新闻标题中的生词
Monopolies and Mergers Commission, the 英国政府的组织机构：垄断和兼并委员会
a British government organization whose job is to examine cases where two companies plan to merge (=join together to form a larger company) , and to decide whether this would be bad for other businesses and for ordinary customers. There is a similar organization in the US called the FTC (=the Federal Trade Commission). 美国也有相似的组织，叫做联邦贸易委员会
clear verb
▶PERMISSION◀
[transitive]
a) to give or get official permission for something to be done 允许或获得许可
He was cleared by doctors to resume skating in August. 医生们允许他在8月份恢复滑冰。
clear something with somebody
Defence policies must often be cleared with NATO allies first. 防卫政策必须首先得到北约组织的首可。
b) to give official permission for a person, ship, or aircraft to enter or leave a country 允许某人、商店或飞行器离开、起飞
The plane took off as soon as it was cleared. 飞机在得到可以起飞的指令后起飞了。
pharmaceutical adjective [only before noun]
relating to the production of drugs and medicines 与制药有关的
the pharmaceutical industry 制药行业
pharmaceutical products 药品
pharmaceuticals noun [plural] technical
drugs and medicines 医药的总称
2. Reading.
Business file: the magic of the merger
trillion number
plural trillion or trillions
1 the number 1,000,000,000,000 兆，万亿
In a short time the number of cells is more than a trillion.
two/three/four etc trillion $5.3 trillion
Japan’s exports were worth $43 trillion last year.
trillions of pounds/dollars etc the trillions of dollars in the bond markets
2 informal an extremely large number of people or things 无数的
a trillion
a shirt with a trillion holes in it
trillions of
We’ve made this mistake trillions of times before.
plummet verb also plummet down [intransitive]
1 to suddenly and quickly decrease in value or amount 急剧下降
ￚsynonym plunge
plummet from something to something
Profits plummeted from ￡49 million to ￡11 million.
House prices have plummeted down.
2 to fall suddenly and quickly from a very high place 从高处突然快速下降
ￚsynonym plunge
The plane plummeted towards the earth. 飞机向地面快速下降。
economies of scale technical the financial advantages of producing something in very large quantities 规模经济
desperate adjective
1 willing to do anything to change a very bad situation, and not caring about danger 绝望的
I had no money left and was desperate. 我一点钱都没有了，简直绝望了。
Time was running out and we were getting desperate. 没有时间了，我们陷入了绝望之中。
the missing teenager’s desperate parents 失踪青少年的绝望的家长们
desperate with
She was desperate with fear. 她由于害怕而绝望。
2 needing or wanting something very much极需的
desperate for
The team is desperate for a win. 这支队伍太需要一场胜利。
I was desperate for a cigarette. 我特别想抽支烟。
desperate to do something
He was desperate to get a job. 她特别想找到工作。
3 a desperate situation is very bad or serious 恶劣的，严峻的
a desperate shortage of doctors 医生的严重短缺
We’re in desperate need of help. 我们急需帮助。
4 a desperate action is something that you only do because you are in a very bad situation孤注一掷的，拼死的
desperate attempt/bid/effort
She made a desperate attempt to escape. 她拼命要逃出去。
We had to resort to desperate measures. 我们必须找到孤注一掷的办法。
desperate battle/struggle/fight
trust noun
▶ORGANIZATION◀
[countable usually singular] an organization or group that has control over money that will be used to help someone else 基金会
a charitable trust 慈善基金会
consortium noun
plural consortia
or consortiums [countable]
a group of companies or organizations who are working together to do something财团，银团
a consortium of oil companies 石油企业财团
The aircraft will be built by a European consortium. 这架飞机将由一个欧洲财团建造。
record noun
▶HIGHEST/BEST EVER◀
[countable] the fastest speed, longest distance, highest or lowest level etc that has ever been achieved or reached, especially in sport 最好纪录
As a student, he broke the Scottish record for the 100 metres.
The Americans set a new world record in the sprint relay.
Lewis equalled the old world record of 9.93 seconds.
British exports in 1991 were at an all-time record. 英国在1991年的出口额是有史以来最好的。
A record number of people have been thrown out of their homes. 有创纪录多的人被家庭遗弃。
finance verb [transitive]
to provide money, especially a lot of money, to pay for something 提供资金
ￚ同义词 fund
The concerts are financed by the Arts Council. 这些音乐会是由艺术委员会资助的。
ￚfinancing noun [uncountable]
The financing for the deal has been approved in principle. 从道理上讲，对这次交易的融资行为是会得到批准的。
on the strength of something
because of something 由于
I bought the book on the strength of your recommendation.由于你的推荐我购买了这本书。
inflate verb
1[intransitive and transitive] to fill something with air or gas so it becomes larger, or to become filled with air or gas 充气，膨胀，胀大
It took us half an hour to inflate the dinghy.
Her life jacket failed to inflate.
2[transitive] to make something seem more important or impressive than it really is 使得意，使骄傲，夸大
The success further inflated his self-confidence. 他的自信心通过这次成功进一步膨胀。
be grossly/vastly/hugely inflated
The numbers of people involved have been grossly inflated by the media. 涉及的人数被媒体过渡的夸大。
3[intransitive and transitive] technical to increase in price or make something increase in price 提升价格，价格上涨，通货膨胀
Hotels often inflate prices at particular times of the year. 饭店经常在一年中的某些时候提高价格。
Costs were inflating. 成本在上升。
swap verb British English
past tense and past participle swapped present participle swapping
1 [intransitive and transitive] to give something to someone and get something in return交换
ￚsynonym exchange
Do you want to swap umbrellas? 你想和我换雨伞吗?
swap something for something
He swapped his watch for a box of cigars. 他用自己的手表换得了一盒雪茄。
swap something with somebody
The girls chatted and swapped clothes with each other. 这些女孩聊着天而且还互相交换衣服穿。
2 [transitive] to tell information to someone and be given information in return 交换信息
ￚsynonym exchange
We need to get together to swap ideas and information. 我们需要聚在一起交换想法和信息。
They sat in a corner and swapped gossip.
3 also swap over
[transitive] to do the thing that someone else has been doing, and let them do the thing that you have been doing 交换互相做的事情
ￚsynonym change
They decided to swap roles for the day. 他们决定那天交换角色。
You start on the windows and I’ll do the walls, then we can swap over after an hour or so. 你从窗户开始搞卫生，我从墙开始，然后一小时左右交换过来。
swap something with somebody
She ended up swapping jobs with her secretary. 她最终与她的秘书交换工作。
4 [transitive] to stop using or get rid of one thing and put or get another thing in its place 停用某事后换用另一个
The driver announced that we would have to swap buses. 司机说我们必须要再换坐公共汽车。
swap something for something
She had swapped her long skirts for jeans and T shirts. 她不穿长裙，而是改穿牛仔和T恤。
He swapped his London home for a cottage in Scotland. 他将自己在伦敦的加处理到后，搬到了苏格兰的一个乡间小屋。
5 also swap something around
[transitive] to move one thing and put another in its place 挪开后放置另一事物
swap something with something
Why don’t we swap the TV with the bookcase? 我们为什么不挪开电视机，在这里放上书架。
6 swap places
British English to let someone sit or stand in your place, so that you can have their place 换座位
ￚsynonym change places
Can we swap places, please? 我们可以互换座位吗?
deregulate verb [transitive usually passive] to remove government rules and controls from some types of business activity放宽管制;撤消管制
industries that have been deregulated 被放松管制的行业
ￚderegulation noun [uncountable] 放宽管制;撤消管制
overcapacity noun [singular,uncountable] the situation in which an industry or factory cannot sell as much as it produces 生产过剩
diversify verb
past tense and past participle diversified present participle diversifying third person singular diversifies
1[intransitive and transitive] if a business, company, country etc diversifies, it increases the range of goods or services it produces 将自己的产品或服务多元化
diversify (away) from
farmers forced to diversify away from their core business 农民们被迫远离自己主要的农作物而去耕作其他作物
diversify into
The company is planning to diversify into other mining activities. 这家公司计划开拓进入其他采矿业务。
We need to diversify the economy.
2 [intransitive and transitive] to change something or to make it change so that there is more variety变化
User requirements have diversified over the years. 用户们的要求这些年有了变化。
ￚdiversification noun [uncountable] diversification of the rural economy
equity noun
1 [uncountable] formal a situation in which all people are treated equally and no one has an unfair advantage 平等
ￚopposite inequity
a society run on the principles of equity and justice 一个按照平等和公正原则运行的社会
2 equities [plural] technical shares in a company from which the owner of the shares receives some of the company’s profits rather than a fixed regular payment(股息不定的)普通股，股票，(某公司的)股票值，股本
stake noun
1 at stake
if something that you value very much is at stake, you will lose it if a plan or action is not successful 在危急关头，在危险中，成问题
They have to win the contract - thousands of jobs are at stake. 他们必须要赢得这个合同--- 上千个人可能失业。
National pride is at stake in next week’s game against England. 在下周对英格兰的比赛中国家荣誉在危急关头。
