【视频讲解】

Foreign firms were lukewarm on America long before Donald Trump.
特朗普上台前，外国公司对美国早已丧失热情。
Lukewarm
不热情的; 不感兴趣的
-Economists have never been more than lukewarm toward him.
经济学家们从未对他有过多少兴趣。

Which is it? The home of free speech, the rule of law and the rich world’s most dynamic economy?
以下两者哪个才是美国？言论自由、法治之地、富裕世界中最具活力的经济体？
Free speech 言论自由
-When we were silent, you said you wanted us to have free speech.
当我们沉默的时候，你们说你们想让我们言论自由。
Dynamic
有活力的(If you describe something as dynamic, you approve of it because it is very active and energetic)
-South Asia continues to be the most dynamic economic region in the world.
南亚仍然是世界上最具活力的经济区。

Or a land of social decay, septic politics and the rich world’s worst roads and schools?
还是社会堕落、政治腐败、富裕世界里道路和学校最糟糕的国家？
Decay
1. 腐坏
-The bodies buried in the fine ash slowly decayed.
埋在细灰里的尸体慢慢腐烂了。
2. 衰败
-There are problems of urban decay and gang violence.
存在都市衰败和黑帮暴力问题。
Septic
受感染的
-A flake of plaster from the ceiling fell into his eye, which became septic.
天花板上的一片灰掉进他眼睛里,引起了感染。

America divides foreign observers. It divides foreign firms, too.
外国观察家对美国看法不一。外国公司同样如此。
Some bosses fall head over heels for its insatiable consumers and dazzling technology.
有些公司老板为美国庞大的消费群体和炫目的科技倾倒。
Fall head over heel
爱到死心塌地
-I fall head over heels in love.
我为爱情神魂颠倒。
Insatiable
无法满足的; 贪得无厌的
-A section of the reading public has an insatiable appetite for dirty stories about the famous.
阅读大众中有一部分人对名人的风流韵事的欲望总是无法满足。

Other executives are put off by its insufferable lawyers and hypocritical protectionism.
也有高管因美国那些令人讨厌的律师和虚伪的保护主义而却步。
put off
1. 使反感; 使对…失去兴趣
-The high divorce figures don't seem to be putting people off marriage.
高离婚率好像并没有使人们对婚姻望而却步。
2. 使…等待; 把…搪塞过去
-The old priest tried to put them off, saying that the hour was late.
那位老牧师试图把他们搪塞过去，说时间太晚了。
hypocritical 虚伪的
-It would be hypocritical to say I travel at 70 mph simply because that is the law.
如果仅仅因为法律规定的时速是70英里我就说自己的行驶时速是70英里，那就太虚伪了

Donald Trump promises to give foreign firms a rude awakening when he reaches the White House: last month he beat up Toyota for making cars in Mexico and selling them north of the border.
特朗普承诺入主白宫后给外国公司猛敲一记警钟：上月，他便因丰田公司在墨西哥制造汽车并销往美国而向其开炮。
Rude
无礼的; 粗鲁的 = brutal
-He's rude to her friends and obsessively jealous.
他对她的朋友粗鲁无礼而且过分嫉妒。
beat up
毒打
-Then they actually beat her up as well.
然后他们事实上也毒打了她一顿。

But in truth many foreign firms fell out of love with America years ago.
但实际上，许多外国公司在多年前便已不再钟情美国。
The conventional view is that foreign companies are irresistibly attracted to the place.
一般看法认为，外国公司难以抗拒美国的魅力。
Irresistibly
难以抗拒
-The Pragmatic justification does not touch Hume's position because Hume himself after all says we irresistibly, inevitably, assume the future will resemble the past.
实用主义论证并没有触及休谟的地位,因为他归根结底还是认为我们无法抗拒，且不可避免地假设未来将是对过去的效仿。

If one affair ends in tears, there is always a new paramour in the wings.
假如一段情缘悲剧收场，总会有新的情人伺机而动。
In the 1970s British buccaneers, led by Sir James Goldsmith, picked up neglected firms.
上世纪70年代，以詹姆斯•戈德史密斯爵士（Sir James Goldsmith）为首的英国“海盗”把受冷落的美国公司收入囊中。
End in tears 以悲剧收场
-This does not have to end in tears.
这一考验不一定以悲剧收场。
Paramour 情人
In the wings 等待时机
-If you know your partner has someone waiting in the wings, it’s hard to be motivated to work on your relationship, or to be enthusiastic about it.
如果你知道你的另一半有别的人在翘首以待，确实是很难让你经营这段感情或是对它抱有热情。
Buccaneer 海盗

In the 1980s Japanese firms lost their financial virginity by paying too much for Hollywood studios and Californian skyscrapers.
80年代，日本公司首度大举投资，高价收购好莱坞的电影公司和加州的摩天大楼。
Financial Virginity
= That state of innocence in which you live until you have to pay your first income tax, insurance premium or legal fee.
第一次缴纳过社会保险等费用的社会成人==》成年了！==》首次投资
-I'm going to lose my financial virginity this month.

A decade later continental European firms rushed across the pond, culminating in Daimler’s doomed tryst with Chrysler, a rival carmaker.
十年后，欧洲大陆的公司竞相跨越大西洋涌入美国，随着戴姆勒与对手克莱斯勒发生一场注定难有善终的幽会，这一风潮达到顶峰。
Rush急着 (做)
-Russian banks rushed to buy as many dollars as they could.
俄罗斯各银行急着尽可能多地买入美元。
Culminate 以…告终; 结果成为
-They had an argument, which culminated in Tom getting drunk.
他们发生了争论，结果导致汤姆喝醉了酒。
Doomed 注定的
-Their plans seemed doomed to failure.
看起来，他们的计划注定要失败。
Tryst = engagement 约会=>幽会

By this account, Chinese firms are the latest to get the love bug, with China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, in the role of the besotted tycoon, having paid a blockbuster $4bn to assemble a chain of mature American cinemas since 2012.
这样看来，中国公司是美国市场的最新情人。中国首富王健林就扮演了一位为美国疯狂的大亨，自2012年来，他已投入惊人的40亿美元来整合一系列成熟的美国院线。
Besotted 痴迷的
-He became so besotted with her that even his children were forgotten.
他那么痴迷于她以至于把他的孩子都忘了。
Tycoon 大亨
-a self-made Irish-American property tycoon
一个靠自己奋斗成功的爱尔兰裔美国房地产大亨
Blockbuster 炸弹，轰动性的 =》 大片; 畅销书
-the latest Hollywood blockbuster.
最新的好莱坞大片。

But this narrative is hopelessly out of date.
不过这样的故事已经完全过时了。
The most accurate metaphor for foreign firms in America today is of disappointed hopes.
对于如今在美的外国公司，最准确的形容是“美梦破灭”。,
Out of date 过时
-Much of the information in that book is now out of date.
那本书的材料中有许多现在已经过时。
Metaphor
1. 隐喻
-the avoidance of violent expressions and metaphors like "kill two birds with one stone."
避免使用有暴力意味的表达和隐喻，如“一石二鸟。”
2. 象征
-The divided family remains a powerful metaphor for a society that continued to tear itself apart.
破裂的家庭仍然是一个持续分裂的社会的有力象征。

Their share of private output has been flat at about 6% since 2000.
自2000年以来，它们在私营部门产出中所占份额一直停留在6%左右。
The share of sales that European firms make in America has declined from 20% in 2003 to 17% now, according to Morgan Stanley, a bank.
据摩根士丹利的数据，欧洲公司在美国的销售份额已从2003年的20%下降至如今的17%
Flat
1. 仅仅
-You're sitting behind an engine that'll move you from 0 to 60mph in six seconds flat.
你现在坐的这辆车的引擎只需6秒钟就能从0加速到每小时60英里。
2. 固定的,
-Fees are charged at a flat rate, rather than on a percentage basis.
费用按固定的费率收取，不是按百分比。
3. 不景气的
During the first eight months of this year, sales of big pickups were up 14% while car sales stayed flat.
今年的头8个月，大货车的销售量增长了14%，而轿车的销售仍不景气

Foreign firms’ profits in America fell from $134bn in 2006 to $123bn in 2014, the latest year for which figures are available.
外国公司在美利润从2006年的1340亿美元降至2014年的1230亿美元（可获得数据的最近一年）。
Their return on equity fell to 6%, compared with 11% in 2006.
其股本回报率下降到6%，而2006年为11%。
available
1. 可获得的
-Since 1978, the amount of money available to buy books has fallen by 20%.
自1978年以来，可供买书的钱已减少了20%。
2. 有空的
-Mr. Leach is on holiday and was not available for comment. 利奇先生在休假，没空作评论。
return on equity 净资产收益率；股本回报；股权收益