文/Irene-自由英语之路
【本篇内容简述】
【Para1】引入：脸书业绩很辉煌，市值近1万亿美元，是世界第六大最有价值公司，每月有近30亿人使用其产品。但是辉煌的脸书要改名字。
【Para2】脸书其他业务：社交APPInstagram、WhatsApp、Messenger，视频硬件 Oculus、Portal，钱包Novi，metaverse是一个虚拟的工作、娱乐场所。
【Para3&4&6】改名原因：要退居二线；品牌已经失去了声誉，信任度下降；老板扎克伯格专横形象也是一个原因。
【Para5】各方态度：脸书的投资者不担心。民主党参议员签署了一封信，认为有钱有关的Novi和Diem应该被废除。
（文末的补充材料对理解本文有帮助）
标题：A makeover at Facebook?About-faceA rumoured name-change reflects ambition—and weaknessFacebook要改头换面？彻底改变传闻中的改名反映了野心和弱点The company is more than a social network. It also has a reputation problem这家公司不仅仅是一个社交网络。它还存在声誉问题Paragraph 1：WORTH NEARLY $1TRN, Facebook is the world’s sixth-most-valuable company. 脸书市值近1万亿美元，是世界第六大最有价值公司（见文末补充资料）。Its revenues have grown by 56% in the past year, and its share price by more than a quarter. Nearly 3bn people use its products every month. 在过去一年中，其收入增长了56%，其股价增长了四分之一以上。每月有近30亿人使用其产品。Why would such a glittering success change its name, as the Verge, a news site, reports it plans to within days?为什么如此辉煌的成功会改变它的名字，正如新闻网站Verge计划在几天内报道的那样？
Paragraph 2:The likely official reason for the rebranding, which Facebook has not confirmed, is that the firm has outgrown the social network that Mark Zuckerberg started 17 years ago in a Harvard dorm. 这一更名的可能官方原因（Facebook尚未证实）是，该公司已经超越了马克·扎克伯格17年前在哈佛大学宿舍创建的社交网络。Today it encompasses other social apps (Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger) and video hardware (Oculus, Portal). It has launched a digital wallet (Novi) and may yet offer a currency (Diem). 如今，它包括其他社交应用（Instagram、WhatsApp、Messenger）和视频硬件（Oculus、Portal）。它已经推出了一款数字钱包（Novi），还可能提供一种货币（Diem）。Mr Zuckerberg expects people eventually to associate his firm more with the “metaverse”, a virtual space for work, play and more, than with social media. 扎克伯格预计，人们最终会更多地将他的公司与“metaverse”联系起来，metaverse是一个虚拟的工作、娱乐场所，而不只是社交媒体。This week Facebook said it would hire 10,000 people to work on the metaverse.本周，Facebook表示将雇佣10000人开发metaverse。Paragraph 3:If the Facebook network is to take a back seat, there may be a case for regrouping under a new name. 如果Facebook要退居二线，可能有理由以一个新名字重新组合。Facebook wouldn’t be the first tech titan to do so. Facebook不会是第一个这样做的科技巨头。In 2015 Google set up Alphabet, a holding company for the search engine and its many side projects. 2015年，谷歌成立了Alphabet，这是一家搜索引擎及其多个辅助项目的控股公司。Under this model, Facebook would become just another app within a wider family, albeit by far its biggest earner.在这种模式下，Facebook将成为更大家族中的另一个应用程序，尽管它是迄今为止最大的赚钱者。Paragraph 4:There is another, less flattering possible motive for a makeover. For all its pecuniary success, the Facebook brand has become tarnished. 还有另一个不太讨人喜欢的转变动机。尽管Facebook在金钱上取得了巨大成功，但它的品牌已经失去了声誉。The social network is blamed for stokingeverything from teenage anorexia to insurrection at the US Capitol. 人们指责社交网络煽动了从青少年厌食症到美国国会大厦暴动的一切。This month Frances Haugen, a former employee, told Congress that Facebook was failing to moderate content on its platform and covering up a drop in young American users (it denies this). 本月，前雇员弗朗西斯·豪根告诉国会，Facebook未能控制其平台上的内容，并掩盖了美国年轻用户数量的下降（该公司对此予以否认）。Public trust in it is lower than in most tech giants, and falling. 公众对它的信任度低于大多数科技巨头，而且正在下降。Although two years ago the firm started branding its apps as being “from Facebook”, its new “smart glasses”, which can record video and take phone calls, feature only the logo of its partner, Ray-Ban.尽管两年前，该公司开始将其应用程序品牌化为“来自Facebook”，但其新的“智能眼镜”（可以录制视频和接听电话）只带有其合作伙伴雷班的标志。Paragraph 5:Facebook investors seem untroubled. But its social apps’ growing toxicity threaten to poison its other projects. 脸书的投资者似乎并不担心。但其社交应用程序日益增长的毒性可能会毒害其其他项目。On October 19th Democratic senators signed a letter arguing that Novi and Diem should be scrapped, since “Facebook cannot be trusted to manage a payment system or digital currency when its existing ability to manage risks and keep consumers safe has proven wholly insufficient.”10月19日，民主党参议员签署了一封信，认为Novi和Diem应该被废除，因为“Facebook不值得信任，它对支付系统或数字货币的管理能力已经被证明是完全不够的，而Facebook管理风险和保护消费者安全的能力已经被证明是完全不够的。”Paragraph 6:Mr Zuckerberg himself has been a lightning rod for much of the criticism of Facebook, and of bossy tech firms more generally.扎克伯格本人就是众人批评Facebook的原因，以及他被普遍认为是专横的科技公司老板。As the all-powerful founder, he has a higher profile than his opposite numbers at TikTok, YouTube and other social networks. 作为全能的创始人，他在TikTok、YouTube和其他社交网络上的知名度要高于他的对手。Normally, a brand facing a reputational crisis might dump its unpopular CEO. But Mr Zuckerberg’s position is unassailable, which may explain why he would want to dump the brand instead. 通常，面临声誉危机的品牌可能会甩掉不受欢迎的CEO。但扎克伯格的地位是无法撼动的，这或许可以解释为什么他想放弃这个品牌。（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量503个左右）原文出自2021年10月23日《The Economist》Business版块。精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路，仅供个人英语学习交流使用。
【补充资料】
关于2021全球上市公司市值排行榜TOP100，我只截取前10。（来源于PwC、中商产业研究院整理）
【重点词汇】（12个）makeover/ˈmeɪkəʊvə(r)/n. 翻新；改善；打扮转变about-face：An about-face is a complete change of attitude or opinion.take a back seat处于默默无闻的地位；处于次要地位；退居二线pecuniary /pɪˈkjuːniəri/ adj. 金钱的tarnish/ˈtɑːnɪʃ/ v. 暗淡；败坏（名誉）stoke/stəʊk/to make people feel sth more strongly.v.添加燃料；煽动；激起 anorexia/ˌænəˈreksiə/ n. 厌食症insurrection/ˌɪnsəˈrekʃn/n. 暴动；叛乱lightning rod:a person or thing that attracts criticism, especially if the criticism is then not directed at sb/sth elsen.引火烧身的人（或事）；避雷针all-powerfuladj. 全能的higher profile鲜明的姿态；引人注目的高姿态；明确的立场unassailable/ˌʌnəˈseɪləbl/ adj. 不容置疑的；无懈可击的，稳如泰山【重点句子】（3个）If the Facebook network is to take a back seat, there may be a case for regrouping under a new name. 如果Facebook要退居二线，可能有理由以一个新名字重新组合。Public trust in it is lower than in most tech giants, and falling. 公众对它的信任度低于大多数科技巨头，而且正在下降。Facebook investors seem untroubled. But its social apps’ growing toxicity threaten to poison its other projects. 脸书的投资者似乎并不担心。但其社交应用程序日益增长的毒性可能会毒害其其他项目。【重点词根】（1 3个）pecuniary=pecun钱财- -ious表形容词pecun- 源自拉丁语 pecunia "property, wealth."= wealth，表示“财产”如：impecuniosity/'impi,kju:ni'ɔsəti/ n. 没有钱, 身无分文, 贫穷impecunious/ˌɪmpɪˈkjuːniəs/ adj. 没有钱的, 身无分文的, 贫穷的pecunious/pɪ'kjuːniːəs/ adj.有钱的; 富有的
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