【原版杂志阅读】31期 Day 1：Warren Buffett has created a $348bn question for his successor part 1

Finance & economics | The oracle plans to step down

Oracle 神谕—传达神的预言, 行业深刻见解看法,-预测未来

1) Oracle of Omaha 

Elon Musk is seen as an oracle in the tech world. 

She’s an oracle when it comes to fashion trends. 

2) quit—情绪化, 临时—I want to quit. —I wanna quit. 

Resign 辞职—正式, 递交辞呈(re-sign)

Step down 退下来—体面、从容从高位退下(大人物/领袖)

The expert plans to step down. —oracle 

The guru(大师)—-精神领袖—oracle 预言家(深的见解, 读到的看法)

the leader 

Warren Buffett has created a $348bn question for his successor (the million-dollar question)

Berkshire Hathaway’s next CEO has huge shoes to fill—and a mountain of cash to invest

Huge shoes to fill 接替一个非常成功的角色/难以为任务或挑战

If you were in my shoes

Taking over from a legend like her is like filling giant shoes. 

A mountain of work 

The company is sitting on a mountain of cash. 

SURPRISING PEOPLE at the age of 94 is no mean feat. But that is what Warren Buffett did at the end of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting on May 3rd, when he announced that he would be stepping down as the company’s chief executive at the end of the year. Mr Buffett gave most of Berkshire’s directors no advance notice of his decision. Nor did he tell Greg Abel, his presumptive successor.

Berkshire Hathaway was a textile-maker when Mr Buffett bought it in 1965. In the years that followed he turned it into an immense insurance firm and a sprawling conglomerate with interests in everything from energy to sweets.

He employed a value-investing strategy, seeking out companies that appeared cheap relative to their intrinsic value. From 1965 to the end of last year, Berkshire’s market value had increased by more than 5,500,000%, with a compounded annual return of almost 20%. The total return of the S&P 500 index over the same period was 39,000%.

一、词汇部分

1. oracle /ˈɒrəkəl/ n.  (古希腊传达神谕的) 祭司

拆分:  ora-oral 说 —acle 名词后缀 (icle—article) 

2. successor  /səkˈsɛsə/ n. 继任者

拆分: suc-向下 + cess 走 + or 

3. presumptive  /prɪˈzʌmptɪv/ adj. 假定的；根据推定的

拆分: pre- 前面 + sumpt- 抓+ ive 形容词

4. compound /kəmˈpaʊndɪd/ adj. 复合的 (compound interest)

拆分: com-全部 + pound 放—pon-postpone 

5.   conglomerate /kənˈɡlɑːmərət/ n . 大型联合企业，大型企业集团

拆分:con- 全部 + glomer- 表示全球global. + ate 

二、文章讲解(词汇/搭配、语法长难句、篇章段落结构）

1. SURPRISING PEOPLE at the age of 94 is no mean feat. But that is what Warren Buffett did at the end of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting on May 3rd, when he announced that he would be stepping down as the company’s chief executive at the end of the year. Mr Buffett gave most of Berkshire’s directors no advance notice of his decision. Nor did he tell Greg Abel, his presumptive successor.

Berkshire Hathaway was a textile-maker when Mr Buffett bought it in 1965. In the years that followed he turned it into an immense insurance firm and a sprawling conglomerate with interests in everything from energy to sweets.

1) feat 盛举 —defeat

2) No mean feat 不是普通的成就, (很难做到, 很大的荣誉)

Sth/doing sth is no mean feat. —Running a marathon at 70 is no mean feat. 

She built a company from scratch in just 5 years—no mean feat. 

3. But that is what Warren Buffett did at the end of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting on May 3rd, when he announced that he would be stepping down as the company’s chief executive at the end of the year.

表语从句: 

When 定语从句—when 指代时间

宾语从句: that he would be stepping down as the company’s chief executive at the end of the year.

2. He employed a value-investing strategy, seeking out companies that appeared cheap relative to their intrinsic value. From 1965 to the end of last year, Berkshire’s market value had increased by more than 5,500,000%, with a compounded annual return of almost 20%. The total return of the S&P 500 index over the same period was 39,000%.

1) employ 雇佣, 采用(技术, 方法, 策略, 工具)—深思熟虑的

The company employed innovate marketing tactics to boost sales. 

动用—(资源、时间) —He employed all his savings to start his own business.

2) 句子(主谓宾—不缺主语、宾语), doing sth—状语

非谓语动词状语:Seeking out companies that appeared cheap relative to their intrinsic value

定语从句:that appeared cheap relative to their intrinsic value

3) market value 市值

数字—人名,等专有名词—细节来了. —The oracle  

三、段落翻译

在94岁高龄还能让人震惊，可不是件小事。但沃伦·巴菲特做到了这一点。在2025年5月3日伯克希尔·哈撒韦的年度股东大会结束时，他宣布将于年底辞去公司首席执行官的职务。巴菲特先生没有提前通知伯克希尔的大多数董事会成员他的决定，也没有告知他的预定继任者格雷格·阿贝尔。1965年巴菲特收购伯克希尔·哈撒韦时，它还是一家纺织公司。在随后的岁月里，他将其转变为一家庞大的保险公司和一个业务遍及能源到糖果等各领域的庞大企业集团。

他采用了一种价值投资策略，寻找那些相对于其内在价值显得便宜的公司。从1965年到去年末，伯克希尔·哈撒韦的市值增长了超过550万%，年化复合回报率接近20%。同期，标普500指数的总回报率为39,000%。