20180818上
Google 又被開罰單了。
2017年,歐盟委員會對谷歌罰款 24.2 億歐元(約合27億美元),這一制裁是基于對谷歌網(wǎng)絡購物問題長達七年的調(diào)查結果。【歐盟認為,作為全球規(guī)模最大的搜索引擎,谷歌濫用其主導優(yōu)勢排擠小型競爭對手,不正當?shù)匕芽蛻粢蚬雀枳约旱馁徫锓铡?】
歐盟委員會是歐盟的常設機構
時隔一年,相同的劇情仿佛是再度上演。歐盟委員會于7月18日宣布,谷歌因安卓系統(tǒng)問題被罰款43.4億歐元(合約50.6億美元),原因是該公司【“用不正當手段,鞏固在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)搜尋領域的主導地位”?!抗雀韫倦S后在聲明中表示,將對歐盟罰款提起上訴。
歐盟素有【“科技圈警察”】之稱,除了谷歌,包括蘋果、微軟、高通、英特爾在內(nèi)的多家科技巨頭都收到過歐盟的罰單。公開數(shù)據(jù)顯示,2013年至今,歐盟已經(jīng)因為反壟斷法向多家企業(yè)罰款共計128.12億歐元。谷歌、微軟、高通與英特爾無一例外都對歐盟提起上訴,但截至目前,【還沒有一家公司上訴成功?!咳藗兏訐牡氖?,歐盟給谷歌開出的兩筆天價罰單可能會成為其他國家仿效的范例,【引發(fā)更多的反壟斷調(diào)查或訴訟。 】
Fine time again: Europe v Google
又到了罰款時間
① Most observers will 【focus on 】【the size of the fine】 when the European Commission today【 hands down its ruling in 】another 【Google antitrust反壟斷,反托拉斯 case.】
Its an important issue
強調(diào)Its an issue of importance
monopoly /m??n?p?li/: n. 壟斷
fine /f??n/: n. 罰款
European Commission: 歐盟委員會
hand down: 正式宣判/宣布/頒布
· hand in: 提交;上交
ruling /?ru?l??/: n. 判決;裁定
antitrust /ant??tr?st/: adj. 反壟斷的;反托拉斯的
?· trust /tr?st/: n. 托拉斯,
小龍蝦全部收購店面,農(nóng)民,啤酒商,壟斷最高形式
?· cartel /kɑ??t?l/: n. 卡特爾,石油輸出國組織Opec,這樣限定額定價保護利益
?· syndicate /?s?nd?k?t/: n. 辛迪加
小龍蝦一條街
特殊生產(chǎn)行業(yè)對于原材料和售賣價格的控制,反對自由市場
1. trust /tr?st/: n. 托拉斯
托拉斯是壟斷組織的高級形式之一,由許多生產(chǎn)同類商品的企業(yè)或產(chǎn)品有密切關系的企業(yè)合并組成,旨在壟斷銷售市場、爭奪原料產(chǎn)地和投資范圍,加強競爭力量,以獲取高額壟斷利潤。
A trust or corporate trust is a large grouping of business interests with significant market power, which may be embodied as a corporation or as a group of corporations that cooperate with one another in various ways.
2. cartel /kɑ??t?l/: n. 卡特爾
卡特爾是壟斷組織形式之一,生產(chǎn)或銷售某一同類商品的企業(yè),為壟斷市場,獲取高額利潤,通過在商品價格、產(chǎn)量和銷售等方面訂立協(xié)定而形成的同盟。
A cartel is a group of apparently independent producers whose goal is to increase their collective profits by means of price fixing, limiting supply, or other restrictive practices.
3. syndicate /?s?nd?k?t/: n. 辛迪加
辛迪加原指企業(yè)中的工會,是資本主義壟斷組織的主要形式之一,是指同一生產(chǎn)部門的少數(shù)大企業(yè)通過簽訂統(tǒng)一銷售商品和采購原料的協(xié)定而建立的組織。
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest.
② This time, the company 【stands accused of 】improperly 【protecting its dominance in】 internet search by, among other things, forcing 【smartphone-makers 】to install all of its mobile apps.
stand/be accused of: 因為……被指控
搶占互聯(lián)網(wǎng)入口
③ The penalty will probably exceed the €2.4bn ($2.8bn)【 Brussels levied against Google】 a year ago, for 【abuse of dominance in another part of the search market】, since【 this case is considered bigger.】
penalty /?p?n(?)lti/: n. 罰款;懲罰;罰球
· death penalty: 死刑
levy /?l?vi/: vt. 征收;征稅
· levy/impose a tax on sb./sth.: 對……征稅
abuse /??bju?z/: n. 濫用
· drug abuse: 藥物濫用
④ 【The legal limit 】is 10% of the firm's 【global revenues】: almost €10bn.
?⑤ But 【more important than the amount will be 】【what remedies Google is forced to implement.】
倒裝核心目的是把想強調(diào)的放在前面
?more important than A is B
⑥ Will it just be told to stop the 【offending conduct?】違法行為
offending /??f?nd??/: adj. 違法的;冒犯的,令人不悅的
versus /?v??s?s/: prep. 以……為對手,對……;(訴訟案中) 訴
· 可縮寫為:v / v. / vs.
observer /?b?z??v?/: n. 觀察家;觀察者
dominance /?d?m?n?ns/: n. 統(tǒng)治/控制地位;影響力
?among other things: 包括但不限于
app / application /ap, apl??ke??(?)n/: n. 應用軟件
Netscape /?netske?p/: n. 網(wǎng)景 (公司)
remedy /?r?m?di/: n. 補救方案;治療方案
implement /??mpl?ment/: vt. 實施
stymie /?st??mi/: vt. 阻礙 (block)
default /d??f??lt/: n. 默認值;債務違約
· default setting: 默認設置
⑦ Or will it also have to take action to 【restore the competition】恢復競爭市場秩序 it has【 stymied】, such as allowing consumers to choose 【which apps they want to be the default默認 】when turning on a new device?
European Union歐盟
European Commission歐盟委員會
壟斷對于企業(yè)自己也是一種進步的阻礙
?流利閱讀
你用過“釘釘”么?被公司要求使用釘釘?shù)母惺苁侨绾蔚哪??這款阿里巴巴旗下的移動辦公社交平臺在彎道超車微信、為許多企事業(yè)單位提供了方便的辦公溝通工具之余,卻遭遇了無數(shù)白領的吐槽和記恨。打著“工作的歸工作,生活的歸自我”這一宣傳口號的釘釘,究竟是保護了還是侵犯了白領們的個人自由時間?今天我們就來看一看路透社的這篇報道。
Ding! Alibaba office app【 fuels backlash 】among some Chinese workers
叮!阿里巴巴旗下的辦公軟件在中國白領中遭到抵制
to fuel speculation/rumors/fears
backlash against sth./from sb.
①In the 【cramped 】former home of Jack Ma, 【founder of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba】, about thirty young engineers 【sit elbow-to-elbow,】 working to attract the next million users for 【DingTalk,】 Alibaba’s【 workplace communication software.】
在中國電子商務巨頭阿里巴巴的創(chuàng)始人馬云曾居住的狹窄房間,大約三十名年輕的工程師緊挨著彼此,正努力為阿里巴巴旗下的辦公溝通軟件釘釘再多招攬一百萬用戶。
shoulder to shoulder
The refugees were packed shoulder to shoulder on the boat.
②Since December 2014, DingTalk 【has grown exponentially】 to become the world’s largest chat service designed for companies.
exponentially/?eksp??nen??li/
adv. 指數(shù)地;(增長)越來越快地(exponent n.)
自 2014 年 12 月以來,釘釘?shù)挠脩粢?guī)模以指數(shù)級增長,成為了世界上最大的面向企業(yè)而設計的聊天服務。
③【But its rapid rise—propelled by】 a promise to boost productivity through better【 monitoring of employee movements】 and faster responses to important messages—【has sparked a backlash from】 Chinese workers who say the app【 fuels an unhealthy work culture.】
a rocket propelled through space
Fury propelled her into action.
其提升生產(chǎn)力的承諾推動了該應用的發(fā)展,而生產(chǎn)力的提升則來自于對員工行動更好的監(jiān)控,以及對重要信息的快速回應。然而,釘釘?shù)目焖侔l(fā)展卻引發(fā)了中國員工們對它的抵制,認為它助長了不健康的辦公文化。
④Like WhatsApp, DingTalk lets senders see if 【recipients 接收人】have read messages, but it also has a “ding” feature that can 【bombard recipients with repeat notifications】, 【text messages】 and 【phone-call reminders.】
bombard
v. 連續(xù)轟炸;不停地提出問題(或批評、咨詢)
We have been bombarded with complaints.
和 WhatsApp 一樣,釘釘讓消息發(fā)送者可以看見接收者是否已經(jīng)閱讀消息,但是它還有一個“叮一下”的功能。這個功能會用重復的手機消息推送、短信以及電話提醒來轟炸接收者。
⑤As DingTalk has grown, many Chinese office workers have【 vented their frustrations online about】 the service, saying it is 【inhumane and destroys trust.】 On 【Zhihu.com, a question-and-answer website, 】a 【thread 】entitled “how does it feel like to be forced to use DingTalk at work”【 has more than a thousand posts】 and 【has been viewed over】 7.7 million times.
vent anger on sb.
thread/θred/
【n. 線;(網(wǎng)絡社區(qū)上的)帖子】
a thread of water/light
隨著釘釘?shù)某砷L,許多中國白領員工開始在線上發(fā)泄他們對于這一服務的不滿,稱其并不人道,而且會摧毀信任。在問答網(wǎng)站知乎上,一個名為“在公司被迫使用釘釘是怎樣的一種體驗?”的帖子下,有超過一千個回答,并被瀏覽了超過 770 萬次。
⑥“There’s a saying【 in my circle】, that【 you should quit】 the day【 your company installs DingTalk,”】 said Robert, who works 【in luxury retail】 in the northwestern province of Shaanxi and complains that DingTalk has “【fragmented his time into pieces”.】
“在我的圈子里有一個講法:當你的公司安裝釘釘?shù)哪且惶?,就是你該辭職的時候?!痹谖鞅笔》蓐兾鲝氖律莩奁妨闶鄣牧_伯特如是說,并抱怨釘釘“將他的時間變得支離破碎”。
⑦The service's chief executive, Wu Zhao, is aware of (the backlash DingTalk is facing), but says the problem is【 a "toxic work culture】 at some companies" and misuse by some employers.
toxic working environment
釘釘?shù)氖紫瘓?zhí)行官無招(化名)了解釘釘正在面臨的抵制,但是他表示問題出在“一些公司有害的辦公文化”上,以及雇主們對釘釘?shù)臑E用上。
⑧“DingTalk’s goal is to【 encourage transparent and equal communications among all staff,】” Wu said. “The tool itself is not the problem; the way it is used is the problem.”
a transparent paper
The bidding process is open and transparent.
無招說:“釘釘?shù)哪繕耸枪膭钏袉T工間透明而平等的交流。工具本身不是問題,它們被使用的方式才是問題之所在?!?/p>
—————? 文章來源 / 路透社
釘釘?shù)钠鹪磥碜杂诎⒗锇桶椭耙粋€不成功的社交產(chǎn)品項目“來往”。來往試圖對標微信,受到了阿里巴巴的高度重視,曾集中各種人力物力資源扶持它的創(chuàng)新與發(fā)展,但是最終因為定位不明確、需求不斷變動而陷入迷茫和失敗。2014 年春節(jié),來往團隊誕生了開發(fā)企業(yè)社交“工作圈”的想法,并自 5 月起由來往的產(chǎn)品線負責人無招率領六名基層員工開始開發(fā),并在 2015 年的 1 月將這個沒有正式立項、“來往”員工們?yōu)槔硐胱詫こ雎返漠a(chǎn)物定名為“釘釘”,發(fā)布了第一個正式版本。它從開發(fā)到發(fā)布都保持低調(diào),直到馬云去其他企業(yè)參觀時聽到對方向自己介紹,阿里旗下的一款產(chǎn)品為他們解決了很多管理問題,這才讓馬云知曉了釘釘及其團隊的存在。馬云將其形容為一個“驚喜”,并從此開啟了釘釘?shù)尼绕稹U張之路。
雜魚
Close!接近了!
WQ: 第一:形容某人兩面派是two-faced;
第二:背后害人的人是back stabber;
第三:形容看人準,可以說 someone is a good judge of character.
heat wave
A recent study warns that the number of people dying during heat waves is likely to rise sharply in some regions by 2080【 if policy makers fail to】 take action in climate and health policies.
最近一項研究警告說,如果政策制定者不采取措施,修改氣候和健康政策,到2080年時,世界上一些地區(qū)死于熱浪天氣的人口將顯著增加。
Three French cities have【 banned the most polluting cars】 from the roads as【 the current heat wave rages on】 in Europe.
歐洲熱浪天氣繼續(xù)肆虐,法國三個城市因此禁止污染最嚴重的三款汽車上路。
have got to等于gotta
I gotta leave.
want to do th等于wanna
Wanna dance?
kind of等于kinda
I'll call ya
I don’t know=I dunno
I dunno why.
let me=lemme
Lemme do it.
Let's pick up where we left offyesterday. 咱們從昨天停下的地方繼續(xù)吧。
Try this—it will pick you up. 嘗嘗這個,能讓你提提神的。
He goes to clubs to pick up girls. 他到俱樂部去泡妞。
should’ve、would’ve、could’ve、must’ve=shoulda woulda coulda musta
You shoulda told me.
It woulda been nice.
It’s gonna rain.
going to等于gonna
I'm gonna go
a lot of=a lotta
That’s a lotta money.
kind of=kinda
It’s kinda hot.
What kinda car is that?
out of=outta
Get outta here.
I’m outta money.
You’re outta your mind
make a slash大放異彩