01
Jack Welch, legendary GE CEO, dead
通用電氣傳奇CEO傑克·韋爾奇去世
Jack Welch, who led General Electric through two decades of extraordinary corporate prosperity and became the most influential business manager of his generation, died on March 1. He was 84. Combative① and blunt②, Mr. Welch became the chief executive of General Electric in 1981. It was a time of outsize③gains for many of America’s big, multinational corporations and their leaders, who were helped by lower taxes and pro-business policies. G.E. led the pack④. The company’s revenue jumped nearly fivefold, to $130 billion, during Mr. Welch’s tenure⑤, while the value of its shares on the stock market soared from $14 billion to more than $410 billion. Fortune magazine named him the “Manager of the Century,” and in 2000 The Financial Times named G.E. “the World’s Most Respected Company” for the third straight year. (The New York Times)
3月1日，傑克·韋爾奇去世，享年84歲。韋爾奇曾領導通用電氣走過二十載輝煌歲月，是同代人中最具影響力的企業管理者。1981年，銳意進取、性格耿直的韋爾奇始任通用電氣首席執行官。當時推行的減稅利商政策令美國許多大型跨國公司及其領導者收益巨大。通用電氣正是其中的領頭羊。韋爾奇在任期間，公司收入翻了近5倍，達1300億美元，股票市值也從140億美元暴漲至超過4100億美元。《財富》雜誌將他評為“世紀經理人”。2000年，《金融時報》連續第三年評選通用電氣為“全球最受推崇公司”。
【註釋】
① combative: [ˈkɒmbətɪv] adj. ready or willing to fight or argue 好鬥／事
② blunt: [blʌnt] adj. saying exactly what you think without trying to be polite 率直的，不拐彎抹角的
③ outsize: [ˈaʊtˌsaɪz] adj. exceptionally large 超／極大
④ pack: [pæk] n. a group of similar people or things
⑤ tenure: [ˈtɛnjʊə] n. the period of time when somebody holds an important job, especially a political one（尤指從政者的）任期
Jack Welch in 2004
(Credit: The New York Times)
02
US Federal Reserve announcing an emergency rate cut
美聯儲宣佈緊急降息
The Federal Reserve slashed① interest rates by half a percentage point last Tuesday, a bold attempt to give the US economy a jolt② in the face of concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. It was the first unscheduled emergency rate cut since 2008, and it also marks the biggest one-time cut since then. The new benchmark interest rate is a range of between 1% and 1.25%. The emergency rate cut came as somewhat of③ a surprise: Although the stock market soared last Monday in expectation of a rate cut, the Fed and other central banks had seemingly pooh-poohed④ the notion as recently as last Tuesday morning. US President Trump, who has long advocated for lower rates, cheered the rate cut but said the Fed needed to cut further. (CNN)
3月3日，美聯儲大幅下調基準利率50個基點，在面臨新冠疫情恐慌之際，此大膽之舉意在給美國經濟打上一針強心劑。這是2008年以來首次計劃外的緊急降息，且創下單次降幅之最。新的基準利率將在1%至1.25%之間。緊急降息有些出人意料：儘管此前的降息預期令3月2日股市飆升，但似乎直至3月3日上午，美聯儲等央行還對降息觀點嗤之以鼻。美國總統特朗普歷來主張削減利率，他對降息表示歡迎，但表示美聯儲還需加大下調幅度。
【註釋】
① slash: [slæʃ] vt. to reduce sth. by a large amount【口】大幅削減
② jolt: [dʒəʊlt] n. a sudden, rough movement 震動
③ somewhat of: used to make a statement or description 有點
④ pooh-pooh: [ˌpuːˈpuː] vt. to say that a suggestion, an idea, etc. is not true or not worth thinking about 輕視，藐視，貶低
A trader passes a hand sanitizing station on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, March 3, 2020.
(Credit: AP)
03
Two Irish women winning the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honour
愛爾蘭兩名女性獲建築界最高榮譽普利茲克獎
Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara won the 2020 Pritzker Prize, becoming only the fourth and fifth women to claim architecture’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize in its 41-year history. The Irish pair, co-founders of Dublin-based firm Grafton Architects, were named this year’s laureates in recognition of their “unceasing commitment to excellence,” it was announced last Tuesday. Known for robust creations in concrete and stone, Farrell and McNamara have been prolific in their native Ireland. The duo① has produced dozens of residential, commercial, civic and educational buildings since opening their practice in 1978. (CNN)
伊馮·法雷爾和謝莉·麥克納馬拉獲2020年“建築界諾貝爾獎”普利茲克獎，成為該獎41年曆史上第四、第五位獲獎的女性。兩位都是愛爾蘭人，共同創立了格拉夫頓建築事務所，總部設在都柏林。3月3日，二人被授予該獎，以表彰她們“對卓越永不止息的追求”。法雷爾和麥克納馬拉在愛爾蘭本土作品豐富，善用混凝土和石料，建築風格強勁。自1978年開業以來，這對搭檔建造了數十棟民用、商用、市政和教育建築。
【註釋】
① duo: [ˈdjuːəʊ] n. two people who perform together or are often seen or thought of together 二人組合，一對藝人
In this May 23, 2018 file photo, Biennale International Architecture exhibition curators Yvonne Farrell, left, and Shelley McNamara appear in Venice, Italy.
(Credit: AP)
04
Bloomberg out, Biden resurgent① after Super Tuesday victories
超級星期二落幕，布隆伯格退出，拜登強勢迴歸
New York billionaire Mike Bloomberg suspended his presidential campaign and Massachusetts Sen.② Elizabeth Warren was reassessing her candidacy last Wednesday as the winnowing③ process in the Democrats’ 2020 nomination fight lurched④ forward after a consequential Super Tuesday. The Democratic presidential contest is now a two-man race. The developments came just hours after a resurgent Biden scored victories from Texas to Massachusetts, revitalizing a presidential bid that was teetering⑤ on the edge of disaster just days earlier. Biden’s rival Bernie Sanders seized the biggest prize with a win in California that ensured he—and his embrace of democratic socialism—would drive the Democrats’ nomination fight for the foreseeable future. (NPR, AP)
3月4日，對美國大選意義重大的“超級星期二”落幕，2020年民主黨內遴選之爭取得重大進展。紐約億萬富翁邁克·布隆伯格退出總統競選，馬薩諸塞州參議員伊麗莎白·沃倫也將重新考慮是否繼續參選。目前，民主黨呈現兩強爭霸的格局。這些都發生在強勢迴歸的拜登橫掃得克薩斯到馬薩諸塞數州後的幾小時內——就在幾天前，拜登還岌岌可危，如今已重振選情。他的對手伯尼·桑德斯則拿下了“最大票倉”加利福尼亞州，確保了他和他推崇的民主社會主義在可預見的未來繼續推動民主黨提名之戰。
【註釋】
① resurgent: [rɪˈsɜːdʒənt] adj. becoming stronger or more popular again 死而復生的，復活的
② Sen.: =【美】Senator 參議員（頭銜）
③ winnow: [ˈwɪnəʊ] vt. to make (a list of possible choices) smaller by removing the less desirable choices 篩選，剔除
④ lurch: [lɜːtʃ] vi. to make a sudden sideways or forward motion 突然傾斜／急動
⑤ teeter: [ˈtiːtə] vi. to move in an unsteady way back and forth or from side to side 搖晃，搖搖欲墜
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a primary election night rally Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Los Angeles.
(Credit: AP)
05
Russia and Turkey agreeing on a ceasefire① deal for Syria’s Idlib
俄羅斯、土耳其就敘利亞伊德利卜停火達成協議
Turkey and Russia agreed a ceasefire deal last Thursday in Syria’s Idlib region, their two leaders said after talks in Moscow to contain a conflict which had displaced nearly a million people in three months. Russia and Turkey back opposing sides in Syria’s nine-year conflict, with Moscow supporting President Bashar al-Assad and Turkey backing some rebel groups. Several previous deals to end the fighting in Idlib have collapsed. Assad himself has vowed to recapture “every inch” of Syrian territory, but his depleted② military depends heavily on Moscow’s power and Iranian-backed militias③ on the ground. (Reuters)
3月5日，土耳其和俄羅斯領導人在莫斯科舉行會談後表示，兩國已就敘利亞伊德利卜地區停火問題達成協議。會談旨在遏制該地區的衝突，過去三個月，這場衝突已令近百萬人流離失所。敘利亞內戰九年，俄羅斯與土耳其各自支持的是對立的雙方：俄羅斯支持敘總統巴沙爾·阿薩德，土耳其則支持一些反政府組織。此前數次簽訂過伊德利卜停戰協議，均以失敗告終。阿薩德本人曾誓言收復敘利亞“每一寸”領土，然而政府軍損失慘重，地面作戰很大程度上依賴俄羅斯軍隊和伊朗支持的幾個民兵組織。
【註釋】
① ceasefire: [ˈsiːsˌfaɪə] n. an agreement to stop fighting a war for a period of time so that a permanent agreement can be made to end the war 停火，停戰
② deplete: [dɪˈpliːt] vt. to use most or all of (something important) 大大減少，耗盡
③ militia: [mɪˈlɪʃə] n. a group of people who are not part of the armed forces of a country but are trained like soldiers 民兵組織
(Credit: untvweb.com)
06
dozens trapped as China’s quarantine① hotel collapsed
中國隔離酒店坍塌，數十人被困
Last Saturday, a hotel in China that was utilized to quarantine② coronavirus patients collapsed, leaving around 70 people trapped beneath the rubble③. The five-story④, 80-room Xinjia Hotel is located in Quanzhou, in the southeastern Fujian Province. It remains unclear as of writing what caused the collapse and how many people—who either tested positive for COVID-19 or had come in contact with someone with coronavirus—were quarantined at the hotel, which opened in 2018, the People’s Daily, China reported. (Business Insider)
3月7日，中國一家用作新冠肺炎隔離觀察點的酒店坍塌，約70人被埋瓦礫下。該酒店是位於中國福建省東南部泉州市的欣佳酒店，樓高5層，有80間客房。據中國《人民日報》報道，這家酒店2018年開業，截至寫稿時，坍塌原因及隔離人數尚不明確，包括隔離人員中有多少人新冠病毒檢測呈陽性、有多少人曾與新冠病毒感染者有密切接觸。
【註釋】
① quarantine: [ˈkwɒrənˌtiːn] n. the situation of being kept away from others to prevent a disease from spreading 隔離（期），檢疫
② quarantine: [ˈkwɒrənˌtiːn] vt. 參見①
③ rubble: [ˈrʌbəl] n. broken pieces of stone, brick, etc., from walls or buildings that have fallen 碎石，碎磚
④ stor(e)y: [ˈstɔːrɪ] n. a group of rooms or an area that forms one floor level of a building（樓）層
Around 70 people were trapped when the Xinjia Hotel collapsed last Saturday evening. Emergency personnel have rescued at least 34 of them.
(Credit: CNS)
（復旦大學李雯露編譯，重光會王暖流審訂）
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