ECONOMICS REPORT - Google Goes Public

ECONOMICS¹ REPORT - Google Goes Public
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, May 14, 2004

This is Bob Doughty² with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Google is a powerful tool for users⁴ of the electronic communications system called the Internet. Computer users connecting to the Internet can use Google to search for any word, name or idea. Google finds electronic documents, or web pages, with news, information -- almost anything. More than eighty-million people use the Google Web page each month.

Two young men, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, started Google in nineteen-ninety-eight. At the time, they were students at Stanford University in California. They created a search engine, a way to look for words on the Internet. The technology they developed chooses Web pages with the links closest to the word or words the user³ is searching for.

Google was not the first Internet search engine. But people found it easy to use. Today, Google performs two-hundred-million searches everyday. It can search more than four-thousand-million web pages at one time. Yet each search takes less than one second. Google has even become an action word: to "google" means to search for information on the Internet.

The search service that Google offers is free. But Google also provides links to Web pages of companies that sell goods and services. Companies pay Google every time someone uses it to connect with their web page. The amount a company pays depends on its size.

Google's business has grown very quickly. The company made almost one-thousand-million dollars in two-thousand-three. Its profit was more than one-hundred-million dollars.

Late last month, Google announced that it wanted to become a public company. This means that Google will sell its ownership⁵ shares to the public. The company hopes to raise about two-thousand-seven-hundred-million dollars this way. But it has not said how many shares it would sell. It also has not set a price for the shares or the date when they will be sold.

Some business experts have criticized⁶ Google for not releasing⁷ enough information about the company before the sale. But there is no question that investors⁸ are interested in the company's shares.

The people who may gain the most from the sale are Mister⁹ Brin and Mister Page. Each man owns fifteen-percent of the company. After the sale, they could both be worth several thousand million dollars.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. This is Bob Doughty.

1 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

2 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

3 user   

n.用户，使用者

参考例句：

• The company is the biggest user of oil.该公司是最大的石油用户。
• The umbrella keeps the rains off the user.雨伞使撑伞人免受雨淋。

4 users   

用户，使用者( user的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new software will prove a boon to Internet users. 这种新软件将会对互联网用户大有益处。
• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。

5 ownership   

n.所有(权)，所有制

参考例句：

• The house is under new ownership.那栋房子已易新主。
• He claimed ownership of the house.他声称那幢房子归他所有。

6 criticized   

vt.批评(criticize的过去式)v.评论，批评( criticize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The decision was criticized by environmental groups. 这个决定受到了环保团体的批评。
• The movie has been criticized for apparently legitimizing violence. 这部电影因明显地美化暴力而受到了指责。

7 releasing   

v.释放( release的现在分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• Releasing his arm, she laid her hand upon his shoulder. 她放掉他的胳膊，却把手放到了他的肩上。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• The drag operation is still terminated by releasing the mouse button. 释放鼠标按键时，拖动操作将立即终止。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

8 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

9 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。