2022年经济学人 马斯克对推特进行大整顿

The world this week--Business

本周国际要闻--商业

After months of prevarication¹ and legal limbo², Elon Musk³ completed his takeover of Twitter and promptly⁴ ousted⁵ the chief executive, the chief financial officer, the head of policy and the entire board of directors.

经过数月的搪塞推诿和法律上的模棱两可，埃隆·马斯克完成了对推特的收购，并迅速撤除了首席执行官、首席财务官、政策主管和整个董事会成员的职务。

Mr Musk had taken issue with senior management, blaming them for misleading him over the number of fake accounts on the platform.

马斯克曾与高级管理层发生争论，指责他们在平台虚假账户的数量上误导了他。

As interim⁶ CEO he plans big changes, such as to the “current lords and peasants system” for verifying blue-tick marks.

作为临时首席执行官，他计划进行重大改革，比如，对现在为认证“蓝V”标识而实施的“地主和农民制度”进行改革。

Marking a sharp deviation⁷ from the company’s platitude⁸ of enabling “healthy conversation”, Mr Musk tweeted: “Twitter speaks to the inner masochist in all of us.”

马斯克在推特上写道:“推特会与我们所有人内心中的那个受虐狂对话。”这与该公司实现“健康对话”的陈词滥调大相径庭。

Meta’s share price was battered⁹ for several days after the company revealed another big loss at the division developing the “metaverse” and warned of further losses to come.

Meta公司的股价在几天内受到重创，此前该公司披露，开发“元宇宙”的部门再次出现巨额亏损，并警告称，未来还将出现进一步亏损。

With its share price now down by 75% since the start of the year, some big investors¹⁰ are reportedly furious at Meta’s emphasis on building worlds of virtual reality, but, as Mark Zuckerberg has majority control, there is little they can do.

据报道，自今年年初以来，Meta公司的股价下跌了75%，一些大的投资者对该公司以构建虚拟现实世界为重点感到愤怒，但由于马克·扎克伯格拥有多数控制权，他们几乎无能为力。

Another casualty of the rout¹¹ in tech stocks, Amazon, saw its market capitalisation fall below $1trn for the first time since 2020 after it issued a disappointing sales forecast.

亚马逊(科技股暴跌的另一个受害者)发布了令人失望的销售预测报告，市值自2020年以来首次跌破1万亿美元。

The company’s share price is back to where it was around the start of the pandemic.

该公司的股价回到了疫情开始时的水平。

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point for the fourth consecutive¹² time, taking it to a range of between 3.75% and 4%.

美国联邦储备委员会连续第四次将基准利率上调0.75个百分点，至3.75%至4%的区间。

Markets looked for signals from the central bank about when it might ease the pace of increases.

市场在寻找美国央行何时可能放缓加息步伐的信号。

Jerome Powell, the Fed’s chairman, hinted that the next rate rise may not be so large, but warned that the “ultimate level of interest rates will be higher than expected”.

美联储主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔暗示，下一次加息幅度可能不会那么大，不过，他警告称，“最终利率水平将高于预期”。

Stockmarkets swooned.

股市应声暴跌。

Annual inflation in the euro zone hit another record in October, of 10.7%.

欧元区10月份的年通胀率再创新高，达到10.7%。

In Germany consumer prices were up by 11.6%, year on year.

在德国，消费者价格同比上涨11.6%。

Although the country unexpectedly avoided an economic contraction¹³ in the second quarter (GDP rose by 0.3% on the previous quarter) its economy is expected to shrink in the final three months of 2022.

尽管该国在第二季度意外地避免了经济萎缩(国内生产总值比上一季度增长0.3%)，但预计其经济将在2022年最后三个月出现萎缩。

The European Central Bank recently raised its key interest rate by another three-quarters of a percentage point, to 1.5%, but it softened¹⁴ its guidance on further increases, a nod to concerns over the economic impact of the fast pace of tightening¹⁵.

欧洲央行最近将基准利率再上调0.75个百分点，至1.5%，但该行削弱了对进一步加息的指导，承认了对快速收紧政策对经济影响的担忧。

1 prevarication   

n.支吾；搪塞；说谎；有枝有叶

参考例句：

• The longer negotiations drag on, the greater the risk of permanent prevarication. 谈判拖延的时间越久，长期推诿责任的可能性就越大。 来自互联网
• The result can be a lot of needless prevarication. 结果就是带来一堆的借口。 来自互联网

2 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

3 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

4 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

5 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

6 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

7 deviation   

n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题

参考例句：

• Deviation from this rule are very rare.很少有违反这条规则的。
• Any deviation from the party's faith is seen as betrayal.任何对党的信仰的偏离被视作背叛。

8 platitude   

n.老生常谈，陈词滥调

参考例句：

• The talk is no more than a platitude. 这番话无非是老生常谈。
• His speech is full of platitude. 他的讲话充满了陈词滥调。

9 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

10 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

11 rout   

n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮

参考例句：

• The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
• The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。

12 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

13 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。

14 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

15 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。