精讀金融時報:中國反壟斷令美不安
滬江小編:對于商界精英們來說,閱讀《金融時報》(Financial Times)幾乎成了每天的必修課。FT文章以分析為主,邏輯嚴密,經常被各類考試用作考題。非常適合學習BEC、TOEIC、GRE、GMAT的考生來閱讀、練習。滬江小編精選FT上的雙語文章,配上獨家的學習指南,從詞匯、短語、句式、文化、翻譯等多方面來解讀,長期堅持,相信會對英語學習有所幫助。
原文閱讀:美國對中國反壟斷執(zhí)法不安
US regulators and businesses have spoken out against an antitrust enforcement pushed by Chinese authorities as the issue emerges as a potential new friction point in relations between the world’s two largest economies.
Foreign investors in China are increasingly concerned that they are being targeted in official investigations of pricing practices, such as one aimed at baby formula manufacturers earlier this year.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Ms Ohlhausen said there needed to be greater transparency over China’s decisions. “If the Chinese make a decision to impose a remedy or block a deal it can be hard for outsiders to know what was the main motivating factor in that,” she said.
Chinese companies and officials have also questioned whether their investments in the US are welcome. US lawmakers used a congressional hearing to raise concerns about Shuanghui’s proposed $4.7bn purchase of Smithfield pork, the largest Chinese takeover of a US company, which is still in the balance.
學習指南:
1.Word of the day
antitrust:?preventing companies or groups of companies from controlling prices unfairly?反托拉斯的;反壟斷的
小編注:托拉斯(Trust)直譯為“商業(yè)信托”,是指在一個行業(yè)(商品領域)中,通過生產企業(yè)間的收購、合并以及托管等等形式,由一家公司兼并、包容、控股大量同行業(yè)企業(yè)來達到企業(yè)一體化目的的壟斷形式。通過這種形式,托拉斯企業(yè)可以對該行業(yè)市場實現(xiàn)壟斷,并且通過制定企業(yè)內部統(tǒng)一價格等等手段來使企業(yè)在市場中居于主導地位,實現(xiàn)利潤的最大化。
2.Phrase of the day
motivating factor?:?激發(fā)因素
e.g:The UN's troubled Kyoto treaty on climate change may also be a motivating factor.
例句:讓聯(lián)合國苦惱不已的京都氣候變化條約也有可能會成為激發(fā)因素之一。
3.Sentence of the day
US officials have generally been reluctant to confront China over antitrust rules, despite being sympathetic to complaints that deals were being unfairly blocked or approved with tough conditions.?
美國官員通常不愿在反壟斷裁決上與中國對抗,盡管他們對不公平地被阻止或以苛刻條件獲得批準的交易的投訴持同情態(tài)度。
小編注:sympathetic和compassionate都有“同情”之意,但在表達“同情”的含義時,compassionate主要表示同情心,而sympathetic則多用作表示理解,贊成。
4.Cultural point of the day
為什么嬰兒奶粉叫baby formula:本文第一段中出現(xiàn)了baby formula這個詞,不常看英語新聞的讀者可能會誤解,formula這個單詞我們都很熟悉,解釋為“方程、公式”,但很多人都不知道它還有一種含義,就是特指a special nutritive mixture, esp. of milk, sugar, and water, in prescribed proportions for feeding a baby(為嬰幼兒配制的特殊營養(yǎng)物質)。
5.Translation of the day
Foreign investors in China are increasingly concerned that they are being targeted in official investigations of pricing practices.
在華外國投資者越來越擔心,他們會像今年早些時候的嬰兒配方奶粉生產商一樣,成為官方對定價行為的調查目標。
小編注:或許是因為和中文的結構相似,很多人寫作的時候喜歡用“more and more……”這個詞來表示“越來越……”的意思,但如果你能用“increasingly”來代替這個看起來相當口語化的詞,相信你的文章會顯得更專業(yè)。