如果你要创立一家生产皮鞋的公司，那么你首先要明确以下四个基本的公司财务问题。
第1，公司的目标是什么？
第2. 公司将要采取怎样的长期投资战略？
第3. 怎样筹措投资所需的资金？
第4. 公司运营所需要的短期现金流量是多少？
If you were to establish a leather footwear manufacturing company, the following four basic corporate financial issues should be recognized/specified.
1. what is the goal of the company
2. what is the long-term investment strategy to be adopted
3. how to finance / raise the money needed
4. how much (of the) short-term cash flow is needed for the company's operation
经过近40年的时间，沃伦•巴菲特（Warren Buffett）将一个摇摇欲坠的纺织企业变成了一家3家控股企业、总资产达1650亿美元的公司，同时也使自己成为全球第二富有的人。与传统意义上靠继承或生产致富的富翁不同，巴菲特从未参与实际的商品生产或销售，投资逐利就是他公司的主业。巴菲特认为投资最大的收益是“时间复利”。例如，1989年巴菲特认为可口可乐公司的股票价格被低估，因此他将伯克希尔公司（Berkshire Hathaway Cooperation）25%的资金投入到可口可乐股票中并一直持有，该项投资从最初10亿美元飙升至今天的80亿。
After 40 years, Warren Buffett, (now ranked) the world's second wealthiest person / in the world, has turned his ramshackle textile company / manufacturing firm into an investment corporation / company with / that has 73 holding companies and a total asset of 165 billion dollars.
Different from those traditional magnates who obtain wealth from inheritance or from industry / manufacturing, Buffett has never got involved / participated in any product manufacturing or selling activities. The main business of his company is investing for profits. Buffett believes that the biggest reward of investment is the time value of money. For example, in 1989 he believed the share price of Coca-Cola was underestimated, and as a consequence / as a result / consequently, Buffett put one fourth of Berkshire's capital into buying / purchasing stock in Coca-Cola company, He still holds these shares, the value of which soared to 8 billion now from 1 billion dollars in the beginning.
假如你是一名出色的管理人员，拥有大好前程。现在一家著名的且非常成功的上市公司打算雇佣你成为他们的首席执行官，薪酬丰厚，还有相当数量的公司股票期权。作为一个理性人，你会毫不犹豫的答应。但如果这是一家快要倒闭的公司呢？如果你不能挽救公司，你的股票期权也会一文不值，甚至你在经理市场上的好名声也会被毁，你仍会像先前一样爽快的答应吗？也许不会，这是为什么呢？
Now suppose you are an excellent
managerial staff member with promising future, and are offered a CEO's position with abundant salary plus considerable amount of stock options from a well-known and successful publicly traded corporation. As a rational person, you will accept the offer without hesitation / won't hesitate at the offer. But wait! What if this is a company on the verge of bankruptcy? If you couldn't save the company, your stock option would be worthless, and even more, your good reputation in the job market would be destroyed. Then will you in a forthright way / make the deal straightforwardly / make the straightforward deal and accept the offer? Probably not. Why?
1995年名不见经传的山东秦池酒厂以6666万元人民币买下了中央电视台黄金时段广告，成为标王。该酒厂一夜成名，中标后的头两个月秦池销售收入就达2.18亿元，实现利税6800万元，相当于秦池酒厂建厂以来前55年的总和。1996年秦池酒厂的销售也由1995年只有7500万元一跃成为9.5亿元。然而，当秦池酒厂在1996年11月以3.2亿元人民币的“天价”再度夺得标王时，此次巨额债务却给秦池带来了灾难。由于没有能力完成顾客需求及保证产品质量，两年后秦池濒临破产。
The bidding of 66.66 million yuan for CCTV prime time commericals won Shandong Qinchi Wine Industry Co., Ltd./Shandong Qinchi Winery an overnight fame and sales of 218 million in the first two months. Qinchi realized its revenue and tax of 68 million, an amount as equal as the total sum of that of the first 55 years. The sales in 1996 jumped up to 9500 million from 75 million in 1995. However, when it became the brand king in November of 1996 for the 32 million bidding, the huge engagement pushed Qinchi into disasters. Qinchi went close to bankruptcy two years later.
IBM公司从1984年开始由兴到衰，由年盈利66亿美金到1992年亏损达49.7亿美金。衰落的一个主要原因是失效的董事会监督。一般来说，董事会监督是公司内部治理结构的一大制衡力量：董事会有权罢免董事长，影响重大经营问题的决策。然而在IBM公司，其原来的董事会中3/4成员只起到“装饰作用”，他们虽然是知名人物，但很少真正关心公司的经营状况，董事会议沦为形式。
IBM, falling into decay around 1984, was once a prosperous company with a revenue of 6.6 billion dollars. The number then turned to a deficit of 4.97 billion dollars in 1992.
The vicissitudes / the decline / rise and fall / prosperity and decline are / is attributable to / due to the board monitoring that has lost effect / the inefficient board monitoring, which, generally speaking, is the (balancing) power inside the corporate governance structure, i.e. the dismissal of the chairperson and the influence on the decision-making of those key issues. However, previously three out of four board members in IBM were only decorative. Well-known / recognized as they were, these board members seldom cared about the state of operation of the company, thus turning / reducing the board meeting to an empty form.
金玉其外，败絮其中。帕玛拉特公司（Parmalat）是意大利最大、欧洲第四大的食品企业，在意大利乳制品市场的占有率达50%。然而突然有人发现帕玛拉特自称的40亿欧元的流动资金并不存在，同时，800万欧元的股东权益也蒸发了。帕玛拉特丑闻是欧洲历史上最大的破产事件，其损失大约是意大利GNP的1.5%，该比例比安然（Enron）和世通（WorldCom）合计对美国GNP的还大。
Parmalat is the largest Italian food company and the fourth largest in Europe, controlling 50% of the Italian market in milk and milk-derivative products. Suddenly, it was discovered that its claimed liquidity of 4 billion euro did not exist, and that 8 million in bonds of investors' money had evaporated as well. Parmalat is the largest bankruptcy in European history, representing 1.5% of Italian GNP—proportionally larger than the combined ratio of the Enron and WorldCom bankruptcies to the U.S. GNP.
金玉其外，败絮其中的译法
Fair on the outside, but foul on the inside.
fair without, foul within.
Apple of Sodom
a rotten interior beneath a fine exterior
与proportionally类似的用法，如generally/frankly speaking, ironically, worringly等等，如在报道
Study says Google is collecting more data about you than you realize中出现的例句
Most worryingly, Google appears to be scooping up information about people who use incognito mode in their browsers–which most people think makes their activities invisible from Google.
据报导家用空调制造商格力电器（Gree Electric Appliances, Inc.）2008年实现净利19亿元，同比增长为54%。同期，格力最大竞争对手美的电器（Midea Electric Ltd.）实现净利仅10亿，同比下降14%。不过，以2008年每股收益和4月30日收盘价计算，格力市盈率为19.43倍，而美的的为24.45倍。依你判断，哪一家在2008年表现的更好一点，美的还是格力？
It is reported that Gree Electric Appliances Inc., the residential air-conditioner manufacturer / maker of household air conditioners realized in 2008 a net profit margin / net income of 1.9 billion Yuan, a 54.87% increase from a year earlier, while its biggest rival, Midea Electric Ltd. only made 1.033 billion, falling 14.87% from a year earlier. However, in terms of the P/E ratio produced by the earnings per share in 2008 and the closing price on April 30, Gree's is 19.43, and Midea's, 24.45. According to your judgment, which performed better, Gree or Midea?
同比增长一句的另一种译法
Gree's net income rose 54.87% from a year earlier to 1.9 billion in 2008
中国个人电脑巨头联想集团以12.5亿美元的高价收购了IBM的个人计算业务部门。该并购使联想成为世界第三大PC制造商，年收入将超过100亿美元。通过并购IBM的PC业务，与其形成战略联盟，联想获得了多方面的技术，得到了全球品牌认可，以及全球并且多样化的顾客群和世界级的遍布全球的网络分布，将提供更多样化的产品。同时联想提升了营运能力和领先的技术。并购后，IBM将成为联想集团的一个大股东，此次交易进一步巩固了IBM在世界上成长最快的IT市场中的地位。
China's personal computer/PC maker giant Lenovo Group Ltd. acquired IBM Personal Computing Division/PC Division/PC unit for 250 million/1.25 billion dollars. The acquisition made Lenovo/, thus creating the world's third largest PC manufacturer with an annual income/revenue (of) over 10 billion dollars.
The acquisition and strategic alliance thus formed with IBM help Lenovo obtain (and achieve) technology of various aspects, global brand recognition, diversified customer groups all over the world as well as world-class worldwide distribution network, and more differentiated product offerings. Meanwhile, Lenovo will boast enhanced/improvement of operating capability and leading-edge techniques/technologies.
The merger/deal/transaction will let IBM have an ownership share/take a stake in Lenovo and will further strengthen IBM's position in the world's fastest growing IT market.
成立于1997年的eToys在1999年风风火火上市，首发股非常成功。首发每股20美元，第一天交易中它的股价攀升至76美元。按最高价位的股价计算，eToys上市当天的市值高达85亿美元，竟比当时全美最大的“水泥加砖头”的玩具经销商、已有52年历史的Toys R Us（玩具反斗城）的市值高出52%。极具讽刺意味的对比是，玩具反斗城销售额是eToys在1998年的300多倍。然而，由于经营不善，在2000年12月，eToys股价跌破1美元，公司在4月份破产。
eToys was launched in 1997 and presented their Initial Public Offering (IPO) successfully in 1999. Shares were being issued at $20. The stocks climbed up to as high as $76 a share at the first day of trading. If calculated in terms of the highest price that day, the market value of eToys totals 8.5 billion dollars, which is 52% higher than that of Toys "R" Us, the largest American brick-and-mortar toys retailer who has 52 years of operation history. Ironically, the sales of Toys R Us are more than 300 times that of eToys in 1998. However, due to its poor management, eToys' stock price drop to below 1 dollar in December of 2000, and the company went bankrupt in April next year.
当沃尔玛在1970年上市时，只有18家商店，销售额4400万美元。10年后，它拥有276家商店，销售额高达12亿美元。沃尔玛成功的秘诀主要有两个：（1）配送中心，沃尔玛高度自动化的配送中心缩减了运输时间和成本；（2）库存流，计算机化的存货系统提高了再订货的速度，加快了物流的循环。
When it went public in 1970, Wal-mart only had 18 stores with annual sales of $44 million dollars. It is only after ten years that Wal-mart owned 276 stores with the sales up to $1.2 billion. The secrets are attributable to the following two aspects: 1) the highly automated distribution centers reduce the time for transportation and cost, and 2) the inventory flow, which means the inventory management system facilitates the re-ordering system and speed up cycle.
When Wal-Mart went public in 1970, it only had 18 stores and sales of $44 million dollars. After ten years/By 1980, Wal-Mart's 276 stores were generating sales of $1.2 billion. There are two reasons contributing to its success: the distribution center and the inventory flow, the former of which is highly automated so that the delivery lead time and costs are reduced, and the latter of which is computerized to speed the re-order process and logistics cycle.