Business this week (2020.04.25) Part.02
Facebook invested $5.7bn in Jio Platforms, a telecoms and tech firm that is part of the Reliance Industries empire in India, giving it a stake of 10%. Over the past five years, 560m people in India have gained access to the internet. Facebook wants to tap that potential, noting the opportunity for connecting Jio’s small-business service with WhatsApp so that shoppers can have “a seamless mobile experience”.
- telecoms
- [pl.] short for telecommunications 电信，电讯
- reliance
- 依赖，信任
- Reliance Industries Limited
- 信实工业公司，是印度最大的私营集团。
- empire
- 企业集团，大企业
- stake
- 股份
- tap
- 利用，开发，发掘（已有的资源、知识等）
- note
- to mention sth because it is important or interesting 指出，特别提到
- seamless
- （两部分之间）无空隙的，不停顿的
- seam
- （缝合两块布等的）线缝，接缝
Revenue at Huawei rose by 1.4% in the first quarter compared with the same three months last year, to 182bn yuan ($25.7bn). That was fairly impressive given the trade war and the outbreak of covid-19 in China, the telecoms-equipment maker’s base country, though it was far below the 39% growth it chalked up a year earlier. The pandemic has delayed the roll-out of 5G networks in many contries, a key and controversial element of Huawei’s business. The company, which is privately held, did not state a net profit.
- revenue
- the money that a government receives from taxes or that an organization, etc. receives from its business 财政收入，税收收入；收益
- given
- 鉴于，考虑到
- chalk up sth
- to achieve or record a success, points in a game, etc. 获得，取得（成功）；记下，记录（成就、比赛得分等）
- roll-out
- 新品发布会，新产品的推出
- controversial
- 引起争论的，有争议的
United Airlines raised $1bn in a sale of new shares, a week after securing from the government a direct grant worth of $3.5bn and a low-interest loan of $1.5bn in a rescue deal.
- United Airlines
- 联合航空，是美国一家大型航空公司（至2011年7月31日为止，以总乘客量计算，其为世界第三大航空公司，仅次于达美航空及美国航空）
- raise
- to bring or collect money or people together; to manage to get or form sth 筹募；征集；组建
- raise money 筹钱
- raise an army 组建一支部队
- to bring or collect money or people together; to manage to get or form sth 筹募；征集；组建
- share
- 股份
- secure
- （尤指经过努力）获得，取得，实现
- grant
- （政府、机构的）拨款
After the British Treasury reportedly asked Virgin Atlantic to re-submit its request for a bail-out, said to be worth £500m ($620m), Sir Richard Branson offered to put his private island in the Caribbean up as collateral in order to secure the funds. His Virgin Group retains a 51% stake in the airline. Meanwhile, Virgin Australia fell into administration after failing to obtain a bail-out in Canberra.
- Treasury
- （英国、美国和其他一些国家的）财政部
- Virgin Atlantic
- 维珍航空
- Atlantic 大西洋
- submit
- 提交，呈递（文件、建议等）
- bail-out
- 紧急财政援助
- Caribbean
- 加勒比海地区（指加勒比海及其岛屿，包括西印度群岛及其周围海岸）
- put sth ↔ up
- 提供，借出（资金）
- collateral
- 抵押物；担保品
- Virgin Australia
- 维珍澳洲航空
- administration
- 行政接管（公司破产时由独立管理人负责其运营）
- Canberra
- 堪培拉，是澳大利亚首都（澳大利亚联邦1908年决定在悉尼和墨尔本两大城市之间的折中地理位置定都，即今天的堪培拉）
Netflix signed up another 15.8m subscribers in the first quarter, twice as many as it had forecast, as people confined to their homes binged on its programming. Netflix now has 183m users worldwide. Its share price is trading at record highs. One potential hitch is that its production pipeline, the source of recent hits such as “Tiger King”, had ground to a halt because of the lockdowns.
- sign sb ↔ on/up
- （使）签约受雇/入伍
- confine
- [often passive] to keep sb/sth inside the limits of a particular activity, subject, area, etc. 限制，限定
- binge
- 大吃大喝；狂欢作乐
- programming
- （广播、电视节目的）编排，选编
- hitch
- a problem or difficulty that causes a short delay 暂时的困难（或问题）
- hit
- 很受欢迎的人（或事物）
- grind to a halt
- to go slower gradually and then stop completely 慢慢停下来
Coke isn’t it
Coca-Cola said that despite a solid start to the year, revenue fell in the latest quarter, when lockdowns came into force. For this month, its sales of soft drinks have tumbled by 25%, as restaurants and small stores shut. By contrast Procter & Gamble reported a bumper quarter, boosted by shoppers stockpiling toilet roll, cleaning products and washing powder. However, sales from grooming gear were down a snip.
- solid
- 相当不错（但谈不上出色或独特）的
- soft drink
- 软饮料（不含酒精）
- tumble
- （价格或数量）暴跌，骤降
- Procter & Gamble
- 宝洁
- bumper
- (approving) unusually large; producing an unusually large amount 异常大的；丰盛的
- a bumper crop/harvest 丰收
- (approving) unusually large; producing an unusually large amount 异常大的；丰盛的
- stockpile
- 储备大量（物资）
- washing powder
- 洗衣粉
- grooming gear
- 修剪/梳理（毛发的）工具
- snip
- a small piece that is snipped off 一部分