2019-01-17 [日更系列之"外刊“]

Sour taste: Apple

The Economist Jan 4th 2019

Photo: Getty Images

Apple’s profit warning will continue to preoccupy markets. The technology giant’s announcement that it was revising down its earnings expectations in the fourth quarter of 2018, largely because of lower iPhone sales and signs of economic weakness in China, has already hit it hard: Apple’s share price fell by 10% when the market opened on January 3rd. Investors will be asking two questions. The first is the extent of the economic slowdown in China. Tim Cook, Apple’s boss, blamed “deceleration” there for most of the firm’s revenue miss and pointed the finger at escalating trade tensions between America and China. The second is slowing consumer demand for smartphones. Mr Cook also mentioned weaker-than-expected iPhone upgrades, the result of longer battery lives and dearer prices. If you had to pick two forces propelling the world economy over the past decade, you would probably choose China and phones. Apple’s travails grab attention for good reason.

Paragraph Structure

Bold words & phrases are what we actually need to read to understand.

• Apple’s profit warning will continue to preoccupy markets.
• The technology giant’s announcement /*that it was revising down its earnings expectations in the fourth quarter of 2018,( largely because of lower iPhone sales and signs of economic weakness in China), */has already hit it hard: [Apple’s share price fell by 10% when the market opened on January 3rd. ]

• Investors will be asking two questions.
  The first is the extent of the economic slowdown in China. Tim Cook, Apple’s boss, /blamed “deceleration” there for most of the firm’s revenue miss /and pointed the finger at escalating trade tensions between America and China.

• The second is slowing consumer demand for smartphones. Mr Cook also mentioned weaker-than-expected iPhone upgrades, the result of longer battery lives and dearer prices.

• If you had to pick two forces propelling the world economy over the past decade, you would probably choose China and phones. Apple’s travails grab attention for good reason.

Words & Sentences

负向

1. Preoccupy {markets}: dominate or engross the mind of (someone) to the exclusion of other thoughts.

• Crime and the fear of crime preoccupy {the community}.
  犯罪和对犯罪的恐惧一直困扰着这个社区。
• 担心、担忧. She looked very preoccupied. 她看起来心事重重。

2. Revise down {its earnings expectations}: If you revise a price, amount, or estimate, you change it to make it more fair, realistic, or accurate.

3. Hit sb. hard: If something hits a person, place, or thing, it affects them very badly.

• The plan to charge motorists £75 a year to use the motorway is going to hit me hard.
  向汽车驾驶员每年收取75英镑高速公路使用费的计划将对我大为不利。

3. Blamed A for B / point the finger at A: 将怀疑(或指责)的矛头指(向…)
4. Escalating {trade tensions} between:（使）恶化;（使）升级

• increasing rapidly. "the escalating {cost} of healthcare"
• becoming more intense or serious. "the authorities grew anxious about the escalating {situation}"

正向

5. Propel {the world economy}: drive, push, or cause to move in a particular direction, typically forward.

• It was a shooting star that propelled me into astronomy in the first place.
  最初是一颗流星促使我从事天文学。

6. Grab attention
7. For good reason: 有充分的理由Because something has already been proven to be true or justified.

Tips

1. 汉语里的变化性动词翻译成英文里的形容词比较级

• lower iPhone sales “苹果销售量下滑”；
• “中国经济增速放缓” slower / weaker economic growth"

2. 在“动词+介词”构成的短语中，可根据介词来推断它的感情色彩和方向。

• Revise down its earnings expectations
  下调
• He has tried to play down his involvement in the affair.
  他极力淡化与该事的瓜葛.