【雅思课外精读】遭遇全面广告抵制，Facebook并未危机

　　【雅思课外精读】遭遇全面广告抵制，Facebook并未危机*注：本文摘自7月4日《经济学人》

　　The Facebook boycott抵制Facebook

　　With a little help from its friends在朋友些微的帮助下

　　The social network is well placed to weather an ad boycott这家社交网络巨头完全有能力应对这场广告抵制

　　1. Social Network know a thing or two about virality. Still, Facebook was probably surprised by the speed at which a small protest, begun on June 17th by a collection of American civil-rights groups, has gained steam. By July 1st the #StopHateForProfit campaign, which accuses it of publishing material that incites violence, helped persuade more than 600 firms, including giants like Pfizer, Starbucks and Unilever, to pull ads from the platform.

　　社交网络的病毒式营销很常见。尽管如此，6月17日，一场美国民权组织发起的小规模抗议活动传播速度之快还是会令Facebook惊讶。截至7月1日，“停止利用仇恨牟利”运动指责Facebook发布煽动暴力的内容，这次运动还让包括辉瑞、星巴克和联合利华等巨头在内的600多家公司从该平台上撤下了广告。

　　2. Why the exodus? Principle is presumably part of it. So is peer pressure, which is rising as the list of boycotters lengthens. Admittedly, it is a particularly convenient time to make a stand, as firms pare back ad dollars amid the coronavirus recession. Starbucks, for instance, has spent $11m on Facebook ads in America since March, when lockdowns began. During the same period in 2019 it spent $29m, according to Pathmatics, a data company.

　　为什么会如此大规模地下架？部分是处于原则，部分则是由于随抵制名单增加的同伴压力。诚然，现在是表明立场的绝佳时机，因为在新冠导致的经济衰退期间，公司削减了广告费用。星巴克自三月封锁以来，已经在Facebook广告上花费了1100万美元，数据公司Pathmatics表示，2019年同期，星巴克的Facebook广告费用为1900万美元。

　　3. If ad dollars move elsewhere, possible beneficiaries include smaller rivals like Snapchat, Pinterest and TikTok, as well as YouTube, owned by Google. Some advertisers may even go back to quaint things like newspapers and tv, believes Andrew Lips man of eMarketer, a research firm.

　　如果广告转向其他地方，那么可能的受益者可能包括Snapchat、Pinterest和TikTok以及谷歌旗下的YouTube。研究公司eMarketer的Andrew Lips认为，一些广告商甚至可能会回到报纸和电视等古老的东西上去。

　　4. Yet the damage to Facebook is likely to be small. After a brief boycott-induced dip its share price is back up near its all-time high. Its $70bn ad business is built on 8m advertisers, most of them tiny companies with marketing budgets in the hundreds or thousands of dollars and often reliant on Facebook as an essential digital storefront. The 100 largest advertisers on the site account for less than 20% of total revenue, compared with 71% for the 100 largest advertisers on American network television (see chart 1). And so far only a handful of Facebook’s top 50 ad-buyers have joined the boycott (see chart 2).

　　然而，这对Facebook的损害却不是很大。抵制引起的短暂股价下跌之后，Facebook的股价又涨回到接近历史最高水平的点。其700亿元的广告业务主要建立在800万广告商之上，这些广告商大多是营销预算在几百或者几千美元的小公司，它们依赖Facebook为他们提供的数字店面。Facebook上最大的100家广告商占其广告收入的20%不到，而美国电视网络的这一数据比例为71%（见图一）。到目前为止，Facebook前50位广告客户中只有少数加入了抵制活动（见图二）。

　　5. Facebook has promised tweaks. Like Twitter, it will label posts that break its rules but are newsworthy enough to remain up. Other tech firms have tightened their moderation, too. On June 29th YouTube blocked various white-supremacist channels. Twitch, a video site, suspended President Donald Trump’s own channel for“hateful conduct”. Reddit deleted a forum,“The_Donald”, over hate speech.

　　Facebook已经承诺要进行整改。想Twitter一样，Facebook会给那些违反规定到那时又有新闻价值的帖子打上标签。其他科技公司也强化了他们的控制措施。6月29日，YouTube屏蔽了各种白人至上主义的频道。视频网站Twitch暂停了唐纳德·特朗普总统 “可憎行为”频道。Reddit删除了一个名为“The_Donald”的论坛，原因是该论坛发表了仇恨言论。

　　6. This points to a pressure greater than advertising : politics. American tech firms have walked a fine line between Republicans, who accuse them of being too censorious, and Democrats, who want closer moderation. Now, as Mr Trump’s poll numbers swoon, Silicon Valley seems to be edging towards the Democratic view of things. Time, perhaps, to make new friends.

　　这涉及到了比广告更大的压力，即政治。美国科技公司一直在共和党和民主党之间走钢丝，共和党指责他们过于吹毛求疵，而民主党则希望他们更加温和。现在，特朗普支持率大跌，硅谷似乎正在向着民主党靠拢。也许，是交新朋友的时候了。

　　精读解析

　　篇章结构P1：Facebook遭遇全面广告抵制：大公司撤下广告。P2：各公司撤广告的原因：原则和同伴压力。P3：抵制Facebook，一些小的科技公司或许会受益。P4：但是抵制对Facebook的损害并不是很大，Facebook的收入主要来自小公司。P5：Facebook承诺整改，其他硅谷公司也做出调整。P6：Facebook抵制背后是政治的角力；Facebook或许会转向民主党。

　　重点单词be well placed to适合于；能够【例句】With those studies in hand, we would be well placed to scale up and globalize prevention.   掌握了这些研究，我们将处于更好的地位来加大预防力度并使之全球化。

　　weather /'weðə/ n. 天气；气象；处境；气候v. 经受住；使风化；侵蚀；使受风吹雨打adj. 露天的；迎风的【例句】The company just managed to weather the recession.这家公司勉强渡过了衰退期。She refuses to resign, intending to weather the storm (= wait until the situation improves again) .她拒绝辞职，想要经受住这次风暴的考验。

　　boycott /'bɒɪkɒt/ vt. 联合抵制；拒绝参加n. 联合抵制【短语】primary boycott [贸易] 初级抵制; 直接抵制;group boycotts 集体抵制classroom boycott 罢课secondary boycott 间接抵制boycott foreign goods 抵制外货【例句】They're boycotting the shop.他们联合抵制那家商店。

　　virality病毒性；病毒式传播【同根】viral adj. 滤过性毒菌引起的；滤过性毒菌的【短语】Demonstration virality 示范式病毒行销Collaboration virality 协同效应传播Communication virality 沟通效应传播Incentivized virality 激励效应传播Outbreak virality 爆发式病毒行销Pure word of mouth virality话题性传播Word-of-mouth virality 口耳相传式病毒行销【例句】“I think the best kind of virality, ” he said, “is a product that people like so much that they just want to tell people about it.”  “我认为最好的病毒式营销，”他说， “是这个产品让用户如此喜爱以至于他们想告诉其他人这个产品。”

　　incite /ɪn'saɪt/ vt. 煽动；激励；刺激【同根】incitement n. 煽动，刺激；激励物inciting adj. 煽动的；刺激的【例句】inciting incident 引发事件instigate incite 唆使incite revolt 策动叛乱Inciting factors 诱发因素【例句】His bravery incited the soldiers to fight continuously.他的勇敢激励士兵们继续战斗下去。

　　pull … from 取出；把…从…带走【拓展】To pull away from 摆脱pull back from 收回【例句】Testers will need to pull from other artifacts when building tests cases for the following types of tests. 当为下面的测试步骤构建测试用例时，测试人员需要从其它工件中拉取。

　　exodus /'eksədəs/ n. 大批的离去【短语】rural exodus 迁离农村；农村迁徙【例句】Its central bank has enough capacity to absorb a greater exodus of capital.这个国家的中央银行有足够的能力吸收更多资本外逃造成的冲击。peer pressure同伴压力; 来自同辈的压力【例句】Rosenberg argues convincingly that public-health advocates ought to take a page from advertisers, so skilled at applying peer pressure.Rosenberg认为，公共健康倡议者应当向善于运用同侪压力的广告人汲取经验，这一点是令人信服。

　　lengthen /'leŋθ(ə)n/ vt. 使延长；加长【同根】length n. 长度，长；时间的长短；（语）音长lengthener n. 伸长器【短语】length by length 一步一步地【例句】She had to lengthen her stirrup leathers.她得放长马镫皮带。

　　make a stand进行抵抗；停下；表明立场【拓展】make a stand against 抗议争辩；对抗斗争；反对；抗争make a stand for 捍卫【例句】They make a stand against any violent action.   他们表态反对任何暴力行为。

　　pare back削减；缩减【例句】Russia's offer may be based on the assumption that Japan will have to pare back its reliance on nuclear energy.  俄罗斯这种表态可能是基于日本将不得不逐步削减依赖核能的假设。

　　beneficiary /benɪ'fɪʃ(ə)rɪ/ n. 受益者;受惠者；受俸牧师,受俸神职人员adj. 受圣俸的；拥有封地的【短语】beneficiary name 收款人姓名；受益人名称【例句】Her husband was the chief beneficiary of her will.她丈夫是她遗嘱的主要受益人。

　　quaint /kweɪnt/ adj. 古色古香的；少见的, 古怪的【同根】quaintness n. 离奇有趣；古怪之事物【例句】They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。

　　dip /dɪp/ vt. 浸, 蘸；洗药水浴vt. & vi. (使)微降, (使)下沉；(使)向下再向上n. 洗澡, 泡水；倾斜, 凹陷处; 下【短语】dip in 浸泡dip into 浸在……里；稍加研究take a dip 泡个澡；去游泳【例句】The land dips gently to the south.这地微向南面倾斜。The birds rose and dip in their flight.鸟儿一上一下地飞翔。

　　back up vi. (因积聚而)拥堵, 堵塞vt. 支持, 援助, 倒退, （资料）备份【拓展】get one's back up 使某人生气back sb up 支持某人back up protection 后备保护；备用保护装置back up supply 备用电源back up data 备查资料；备份数据【例句】The accident backed up traffic.事故使交通堵塞。

　　storefront /'stɔːfrʌnt/ n.店面(房),铺面(房);临街房adj. 临街的；在一楼工作的【短语】virtual storefront 虚拟店面; 拟实店面storefront window 店面橱窗Storefront showing 店面展示【例句】The storefronts and other businesses look just as they did decades ago.路边的商店和其他店铺看起来就像几十年前的样子。

　　tweak /twik/ n. 拧；扭；调整；焦急vt. 扭；用力拉；开足马力；调整【例句】Tweaking the constitution is not the answer.修改宪法不是解决问题的办法。newsworthy /'njuːzwɜːðɪ/ adj. 有报导价值的【短语】newsworthy orientation 新闻价值取向newsworthy picture 有新闻价值的照片newsworthy event 有新闻价值的事件【例句】We also have a specific point in our policies where newsworthy content.我们在有报道价值内容的政策上也有特别注重。

　　remain up保持在...上面；持续在恰当的位置上【例句】This page will remain up for historical purposes.   这一页仍将为历史用途。

　　moderation /mɒdə'reɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 自我节制;自我控制；缓和,减轻【同根】moderate adj. 中等的, 适度的, 不很大的；温和的; 有节制的；中庸的, 稳健的, 不走极端的vt. & vi. (使)减轻[缓和]; 节制【短语】in moderation 适中；有节制【例句】Moderation is the key to good health.有节制的生活是健康的关键。

　　white-supremacist 白人至上主义；白人至上主义者【例句】He saw himself as a white supremacist.他把自己看作是白人至上主义者。

　　suspend /sə'spend/ v. 延缓，推迟；使暂停；使悬浮【短语】suspend production 停产suspend payment v. 宣告破产【例句】Trump suspended joint military exercises with South Korea.Trump暂停与韩国的联合军演。

　　censorious /sen'sɔːrɪəs/ adj. 苛评的,吹毛求疵的【例句】A long angry or violent speech,usually of a censorious or denunciatory nature;a diatribe.长篇抨击激烈演说一种愤怒的或激烈的长篇言辞，通常为挑剔或谴责性质。

　　swoon /swu:n/ vi. 昏晕；惊讶；着迷n. 昏晕；狂喜【短语】swoon with 由于swoon away 消失swoon for 为swoon for joy 狂喜; 翻译;swoon with pain 痛得晕过去【例句】The boy had a swoon , but soon came round.男孩晕过去了，可是，一会儿就醒了过来。

　　edge towards走向【例句】And as they got more comfortable with me, they edged towards their real question of concern.随着他们越来越放松，他们开始问一些真正关心的问题。

重点句子

　　By July 1st the #StopHateForProfit campaign, which accuses it of publishing material that incites violence, helped persuade more than 600 firms, including giants like Pfizer, Starbucks and Unilever, to pull ads from the platform.

　　这个句子，主干是：By July 1st the #StopHateForProfit campaign helped persuade more than 600 firms to pull ads from the platform. 中间的which accuses it of publishing material that incites violence是一个which引导的非限定性定于从句，修饰#StopHateForProfit campaign，说明#StopHateForProfit campaign的具体内容，往后的including giants like Pfizer, Starbucks and Unilever补充前面的more than 600 firms包括哪些。