双语新闻:追踪悍马的神秘骑士

【英文原文】

Tracking Hummer's Mysterious Buyer

摘要：几乎每个关注通用汽车(General Motors)破产案的人都在问同一个问题：收购通用汽车旗下悍马(Hummer)品牌的这家中国公司到底是何方神圣？

Google searches shot up exponentially Tuesday for China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co.

Nearly everyone following the General Motors bankruptcy case is asking the same question: Who is the Chinese company buying GM's Hummer?

Not many have a good answer, not even some veteran industrial analysts. 'I don't know the Sichuan company,' said Scott Laprise, an analyst at CLSA Ltd. in China tracking the auto and steel industries.

It isn't just on Google, and it isn't just in the U.S. Before Tuesday's news hit the Web, only a handful of results showed up for Sichuan Tengzhong on baidu, the largest Chinese search engine.

The top results? Job posts on a migrant workers' Web site and chat room conversations about its possible salary. One Sichuan local wrote in a bulletin board that Tengzhong pays its employees about 3,000 yuan a month, or about $450.

Tengzhong's own Web site said the company specializes in producing construction equipment and special-use vehicles. According to China Security News, a leading financial newspaper in the country, Tengzhong has never made its own consumer vehicles.

Little is known about the finances of the closely held company. China News Net, an official Chinese news site, said Tengzhong expected revenue in 2007 of 3 billion yuan, or $440 million. As bankers estimate the Hummer deal's price as less than $500 million, the question remains, is Tengzhong biting off more than it can chew. Tengzhong's interest in the gas-guzzling Hummer brand seems somewhat counterintuitive, as the company just entered the business of making wind-turbine gearboxes last year.

Chinese mainstream news and individuals expressed mixed feelings. Some took great pride in the prospect of making Hummer a Chinese brand, while others think Tengzhong is only buying something GM wants to get rid of. This acquisition is an irrational reaction in a time of financial crisis. China has a great number of rich people who are dying to own a piece of the great brand,' wrote Mihai Keman on Sina forum, China's biggest news portal.

According to a report from Xinhua, China's official news agency, China's government is reviewing the deal.

【中文译文】

周二在谷歌(Google)搜索引擎上，对中国四川腾中重工机械有限公司的搜索量成倍增长。

几乎每个关注通用汽车(General Motors)破产案的人都在问同一个问题：收购通用汽车旗下悍马(Hummer)品牌的这家中国公司到底是何方神圣？

没多少人能给出满意的答案，即便是一些资深的行业分析师也不太清楚。里昂证券亚洲(CLSA)驻中国追踪汽车和钢铁行业的分析师莱普瑞斯(Scott Laprise)就说，我没听说过这家公司。

这并不仅仅是谷歌上面的搜索情况，也不仅仅是美国网络上的搜索情况。在收购悍马的消息周二传出之前，最大的中文搜索引擎百度上关于四川腾中重工的搜索条目也只是寥寥数条。

排在前列的搜索结果是什么？一个民工网站上的招聘信息，以及关于该公司可能开多少薪水的聊天室会话。一个四川人在一个网络公告牌上写道，四川腾中重工的员工每月工资是人民币3,000元左右（约合450美元）。

四川腾中重工网站的信息显示，公司主要生产建筑机械和特种车辆。据中国主要金融报纸《中国证券报》报导，四川腾中重工从未生产过自己的消费车辆。

人们对这家未上市企业的财务状况也是知之甚少。据中国官方的中国新闻网(China News Net)报导，四川腾中重工曾预计2007年收入是人民币30亿元(合4.4亿美元)。而银行业人士预计悍马品牌的售价为不到5亿美元，问题仍然在于，四川腾中重工是不是在蛇吞象。

四川腾中重工看上油耗子品牌悍马似乎有点不合常理，因为该公司去年才刚刚进入制造风电齿轮箱的业务。

中国主流新闻媒体和民众对此也表达了不同的看法。一些人对悍马成为国产品牌的前景感到骄傲，而其他人认为腾中重工只是在拣通用汽车急于甩掉的包袱。科曼(Mihai Keman)在中国最大新闻门户网站新浪网的论坛上写道，这笔收购是金融危机当中的一个不理性反应。中国有大量富人梦寐以求地想拥有这个伟大品牌。

据中国官方的新华社报导，中国政府正在审议这一交易。

【词汇讲解】

1. exponentially adv. 成倍地，幂地，指数地

Electronic commerce has become a reality and is expected to grow exponentially.
而且电子商业已成为事实，并预料会以倍数增长。

2. veteran n.经验丰富的人

The baseball veteran loved to coach young players.
这位棒球老手喜欢指导年轻选手。

3. bulletin board (电子)公告牌

Please post this notice on the school bulletin board.
请把这个通知贴在学校的布告栏上。

4. counterintuitive adj. 违反直觉的

5. wind turbine 风力涡轮机；风轮机

6. gearbox n. 变速箱，变速器

Can the engine and the gearbox be supplied separately?
发动机和变速箱能分开供应吗？

7. irrational adj.无理性的；失去理性的；不合理的

After taking the drug she became completely irrational.
她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。

【语法和句型】

1. As bankers estimate the Hummer deal's price as less than $500 million, the question remains, is Tengzhong biting off more than it can chew.
而银行业人士预计悍马品牌的售价为不到5亿美元，问题仍然在于，四川腾中重工是不是在蛇吞象。

bite off 表示“咬掉，截去”的意思，例如：

"He tried to bite off my nose," he concluded.
“他还想咬掉我的鼻子！”他结束了回答。

chew的意思是“咀嚼；咬”，例如：

Chew your food slowly.
食物要慢慢嚼。

bite off more than one can chew的意思就是“贪多嚼不烂”

2. Some took great pride in the prospect of making Hummer a Chinese brand, while others think Tengzhong is only buying something GM wants to get rid of.
一些人对悍马成为国产品牌的前景感到骄傲，而其他人认为腾中重工只是在拣通用汽车急于甩掉的包袱。

get rid of 表示“除掉，去掉”，例如：

It is difficult to get rid of insects.
除掉虫子可不容易。

We must get rid of this bad style.
我们必须去掉这种不良作风。