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Unit 40

　　Carly Fiorina, Hewlett-Packard's chief executive, came out fighting on November 14th. In a conference call with analysts, she announced better-than-expected quarterly results, even though profits were down. Ms Fiorina also reiterated why she believes her $24 billion plan to acquire Compaq is the best way forward for HP, despite objections by Hewlett and Packard family members. Last week Walter Hewlett, whose father co-founded the company, expressed concern that the merger would increase HP's exposure to the shrinking PC market and would distract managers from the more important task of navigating through the recession.

　　There are two ways to defend the deal. One is to point out its advantages, which is what Ms Fiorina did this week. Merging with Compaq, she said, would enable HP to reach its goals faster than it could on its own. The deal would improve HP's position in key markets such as storage and high-end computing, as well as the economics of its PC business. It would double the size of HP's sales force and broaden its customer base, providing more potential clients for its services and consulting arms. It would improve cashflow, margins and efficiency by adding "breadth and depth" to HP. "Having spent the last several months planning the integration of these two companies, we are even more convinced of the power of this combination," Ms Fiorina concluded.

　　It sounds too good to be true, and it almost certainly is. But the other way to defend the deal is to point out that, even if it was a bad idea to start with, abandoning it could be even worse--a view that, unsurprisingly, Ms Fiorina chose not to advance, but is being quietly put forward by the deal's supporters.

　　Scrapping the merger would be extremely painful for a number of reasons. Since the executive teams of both firms have committed themselves to the deal, they would be utterly discredited if it fell apart, and would probably have to go. Under the terms of the merger agreement, HP might have to pay Compaq as much as $675m if it backed out. The two firms would be considerably weakened; they would also be rivals again, despite having shared confidential technical and marketing information with each other over the past few months. In short, it would all be horribly messy. What can be done to save the deal? Part of the problem is that HP has no plan B. "They need a brand-recovery effort immediately," says one industry analyst. HP must give the impression that it is strong and vital, rather than desperate, and that its future is not dependent on the deal going forward. That could make the merger look more attractive and bring investors back on board.

　　This week's results will certainly help. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, which owns just over one-tenth of HP's shares, will decide whether to back the merger in the next few weeks, and HP's shareholders are to vote on it early next year. The more credible HP's plan B, the less likely it is that it will be needed.

　　注（1）：本文选自Economist; 11/17/2001, p58, 1/2p, 1 graph；

　　注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象2004年真题Text 1；

　　1. What is Ms Fiorina’s attitude toward the merging of HP and Compaq?

　　[A]Reserved consent.

　　[B]Strong disapproval.

　　[C]Enthusiastic support.

　　[D]Slight contempt.

　　2. Which of the following is not the good reason to promote the merger?

　　[A]The majority of the firm are in favor of the merger.

　　[B]No combination is even worse than merger.

　　[C]It can bring about a lot of advantages.

　　[D]There is no plan B to save the firm from trouble.

　　3. The expression “The more credible HP's plan B, the less likely it is that it will be

　　needed.”(Last Line, Last Paragraph) most probably indicates _____________.

　　[A]plan B can win people’s trust

　　[B]the merger needs people’s trust in plan B

　　[C]the reliance on plan B determines the success of the merger

　　[D]appearing not to be dependent on the merger will make the merger go well

　　4. What can we learn from paragraph 4?

　　[A]The executive teams of both firms can benefit a lot from the merger.

　　[B]The future of HP depends much on the merger.

　　[C]The two sides are eager to make this deal.

　　[D]Plan B can save HP out of trouble.

　　5. What is the author’s attitude toward the merger of HP?

　　[A]Negative.

　　[B]Supportive.

　　[C]Objective.

　　[D]Apprehensive.

　　答案：CADBC

　　篇章剖析

　　本文主要阐述了已陷入困境的惠普公司意欲收购康柏公司这一事件，其中包括计划的原因、股东的态度以及计划失败会造成的后果。 第一段指出惠普公司首席执行官和惠普股东对收购问题的不同看法；第二段和三段指出有两种办法可以维护这一协议；第四段指出这一方案失败将会造成什么样的后果以及惠普公司如何能促成这一方案；最后一段：对最终的结果大家拭目以待。

　　词汇注释

　　Hewlett-Packard休利特-帕卡德公司(也就是中国人习惯称为惠普公司)

　　denounce[dI5naJns]vt.公开指责, 公然抨击, 谴责

　　Compaq n.美国COMPAQ电脑公司；美国康柏公司，世界著名的电脑生产厂家

　　conference call n.电话会议

　　reiterate[ri:5ItEreIt]vt.反复地说, 重申, 重做

　　merger[5m\:dVE(r)]n.合并, 归并

　　scrap [skrAp]vt.扔弃, 敲碎, 拆毁

　　commit oneself to 致力于

　　discredit[dIs5kredIt]vt.不信, 怀疑, 使丢脸

　　confidential[kRnfI5denF(E)l]adj.秘密的, 机密的

　　back out v.收回, 停止不干

　　难句突破

　　Walter Hewlett, whose father co-founded the company, expressed concern that the merger would increase HP's exposure to the shrinking PC market and would distract managers from the more important task of navigating through the recession.

　　主体句式：Walter Hewlett expressed concern that …

　　结构分析：本句是一个定语从句。“whose father co-founded the company”是主语“Walter Hewlett”的同位语；that引导宾语从句，在这里应注意从句中一些单词的用法：exposure to的意思是“使受影响”；shrinking的意思是“萎缩的”；“navigating”的意思是“引领，驾驶，操纵”；“recession”的意思是“不景气”。

　　句子译文：上周，沃尔特·休利特—他的父亲曾组建了惠普公司---表达了他的忧虑，他担心公司的合并将会使惠普公司在应对萎缩的电脑市场时增加财政损失的风险，并且这将会使公司经理在担当引领公司度过低靡期这一更为重要的任务时分心走神。

　　题目分析

　　1．答案为C，属情感态度题。从文章中三个地方：“Ms Fiorina also reiterated why she believes her $24 billion plan to acquire Compaq is the best way forward for HP”、“One is to point out its advantages, which is what Ms Fiorina did this week.”和“"Having spent the last several months planning the integration of these two companies, we are even more convinced of the power of this combination," Ms Fiorina concluded.”我们可看出Fiorina对收购康柏的态度。

　　2. 答案为A，属事实细节题。选项B对应的信息是“even if it was a bad idea to start with, abandoning it could be even worse”；选项C对应的信息是“One is to point out its advantages”；选项D对应的信息是“Part of the problem is that HP has no plan B.”。从文章中我们可看出有支持这一方案的，也有反对的，我们无从判断公司的大多数人是否都支持这一方案。

　　3. 答案为D，属推理判断题。从文章中我们知道，惠普公司实际上没有可供选择的B方案，但它一定得使人感觉到它的强大和富有活力，而不能给人留下孤注一掷的印象，并且它的未来发展前景也不是取决于这项协议的。这样做的效果是会使合并计划更富有吸引力，也会使投资者重返董事会。因此，使人们相信惠普还有路可走，还有计可施，才能使收购计划顺利进行，而不再去想别的办法。

　　4. 答案为B，属事实细节题。原文对应信息是“Part of the problem is that HP has no plan B.”。实际上惠普公司已无计可施，只能仰仗收购计划，但它又不能表现出来。

　　5. 答案为C，属情感态度题。文章作者在阐述整个收购事件（其中包括公司内部股东的态度，收购带来的好处以及收购失败的坏处）时，态度是非常客观的。

　　参考译文

　　惠普公司首席执行官卡莉·费奥利娜11月14日开始行动。在同分析员召开的电话会议上，她通告说，虽然所获利润有所下降，但是这一季度取得了超乎预料的结果。费奥利娜女士也重申了为什么她认为240亿美元收购康柏公司将是惠普公司进一步发展的最佳办法，尽管这一做法招到了来自休利特和帕卡德家族成员的反对。上周，沃尔特·休利特—他的父亲曾组建了惠普公司---表达了他的忧虑，他担心公司的合并将会使惠普公司在应对萎缩的电脑市场时增加财政损失的风险，并且这将会使公司经理在担当引领公司度过低靡期这一更为重要的任务时分心走神。

　　有两种方法能维护这一协议。一种是指出它的优势所在，这也正是费奥利娜女士这周做的事情。她认为，比起依靠自己的力量，同康柏公司的合并能够使惠普公司更快地达到自己的目标。这项协议将提升惠普公司在一些主要市场，比如存储和顶级运算方面的市场，以及个人电脑商业经济中的地位。这将扩大销售人员的规模，拓宽消费者范围，为客户服务部门和咨询部门提供更多潜在的客户。通过给惠普公司增添如此的“广度和深度”，这还会改善其资金流转、利润、效率等问题。费奥利娜女士得出的结论是：“通过两家公司就合并问题长达几个月时间的策划，我们对合并后公司的实力深信不疑。”

　　这些好处听起来有些让人难以置信，但事实却是如此。另一种办法是要指出这一点：尽管重新组建一个新公司不是一个好主意，但总比放弃它要好一些。对费奥利娜女士来说，她自然是不会这样提议的，但支持这一协议的人私底下却是这样建议的。

　　放弃这一合并计划将会非常棘手。这有很多原因。由于双方管理层全力以赴都想谈拢这一协议，如果谈不拢的话，他们必将名誉扫地，很可能不得不卷铺盖走人。依据合并协议条款，如果惠普公司打退堂鼓的话，它就得支付康柏公司高达6.75亿美元的补偿。两家公司的实力都将大大削弱。虽然过去几个月它们在机密技术和市场信息方面实行了资源共享，但它们也可能再度成为竞争对手。简言之，这将造成混乱可怕的局面。那么怎么做才能保全这一协议呢？一部分问题在于惠普公司没有可实施的B方案。一位企业分析员说：“他们急需马上恢复其品牌形象。”惠普公司一定得使人感觉到它的强大和富有活力，而不能给人留下孤注一掷的印象，并且它的未来发展前景也不是取决于这项协议的。这样做会使合并计划更富有吸引力，也会使投资者重返董事会。

　　这周的结果肯定会有用的。持有惠普公司十分之一股权的大卫和露希尔帕卡德基金会在接下来的几周里，将决定是否支持合并计划。惠普公司的股东明年将就此计划进行投票表决。惠普公司B方案的可信度越高，使用它的可能性也就越小