Disorientation

　　迷途羔羊

　　Two luxury hotel chains will not be checking intogether

　　兩家奢侈連鎖酒店將無法一同騰飛

　　INDIA and Orient-Express have never rubbed along.

　　印度和Orient-Express酒店一直很融洽。

　　The luxury hotel firm s buccaneering founder, James Sherwood, visited the country in theearly 1990s and had a nightmare.

　　James Sherwood在20世紀90年代早期游玩過印度，投機性地建立了這家奢侈酒店，也經歷了一場噩夢。

　　His private jet was delayed for an age in Mumbai while officials checked that the bottles in itson-board bar were sealed correctly.

　　當時地方官員檢查他私人飛機上酒吧的酒瓶是否正確密封花了很長時間，導致航班在孟買延誤了很久。

　　He signed a deal to run the Lake Palace Hotel in Rajasthan, owned by local royalty.

　　在此期間，他簽了一份經營碧河皇宮酒店的協議，這家酒店位于拉賈斯坦邦，所有權歸當地貴族。

　　The deal collapsed when lawyersdiscovered that Mr Sherwood s interlocutor was not the real Maharana of Udaipur, but hisbrother.

　　但協議很快終止了，律師發現Sherwood的合作者不是真正的烏代浦爾的王公貴族，他的哥哥才是。

　　TheLakePalacewas run then, and still is, by Taj Hotels.

　　隨后，泰姬陵酒店將碧河皇宮酒店一直運營到現在。

　　It is part of Tata Sons,India s biggest conglomerate.

　　它現在是印度最大的企業塔塔之子旗下的產業。

　　For the past half-decade Taj has fantasised about swallowing its American-listed rival.

　　過去五年里，泰姬陵酒店一直幻想著吞并這位美國的競爭對手。

　　In 2007 it took a stake in Orient; it owns 6.9% today.

　　2007年，它入股Orient酒店，現在已經有6.9%的股份了。

　　In 2023 it made a takeover bid valuing Orient s equity at 1.3 billion.

　　2023年，泰姬陵酒店采取了收購行動，想以13億美元購買Orient酒店的資產。

　　Orient dismissed this as one of its guests might a bell hop, arguing it was too low. OnNovember 8th the Indian firm abandoned its pursuit.

　　Orient酒店就像一位客人拒絕門童那樣拒絕了這次收購，宣稱價格太低。11月8號，這家印度企業終止了收購行動。

　　Orient has 45 trophy properties including the Hotel Cipriani inVeniceandtheCopacabanaPalaceinRio de Janeiro.

　　Orient酒店有45家著名產業，其中包括威尼斯西普利亞尼賓館和里約熱內盧科帕卡巴納沙灘酒店。

　　Most were acquired after years of negotiation by Mr Sherwood, who retired as chairman in2007.

　　大部分產業都是Sherwood花費了數年時間談判獲得的，他也于2007年從主席位置退休。

　　A glorious symbol of extravagance, the firm entered the global financial crisis with toomuch debt.

　　Orient鋪張浪費的光榮象征導致它帶著巨大債務卷入了全球金融危機里。

　　As profits collapsed it barely survived and its market capitalisation dropped to 144m at thelow point.

　　隨著盈利巨跌，它只能勉強維持經營，市場資本也跌至1.44億美元的低位。

　　Since then it has been groping its way back to financial health.

　　從那以后，它就一直探索讓它恢復金融常態的方法。

　　The Taj bid speeded that process.

　　泰姬陵酒店對它的收購加快了這一進程。

　　Days after it was made in October 2023, Orient appointed a new boss, John Scott.

　　僅在泰姬陵酒店2023年10月份做出收購決定的幾天后，Orient認命了一位新總裁，John Scott。

　　The firm has cut costs and sold assets.

　　隨后公司削減開支，變賣資產。

　　Its market capitalisation has recovered smartly to 1.5 billionabove the Taj bid, althoughsome way off the 2.7 billion valuation it enjoyed at the peak.

　　市場資本漂亮地恢復到15億美元，盡管離它27億美元的頂峰時期價值還有一段距離，但還是高于泰姬陵酒店的提價。

　　For Taj life has got harder.

　　泰姬陵酒店的生意也不好做。

　　It is now the smaller of the two firms, with a market cap of only 600m, from a peak of 2.6billion.

　　現在它是兩家企業中較弱的一方，市場資本只有6億美元，遠遜于頂峰26億。

　　It is losing money and is almost as leveraged as Orient was at its nadir, measured by netdebt relative to gross operating profits.

　　通過計算與總營業額相關的凈資產判斷，泰姬陵酒店一直在虧損財力，和Orient處于低谷時期幾乎一樣受到杠桿作用影響。

　　The boom inIndiahas faded.

　　印度的繁榮已經衰落。

　　Intense competition from global chains has lowered room rates.

　　全球連鎖酒店業激烈的競爭降低了房間價格。

　　Taj s adventures inAmericait owns The Pierre inNew York, for examplehave also strainedits finances.

　　以紐約的皮埃爾酒店為例子它是泰姬陵酒店在美國投資的公司，也在縮小規模。

　　Taj could not have made the 2023 bid without help from its parent group.

　　2023年的那項收購計劃，沒有背后主公司的幫助，泰姬陵酒店是無法提出的。

　　It also roped in a minority partner, a fund linked to Luca di Montezemolo, the chairman ofFerrari.

　　它也游說到了一個少數派合作伙伴給它供應資金法拉利公司的主席盧卡迪蒙特澤莫羅。

　　Perhaps Tata s new boss, Cyrus Mistry, who took over from the patriarch Ratan Tata at theend of 2023, has taken a tougher stance.

　　在2023年年底從元老Ratan Tata那接手塔塔之子集團，成為了新老板的Cyrus Mistry可能已經采取了更加強硬地立場。

　　About two-thirds of the capital employed in the wider Tata group is making a post-tax returnon capital of 10% or less, according to calculations by The Economist.

　　根據經濟學人的計算，塔塔之子集團內2/3的資本在稅后的資本返還率為10%或者更少。

　　Taj hotels is a small part of this underperformance but Mr Mistry may have insisted that itgets its own house in order before it does any more empire-building.

　　泰姬陵酒店只是塔塔集團弱勢股的一小部分，在Mistry進行構建更大的商業帝國前，他可能還會堅持讓它管理好它自己的房產。

　　Just as Taj s problem may in part have been a forgiving controlling shareholder, Orient hasalso been insulated from shareholders wrath.

　　正如泰姬陵酒店出現的問題一部分是出自寬容的有控制權的股東身上，Orient酒店卻和股東的怒火不沾邊。

　　Its B shares act as a poison-pill structure that puts voting control in the hands of the firm,not its owners.

　　它的B級股票就像一片毒藥，把投票權給公司，而不是給擁有者。

　　As both firms have battled the business climate and each other, they have missed ahalf-decade of change in the industry.

　　兩家公司都在和商業環境作斗爭，互相之間也在做斗爭，它們很盼望像工業五年變革的一場改變。

　　Global hoteliers such as Starwood and InterContinental have performed far better.

　　像Starwood和InterContinental這樣的全球酒店運營商的經營就遠遠好于它們。

　　They have asset light business models, in which they merely manage hotels rather thanowning them.

　　運營商們有一套輕資產上陣的商業模式，這樣運營商只用管理酒店而不是擁有它們。

　　They have multiple brands aimed at different kinds of customers.

　　針對不同的消費者們，他們也有多種品牌策略。

　　Taj has experimented with this approach but has been timid, and Orient-Express is still anold-school affair.

　　泰姬陵酒店也嘗試過這種方法，但是尺度很小，Orient-Express卻還是一副老學究作態。

　　Both hotel groups specialise in historic buildings that are lovingly maintained.

　　兩家酒店集團專門經營被小心保存的歷史建筑。

　　Both need to do more to avoid becoming ancient monuments themselves.

　　但是兩家酒店都需要做的更多，避免像這些歷史建筑一樣成為遠古遺跡。

　　詞語解釋

　　1.check in 記錄，登記簽到

　　Can I check in here?

　　我能在這里辦理登機手續嗎?

　　Where can I check in?

　　在哪里辦理登機手續?

　　2.low point 低點

　　The population density reached a low point in 1650.

　　1650年，當地人口密度降到歷史低點。

　　This year marked a low point for berlusconi.

　　這年是貝盧斯科尼的最低點。

　　3.link to 與連接，聯系

　　Just send them a link to the google docs file.

　　只需給他們一個google docs的文件鏈接。

　　Each sentence is followed by a link to the source.

　　每個語句后面還包括了它們的出處的鏈接。

　　4.according to 根據，按照;據所說

　　Again this is according to recently declassified information.

　　這也還是根據最近解密的信息得知的。

　　It did not go according to plan.

　　這個妥協方案并沒有按計劃執行。

　　Disorientation

　　迷途羔羊

　　Two luxury hotel chains will not be checking intogether

　　兩家奢侈連鎖酒店將無法一同騰飛

　　INDIA and Orient-Express have never rubbed along.

　　印度和Orient-Express酒店一直很融洽。

　　The luxury hotel firm s buccaneering founder, James Sherwood, visited the country in theearly 1990s and had a nightmare.

　　James Sherwood在20世紀90年代早期游玩過印度，投機性地建立了這家奢侈酒店，也經歷了一場噩夢。

　　His private jet was delayed for an age in Mumbai while officials checked that the bottles in itson-board bar were sealed correctly.

　　當時地方官員檢查他私人飛機上酒吧的酒瓶是否正確密封花了很長時間，導致航班在孟買延誤了很久。

　　He signed a deal to run the Lake Palace Hotel in Rajasthan, owned by local royalty.

　　在此期間，他簽了一份經營碧河皇宮酒店的協議，這家酒店位于拉賈斯坦邦，所有權歸當地貴族。

　　The deal collapsed when lawyersdiscovered that Mr Sherwood s interlocutor was not the real Maharana of Udaipur, but hisbrother.

　　但協議很快終止了，律師發現Sherwood的合作者不是真正的烏代浦爾的王公貴族，他的哥哥才是。

　　TheLakePalacewas run then, and still is, by Taj Hotels.

　　隨后，泰姬陵酒店將碧河皇宮酒店一直運營到現在。

　　It is part of Tata Sons,India s biggest conglomerate.

　　它現在是印度最大的企業塔塔之子旗下的產業。

　　For the past half-decade Taj has fantasised about swallowing its American-listed rival.

　　過去五年里，泰姬陵酒店一直幻想著吞并這位美國的競爭對手。

　　In 2007 it took a stake in Orient; it owns 6.9% today.

　　2007年，它入股Orient酒店，現在已經有6.9%的股份了。

　　In 2023 it made a takeover bid valuing Orient s equity at 1.3 billion.

　　2023年，泰姬陵酒店采取了收購行動，想以13億美元購買Orient酒店的資產。

　　Orient dismissed this as one of its guests might a bell hop, arguing it was too low. OnNovember 8th the Indian firm abandoned its pursuit.

　　Orient酒店就像一位客人拒絕門童那樣拒絕了這次收購，宣稱價格太低。11月8號，這家印度企業終止了收購行動。

　　Orient has 45 trophy properties including the Hotel Cipriani inVeniceandtheCopacabanaPalaceinRio de Janeiro.

　　Orient酒店有45家著名產業，其中包括威尼斯西普利亞尼賓館和里約熱內盧科帕卡巴納沙灘酒店。

　　Most were acquired after years of negotiation by Mr Sherwood, who retired as chairman in2007.

　　大部分產業都是Sherwood花費了數年時間談判獲得的，他也于2007年從主席位置退休。

　　A glorious symbol of extravagance, the firm entered the global financial crisis with toomuch debt.

　　Orient鋪張浪費的光榮象征導致它帶著巨大債務卷入了全球金融危機里。

　　As profits collapsed it barely survived and its market capitalisation dropped to 144m at thelow point.

　　隨著盈利巨跌，它只能勉強維持經營，市場資本也跌至1.44億美元的低位。

　　Since then it has been groping its way back to financial health.

　　從那以后，它就一直探索讓它恢復金融常態的方法。

　　The Taj bid speeded that process.

　　泰姬陵酒店對它的收購加快了這一進程。

　　Days after it was made in October 2023, Orient appointed a new boss, John Scott.

　　僅在泰姬陵酒店2023年10月份做出收購決定的幾天后，Orient認命了一位新總裁，John Scott。

　　The firm has cut costs and sold assets.

　　隨后公司削減開支，變賣資產。

　　Its market capitalisation has recovered smartly to 1.5 billionabove the Taj bid, althoughsome way off the 2.7 billion valuation it enjoyed at the peak.

　　市場資本漂亮地恢復到15億美元，盡管離它27億美元的頂峰時期價值還有一段距離，但還是高于泰姬陵酒店的提價。

　　For Taj life has got harder.

　　泰姬陵酒店的生意也不好做。

　　It is now the smaller of the two firms, with a market cap of only 600m, from a peak of 2.6billion.

　　現在它是兩家企業中較弱的一方，市場資本只有6億美元，遠遜于頂峰26億。

　　It is losing money and is almost as leveraged as Orient was at its nadir, measured by netdebt relative to gross operating profits.

　　通過計算與總營業額相關的凈資產判斷，泰姬陵酒店一直在虧損財力，和Orient處于低谷時期幾乎一樣受到杠桿作用影響。

　　The boom inIndiahas faded.

　　印度的繁榮已經衰落。

　　Intense competition from global chains has lowered room rates.

　　全球連鎖酒店業激烈的競爭降低了房間價格。

　　Taj s adventures inAmericait owns The Pierre inNew York, for examplehave also strainedits finances.

　　以紐約的皮埃爾酒店為例子它是泰姬陵酒店在美國投資的公司，也在縮小規模。

　　Taj could not have made the 2023 bid without help from its parent group.

　　2023年的那項收購計劃，沒有背后主公司的幫助，泰姬陵酒店是無法提出的。

　　It also roped in a minority partner, a fund linked to Luca di Montezemolo, the chairman ofFerrari.

　　它也游說到了一個少數派合作伙伴給它供應資金法拉利公司的主席盧卡迪蒙特澤莫羅。

　　Perhaps Tata s new boss, Cyrus Mistry, who took over from the patriarch Ratan Tata at theend of 2023, has taken a tougher stance.

　　在2023年年底從元老Ratan Tata那接手塔塔之子集團，成為了新老板的Cyrus Mistry可能已經采取了更加強硬地立場。

　　About two-thirds of the capital employed in the wider Tata group is making a post-tax returnon capital of 10% or less, according to calculations by The Economist.

　　根據經濟學人的計算，塔塔之子集團內2/3的資本在稅后的資本返還率為10%或者更少。

　　Taj hotels is a small part of this underperformance but Mr Mistry may have insisted that itgets its own house in order before it does any more empire-building.

　　泰姬陵酒店只是塔塔集團弱勢股的一小部分，在Mistry進行構建更大的商業帝國前，他可能還會堅持讓它管理好它自己的房產。

　　Just as Taj s problem may in part have been a forgiving controlling shareholder, Orient hasalso been insulated from shareholders wrath.

　　正如泰姬陵酒店出現的問題一部分是出自寬容的有控制權的股東身上，Orient酒店卻和股東的怒火不沾邊。

　　Its B shares act as a poison-pill structure that puts voting control in the hands of the firm,not its owners.

　　它的B級股票就像一片毒藥，把投票權給公司，而不是給擁有者。

　　As both firms have battled the business climate and each other, they have missed ahalf-decade of change in the industry.

　　兩家公司都在和商業環境作斗爭，互相之間也在做斗爭，它們很盼望像工業五年變革的一場改變。

　　Global hoteliers such as Starwood and InterContinental have performed far better.

　　像Starwood和InterContinental這樣的全球酒店運營商的經營就遠遠好于它們。

　　They have asset light business models, in which they merely manage hotels rather thanowning them.

　　運營商們有一套輕資產上陣的商業模式，這樣運營商只用管理酒店而不是擁有它們。

　　They have multiple brands aimed at different kinds of customers.

　　針對不同的消費者們，他們也有多種品牌策略。

　　Taj has experimented with this approach but has been timid, and Orient-Express is still anold-school affair.

　　泰姬陵酒店也嘗試過這種方法，但是尺度很小，Orient-Express卻還是一副老學究作態。

　　Both hotel groups specialise in historic buildings that are lovingly maintained.

　　兩家酒店集團專門經營被小心保存的歷史建筑。

　　Both need to do more to avoid becoming ancient monuments themselves.

　　但是兩家酒店都需要做的更多，避免像這些歷史建筑一樣成為遠古遺跡。

　　詞語解釋

　　1.check in 記錄，登記簽到

　　Can I check in here?

　　我能在這里辦理登機手續嗎?

　　Where can I check in?

　　在哪里辦理登機手續?

　　2.low point 低點

　　The population density reached a low point in 1650.

　　1650年，當地人口密度降到歷史低點。

　　This year marked a low point for berlusconi.

　　這年是貝盧斯科尼的最低點。

　　3.link to 與連接，聯系

　　Just send them a link to the google docs file.

　　只需給他們一個google docs的文件鏈接。

　　Each sentence is followed by a link to the source.

　　每個語句后面還包括了它們的出處的鏈接。

　　4.according to 根據，按照;據所說

　　Again this is according to recently declassified information.

　　這也還是根據最近解密的信息得知的。

　　It did not go according to plan.

　　這個妥協方案并沒有按計劃執行。