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0Hello guys! Welcome to my channel! My name is JC, a University Lecturer in the UK. 哈喽大家好，欢迎来到我的频道——每天学点经济学人英语。我叫JC，是一名在英国高校工作的大学老师。In this channel, I hope to share with you some latest news happening around the world, and some useful words and expressions to talk about them. 那么这个频道呢主要是和大家分享一些最新的热门话题，以及如何用地道的词汇和短语进行表达。我们选用的语料主要来源于《经济学人》: 一本诙谐幽默的英文新闻周报。选用它主要是因为它的用词相当日常，而且常常带有梗的成分,可以说是学习英语的不二之选。那么话不多说——let’s jump right in!
Hey guys! It's June 13th, 2024. Today’s news is about Samsung Electronics’ first-ever strike. Last week, the National Samsung Electronics Union had its first strike in the company’s 55-year history. What happened? What workers were asking for? Let’s find out from the news.
【听力原文】Samsung Electronics’ first-ever strike 三星电子的首次罢工
The National Samsung Electronics Union, which accounts for about a fifth of Samsung Electronics’ total workforce, has called on its members to use annual leave to take Friday off. It will be the first industrial action in the South Korean technology giant’s 55-year history. Talks between the union and management have stalled over the amount of holiday workers receive, as well as the method used to calculate bonus payments.
A subsidiary of Samsung Group, South Korea’s largest conglomerate, Samsung Electronics is one of the world’s biggest producers of memory chips, smartphones and televisions. While the disruptions from Friday’s walk-out may be minimal, the union has threatened a larger strike if its demands are not met. Samsung, which was fiercely anti-union until 2020, has little experience handling labour disputes. And the internal turbulence compounds its other recent woes. The firm has fallen behind SK Hynix, a local rival, in the race to produce chips used for artificial intelligence.
【逐句分析】
①The National Samsung Electronics Union, which accounts for about a fifth of Samsung Electronics’ total workforce, has called on its members to use annual leave to take Friday off. It will be the first industrial action in the South Korean technology giant’s 55-year history.
占三星电子员工总数约五分之一的全国三星电子工会(National Samsung Electronics Union)呼吁会员利用年假在周五休息。这将是这家韩国科技巨头55年历史上的首次罢工。
Account for:
-占有
-解释，导致 < How do you account for the company's alarmingly high staff turnover?> 你怎么解释这家公司高得惊人的人员流动率？
Workforce: n. 雇员总数; 劳动力 (local workforce 本地劳动力)
Annual leave: 年假
Call on sb to do sth: 呼吁某人做某事
< One of Kenya's leading churchmen has called on the government to resign.>
肯尼亚宗教界的一位重要人物已呼吁政府下台。
industrial action: [U] action that workers take, especially stopping work, to protest to their employers about sth劳工行动；（尤指）罢工，怠工
go/be on strike:
Walk-out: 罢工 (或动词词组walk out)
②Talks between the union and management have stalled over the amount of holiday workers receive, as well as the method used to calculate bonus payments.
工会和资方之间的谈判在假期工人领取的金额以及计算奖金的方法上陷入僵局。
Stall: v. 暂缓；搁置；停顿
< Discussions have once again stalled.> 讨论再次停顿下来。
v. （使）熄火，抛锚
< The car stalled and refused to start again.> 汽车熄火打不着了。
< I stalled the car three times during my driving test.> 我考驾照时车子熄了三次火。
v. 拖住（以赢得时间做某事）
Bonus payment: 奖金
③A subsidiary of Samsung Group, South Korea’s largest conglomerate, Samsung Electronics is one of the world’s biggest producers of memory chips, smartphones and televisions. While the disruptions from Friday’s walk-out may be minimal, the union has threatened a larger strike if its demands are not met.
三星电子是韩国最大企业集团三星集团(Samsung Group)的子公司，是全球最大的存储芯片、智能手机和电视生产商之一。虽然周五罢工的影响可能很小，但工会威胁说，如果他们的要求得不到满足，他们将举行更大规模的罢工。
Subsidiary: [/səbˈsɪdiəri/] n. 附属公司；子公司
Adj. 辅助的；附带的；次要的/隶属的
Conglomerate [/kənˈɡlɒmərət/] n. 联合大公司；企业集团
< ...the world's second-largest media conglomerate.> …世界第二大传媒集团。
Memory chips: 存储芯片
Minimal: adj. 极小的；极少的；最小的 —— maximal: adj. 最大的
At minimal cost: 以最小的开销
Minimum: n. 最小值； maximum: 最大值
④Samsung, which was fiercely anti-union until 2020, has little experience handling labour disputes. And the internal turbulence compounds its other recent woes. The firm has fallen behind SK Hynix, a local rival, in the race to produce chips used for artificial intelligence.
三星在2020年之前一直强烈反对工会，在处理劳资纠纷方面几乎没有经验。而内部动荡加剧了其近期的其他困境。在生产用于人工智能的芯片方面，三星已经落后于本土竞争对手SK海力士。
Fierce: adj. 狂热的；强烈的；猛烈的
Fiercely: adv. 凶猛地，猛烈地
Dispute: n. 争论；辩论；争端；纠纷
Industrial/labour/pay disputes: 劳资/工资纠纷
Turbulence: [U]
n. 骚乱；动乱；动荡；混乱=upheaval
< The 1960s and early 1970s were a time of change and turbulence.>
20世纪60年代和70年代初期是个变革和动荡的年代。
n. （空气和水的）湍流，涡流，紊流
Woes: pl. n. 麻烦；问题；困难
[U] n. 痛苦；苦恼；悲伤；悲哀
< a tale of woe> 悲惨的故事
