英语报刊阅读课后阅读笔记1.docx

1、英语报刊阅读课后阅读笔记11 Swapping gems for cashWhat next for South Africas foremost mining family?MOST people would be overjoyed to pocket $5.1 billion. But Nicky Oppenheimer, the chairman of De Beers, said that it was with a heavy heart that his family had decided to sell its remaining 40% stake in the world

2、s biggest diamond miner to Anglo American, a mining behemoth. The deal marks the end of an era for South Africas foremost mining dynasty.The Oppenheimers have been in the diamond business for more than a century, including over 80 years with De Beers. Nickys grandfather Ernest settled in South Afric

3、a in 1902, having been posted to the diamond-boom town of Kimberley at the age of 22 as an agent for a London-based firm of gem traders. By 1917 he had set up his own mining company, Anglo American. A few years later he won control of De Beers, a diamond miner that had been founded in 1880 by Cecil

4、Rhodes, a British-born colonialist. By the time Rhodes died in 1902, De Beers controlled 90% of the worlds diamond production. Rhodess immense fortune still pays for people like Bill Clinton to study at Oxford.Since 1929, when Sir Ernest (knighted for war services in 1921) took over as chairman, the

5、 Oppenheimers have led De Beers almost without interruption, massaging the price of diamonds by hoarding them and occasionally selling part of the firms stockpile. The family has wielded political influence, too, mostly bankrolling liberal causes. Both Ernest and his son Harry served in South Africa

6、s parliament: Ernest for 14 years in the run-up to the second world war, and Harry for nine years as a member of the anti-apartheid opposition.Of late, however, the familys influence has waned. Some wonder whether Nicky and his son Jonathan have the same drive and acumen as their swashbuckling foreb

7、ears. And Anglo American, the firm their family founded (and in which it now has a stake of 2%), moved its headquarters to London in 1999. Nicky Oppenheimer insists that the family will stay connected with South Africa: they are still based in Johannesburg.What will the Oppenheimers do with their ne

8、w pile of cash? The deal will take months to complete, so they have time to ponder. Under its terms, they are barred from dabbling in diamonds for two years. But other possibilities abound.The family has two investment arms. One, called Stockdale Street Capital, invests largely in medium-sized firms

9、 in South Africa. The other, Tana Africa Capital, is a joint venture with Singapores sovereign-wealth fund, Temasek, and invests in the rest of Africa. Among other things, it holds a stake in a Nigerian firm that sells powdered milk, and it plans to build up five to ten substantial firms over the ne

10、xt decade.At the moment, Tana is focused on fast-moving consumer goods and agriculture, and to a lesser extent on building materials, health and education. The new money could go into any or all of these areas, says James Teeger, a family spokesman. And the Oppenheimers may also look at infrastructu

11、re and energy, two of the hottest businesses south of the Sahara. Nicky Oppenheimer is said to be furiously jetting around looking for shrewd places to inject his cash.宝石交易南非最有影响力的矿业家族，下一步会如何？在大多数人眼里，获得51亿美元是一件高兴的事。然而对于尼克 奥本海默而言，这位德比尔斯（全球最大，历史最悠久的钻石矿业公司）主席却不那么轻松。其家族海默家族已经决定向矿业巨头英美资源集团出售剩余的40%德比尔斯的股份

12、。而这次交易也标志这个南非矿业巨头辉煌时代的结束。海默家族涉足钻石业已超过一个世纪，其中80年在德比尔斯工作。尼克的祖父欧内斯特在1902年定居在南非。在他22岁那年，作为一家总部在伦敦的钻石交易公司的代理，他外派到钻石业繁荣的小城金伯利。1917年，他已有了自己的矿业公司，英美资源集团。几年之后，他又掌控了德比尔斯，一家由英国殖民者塞西尔?罗兹于1880年创立的企业。1902年，也就是罗兹去世时间，德比尔斯钻石产量占据世界份额的90%。至今，罗兹的巨额财富仍在支付美国前总统克林顿在牛津大学学习的费用。1929年，欧内斯特爵士成为德比尔斯主席。自此之后，海默家族一直经营着德比尔斯，并通过控制库

13、存量来调控钻石价格。与此同时，海默家族为一些南非的自由事业提供资助，在政界也有一定的影响。另外，欧内斯特和儿子哈利也曾为南非议会服务：欧内斯特在14年里为二战提供支持，哈利也是种族主义的支持者。近来，海默家族的影响力却日渐衰弱。一些人就质疑尼克和他的儿子是否拥有先驱的进取心和洞察力。而且英美资源集团，这个曾经海默家族一手打造的企业也在1999年把总部迁到了伦敦。而尼克 奥本海默却坚持家族应该要立足于南非：其总部仍在约翰内斯堡。奥本海默家族又如何运用这笔钱？这次交易历经数月才能完成，因而海默家族有着足够的时间来考量。条款规定，他们在2年内禁止从事钻石行业。但不排除有其他可能他们将再次干起老本行。

14、海默家族有2个投资分部：斯托克代尔街资本，主要投资南非的中型企业。非洲塔纳资本，这家与新加坡淡马锡（主权财富基金公司）成立的合资公司则负责其余非洲的业务。除了这些之外，家族还拥有一家尼日利亚的奶粉厂，并计划在近十年中投资在新建5到10个新工厂。与此同时，塔纳资本愈发重视投资日益繁荣的消费品和农产品行业。同时，也在慢慢涉足建筑材料领域、健康领域和教育界。娜塔丽珍，这位家族的发言人声称，家族获得的资金会投资到这些行业中。除此之外，基础设施和能源领域是作为撒哈拉沙漠南部最热门的行业，海默家族也在考量着对这两个领域进行投资。据说，尼克四处打探消息，寻找可以投钱的最佳场所。2 Climate chang

15、eGood news at last?The climate may not be as sensitive to carbon dioxide as previously believedCLIMATE science is famously complicated, but one useful number to keep in mind is “climate sensitivity”. This measures the amount of warming that can eventually be expected to follow a doubling in the atmo

16、spheric concentration of carbon dioxide. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in its most recent summary of the science behind its predictions, published in 2007, estimated that, in present conditions, a doubling of CO2 would cause warming of about 3C, with uncertainty of about a degree an

17、d a half in either direction. But it also says there is a small probability that the true number is much higher. Some recent studies have suggested that it could be as high as 10C.If that were true, disaster beckons. But a paper published in this weeks Science, by Andreas Schmittner of Oregon State

18、University, suggests it is not. In Dr Schmittners analysis, the climate is less sensitive to carbon dioxide than was feared.Existing studies of climate sensitivity mostly rely on data gathered from weather stations, which go back to roughly 1850. Dr Schmittner takes a different approach. His data co

19、me from the peak of the most recent ice age, between 19,000 and 23,000 years ago. His group is not the first to use such data (ice cores, fossils, marine sediments and the like) to probe the climates sensitivity to carbon dioxide. But their paper is the most thorough. Previous attempts had considere

20、d only small regions of the globe. He has compiled enough information to make a credible stab at recreating the climate of the entire planet.The result offers that rarest of things in climate sciencea bit of good news. The groups most likely figure for climate sensitivity is 2.3C, which is more than

21、 half a degree lower than the consensus figure, with a 66% probability that it lies between 1.7 and 2.6C. More importantly, these results suggest an upper limit for climate sensitivity of around 3.2C.Before you take the SUV out for a celebratory spin, though, it is worth bearing in mind that this is

22、 only one study, and, like all such, it has its flaws. The computer model used is of only middling sophistication, Dr Schmittner admits. That may be one reason for the narrow range of his teams results. And although the studys geographical coverage is the most comprehensive so far for work of this t

23、ype, there are still blank areasnotably in Australia, Central Asia, South America and the northern Pacific Ocean. Moreover, some skeptics complain about the way ancient data of this type were used to construct a different but related piece of climate science: the so-called hockey-stick model, which

24、suggests that temperatures have risen suddenly since the beginning of the industrial revolution. It will be interesting to see if such skeptics are willing to be equally skeptical about ancient data when they support their point of view.sensitive adj. 敏感的estimate v. 估计, 判断beckon v. 示意，召唤sensitivity

25、n.敏感consensus n. 一致; 舆论comprehensive adj.全面的气候变化终于来了好消息？气候对二氧化碳的敏感性可能低于先前的预期气候科学的复杂程度众所周知，但把一个指标记在脑中非常好用，那就是“气候敏感性”。该指标表示预计大气中二氧化碳浓度翻倍所能引致的升温量。政府间气候变化专门委员会（IPCC）在其最近一次关于其预测背后的科学性的概要中（发布于2007年）估计，在如今的情况下，二氧化碳浓度翻倍将造成3C左右的升温，上下误差在1.5度左右。但该概要也声称，真实数据有少许可能还要高得多。一些近期的研究也猜测气温上升可能达到10C之高。如果这种猜测属实，灾难说来就来了（直译

26、：灾难朝我们挥手）。但美国俄勒冈州立大学的安德烈亚斯-施密特纳在本周科学杂志上刊登的一篇报告认为，情况并非如此。在施密特纳博士的分析中，气候对于二氧化碳的敏感性要低于先前的担忧。现有的关于气候敏感性的研究主要基于气象站收集的数据，可以追溯到公元1850年左右。施密特纳博士采用了另外一种方法。他的数据来源于最近一次冰河时期的顶峰（介于一万九千到两万三千年前之间）。他的团队不是第一个使用这些数据（冰芯，化石，海洋沉积物诸如此类）来探测气候对二氧化碳的敏感性的团队。但他们的报告是最全面彻底的。过去的研究只考虑了全球的小部分地区。而他汇编了足够的信息，可以确凿地尝试一下重建整个地球的气候模型。研究的结

27、果给出了气候科学中最为罕见之物一丁点好消息。该研究组给出最有可能的气候敏感性数字是2.3C，比公认的数据低了半度多，并且该数字有66%的几率位于1.7C到2.6C之间。更重要的是，研究结果指出，气候敏感性的上限在3.2C左右。但是在你把SUV开出去兜风以作庆祝之前，要记住这只是一项研究而已，并且就如同所有这类研究一样研究自身也有缺陷。施密特纳博士承认，该研究采用的电脑模型的复杂程度一般。这可能也是他的团队实验结果范围较窄的一个原因。而且，尽管这项研究的地理覆盖范围是迄今为止同类中最大的，它仍有空白区域尤其指澳洲，中亚，南美和北太平洋地区。此外，一些怀疑论者对这些远古数据被用来构建一个不同的但是

28、相关的气候学分支：所谓的“曲棍球棒模型”（认为气温自从工业革命以后就突然上升）满腹牢骚。看看当远古数据支持这些怀疑论者的观点时，这些人是否还愿意以同等的怀疑态度对待，这一定会非常有趣。3 Technology and civil libertiesDont shootPolice may not like being filmed, but they had better get used to itWHAT is the most striking image to emerge from this autumns Occupy protests? Was it the campus pol

29、ice officer in Davis, California, casually pepper-spraying a line of seated protesters? Or the white-shirted cop in New York, doing the same to a pair of unarmed, penned-in women? Perhaps it was a street in Oakland, deserted except for protesters and a line of black-helmeted riot police, the silence

30、 broken when one of the cops fires a rubber bullet at a protester filming him. Protesters have complained, as ever, about police infiltration, but as these videos make clear, protesters and other citizens are keeping their eyes on police, too.More than two-thirds of Americans own digital cameras. Ar

31、ound one-third of adults own a smartphone. Most of these devices can record and easily transmit audio and video. Recording police has never been easier, and thanks to social-media and activist networks such as Copwatch, which monitors police activity and posts videos to the web, neither has publiciz

32、ing these recordings.That does not always go over well. People peaceably filming police have been handcuffed, beaten, had their cameras seized, and been arrested for obstructing governmental administration, obstructing an investigation, interference, disturbing the peace, or for illegal wiretapping. In taking such action the police are on shaky legal ground. The right to photograph people, including police officers, in public places, is relatively clear.Adding audio, however, raises a new set of legal issues. Most states have single-party consent laws concer