Topic1： Amazon
Words and expressions
1.capitalization n.資本市值
The company’s market capitalization hit $149bn at the end of 1999.
With a market capitalization of some $400bn, it is the fifth-most-valuable firm in the world.
2.fertile a.富饒的；能產(chǎn)生好結(jié)果的
The Internet providesa fertile breeding
ground for this sort of behavior toflourish.
Cyberspace is the most fertile ground for a piece of self-growth ethical.
3.tick off查迄；責(zé)備
The first censuses did little more than tick off the number of people living in a particular house.
It is easy to tick off some of the pitfalls.
4.nudge v.輕推；向。。靠攏
nudge policy towards nationalism推動政策向民族主義靠攏
nudge along the process of global rebalancing推進(jìn)全球再平衡過程
Walmart has revenues nudging$500bn.
5.beef up加強(qiáng)；增強(qiáng)
beef up air force
beef up the essay 充實論文
6.whinge v./n.抱怨
syn: whine, moan
have a whiny e抱怨
7.entice v.誘使；引誘
entice more customers
The prisoner tried to entice the guard from his duty.
8.heady a.沖動的；輕率的;振奮人心的
There were heady predictions of dollar parity with the euro.曾經(jīng)有過振奮人心的美元和歐元平價的預(yù)言。
Those heady days of youth flied away like a bird.
9.debacle n.崩潰；災(zāi)禍
His first performance was a debacle, for the audience booed him off the stage.
In recent years, what started as a debacle has turned into a nightmare.
10.crank n.古怪、脾氣差的人；v.啟動
*crank out制作；完成
He is just a crank. His ideas are insane.
Crank out the work重新開始工作
Crank out the project趕這個項目
The business is staring to crank out cash.
11.reminiscent of sb./sth.回憶起
A wingspan this large is more reminiscent of a conglomerate企業(yè)集團(tuán)；聯(lián)合大公司than a retailer, which makes Amazon’s share price seem even more bloated膨脹: stockmarkets typically apply a “conglomerate discount” to reflect their inefficiencies.
12.pristine a.嶄新的；未開發(fā)的
pristine interstellar materials 原始星際物質(zhì)
preserve the pristine essence and pioneering spirit of the United States 保存著美國的原生景色與開拓精神
13.inflammatory a.煽動性的；令人發(fā)怒的
He gave an inflammatory address to the audience.
The posting of inflammatory content on Facebook
14.predatory a.壓榨性的；掠奪性的
predatory competitors
makes predatory pricing more tempting
好句
1.Ground for skepticism does not come much more fertile than this. 【比喻】
2.Walmart already has revenues nudging $500bn and is beefing uponline.
3.A third virtuous circle is starting to whirl around Alexa. 【注意circle和whirl進(jìn)行搭配】
4.So long as shareholders retain their faith?in this model, Amazon’s heady valuation resembles a self-fulfilling prophecy自我實現(xiàn)的預(yù)言.
5.If Amazon’s approach to time-frames is unusual, so too is the sheer breadth of its activities.
6.Google stands accused of using its clout as a search engine to extend its power to adjacent businesses.【stand用的很好】
7.Success will bring it into conflict with an even stronger beast: government.
背景知識
1. 標(biāo)準(zhǔn)普爾500指數(shù)覆蓋的所有公司，都是在美國主要交易所，如紐約證券交易所、納斯達(dá)克交易的上市公司。與道瓊斯指數(shù)相比，標(biāo)準(zhǔn)普爾500指數(shù)包含的公司更多，因此風(fēng)險更為分散，能夠反映更廣泛的市場變化。
2. 市值（Market Capitalization，簡稱Market Cap）是一種度量公司資產(chǎn)規(guī)模的方式，數(shù)量上等于該公司當(dāng)前的股票價格乘以該公司所有的普通股數(shù)量。市值通常可以用來作為收購某公司的成本評估，市值的增長通常作為衡量該公司經(jīng)營狀況的一個關(guān)鍵指標(biāo)。
3. conglomerate discount 集團(tuán)化折價(或多元化折價)：集團(tuán)化企業(yè)的市場價值，低于所估計出來的各個子公司的市場價值之和。多元化經(jīng)營主要優(yōu)勢之一應(yīng)該是分散風(fēng)險，可幾十年前很多公司就發(fā)現(xiàn)，投資者不喜歡這種模式。比起投資一家旗下業(yè)務(wù)眾多的綜合性大企業(yè)，投資者更愿意自己在各行業(yè)配置多元投資組合，因為綜合性大企業(yè)往往有著信息不對稱，效率低下，結(jié)構(gòu)臃腫等諸多弊病。
4. 掠奪性定價（predatory pricing）又稱劫掠性定價、掠奪價、有時亦稱掠奪性定價歧視，是指一個廠商將價格定在犧牲短期利潤以消除競爭對手并在長期獲得高利潤的行為。掠奪性定價是一種不公平的低價行為，實施該行為的企業(yè)占有一定的市場支配地位，他們具有資產(chǎn)雄厚、生產(chǎn)規(guī)模大、分散經(jīng)營能力強(qiáng)等競爭優(yōu)勢，所以有能力承擔(dān)暫時故意壓低價格的利益損失，而一般的中小企業(yè)勢單力薄，無力承擔(dān)這種犧牲。其次，掠奪性定價是以排擠競爭對手為目的的故意行為，實施該行為的企業(yè)以低于成本價銷售，會造成短期的利益損失，但是這樣做的目的是吸引消費者，以此為代價擠走競爭對手，行為人在一定時間達(dá)到目的后，會提高銷售價格，獨占市場。
反思
很多句子的意思理解太淺了，主要原因是缺乏背景知識，比如“self-fulfilling prophecy"、“predatory pricing”、“conglomerate discount”的理解就很淺，做神句翻譯的時候也明顯太逐字翻譯了。另外第一次接觸思維導(dǎo)圖，很沒頭緒，要多多堅持自己整理邏輯，強(qiáng)調(diào)每段落句首句尾的關(guān)系。
