|
Japan's small businesses are in trouble 日本的小型企业遭遇困境 Inoue toyosaku moved to Tokyo in 1913. When he struck out on his own a few years later he found profit making scissors for hair salons. The company he founded, Tokosha,now sells its Joewell brand scissors in more than 50countries, for as much as$2,900 a pop. "We make scissors in the Japanese countryside but export to New York, London and Paris,"boasts Inoue Kenji, a grandson of the founder and Tokosha's current boss. 井上丰作于 1913 年移居东京。几年后，他开始自己创业时发现为美发沙龙制作剪刀可以赚钱。他创立了一家名为 Tokosha 的公司，如今旗下 Joewell 品牌的剪刀销往 50 多个国家，每把剪刀的售价高达 2900 美元。“我们在日本的乡村制造剪刀，但是出口到纽约、伦敦和巴黎，”Tokosha 创始人的孙子和现任的老板井上健二自豪地说。 Companies such as Tokosha,which has around 50employees, make up a big share of Japan's economy. The country has some 3.6m small and medium-size enterprises(SMEs), which employ 70% of workers. These firms are less productive than peers in other wealthy places. 像 Tokosha 这样雇佣了 50 名左右员工的小公司，在日本经济中占有很大的份额。日本大约有 360 万家中小企业，员工数占总数的 70%；这些企业的生产率低于富裕地区的同行业竞争者。 In the coming years even the better small firms may face a reckoning. Hundreds of thousands of profitable businesses responsible for millions of jobs risk shutting down because their ageing owners cannot find successors.*** Consolidation would make SMEs more spritely, and save good ones from closing needlessly. But efforts to encourage it are going slowly. 在未来几年，即使是小公司中的佼佼者也可能面临清算。由于年迈的企业主找不到接任者，成千上万家正在盈利且提供了上百万个就业岗位的小企业面临倒闭的风险。合并可以让中小企业焕发生机，避免优秀的企业不必要地关闭。（政府）为了鼓励小企业合并做了许多努力，但是收效甚微。 Companies such as Tokosha see little advantage in mergers. Given the time it takes to train craftspeople,"you can't all of a sudden make these companies bigger," Mr Inoue says. His customers are aficionados who appreciate subtle differences between brands. "Every scissor has its own flavour," he adds. Mr Inoue has not thought much about buying competitors or selling his firm. But he does worry about who will succeed him. He hopes his nephew will take over one day. Tokosha 等公司认为，合并几乎没有什么好处。鉴于培训手艺人所需的时间，井上先生说: “你不可能突然让这些公司变得规模更大。”他的顾客是品牌之间细微差别的狂热爱好者。“每个剪刀都有它自己的特色”，他补充道。井上先生没有考虑过收购竞争对手或出售他的公司。但他确实担心公司接班人的问题，他希望自己的侄子有一天能接手这里。 重点词汇 be in trouble处于困境 例句：My friend helped me when I was in trouble. 例句：I was in serious / deep trouble. 近义短语： run into trouble, get into trouble 例句：The company ran into trouble/got into trouble when it tried to expand too quickly. strike out开始独立，开始新的道路；狠打，猛扑 相关词汇：strike（v. 击，打） 例句：He lost his temper and struck outwildly.（狠打，猛扑） 搭配短语：to strike out in a new direction（开辟新路线） 搭配短语：to strike out on one's own（开创自己的事业） as much as多达......（常强调数量大得惊人） 英文释义：used to emphasize how surprisingly large an amount is 例句：Some machines cost as much as￡20,000. pop/pɑːp/n.（一系列事情中的）一次，一项 相关词汇：popcorn（n. 爆米花） 相关词汇：pop music（n. 流行音乐） 例句：She gives lectures and gets paid $5000 a pop.（一次，一项） boast/boʊst/v. 自吹自擂，自夸 例句：Someone is boasting about how much money he has made. 补充：boast 可以接直接引语和以 that 引导的从句。 接直接引语，放引语后：'I wouldn't be afraid,' she boasted.（“我才不怕呢。”她吹嘘道。） 接直接引语，放引语前：Ted used to boast 'I manage ten people'（特德过去常吹嘘道：“我管十个人。”） 接 that 引导的从句：He boasts that he is more clever than his brother.（他吹嘘道，自己比弟弟更聪明。） make up组成，占比 例句：The human body is made up of cells. 例句：Exports make up 70% of the trade. 同义词：account for enterprise/ˈen.t̬ɚ.praɪz/n. 公司，企业；组织 词义辨析：enterprise, company 这两个词都有“公司”的意思，但是 enterprise 所指的公司规模更小，指的是 a small company or business（小型企业）。 reckoning/ˈrek.ən.ɪŋ/n. 清算；计算 相关词汇：reckon（v. 估计，估算；计算，清算） 近义词：estimate 例句：The journey was reckoned to take about two hours. 例句：A day of reckoning will come. profitable/ˈprɑː.fɪ.t̬ə.bəl/adj. 有利润的，赢利的 相关词汇：profit（n. 利润） 搭配短语：a highly profitable business successor/səkˈses.ɚ/n. 接替者，继承人 相关词汇：succeed（v. 成功；继承，接替） 搭配短语：to succeed to the throne 例句：She succeeded her father as chairman. consolidation/kənˈsɑː.lə.deɪʃən/n.（尤指企业）合并，联合 词根词缀：con-（表示“共同，一起”） 相关词汇：solid（adj. 坚实的） 词根词缀：-ation（名词后缀，表示“......动作”） 近义词：merger（n.（公司、企业等的）合并） 文化补充：合并指两个或者两个以上的企业通过订立合并协议，依照有关法律法规的规定，将资产合为一体，组成一个新企业的行为过程。 spritely/ˈspraɪtli/adj. 精力充沛的；（尤指老年人）老当益壮的 同义词：sprightly 词义辨析：energetic, spritely 两个词都可以表示“精力充沛的”，但是 energetic 适用范围更广，spritely 主要指 older people who are still active and full of energy，用来夸赞老年人像年轻人一样有活力的，生气勃勃的；类似中文里的「老当益壮」。 needlessly/ˈniːd.ləs.li/adv. 不必要地 相关词汇：need（v. 需要） 英文释义：in a way that is not necessary craftspeople/ˈkrɑːftsˌpiː.pəl/n. 工匠，手艺人（复数名词） 同义词：craftsmen（单数形式为 craftsman） 相关词汇：craftsperson（craftspeople 的单数形式） 搭配短语：highly skilled craftspeople all of a sudden突然地 近义词：suddenly 例句：I feel really tired all of a sudden. aficionado/əˌfɪʃ.i.əˈnɑː.doʊ/n. 狂热爱好者，......迷 相关词汇：affection（n. 喜爱，钟爱） 搭配短语：a coffee aficionado / an aficionadoof coffee take over接手，接任 |
|
|
