许多同学常常反映,虽然每个单词都认识,但连在一起后却读不懂。这种现象并不罕见,原因主要有两方面:首先,是因为不了解单词的引申义和熟词僻义,无法结合语境对文本进行更深入的理解;其次,可能是缺乏相关的背景知识。如果对特定话题或语境缺乏必要的前置了解,整体语义关联就难以建构,导致理解困难。
今天,我们通过《经济学人》关于“英伟达拆股”的报道,了解背景知识在阅读理解中的重要性。
01
原文
On june 7th each share in Nvidia is due to become many. In one sense such stock splits ought not to matter much: they merely lower the share price, usually returning it to somewhere near $100, in order to make small trades easier. Yet for the company and its longtime backers this administrative exercise is cause to pop the champagne. For a split to be necessary in the first place, the share price must have multiplied, commonly by two or three, prompting each share to be divided by the same factor. Each Nvidia share, however, will become ten. Two years ago both Alphabet and Amazon split each of their shares into 20. Investors in big tech have had plenty of opportunities to let the corks fly.
是不是看完原文后有种每个词都认识,但整段话却难以理解的感觉?
02
精读
①On june 7th each share in Nvidia is due to become many.
6月7日,英伟达股票将迎来拆分。
become many 每个词汇本身都很简单,但组合在一起却难以理解。实际上,它的字面意思是“变成许多”,在金融术语中,这表示“股票拆分”。
拆股是公司用来降低投资门槛的方法。具体做法是,公司决定将每一只股票拆分为多股(例如2股或5股或10股),这样每一只股票的价格就会相应下降(如降为原来的1/2、1/5、1/10),从而使得普通投资者也能买得起。
因此,理解“become many”在该语境中的特殊含义,需要结合相关的金融背景知识。单纯依赖词汇的字面意义显然难以到达理解深层语义的目的。
拆股对公司有哪些影响?为什么要进行拆股?下句便给了解释:
②In one sense such stock splits ought not to matter much: they merely lower the share price, usually returning it to somewhere near $100, in order to make small trades easier.
从某种意义上说,这种股票拆分并不会产生太大影响:它们仅仅是降低了股价,通常将其降至100美元左右的水平,以方便小额交易。
stock splits是名词,意为“股票拆分”,和 each share becomes many 是一个含义。
拆股对公司的影响:ought not to matter much 不会有太大影响。
拆股的原因:make small trades easier 方便小额交易。
拆股增加了公司的股本数量,降低了每只股票的价格,使之更适合普通投资者。从本质上说,拆股只是调整了每股价格和股票数量,不会改变公司的总市值或投资者的持股比例。
举个例子,A股“股王”贵州茅台,每股价格1600元,最低购买门槛是1手(100只),也就是最少需要16万元(1600*100)才能购买茅台股票。但如果公司拆股,1股拆成10股,那每股价格降为160元,只需1.6万元就能投资茅台了。
small trades也是名词,指“小额交易”,也就是普通散户的交易行为。
在股市中,“散户”的英文是 retail investors 或 individual investors。retail 一词本身含有“零售”的意思,与 wholesale (批发) 相对应,散户的交易行为相对零散、单笔交易金额较小,带有零售性质,所以用 retail 一词。
与“散户”相对应的是“机构投资者",在英文中叫 institutional investors,它包括各种金融机构(如银行、保险)、投资基金(如葛兰的医疗基金)等。
还有一类投资者叫“国家队”,英文叫 state-owned investors 或 "national team",它是由政府出资或代表政府进行投资的大型投资者,其目标包括增加财政收入和“救市”。
在股市中还有一个特殊称呼叫“韭菜”,指那些容易被忽悠、频繁亏损的散户投资者。在英文中这类投资者被称为 cannon fodder 或 lambs to the slaughter。
"cannon fodder"字面意思是“炮灰”,这个词隐喻了散户在股市中就像“炮灰”一样,容易沦为大型机构、内幕操作者的宰割对象。
"lambs to the slaughter"字面意思是“待宰的羔羊”,同样比喻这些散户投资者就像待宰的羔羊一样,容易成为庄家或机构的牺牲品。
③Yet for the company and its longtime backers this administrative exercise is cause to pop the champagne.
但对于公司及其长期支持者来说,这一管理性操作都是值得庆祝的事。
backers 指“支持者”。
this administrative exercise 这一管理性操作,指 stock splits 拆股。
pop the champagne 意思是“庆祝、欢庆”,这个表达生动形象地描述了人们在庆祝时打开香槟瓶子发出“砰”的声音,可以替换 celebrate 或 rejoice,但相比之下,pop the champagne 更有张力和活力。
股票拆分之所以能引发投资者兴奋,其主要原因在于,拆股会使股价相应降低,使更多中小投资者得以进入市场参与交易,从而推升股价,为投资者带来获利机会。
④For a split to be necessary in the first place, the share price must have multiplied, commonly by two or three, prompting each share to be divided by the same factor.
之所以需要进行拆股,首先是因为股价已经大幅增长,通常是翻至两三倍,因此需要将每股价格除以相同倍数。
这句话讲了拆股的前提。
multiply 是数学里的“乘”,用法为 multiply A by B 或 multiply A and B (together),如:
Multiply the total by 12.
把总数乘以 12。
Multiply 2 and 6 together and you get 12.
2 和 6 相乘得 12。
后面 divide 是数学里的“除”,如:
If you divide 21 by 3, you get 7.
21 除以 3 等于 7。
factor 在这里是熟词僻义,指增加或减少的“倍数”,看个例句:
The real wage of the average worker has increased by a factor of over ten in the last 70 years.
近 70 年来工人的实际工资平均增长到十倍以上。
所以,文中 prompting each share to be divided by the same factor 意思是:使每股价格被除以相同倍数。
⑤Each Nvidia share, however, will become ten.
而英伟达的每股股票将变为10股。
本句是对④句 each share to be divided by the same factor 的具体描述。
在拆股之前,英伟达每股价格达到了1100美元,比较高,于是1股拆10股,股价从1100美元降到110美元。
⑥Two years ago both Alphabet and Amazon split each of their shares into 20.
两年前,Alphabet和亚马逊也都将每只股票拆分为20只。
split each of their shares into...意思是:把每股拆为...股。
⑦Investors in big tech have had plenty of opportunities to let the corks fly.
可见大型科技公司的投资者有很多机会举杯庆祝。
cork 指酒瓶的“软木塞”,let the corks fly 让软木塞飞,意思是“尽情庆祝”。这个短语使用了具象化的 corks fly 来形容庆祝的动作,非常生动形象,和 pop the champagne 有异曲同工之妙。
最后再整体看一遍这段话:
On june 7th each share in Nvidia is due to become many. In one sense such stock splits ought not to matter much: they merely lower the share price, usually returning it to somewhere near $100, in order to make small trades easier. Yet for the company and its longtime backers this administrative exercise is cause to pop the champagne. For a split to be necessary in the first place, the share price must have multiplied, commonly by two or three, prompting each share to be divided by the same factor. Each Nvidia share, however, will become ten. Two years ago both Alphabet and Amazon split each of their shares into 20. Investors in big tech have had plenty of opportunities to let the corks fly.
是不是在背景知识的加持下,这段话更容易理解了?
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