外刊精读丨欧洲终于有了自己的硅谷

Business丨Silicon lowlands

Jan 8th 2024丨NEUKÖLLN AND VELDHOVEN

1899words丨★★★★☆

Europe at last has an answer to Silicon Valley

欧洲终于有了自己的硅谷

ASML, a mighty Dutch tech firm, is at the heart of it

以强大的荷兰科技公司ASML为核心

Ten times a second an object shaped like a thick pizza box and holding a silicon wafer takes off three times faster than a manned rocket. For a few milliseconds it moves at a constant speed before being halted abruptly with astonishing precision—within a single atom of its target. This is not a high-energy physics experiment. It is the latest lithography machine dreamed up by ASML, a manufacturer of chipmaking tools, to project nanoscopic chip patterns onto silicon wafers. On January 5th Intel, an American semiconductor giant, became the first proud owner of this technical marvel’s initial components for assembly at its factory in Oregon.

一个装有硅晶片，形状像厚披萨盒子的设备，每秒能起飞10次，速度比载人火箭还快三倍。在几毫秒的时间内，它以恒定的速度移动，然后以惊人的精确度突然停止，仅有一个原子的距离误差。这不是一项高能物理实验。它是芯片制造工具制造商 ASML 公司最新研制的光刻机，用于将纳米级芯片图案投射到硅晶片上。1月5日，美国半导体巨头英特尔在俄勒冈州的工厂成功组装了这个令人惊叹的技术奇迹的初始组件，成为第一个拥有它们的厂商。

wafer /ˈweɪfə(r)/ n.薄片;晶体;

lithography /lɪˈθɒɡrəfi/ n.平版印刷术【记】litho（光刻;平版印刷）+graphy（传记,学科）

nanoscopic adj.纳米级的【记】nano-（纳米技术，毫微；纤）+scop（范围）+ic(形容词后缀)

Like the outwardly unassuming machine, its Dutch maker is full of surprises. The company’s market value has quadrupled in the past five years, to €260bn ($285bn), making it Europe’s most valuable technology firm (see chart 1). Between 2012 and 2022 its revenues and net income both rose roughly four-fold, to €21bn and €6bn, respectively. At the end of 2023 ASML’s operating margin exceeded 34%, staggering for a hardware business and more than that of Apple, the world’s biggest maker of consumer electronics (see chart 2).

就像这台外表不起眼的机器一样，它的荷兰制造商也充满了惊喜。该公司的市值在过去五年里增长了4倍，达到 2,600 亿欧元（2,850 亿美元），成为欧洲最有价值的科技公司（见图表1）。从 2012 年到 2022 年，其收入和净利润均增长了约四倍，分别达到 210 亿欧元和 60 亿欧元。到 2023 年底，ASML的运营利润率超过34%，对于一家硬件企业而言相当惊人，超过了全球最大的消费电子产品制造商苹果公司（见图表2）。

Such stellar performance, which is likely to shine even more brightly when ASML reports quarterly results on January 24th, is now routine. The firm holds a monopoly on a key link in the world’s most critical supply chain: without its kit it is next to impossible to make cutting-edge computer processors, such as those that go into smartphones and data centres where artificial intelligence (AI) is trained. With global semiconductor sales forecast to double to $1.3trn by 2032, every big country and every big chipmaker wants ASML’s gear. The company has become so important in the Sino-American tech-tussle that, as it emerged at the start of the year, President Joe Biden’s administration pressed ASML to cancel planned deliveries of even its older machines to China.

ASML如此出色的业绩，预计在1月24日公布季度财报时会更加耀眼，而这种表现现在已是司空见惯。该公司垄断着全球最关键供应链中的一个关键环节，因为没有它的配套设备，几乎不可能制造出最先进的计算机处理器，比如那些用于智能手机和训练人工智能用的数据中心的处理器。预计到 2032 年，全球半导体销售额将翻一番，达到1.3万亿美元，因此每个大国和大型芯片制造商都需要 ASML 的设备。该公司在中美科技角力中已变得如此重要，以至于在今年年初，乔-拜登（Joe Biden）总统的政府向ASML施压，要求其取消向中国甚至是旧机器的计划交付。

staggering /ˈstæɡərɪŋ/ adj.惊人的;令人难以相信的【记】源自：stagger蹒跚，摇晃→吓得得蹒跚踉跄→难以置信的，惊人的

stellar /ˈstelə(r)/ adj.优秀的；精彩的；杰出的；星的；恒星的

gear /ɡɪə(r)/ n.（特定用途的）器械，装置；v.换挡;（使）适合;使准备好;（使）搭配;使兴奋起来

tech-tussle n.技术之争

tussle /ˈtʌsl/ n/vi.扭打，争斗(尤指为了争夺物品);搏斗

【注】为什么能施压 ASML？

ASML是一家荷兰的公司，其产品涉及到美国的技术和国家安全利益。根据美国的国家安全政策，他们可以采取措施限制或阻止关键技术的出口，特别是涉及到竞争对手或潜在对手的情况下。

Yet ASML’s spectacular success is also underpinned by two other, less obvious factors. The company has created a network of suppliers and technology partners that may be the closest thing Europe has to Silicon Valley. And its business model ingeniously combines hardware with software and data. These unsung elements of ASML’s success challenge the notion that the old continent is incapable of developing a successful digital platform.

然而，ASML 的巨大成功还得益于另外两个不太明显的因素。公司建立了一个供应商和技术合作伙伴关系网络，这可能是欧洲最接近硅谷的地方。而且，它的商业模式巧妙地将硬件、软件和数据结合在一起。ASML 的成功离不开这些默默无闻的因素，它们挑战了 "欧洲无法开发出成功的数字平台 "这一观点。

ingeniously /ɪnˈdʒiːniəsli/ adv.巧妙的;制作精巧的;新颖独特的

unsung /ˌʌnˈsʌŋ/ adj.被埋没的；未被颂扬的【记】un-(否定前缀)+sung（sing的过去分词，表被动）→没有被传唱的→默默无闻的

ASML’s complex machines perform a simple task. They project the blueprints of computer chips onto photosensitive silicon wafers. In 1986, when its first model was delivered, individual transistors measured micrometres and the company’s kit was almost like a glorified photocopier, explains Marc Hijink, a Dutch journalist and author of “Focus—How ASML Conquered the Chip World”, a new book. Today, with transistors shrunk by a factor of a thousand, ASML lithography gear is possibly the most sophisticated equipment ever sold commercially.

ASML 的复杂机器执行着一项简单的任务。它们将计算机芯片的蓝图投射到感光硅晶片上。荷兰记者马克-希金克在他的新书《聚焦--ASML 如何征服芯片世界》中解释说，1986 年，ASML 交付第一台设备时，单个晶体管的尺寸只有几微米，公司的设备几乎就是一台高级复印机。如今，随着晶体管缩小了一千倍，ASML 光刻设备可能是有史以来商业销售的最先进设备。

ASML and its partners pulled off this incredible shrinking trick with engineering that has a science-fiction ring to it. The process starts with powerful lasers incinerating droplets of molten tin, each no thicker than a fifth of a human hair and travelling at more than 250km per hour. This produces extremely short-wavelength light (extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, in the jargon) which is then reflected by a set of mirrors so smooth that the biggest imperfection is no bigger than the distance grass can grow in a millisecond. To make all this worth a chipmaker’s while—the latest model costs more than $300m—and expose enough chips, the object that holds the wafer, called a “table”, has to accelerate faster than a rocket and come to a stop at exactly the right spot.①

ASML 及其合作伙伴利用如同科幻片中才有的工程技术完成了这一令人难以置信的缩小技术。这个过程首先是用强大的激光焚烧熔锡液滴，每个液滴的厚度不超过头发丝的五分之一，并以时速250公里以上的速度行进。这将产生极短波长的光（行话叫 "极紫外光 "或 "EUV"），然后通过一组镜子反射，这些镜子非常平滑，最大的瑕疵比草在一毫秒内能生长的距离还要小。为了让这一切对芯片制造商来说物有所值——最新型号的成本超过3亿美元——并且为了曝光足够多的芯片，放置晶片的物体（称为 "台面"）必须以比火箭还快的速度加速，并精确地停在特定位置上。

pull off /pʊl ɒf/ v. 成功完成，做成（困难的事情）;（车或驾车者）停靠（路边）

incinerate /ɪnˈsɪnəreɪt/ vt.把…烧成灰烬;焚毁

droplet /ˈdrɒplət/ n.液滴;小滴【记】drop（下落，水滴）+let（让，使）→让它像小水滴一样滴落

长难句分析①

To make all this worth a chipmaker’s while—the latest model costs more than $300m—and expose enough chips, the object that holds the wafer, called a “table”, has to accelerate faster than a rocket and come to a stop at exactly the right spot.（43words）

【分析】

主干：the object has to accelerate faster than a rocket and come to a stop at exactly the right spot.

To make...and expose...不定式表目的；“—”进行解释（见下面【拓展】）

“that”引导定语从句修饰“the object”,”called..”过去分词作定语修饰“the object”

【译文】

为了让这一切对芯片制造商来说物有所值——最新型号的成本超过3亿美元——并且为了曝光足够多的芯片，放置晶片的物体（称为 "台面"）必须以比火箭还快的速度加速，并精确地停在特定位置上。

【拓展】

To make all this worth a chipmaker’s while“为了让这一切对芯片制造商来说物有所值”。换句话说，就是要确保使用ASML的技术和设备所获得的好处和优势超过成本，并且能够证明这项投资是合理的。破折号表示原因“超3亿美元的成本”

【科普】

stop at exactly the right spot.“设备需要在准确的位置停止”在文章中，指的是ASML的光刻设备中的台面，它需要以非常精确的方式加速并在特定的位置停止。这是为了确保投射的光能够准确地照射到芯片上，并在正确的位置完成曝光和制造过程。这种准确的位置控制对于芯片制造的精度和质量至关重要。

To get an idea of what it takes to build such a device, pay a visit to a nondescript factory in Neukölln, a neighbourhood of Berlin. This is where ASML makes, among other things, “mirror blocks”, the main part of a wafer table. These are sturdy pieces of a special ceramic material, a square 8cm thick and measuring about 50cm on each side. Some get polished, measured, repolished, remeasured and so on, for nearly a year—until they are exactly the right shape, including allowances for the fact that they will sag a few nanometers once installed.

要想了解制造这样一台设备需要付出哪些努力，可以前往柏林新科隆（Neukölln）街区参观一家不起眼的工厂。这里是 ASML 制造 "镜块 "等产品的地方，"镜块 "是晶片台的主要部分。它们是硅片台面的主要部件之一。这些坚固的部件由特殊的陶瓷材料制成，每个正方形的厚度为8厘米，每边长约50厘米。其中一些“镜块”需要经过近一年的抛光、测量、重新抛光、重新测量等过程，直到完全符合要求，并考虑到安装后会出现一些纳米级别的下垂。

sag /sæɡ , sɑːɡ/ vi.下垂;减少;(尤指由于承重或受压)下凹;减弱；n.（顺风的）漂流;经济萧条;下陷或松弛;下陷或松弛的程度

allowances for the fact that... 考虑到以下事实...

【科普】

下垂：在设备正常工作时，硅片台面上的芯片可能会比预期的位置略微低几纳米。因此，在制造“镜块”的过程中，需要考虑到这种下垂的情况，并在设计时进行相应的补偿，以确保最终制造的硅片台面能够精确地定位和移动，以完成光刻过程。

The factory is emblematic of the company’s unusual network of suppliers. Although its owner, Berliner Glas, was acquired by ASML in 2020, it lives halfway between being an independent company and a unit of the Dutch parent. Something similar is true of the 800 or so mostly European firms that help put together ASML’s machines. ASML only owns stakes in a few of them. Yet their interdependence makes them act like a single organisation.

这家工厂是该公司非常独特的供应商网络的象征。尽管其所有者柏林玻璃公司（Berliner Glas） 已于 2020 年被 ASML 收购，但它仍然介于独立公司和荷兰母公司之间的中间地带。帮助组装 ASML机器的 800 多家欧洲公司也是如此。ASML 只拥有其中几家公司的股份。但它们之间的相互依存关系使它们像一个整体。

ASML outsources over 90% of what it costs to build one of its engineering marvels and directly employs fewer than half the estimated 100,000 people the feat requires. This is partly owing to history. When the company was spun out of Philips, a Dutch electronics giant, in 1984, ASML seemed stillborn. Its idea to build a “silicon stepper”, the original name of the chip-copying machine, was promising. But it had not much else going for it, in particular no production lines. It instead relied on specialist suppliers, many of them also former Philips units, such as VDL, a contract manufacturer.

ASML 将建造一个工程奇迹所需的 90% 以上成本外包，直接雇佣的员工不到这一壮举所需的约10万人的一半。这有一定的历史原因。1984 年，当ASML公司从荷兰电子巨头飞利浦剥离出来时，ASML 似乎已经失败了。它构想了建造“硅光刻机”（芯片复制机的原名）的想法，具有很大的潜力。但除此之外，它没有太多其他优势，尤其是没有生产线。它转而依赖专业供应商，其中许多也是前飞利浦公司的单位，如合同制造商 VDL。

Outsourcing is also a function of technology. The different parts of a lithography machine are so cutting-edge that doing it all could easily overwhelm any single company. “You have to decide where you add the most value and let others do the rest,” explains a former ASML insider. Semiconductor economics likewise favours not doing everything yourself. The chip industry is prone to booms and busts, because demand moves up and down much more quickly than manufacturers can install capacity. Prices rise and fall as shortages turn to gluts. Makers of chipmaking gear are exposed to the same cycles. That makes keeping all the assets in-house risky; better to transfer some of that risk on to suppliers, who can in turn limit it by catering to customers who work to different business cycles.

外包也是技术的一种功能。光刻机的各个部分都是如此尖端，任何一家公司要想独立全部完成都很容易力不从心。一位前 ASML 内部人士解释说："你必须决定在哪个环节提供最大的价值，然后让其他人来完成剩下的工作”。半导体经济学同样主张不要一切都自己做。芯片行业很容易出现繁荣和萧条，因为需求上下波动的速度比制造商安装产能的速度要快得多。价格会随着供应短缺而上涨，然后随着供应过剩而下跌。芯片制造设备制造商也受到同样的周期影响。这使得将所有资产保留在公司内部具有风险；最好是将部分风险转移给供应商，而供应商则可以通过迎合不同商业周期的客户来限制风险。

emblematic /ˌembləˈmætɪk/ adj.象征性的;象征(性)的;典型的;标志的;有代表性的;特有的

be true of 适合于 ; 符合于;真实的

stillborn /ˈstɪlbɔːn/ adj.死产的;夭折的;失败的

be prone to 易于，倾向于

bust adj.破碎;毁坏;破产

glut /ɡlʌt/ vt./n.供应过剩；供过于求

in-house /ˌɪn ˈhaʊs/ adj.(公司或机构)内部存在的，内部进行的

cater to /ˈkeɪtə(r) tu/ v.迎合;投合；满足……的需要

The required hyper-specialisation prevents the risk-reducing double sourcing that is prevalent in many other industries. In the case of ASML, technical demands are so high and production volumes so low (it shipped 317 machines in 2022) that it would be uneconomical to manage several suppliers for a single part even if they could be found.② For such crucial components as lasers and mirrors, which are made by Trumpf and Zeiss, two German firms, respectively, it is impossible. Wayne Allan, who is in charge of sourcing on ASML’s board, talks of “co-dependency”.

所需的高度专业化避免了许多其他行业普遍存在的为降低风险而进行的双重采购。就 ASML 而言，技术要求非常高，产量却很低（2022年仅出货317台机器），即使能够找到多个供应商来生产同一零部件，但管理多个供应商是不划算的。对于分别由通快和蔡司这两家德国公司生产的激光器和镜子等关键部件来说，这是不可能的。ASML 董事会负责采购的韦恩·艾伦谈到了 "相互依赖"。

hyper-specialisation n.超专业化【记】hyper-(过度;过多)

长难句分析②

In the case of ASML, technical demands are so high and production volumes so low (it shipped 317 machines in 2022) that it would be uneconomical to manage several suppliers for a single part even if they could be found.（40words）

【分析】并列句

主干：In the case of ASML, technical demands are so high and production volumes so low..并列句

“（ ）”举例补充说明，产量低。“that”引导结果状语从句；“even if”引导让步状语从句；

【译文】

就 ASML 而言，技术要求非常高，产量却很低（2022年仅出货317台机器），即使能够找到多个供应商来生产同一零部件，但管理多个供应商是不划算的。

The upshot is that ASML mostly limits itself to being the system’s architect. It decides who does what, defines the interfaces between the key parts of its machines, which it calls “modules”, and carries out research and development. This set-up makes it easier to test the pieces and transport the machines (shipping the latest model to Intel involved 250 crates and 13 containers). It also gives suppliers more freedom, including to experiment with novel technologies.

其结果是，ASML主要限于系统的架构方面。由它决定谁做什么，定义其机器中关键部件之间的接口（称为“模块”），并进行研发工作。这种设置使测试部件和运输机器变得更加容易（向英特尔公司运输最新型号的机器需要 250 个货箱和 13 个集装箱）。它还为供应商提供了更大的自由度，包括尝试新技术的实验。

upshot /'ʌpˌʃɒt/ n.最后结果；结局

set-up /ˈset ʌp/ n.组织;机构;体制;陷害;建制;栽赃

crate /kreɪt/ n.大木箱，板条箱(运货用);一箱(的量)

It all works because ASML has cultivated a culture of trust and transparency while preserving elements of competition. Suppliers are not squeezed to the last penny. Quite the opposite: “We need them to stay healthy,” says Mr Allan. Information flows freely throughout the network, particularly between ASML, Trumpf and Zeiss. Engineering teams from different firms work together, patents are shared, as is some financial data and, sometimes, profits. “At meetings you can’t tell who is from which firm,” reports a former Zeiss executive.

这一切之所以成功，是因为 ASML 培养了一种信任和透明的文化，同时保留了竞争元素。供应商不会被压榨到最后一分钱。恰恰相反： 艾伦先生说："我们需要他们保持健康。" 信息在整个网络中自由流动，尤其是在 ASML、通快和蔡司之间。来自不同公司的工程团队共同合作，共享专利，共享一些财务数据，有时还共享利润。一位蔡司公司的前高管说，"在会议上，你根本分不清谁来自哪家公司。"

At the same time, many suppliers compete with each other indirectly, for instance providing similar parts for different generations of ASML’s machines. If a supplier runs into trouble, ASML dispatches a rapid intervention force, sometimes even if such help is not welcome. As a last resort, ASML can buy a supplier, as was the case with Berliner Glas.

同时，许多供应商之间存在间接竞争，例如为 ASML 的不同代机器提供类似部件。如果一家供应商遇到困难，ASML 就会派遣一支快速干预部队，有时即使这种帮助并不受欢迎。在万不得已的情况下，ASML 可以收购一家供应商，Berliner Glas就是这种情况。

dispatch /dɪˈspætʃ/ v.派遣；调遣；派出；发出，发送（邮件、包裹、信息）；迅速处理；迅速办妥；迅速完成<~ sb/sth (to…)>

It is this loosely coupled structure that allowed ASML to outcompete its more vertically integrated rivals, reckons Willy Shih of Harvard Business School. Nikon and Canon, two Japanese firms which once led the market for lithography machines, never managed to commercialise the more complex EUV kit. (Canon is trying to stage a return with “nanoimprint” lithography, which physically stamps chip designs onto wafers.)

哈佛商学院的威利希(Willy Shih)认为，正是这种松散的耦合结构使 ASML 能够在竞争中战胜垂直整合程度较高的竞争对手。尼康和佳能这两家曾经主导光刻机市场的日本公司，从未成功地将更复杂的超紫外（EUV）设备商业化。(佳能正试图通过 "纳米压印 "光刻技术卷土重来，这种技术是将芯片设计以物理方式刻在晶圆上）。

“vertically integrated rivals”（垂直整合的竞争对手）是指在供应链中拥有多个环节的竞争对手。这些公司通常自己掌握了产品设计、生产、组装和销售等多个环节，形成了一个相对封闭的生产体系。

ASML is now entrenching this dominance by complementing its hardware with software and data. When real rockets take off, their trajectory is wobbly and needs to be smoothed out by a guidance computer, which collects data to predict and adapt their course. A wafer table in a lithography machine is similarly likely to miss the mark at first. The same is true of the rest of the device. It is only with the help of lots of data and machine-learning, a type of AI, that they can be fine-tuned—and made more accurate. This is rapidly turning ASML into an AI platform.

目前，ASML 正通过软件和数据来加强其硬件的优势。当真正的火箭起飞时，它们的轨迹会摇摆不定，并需要由导航计算机来平滑轨迹，收集数据以预测和调整其航向。光刻机中的晶圆台也有可能一开始就偏离目标位置。其他部件也是如此。只有通过大量的数据和机器学习（一种人工智能技术）的帮助下，才能对其进行微调并提高精度。这让ASML迅速成为一个人工智能平台。

entrench /ɪnˈtrentʃ/ v.使处于牢固地位；牢固确立;使（权力、习俗、观念等）根深蒂固【记】en-（动词前缀）+trench(壕沟)→使壕沟更深一点→根深蒂固→巩固地位

trajectory /trəˈdʒektəri/ n.轨迹;(射体在空中的)轨道;弹道【记】tra-（变压器-反应堆装置的缩写）+ject（抛射出去）+-ory（名词后缀）→从这个位置出去后形成的东西→轨道，轨迹

wobbly /ˈwɒbli/ adj.摇摆的;颤动的;摇摇晃晃的;不稳的;不自信的

Once Intel has received all the modules for its new machine, it will take about two weeks to put the thing together. Adapting it to its new location will take several months. Bits may have moved in transport, gravity may be slightly different in Oregon from in Veldhoven and other machines nearby may create interference. Tests will collect reams of data and trigger adjustments. “We have thousands of knobs we can turn to put it into a perfect state,” says Jos Benschop, who is in charge of technology at ASML.

一旦英特尔收到其新机器的所有模块，组装机器大约需要两周时间。将其适应新的位置可能需要数月时间。在运输过程中，部件可能会移动，俄勒冈州的重力与费尔多芬的重力可能会略有不同，附近的其他机器可能会产生干扰。测试将收集大量数据并触发调整。ASML 负责技术的Jos Benschop 说：“我们有成千上万个可以调整的参数，以使其达到完美状态。”

ASML also uses the data from one machine to turn the knobs of others. Of the roughly 5,500 devices it has sold since its founding 39 years ago, 95% are still in operation and many send data home to headquarters. That will make its products even better, leading to more chipmaking, which generates even more data—and so on, in a “flywheel” more typically associated with digital services such as internet search. Even if Canon, Nikon or a Chinese competitor finally managed to build EUV machines as powerful as ASML’s, it would not be able to catch up with the Dutch firm, argues Pierre Ferragu of New Street Research, a research firm. “It’s mathematically impossible, as long as ASML keeps collecting data from all the installed base.”

ASML还利用一个机器的数据来调整其他机器的参数。自成立39年来，ASML已经销售了大约5500台设备，其中95%仍在运行中，许多设备依旧在向总部发送数据。这将使其产品变得更加出色，从而带来更多的芯片制造，产生更多的数据，如此循环往复，形成了一种更常见于数字服务（如互联网搜索）的“飞轮”效应。新街研究公司（New Street Research）的皮埃尔-费拉古认为：“即使佳能、尼康或中国的竞争对手最终设法制造出与 ASML 一样强大的 EUV 机器，也无法赶上这家荷兰公司。只要ASML继续从所有已安装设备中收集数据，这在数学上计算赶超是不可能的。”

“flywheel”飞轮效应是指一个系统或过程在不断积累和增长的情况下，其自身动力变得越来越强大，进而加速增长的现象。在科技和商业领域，飞轮效应通常与数据积累、用户增长、网络效应和技术发展等因素相互作用，推动整个系统或企业实现持续增长和优势。

If rivals cannot topple ASML, can anything? Physics is one potential hurdle. Even with the best AI, you cannot shrink transistors for ever (certainly not in a commercially viable way). If technical requirements become too otherworldly the supplier network may unravel. Economics is another. Chipmakers may recoil at ASML’s data hunger, which extends to other linked devices in their factories. Some have apparently started to push back against its digital expansion, insiders say.

如果竞争对手无法打败 ASML，那么还有什么能打败它吗？物理学是一个潜在障碍。即使有最先进的人工智能，也不可能永远缩小晶体管的尺寸（尤其是在商业上可行的方式下）。如果技术要求变得超出现实范围，供应链网络可能会崩溃。经济是另一个原因。芯片制造商可能会对 ASML 的数据渴求感到恐惧，因为这种渴求会延伸到他们工厂中的其他关联设备。内部人士说，一些厂商显然已经开始抵制 ASML 的数字化扩张。

ream /riːm/ n.大量;大量的文字(或写作);

viable /ˈvaɪəbl/ adj.可行的;可实施的;能独立发展的;能独立生存的;【记】via（通过）+-ble(能够)→行得通→可行的

otherworldly adj.来世的;超脱尘俗的;超脱尘世的;修来世的;另一世界【记】other+world+ly(形容词后缀)→在另一个世界的→超凡脱俗的，脱离现实范围的

unravel /ʌnˈrævl/ v.解开;瓦解;解体;崩溃;(把缠或织在一起的线)拆散;松开;说明;阐释;澄清;变得清楚易懂【记】un-（否定前缀）+ravel(纠缠，复杂)

recoil /rɪˈkɔɪl , ˈriːkɔɪl/ vi.退缩;反冲;畏缩;产生后坐力;对…作出厌恶(或恐惧)的反应<~ (from sb/sth) | ~ (at sth)>

push back against 抵制

Then there is geopolitics. ASML’s share price dipped after news broke about the cancelled deliveries to China. The worry is less over lower sales; ASML cannot build its machines fast enough anyway. Of greater concern is the risk that strict export controls could in time push China to build its own chipmaking-gear industry. That could one day threaten ASML’s position at the centre of the industry. For the time being, though, the company’s network and its network effects remain indomitable. Who said Europe couldn’t do tech? ■

还有地缘政治。取消向中国交货的消息传出后，ASML 的股价下跌。人们担心的不是销售额下降，因为ASML无论如何都无法快速建造足够的机器。更令人担忧的是，严格的出口管控可能会促使中国建立自己的芯片制造设备产业。这有一天会威胁到 ASML 在该行业的中心地位。但就目前而言，该公司的网络及其网络效应仍是不可战胜的。谁说欧洲不能搞科技呢？■

英文取自《经济学人》官网

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