2015考研英语阅读日本和全球供应链_大学英语阅读

2015考研英语阅读日本和全球供应链

　　Just as some financial institutions proved too big tofail, some Japanese suppliers are now revealed to betoo crucial to do without. For example, two firms,Mitsubishi Gas Chemical and Hitachi Chemical,control about 90% of the market for a specialtyresin used to bond parts of microchips that go in tosmartphones and other devices. Both firms plantswere damaged. The compact battery in ApplesiPods relies on a polymer made by Kureha, whichholds 70% of the market, and whose factory wasdamaged.

　　正如一些金融机构被证明太大而不能倒，现在人们发现日本的一些供应商太重要以至于不能缺少。例如，两个公司三菱气体化工和三菱化工，控制了装在智能手机和其他设备中用于粘连微晶片零件的专用树脂的约90%的市场。这两家公司的工厂都遭到了破坏。苹果的iPod小型电池依赖于日本吴羽的一种聚合物，其工厂也遭到破坏。

　　Manufacturers around the world are now racing to secure supplies of the scarcest componentsand materials, pushing up their prices. Carmakers in Japan and America have had to scale backproduction. Toyota fears a scarcity of 500 rubber, plastic and electronic parts. It is not yetclear how much worse things will get as existing stocks run down. Nor can Japanese suppliersbe sure yet of how soon they can get back up to speed: hundreds of aftershocks, some strongenough to disrupt production, have rumbled on since the main quake. Given the loss of a verylarge nuclear plant and shutdowns of others, power shortages may extend for years.