标题: Consultants under fire
Do McKinsey and other consultants do anything useful?
翻译:咨询行业受到严厉批评
麦肯锡和其他咨询公司做了哪些有用的事情吗？
- consultant n.顾问
consultancy n.咨询公司
＝consulting firm
- be/come under fire 遭到严厉批评
- McKinsey麦肯锡公司
＝McKinsey and Co./ and Company
（英语国家的公司经常以“人名 and Company”的方式命名，意即该公司是“某人及其合作伙伴一同创立”。）
导语:Though hated, they often provide a valuable service to the economy.
翻译:尽管被人厌恶，但他们往往为经济提供了有价值的服务。
If a list were made of the most reviled species in the professional world, only investment bankers would stand between management consultants and the top spot. Sceptics portray these corporate consiglieri as snake-oil salesmen, bamboozling chief executives and politicians with management gibberish and glossy charts while gorging on fat fees. Indeed, the profession was once the subject of a five-season skewering in a star-studded TV series. Its title: "House of Lies".
翻译:如果列出专业界最受 谩骂 的职业名单，只有 投行从业人员 才会站在管理顾问和 榜首 位置之间。 怀疑论者 将这些 公司 顾问描绘成 江湖*子骗** ，用管理的 胡言乱语 和光鲜的 图表 欺骗 首席执行官 和政客，同时收取 丰厚的费用 。事实上，这个职业曾经是一部众星云集的五季电视剧中讽刺的主题。该剧的名字是：《谎言屋》。
- revile vt.辱骂，斥责
vile adj. 糟糕的、邪恶的
- investment bank 投行（与国内的证券公司/ 券商类似）
investment banker 投行从业人员
- spot n.（排行榜）位次
top spot 头名
- sceptic/ skeptic n. 持怀疑态度的人
- portray v. 刻画、把……描绘成
portray A as B 把A描绘成B的样子
- corporate adj. 公司的
corporation n. 大公司
- consigliere n. *手党黑**顾问
[pl] consiglieri
- snake-oil n. 狗皮膏药
- a substance with no real medicinal value sold as a remedy for all diseases
snake-oil salesman 江湖*子骗**
- bamboozle vt. 欺骗、哄骗
- chief executive n. 总裁、老总
- gibberish n. 胡话、令人费解的话
gibber v. 语无伦次地说话
- glossy adj. 有光泽的；浮华的
gloss n.（头发等的）光泽
- gorge on 贪婪地吃
- fat adj. 肥厚的（钱）
fat profits 丰厚的利润
- skewer [ˈskjuːər] n./ v. 烧烤串/ 用串子串；讽刺
grill vt. 烧烤；盘问、审问
- star-studded[ˈstʌdɪd] adj. 众星云集的
be studded with sth. 布满某物
- House of Lies 《谎言屋》
Recent events have provided even more reasons to hate consultants. “When McKinsey Comes to Town”, an exposé published on October 4th, drags its subject through the mud with evidence of decades of scandalous behaviour. On September 30th prosecutors in South Africa brought criminal charges against the firm. (McKinsey says the book is a misrepresentation and denies the charges brought against it.) ...
翻译：最近发生的事件提供了更多仇恨顾问的理由。10月4日出版的 揭露性报道 《当麦肯锡来到小镇》用十几年的 丑闻 证据， 含沙射影 麦肯锡顾问。9月30日，南非的 检察官 对麦肯锡公司 提出了刑事指控 。（麦肯锡表示，这本书是一种 虚假陈述 ，并否认了对它的指控。）
- exposé /ekˈspəʊzeɪ; ekspoʊˈzeɪ/ n. 揭露性报道
注意它的读音和expose完全不同。
communiqué n. 公报
critique n. 评论文章
- drag sth. through the mud 中伤；把某物拖进浑水里
- scandalous adj. 丑闻的
scandal n. 丑闻
- prosecutor n. 检察官
bring/ press charges against sb. 起诉、控告某人
- criminal adj. 刑事的
civil adj. 民事的
- misrepresentation n. 对事实情况的歪曲、扭曲
representation n. 描述、描绘
= portrayal n. 描述、描绘
... Its two big rivals, Bain & Company and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), have also faced controversies. In France President Emmanuel Macron has come under attack after an inquiry this year found the government had spent $1bn on consulting firms with “tentacular” links with the state.
翻译：麦肯锡的两大竞争对手， 贝恩公司 和 波士顿咨询集团 （BCG），也面临着争议。今年的一项调查发现，法国政府花费10亿美元在与法国有“ 触角 ”联系的咨询公司上，法国总统埃隆马斯克因此受到攻击。
- Bain & Company 贝恩咨询
Boston Consulting Group 波士顿咨询
Big Three (management consultancies) 三大咨询公司
= MBB
- tentacular adj. 触手般的
tentacle n.（章鱼）触手
tentacles n. 影响力；束缚
Despite evidence of dubious conduct, business has never been better. The big three firms’ total revenue has tripled since 2010, to about $30bn; the trio now employ around 70,000 people. That implies revenue per employee of over $400,000, hinting at juicy pay packets for the people at the top. By comparison, the figure for the big four accountancy firms—Deloitte, PWC, EY and KPMG—is a comparatively meagre $140,000.
翻译：尽管有证据表明其行为可疑，但咨询生意却越来越红火。自2010年以来，三大公司的总收入增长了三倍，达到300亿美元左右；目前这三家公司还雇佣了约7万名员工。这意味着每名员工的收入将超过40万美元，意味着高层员工的薪酬将非常丰厚。相比之下，四大会计师事务所——德勤、普华永道、安永和毕马威会计师事务所的这个数字相对较低，只有14万美元。
- dubious adj. 不诚实的、可疑的
- conduct n.（工作的）方式、行为准则
code of conduct 行为准则
misconduct 失职
- triple v. 成为三倍
du-：二 tri-：三
duo n. 双人组 trio n. 三人组
- hint at sth. 暗示某事
- juicy adj. 报酬丰厚的
- pay n. 工资、薪水
- packet n. 一大笔钱
- accountancy n. 会计工作
accountant n.会计
accountancy firm 会计事务所
= accounting firm 会计事务所
四大会计师事务所：
Deloitte 德勤
PWC 普华永道
EY 安永
KPMG 毕马威
- meagre [ˈmigər]adj. 少量的、微薄的
What explains the boom? A shroud of secrecy makes it hard to calculate how much value the industry adds: few bosses or politicians would credit consultants for a successful turnaround. As a result there is a widespread view that all consultants are parasites and those who hire them are fools. In fact the firms have grown because they provide two services that bosses want—one more economically beneficial than the other.
翻译： 繁荣 的原因使什么？ 秘而不宣 的行业状态让人们很难计算出这个行业增加了多少价值：很少有老板或政客会将一个 成功的转变 归功于顾问。也因此有一个广泛流传的观点认为，顾问们都是 寄生虫 ，而雇佣他们的人都是傻瓜。事实上，这些公司之所以还在成长，是因为它们提供了老板们想要的两种服务——其中一种比另一种在经济上更有利。
- boom n. 繁荣、激增
boom and bust 繁荣和萧条
- shroud n./ v. 裹尸布、覆盖物/ 覆盖、隐藏
His work was shrouded in secrecy.
他的工作秘而不宣。
- secrecy n. 秘密（的状态）
secret n. 秘密
- value added/ added value n. 增值
- credit vt. 认为是... 的功劳
credit A with B/ credit B to A 把B归功于A
- turnaround n. 好转、起色
- parasite n. 寄生虫
- economically adv. 经济上的
The first is an outside opinion. When firms or governments make decisions, it can pay to buy in rigorous analysis. The danger is that this becomes a self-protection racket . When bosses want to push through controversial decisions, from firing staff to breaking up a firm, a consultant’s backing can bolster their credibility . And legitimate scrutiny, whether from political opponents or board directors , can be easier to dodge using consultants’ reports in pleasing fonts with scientific-looking tables.
翻译：第一个是 外部 的意见。当公司或政府做出决定时，它可以花钱 购买细致 的分析。而危险就在于，这也可能成了一种 自我保护 的 *局骗** 。当老板们想要 推动 一些有争议的决定时，无论是解雇员工还是解散公司，咨询顾问的 支持 可以提高他们的 可信度 。至于来自政见对手和 董事会 的 合规审查 ，都能用顾问那漂亮 字体 和 科学 表格的报告来轻松 避免 。
- outside adj.（公司等）外部的
Consultants were brought in to provide some outside advice.
顾问被请来提供一些外部的建议。
- it pays to do sth. 做某事是有益的
- buy sth. in 大量购买
- rigorous adj. 详尽的、细致的
- self-protection n.自我防护
- racket n. 球拍；勾当（熟词僻义）
a protection racket 收保护费的勾当
smuggling racket *私走**勾当
operate/ run … racket 干……勾当
- push sth. through 使某事通过
- backing n. 帮助、支持
back vt. 支持
state-backed adj. 国家支持的
- bolster vt. 加强、增强
- credibility n. 可信度、可靠性
- legitimate adj. 正当合理的
- scrutiny n. 仔细检查、审查
- board of directors n. 董事会
director n. 董事、总经理
managing director n. 总经理
- dodge vt. （不诚实地）躲避
- font n. 字体
- X-looking adj. 看起来...的
scientific-looking adj. 看起来科学的
good-looking adj. 看起来好看的
dorky-looking adj. 看起来像书呆子的
The second service is unambiguously good, both for the people in charge and the wider economy: making available specialist knowledge that may not exist within some organisations, from deploying cloud computing to assessing climate change’s impact on supply chains. By performing similar work for many clients, consultants spread productivity-enhancing practices.
翻译：而第二项服务不管是对负责人还是更广泛的经济来说，都是 实实在在 的好：从 部署云计算 到评估气候变化对供应链的影响， 提供 一些公司内部可能不存在的专业知识。通过为许多客户执行类似的工作，顾问们传播了 提高生产力的实践。
- unambiguous adj. 明确的
ambiguous adj. 模棱两可的
- making sth. available 准备好某事/ 某物
- deploy vt. 部署
- cloud computing n. 云计算
- enhance productivity 提高生产力
productivity-enhancing adj. 提高生产力的
- practice n. 常规做法
a way of doing sth. that is the usual or expected way in a particular organization or situation
good practice 优良做法
best practice 最佳实践
One defence against an explosion of bogus advice would be better disclosure . Companies are already required to reveal how much they spend on their auditors and on investment bankers’ fees on deals. The sums that individual firms spend on consultants often exceed this, running into the tens of millions of dollars a year, and should be made public too.
翻译： 防止虚假 咨询泛滥的方法是更多的 披露 。各大公司被要求披露 审计 支出，以及投行交易费。个别公司在顾问上的花费往往超过这一数字， 达到 每年数千万美元，也应该公开。
- defence [c] n. 防御物、防御方式
Humour is a more effective defence than violence.
幽默是比*力暴**更有效的防御*器武**。
- bogus [ˈboʊɡəs]adj. 假冒的、伪造的
- disclosure [dɪsˈkloʊʒər]n. 揭露、披露
- auditor n. 审计员、查账员
- run v. 达到（某数字、水平）
The cost of repairing the damage could run to $5000.
修理损坏的费用可能达五千美元。
So far the industry has escaped the formal rules that govern lawyers and bankers. If it wishes to keep it that way, it should adopt a second measure: a code of conduct that all responsible consultancies adhere to . They should eschew providing advice that helps bigwigs at the expense of the institutions they run. They should also police the revolving door between government jobs and consultancies. Consultants have much to offer, but also much still to prove.
翻译：目前，该行业已经逃脱了 管理 律师和银行家的正式规定。如果它希望保持这种方式，那么应该采取第二项措施：制定所有相关咨询公司都遵守的 行为准则 。他们应该 避免 提供帮助 大人物 以 牺牲 他们经营的机构为代价的建议。他们还应该 监督 政府工作和咨询公司之间的 旋转门 。顾问们可以提供很多东西，但也有很多东西需要证明。
- govern vt. 规定、管制
legislation governing the export of live animals
管制活畜出口的法规
- a code of conduct 行为准则
- adhere to sth. 坚持、遵守某事
- eschew [ɪsˈtʃuː]vt. 有意回避、躲避
- bigwig n. 大人物
- at the expense of sb./ sth.
在牺牲/ 损害某人/ 某物的情况下
- police vt. 监督、管制
= monitor
- revolve v. 旋转
revolver n. 左轮手枪
revolving door n. 旋转门
这里的“旋转门”不同于酒店的旋转门，而是指“政府要职到私企任职的转换”（反之亦然） 。
EG. 政府*官高**退休后去咨询公司任职，利用自己丰富的专业知识和多年积累的人脉给其他公司做咨询。这种做法一方面对其他公司的发展有益，但另一方面也可能导致各公司学会钻制度的空子，不加监管对商业世界有害。