Day1:
1、physical products 实物产品
2、almonds 杏仁
3、sprinkler 喷水装置
4、work on the premise that… 在…的前提下工作
5、market capitalization 市场资本总值
6、句型:never before➕倒装
Never before has a company been worth so much for so long while making so little money.
7、ground for scepticism 怀疑主义的立场
8、tick off some of the pitfalls 列举出一些隐患
9、unprecedented goals 空前的目标
10、basket case 经济萧条/神经质的人
11、whinge about sth 没完没了的抱怨某事
12、principal businesses 主要业务
13、entice more shoppers 诱惑更多购物者
14、virtuous circle 良性循环
15、whirl -If something or someone whirls around or if you whirl them around, they move around or turn around very quickly.
词组:1 give something a whirl (非正式)尝试,试试看
2 in a whirl 在混乱中
16、heady valuation 风头正劲的估值
17、self-fulfilling prophecy 会成为事实的预言
18、debacle 彻底的失败;惨败 A debacle is an event or attempt that is a complete failure.
19、crank out 粗制滥造
20、clout-A person or institution that has clout has influence and power.
21、adjacent businesses相关企业
22、inflammatory content有煽动性的内容
--—-—---—-—---—-—---—-—---—-—---—--—-—---—
Day2:
1. The former bookseller accounts for more than half of every new dollar spent on line in U.S.
以卖书起家的亚马逊如今占据了超过一半的美国网络交易额。
笃师:美国新增线上交易中,书商起家的亚马逊占到一半以上份额。
2. Since the beginning of 2015, its share price has jumped by 173%, seven times quicker than in the two previous years.(and 12 times faster than the S&P 500 Index)
自2015年初起,亚马逊的股价上升了173%,七倍于前两年的上升速度。(比标准普尔指数快了12倍)
笃师:自2015年初起,亚马逊公司股价飙升173%,增速是前两年的七倍。(为标准普尔500指数的12倍)
3. With a market capitalization of some 400bn, it is the fifth most valuable firm in the world.
亚马逊的市场资本总值约为四千亿,这使他成为世界上第五个最有价值的公司。
笃师:亚马逊以约4000亿美元的市值排名全球第五。
4. Never before has a company been worth so much for so long while making so little money: 92% of its value is due to profits expected after 2020.
从来没有哪个公司像亚马逊一样价值大而盈利少:它92%的价值利润源于2020年之后。
笃师:从未有过一家公司能在盈利如此有限的情况下,长久维持如此之高的估值:其中92%来自2020年以后的盈利预期。
5. Walmart already has revenues nudging 500bn and is beefing up online.
沃尔玛的总收入直逼五千亿,其线上收入还在增加。
笃师:沃尔玛的营收已接近5000亿,并且还在增强线上业务。
6. Last year cash-flow (before investment) was $16bn, more than quadruple the level five years ago.
去年的现金流转金额(投资前)为160亿,这是五年前的四倍之多。
笃师:去年现金流(投资之前)为160亿美元,是五年前的四倍。
7. If it makes as much money as investors hope, a rough calculation suggests its earnings could be worth the equivalent of 25% of the combined profits of listed Western retail and media firms.
如果它的盈利能够达到投资者预期,粗略计算,它的盈利将等同于西方上市零售和媒体公司总利润的25%
笃师:如果该公司实际业绩与投资者预期一致,据初步统计, 其利润将等同于所有西方零售和媒体上市公司利润总和的25%。
8. Ground for skepticism does not come much more fertile than this: Amazon will have to grow faster than almost any big company in modern history to justify its valuation.
怀疑主义者的期待是最高的:亚马逊将不得不成长地比几乎所有近代大企业都快,这样才能配得上他的估价。
笃师:最强有力的质疑根据是:亚马逊的增长速度必须超过近代史上几乎任意一家大公司才能支撑其估值。
9. In an era when executives routinely whinge about pressure to produce short-term results, Amazon is resolutely focused on the distant horizon.
在一个高管们普遍抱怨做出短期项目成果的压力的时代,亚马逊则截然不同的将重点放在长远目标上。
笃师:当今时代,主管们常常抱怨实现短期目标压力太大,而亚马逊则坚定不移的聚焦长远目标。
10. Mr. Bezos emphasizes continual investment to propel its two principal businesses.
Bezos先生强调要不断投资亚马逊的两个主要业务,以推动其发展。
笃师:贝索斯先生重视两大核心业务的持续投资以促进发展。
11. A third virtuous circle is starting to whirl around Alexa, the firm’s voice-activated assistant:
第三个良性循环就是其子公司Alexa的声控助手。
笃师:第三个良性循环是围绕Alexa的,即该公司声控助手。
12. So long as shareholders retain their faith in this model, Amazon’s heady valuation resembles a self-fulfilling prophecy.
只要股份持有者在这个模式中忠诚不二,亚马逊的高额估价就一定会成为现实。
笃师:只要股东对这一模式保持信念,那么亚马逊的超高估值就类似于自我实现预言。
13. Their faith is sustained by Amazon’s record.
他们的忠诚取决于亚马逊的排名。
14. It has had its failures—its attempt to make a smart-phone was a debacle. But the business is starting to crank out cash.
他自身也有失败-它尝试生产智能手机,但是溃败而终。但是它开始大量圈钱。
15. If Amazon’s approach to time-frames is unusual, so too is the sheer breadth of its activities.
如果说亚马逊的时限是不同寻常的,那么它工作流的深度也是如此。
16. A wingspan this large is more reminiscent of a conglomerate than a retailer, which makes Amazon’s share price seem even more bloated: stock markets typically apply a “conglomerate discount” to reflect their in- efficiencies.
亚马逊的覆盖范围如此庞大,这使它更像是一个联合大公司而不是零售企业,也让亚马逊的股价似乎更高:在股价市场中常常用“多元化折让”形容这一现象。
17. Seen through this lens, Amazon appears pristine.
从这个角度来看,亚马逊还是个新手。
18. Consumers applaud it; it is the most well-regarded company in America, according to a Harris poll.
根据一个哈里斯民意调查,消费者们对亚马逊的认同度很高,在美国,它是评价最好的公司。
19. If it gets anywhere close to fulfilling them, it will attract the attention of regulators.
如果亚马逊在任何一个方面符合这些猜疑,它就会吸引监管部门的注意。
20. But as it grows, so will concerns about its power.
但是树大招风。
21. Investors value Amazon’s growth over pro-fits; that makes predatory pricing more tempting.
比起利润,投资者们更看重亚马逊的增长,这就使掠夺性定价更诱人。
--—-—---—-—---—-—---—-—---—-—---—-—---—-—-
Day3:
第一天的时候,一看到文章是经济学人,顿时感觉好难好难的样子,虽然不是英语专业的学生,但是听朋友说过如果考试考到经济学人就很难了。第一遍读的时候确实感到有点蒙圈,讲了啥?亚马逊……具体是啥?嗯……好像是说亚马逊的优点和危机,再细节就记不清了。粗读后疏通字词的过程中,感觉像是又读了一篇文章,这次是抓住了一些细节,。字词疏通后又读了一遍,才对内容有了全面的了解。第二天画文章结构,抓重点,感觉第一天读的认真,第二天读懂文章就容易了,画完导图和笃师的对比一下,发现大致结构是正确的(好开心啊)不过还是有细节缺失。神句翻译感觉要信达雅,又要说人话,真是不容易。今天读了背景文章,感觉对亚马逊更了解了!非常感谢笃师和小伙伴们,群里面的讨论很受用!