Revenue and the missing comparison period
A fictional financial source for translation practice reports: 本期营业收入为1500亿元，同比增长15%。 A draft renders it as revenue of 1500 billion yuan, an increase of 15 percentage points. A second draft uses 150 billion yuan and an increase of 15 percent year-on-year. In a separate paragraph, the source merely says costs rose by 15 percent and gives no comparison period. The reviser proposes adding year-on-year to that paragraph as well for consistency. The client asks the team to check scale, units and comparison language before polishing the report. No real company is identified, and the exercise does not supply a basis for estimating margins, profit or a share price. The reviewer must separate a justified conversion from an invented assumption.
1. Recompute the revenue scale and the type of change.
Read the worked answer
1500 multiplied by one hundred million equals 150 billion yuan. 同比 establishes a year-on-year comparison and 15% is a relative percentage increase, not a change of 15 percentage points.
2. Explain why the costs paragraph needs a different decision.
Read the worked answer
The costs paragraph lacks a stated period. Adding year-on-year invents information; preserve the given 15% increase and seek clarification where needed. Consistency does not justify manufacturing a comparison basis.