pocket (n.)雄厚的财力,也就是我们俗称的“土豪”。这个词其实也很好记,是用了比较形象的描述,摸摸自己的口袋,多半能猜到“很深”的口袋里肯定装了不少货。以后形容谁很富有,不用再rich来rich去啦,可以说You have deep pockets。

    (4) In recent year, other prominent business leaders havefallen short in their efforts to reach the White House. …… And Mr. Bloomber, who built a successful company and was a popular mayor of New York City, deliberated for years, yet he never mounted a presidential campaign.

    fall short (v.) ……没有达到目标/要求
    deliberate (v.)仔细思考、商讨
    mount (v.)比较常见的是“登上、爬上”,跟mountain同词源。参加选举自然不是常人干的事儿,这里用mount暗示,即使是美国的商界权贵,苦心经营多年,也从来没能进入总统选举。

    3.Apple Shuns the Tech Industry's Apology Tour

    (1) Though Apple acknowledged the darker side of society's obsession with the digital world, it didn't go anywhere near the idea that its own technology might bear any of the blame.

    后半句看起来有点绕,“it didn't go anywhere near”其实是双重否定,“没有走得很近”也就是“很远”,结合上下文,应该是说“虽然苹果承认整个社会对网络世界的沉迷是件坏事,但是它一点也没有认为苹果自己的技术有任何被责怪的地方。”

    所以看到个句子很蹩脚,不要急,分析各个词,然后根据上下文联想一下,意思自然就出来了。不过这种用法我们自己应该很少会主动用到,可以积累下来。

    (2) Apple's support for what's being called "digital well-being" often awkwardly butted up against Apple's larger goal: to make the digital world so awesome, you can't resist it.

    本句的难点挺有迷惑性的,“butt up against”可以理解为“违背”。
    butt (v.)本意是“顶、撞”的意思(乍一看很像but哦)

    翻译:“令人尴尬的是,苹果公司的远大目标是:创造一个人们无法抗拒的非凡的数字世界,而它所支持的‘数字健康’却经常同这一目标背道而驰。”

    (3) Apple argues that it has always been one of the more high-minded of the big tech companies, so it shouldn't be lumped in with outfits like Facebook.
    又是一句跟我们的汉语习惯差异很大的句子结构。

    “the more high-minded”用了“the+形容词”的结构,是指品德高尚的(站在道德的制高点上)

    lump in:(有时错误地) 把…归并在一起 、混为一谈
    英文释义:to put two or more different people or things together and consider them as a single group, sometimes wrongly

    用这两个词,苹果就把自己拎了出来,略清高又不苛刻,咱们也可以学起来。
    I am one of the more high-minded, so don't lump me in with XXX.

    4.Apple's WWDC 2018 Live: Apple Still Wants to Be Different

    (1) Apple took another swing at its rivals Google and Facebook with tools that sharply diminish their ability to track users as they surf across the web.

    “take a swing at” 击打
    “track users” 跟踪用户行为
    “surf across the web”没错!就是上世纪常说的“网上冲浪”

    (2) For iOS 12, we are doubling down on performance.……In the following year, iOS 14 will focus on improving those features. Rinse and repeat.

    double down又是两个单词分开我们都懂,组合在一起就有无穷含义了,我们先来看两个英文解释(来自Merriam-Webster)

    1. to double the original bid in blackjack in exchange for only one more card 扑克二十一点中的“双倍下注”
    2. to become more tenacious, zealous, or resolute in a position or undertaking 可以引申为“孤注一掷”

    rinse and repeat:重复此步骤。同“repeat”含义一致,更多用于用法说明、指示指导等情境。

    看来苹果新系统更新的主要策略将是提升系统性能了。

    5.Volkswagen Vows to End Experiments on Animals

    (1) Volkswagen continues to cope with the fallout from a cheating scandal that, among other things, involved its role in financing research into the health effects of diesel emissions on monkeys.

    一句话概括本文:大众集团陷入了一场欺诈丑闻,被指为一项在猴子身上测试“柴油排放对健康的影响”的研究提供资金支持。

    (2) Volkswagen has pleaded guilty in the United States to charges related to the scheme.Volkswagen has pleaded guilty in the United States to charges related to the scheme.

    plead guilty 承认有罪

    (3) It is part of a push by Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car manufacturer, to cope with the toll of a scheme that has resulted in tens of billions of dollars in settlements and fines, the dismissal of successive chief executives and the arrest and imprisonment of top company officials.

    push本意我们都熟悉,是“推”,这里暗含“被迫的改变/行为”
    toll严重的不良影响,cope with the toll of the scheme处理这一丑闻带来的不良影响,包括:
    · settlements and fines 赔偿和罚金
    · dismissal 解雇
    · arrest and imprisonment 逮捕入狱

    (4) Volkswagen explicitly distances itself from all forms of animal abuse. In the future, we will rule out all testing on animals, as long as there are no pressing - such as legal - reasons that would make this necessary.

    未来,大众集团承诺如何应对呢:
    distances itself from …… 直译“远离”,可引申为“不参与任何形式的虐待动物的行为”
    rule out: “停止、阻止”

    (5) Research projects and studies must always be balanced with consideration of ethical and moral questions.
    翻译:研究项目必须平衡伦理和到的问题。

    be balanced with:平衡

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