双语阅读英语外刊精讲：金山(附音频)

2018-10-22 10:45:54来源：酷学英语

　　Money mountains金山

　　Is there any rational justification for tech firms' huge cash piles? 科技公司现金成堆，有合理的解释吗？

　　justification: N-VAR a good and acceptable reason for doing something正当的理由，可接受的理由

　　TAKE a moment to admire - and fear - the ascent of America's big-five tech firms. 我们来花一点时间，对美国五大科技公司的快速成长表示一下赞赏——还有担忧。

　　take a moment to admire - and fear - the ascent of AI / VR / bicycle sharing

　　ascent：[C usually singular,一般用单数] the act of climbing something or moving upwards上升，攀登

　　Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook have recently become the five most valuable listed companies in the world, in that order.

　　a listed company is one which offers its shares for sale on the stock exchange （公司）上市的

　　With a total market value of $2.9trn, they are worth more than any five firms in history.

　　Elevated tech valuations used to be a sign of hysteria. 科技公司估值高曾经是市场不理性的征兆

　　valuation：a professional judgment about how much something is worth〔专业的〕估价，估值

　　hysteria：extreme excitement that makes people cry, laugh, shout etc in a way that is out of control歇斯底里

　　Today's investors believe they are making an ice-cold judgment that these firms are the dominant oligopolies of the 21st century and will extract a vast, rising, flow of profits.

　　oligopoly：the control of all or most of a business activity by very few companies, so that other organizations cannot easily compete with them 寡头垄断

　　There is one gnawing doubt, however: the formidable five's cash-rich balance-sheets, which are built as if they expect a crisis, not to dominate the world.

　　gnawing：worrying or painful, especially for a long time折磨人的，令人痛苦的，揪心的（gnaw咬；折磨）

　　formidable：very powerful or impressive, and often frightening令人敬畏的；可怕的

　　balance-sheet：a statement of how much money a business has earned and how much money it has paid for goods and services 资产负债表，决算表〔显示收支总差额的报告表〕

　　It is easy to see why investors are keen.

　　Billions of users are tied into these firms' social-media networks, digital assistants, operating systems and cloud-computing platforms. 全球数十亿用户都与这些公司的社交媒体网络、数字助理、操作系统以及云计算平台捆绑在一起。

　　The five firms are squeezing traditional competitors such as IBM and Macy's.

　　squeeze：to press something firmly together with your fingers or hand压；挤；捏；榨

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