【视频讲解】

American multinationals make 12% on their home turf.
美国跨国公司在自家主场的股本回报率则为12%。
This souring romance reflects three deep shifts in America’s economy.
花残月缺，浪漫不再——这反映出美国经济的三个深刻转变。
Turf
1. 草地
2. 地盘; 活动范围
-Their turf was St.Louis: its streets, theaters, homes, and parks.
他们的地盘是圣路易斯：它的街道、剧院、住宅和公园。
Sour
酸的，嗖的 =》使变糟; 变糟
-If anything sours the relationship, it is likely to be real differences in their world-views.
假如有什么事情使关系恶化的话，那可能就是他们在世界观方面所存在的实质性差异。

First, technology has a greater importance than it used to.
首先，科技的重要性更胜从前。
At the same time the gap between Silicon Valley’s giants and their peers abroad has grown wider.
同时，硅谷巨头与其海外同行之间的差距也已拉大。
Peer
1. 同龄人; 同等地位的人
-His engaging personality made him popular with his peers.
他迷人的个性使他很受同龄人欢迎。
2. 费力地看; 盯着
-I had been peering at a computer print-out that made no sense at all.
我一直在费力地看一份不知所云的电脑打印稿。

A generation ago Europe and Japan had real contenders in the technology industry, such as Nokia and Sony.
二三十年前，欧洲和日本在科技行业还拥有可与美国企业实力匹敌的公司，如诺基亚和索尼。
Now they have no answer to the likes of Apple, Google and Uber.
而现在，它们并没有能挑战苹果、谷歌、优步等美国巨头的企业。
Contender =》 contend
1. 争夺 (权力等)
-the two main groups contending for power.
争夺权力的两大主要集团。
2. 辩称
-The government contends that he is fundamentalist.
政府辩称他是原教旨主义者。
3. 解决
-It is time, once again, to contend with racism.
又是对付种族主义的时候了。
no answer 无人应对（比喻的用法）

Second, waves of mergers and acquisitions have made the economy more concentrated.
第二，并购浪潮令美国经济更为集中。
That has raised the barriers to entry for outsiders.
这提高了外来者进入美国市场的门槛。
mergers and acquisitions
企业并购；兼并与收购
Concentrated
adj. 集中的
v. 集中（concentrate的过去分词）
-Authority was concentrated in the president.
政权集于总统一身

If you split the world’s companies into 68 industries, American firms are the largest in two-thirds of them.
如果将全世界的公司分为68个行业，其中有三分之二都由美国公司称霸。
Foreign companies in America are often subscale and too small to buy the leading firms in their sector.
在美国的外国公司通常规模较小，无法收购所在行业的领先企业。
Split
分开，分裂
-Yet it is feared the Republican leadership could split over the agreement.
然而人们担心共和党领导层可能会因该协议而出现分裂。
Sector
部门
-the nation's manufacturing sector.
该国的制造部门。

So they try to grow organically or buy weaklings instead.
所以它们试图内生扩展或转而收购较弱小的公司。
In 2013 SoftBank, a Japanese technology group, paid $22bn to buy a struggling mobile-phone operator, Sprint, which is now losing a billion dollars a year.
2013年，日本科技企业软银斥资220亿美元收购苦苦挣扎的美国手机运营商Sprint，而现在Sprint年亏损十亿美元。
Organically自然演进地
-to manage the company and supervise its organic growth.
管理公司并指导其逐步发展。
Weakling 体质孱弱的人 (或动物)
-You were never a ninety-eight pound weakling.
你从来就不是一个体重98磅、体质孱弱的人。

The most profitable investment in living memory by a foreign firm in America was not a gutsy triumph but a passive stake in a domestic oligopoly: Vodafone’s 45% share of Verizon Wireless, which it sold for $130bn in 2014.
记忆中，外国公司在美国投资获利最丰厚的并非是大胆行动获取的胜利，而是来自对美国国内寡头的被动投资：2014年，沃达丰以1300亿美元出售其拥有的威讯无线（Verizon Wireless）45%的股份。
in living memory 在现今活着的人的记忆里
Gutsy 勇敢的; 坚定的
-I've always been drawn to tough, gutsy women.
我总是被坚强、勇敢的女性所吸引。
Oligopoly
求过于供的市场情况 =》 寡头

The third reason for foreign firms’ discontent is the growth in lobbying, litigation and regulatory action in America.
令外国公司不满的第三个原因是美国游说、诉讼、监管行动的日益增多。
Lobby
1. 游说
-Agricultural interests are some of the most powerful lobbies in Washington.
农业利益集团是华盛顿最有影响力的游说团体中的一部分。
2. 大厅
-I met her in the lobby of the museum.
我在博物馆大厅遇到了她。
litigation
诉讼
-The settlement ends more than four years of litigation on behalf of the residents.
这次和解结束了代表居民的长达四年多的诉讼。

Foreign companies feel they are at a competitive disadvantage.
外国公司感觉自己处于竞争劣势。
In the most regulated sector of all—banks—their market share has fallen to 14% from 18% in the past 24 months, partly, they argue, owing to onerous new rules.
在银行业这一监管最严的领域，它们所占的市场份额在过去24个月里已从18%下降至14%。它们认为繁重的新规定是导致这一结果的部分原因。
owing to 因为；由于
-He was out of work owing to a physical injury
他因为受伤而失业了。
Onerous
繁重的; 费力的
-parents who have had the onerous task of bringing up a very difficult child.
那些身负重任要养育一个非常难调教的孩子的父母。

Most fines involve lots of official discretion.
大多数罚款都涉及很多的行政裁量。
In carmaking and energy, Volkswagen and BP have admitted their respective responsibilities for fake emissions tests and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
在汽车制造业和能源产业，大众和BP已分别对排放测试造假及“深海地平线”（Deepwater Horizon）钻井平台石油泄漏事故承认负有责任。
Discretion
1. 酌情决定权
-This committee may want to exercise its discretion to look into those charges.
这个委员会可能想行使其酌情决定权来调查那些指控。
2. 审慎
-Larsson sometimes joined in the fun, but with more discretion.
拉森有时也会跟着玩闹，但多带几分审慎。
oil spill 漏油

But many European bosses believe that the cumulative $70bn of legal costs and penalties they have paid or currently face far exceed those that General Motors and ExxonMobil paid for similarly grave mistakes.
但许多欧洲公司老板相信，两家公司已支付或目前面临的累计700亿美元的诉讼费用及罚款远超过通用汽车和埃克森美孚为类似的严重错误所付出的代价。
Cumulative 累积的
-It is simple pleasures, such as a walk on a sunny day, which have a cumulative effect on our mood.
诸如在晴朗的日子散步这样简朴的乐趣对我们的情绪有累积性益处。
Grave
1. 严重的
-He said that the situation in his country is very grave.
他说他的国家形势很严峻。
2. 严肃的
-She examined his unusually grave face.
她审视着他那张异常严肃的脸