Advanced Week 144

写在前面的话

“ScalersTalk 口译进阶小组”的前身是“ScalersTalk 交传小组”，成立于 2015 年 2 月，现阶段，小组继续专注高级阶段的交替传译与同声传译训练，在巩固语言基本功的同时训练各类口译技能，从而为承担正式场合的口译打下坚实基础。96 周起，小组全面引入 CATTI 新版二口教材的训练，时间为每天晚上 8 点到 9 点，训练期间播放录音、记笔记，在空白处按暂停键后做口译，用 QQ 发群语音，然后对照文档，查找漏译和错译的部分，标出口译时较为困难的词汇和表达，随时发到群里；每天早上 6 点到 7 点训练复述及同声传译。

本周复盘说明

第 144 周训练为同声传译和复述。本日志整理的是复述材料 Limited Liability Company 的部分内容。

第 144 周——复述材料知识点整理

段落一

There were precursors to modern corporations in ancient Rome, but the direct ancestor of today’s corporations was born in England, on New Year’s Eve, in 1600. Back then, creating a corporation didn’t simply involve filing some routine forms—you needed a royal charter. And you couldn’t incorporate with the general aim of doing business and making profits. A corporation’s charter specifically said what it was allowed to do and often also stipulated that nobody else was allowed to do it.

短语词组

• precursor: [C] something that happened or existed before something else and influenced its development〔事物的〕前身，先驱 [+ of/to]

• charter: (1) [C] a signed statement from a government or ruler which allows a town, organization, or university to officially exist and have special rights〔政府或统治者允许城镇、组织或大学正式成立并享有特权的〕特许状，许可证，e.g. a royal charter

  (2) [C] a statement of the principles, duties, and purposes of an organization〔组织的〕原则，章程，宪章，宣言e.g. a corporation’s charter

• incorporate: vi. to form or become a corporation

• stipulate = state: vt. if an agreement, law, or rule stipulates something, it must be done〔协议、法律、规则等〕规定，约定

段落二

Why was that so important? Because otherwise, investors were personally liable for everything the business did. If you partnered in a business that ran up debts it couldn’t pay, its debtors could come after you—not just for the value of your investment, but for everything you owned.

短语词组

• run up sth: If someone runs up bills or debts, they acquire them by buying a lot of things or borrowing money. 积欠 (债务)

• come after sb (for sth): to look for someone in order to hurt them, punish them, or get something from them〔为了加以伤害、惩罚或取得某物〕查找，追查〔某人〕

段落三

That’s worth thinking about: Whose business might you be willing to invest in, if you knew that it could lose you your home and even land you in prison? Perhaps a close family member’s; or at a push, a trusted friend’s. Someone you knew well enough, and saw often enough, to notice if they were behaving suspiciously. The way we invest today—buying shares in companies whose managers we will never meet—would be unthinkable without limited liability. And that would severely limit the amount of capital a business venture could raise.

短语词组

• land sb in trouble/hospital/court etc: to cause someone to have serious problems or be in a difficult situation 使某人陷入困境/得病住院/卷入官司等

• at a push: informal if you can do something at a push, it will be difficult, but you will be able to do it 真有必要时，不得已时

段落四

The trouble is that companies can influence the law, too. They can fund lobbyists. They can donate to electoral candidates’ campaigns. The East India Company quickly learned the value of maintaining cozy relationships with British politicians, who duly bailed it out whenever it got into trouble. In 1770, for instance, a famine in Bengal clobbered the company’s revenue. British legislators saved it from bankruptcy by exempting it from tariffs on tea exports to the American colonies. Which was, perhaps, shortsighted on their part: it eventually led to the Boston Tea Party, and the American Declaration of Independence. You could say the United States owes its existence to excessive corporate influence on politicians.

短语词组

• cozy: adj. having a close connection or relationship, especially one you do not approve of 密切的；互相勾结的

• duly: adj.in the proper or expected way 适当地，恰当地，应当地

• bail sb/sth out: to do something to help someone out of trouble, especially financial problems 帮助……摆脱困境〔尤指解决经济问题〕

• clobber: vt. to affect or punish someone or something badly, especially by making them lose money使遭受沉重损失