笃学奖-Topic 1/amazon-A10516-甘比精读
DAY 1
Words and phrases
Grounds for scepticism does not come much more fertile than this.
This is the most common scepticism about Amazon's future.
Walmart has revenues nudging $50 billion, and is beefing up online.
If someone or something is nudging a particular amount, level, or state, they have almost reached it.
It's easy to tick off some of the pitfalls.
The pitfalls involved in a particular activity or situation are the things that may go wrong or may cause problems.
[a danger or difficulty, especially one that is hidden or not obvious at first] 隐患，陷阱
Here are some pitfalls of renting a house: price gouging, photoshopped picture of the house and getting swindled by agents.
Their faith is sustained by Amazon's record. It has had its failures—its attempt to make a smartphone was a debacle. But the business is starting to crank out cash.
A debacle is an event or attempt that is a complete failure.
If you say that a company or person cranks out a quantity of similar things, you mean they produce them quickly, in the same way, and are usually implying that the things are not original or are of poor quality. 迅速地大量滥制
[syn] Grind out, churn out, spawn
Productivity tends to rise over time, as new technologies will help us find better ways to churn out goods and services.
British factories continued to churn out cars, medical services and aircraft parts, many of them destined for Europe.
Seen through this lens, Amazon appears pristine.
Seen through this lens: seen from this perspective
Pristine: extremely new and untouched
Ecologists strive to preserve pristine rain forests, just as vacationers are always drawn to a pristine strip of beach.
Basket case: a country or an organization whose economic situation is very bad
Whinge about: to complain in an annoying way
DAY 2
Mindmap
笃学奖-Topic 1/amazon-A10516-甘比精读
My stab at translation
1. The former bookseller accounts for more than half of every new dollar spent on line in U.S.
美国消费者线上每支出一美元，就有一半以上成为亚马逊的收入。
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)
2015年初以来，亚马逊股价飙升了173%，增速是前两年的7倍。（比标普500指数快12倍）
3. With a market capitalization of some 400bn, it is the fifth most valuable firm in the world.
亚马逊市值大约4千亿美元，是世界上第五大最有价值的公司。
June's version:以......排名全球第五 （简练多了）
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.
从未有像亚马逊这样的公司，长期保持如此高市值的同时利润如此之低：92%的利润预计会来自2020年之后。
June's version: 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。 更readable
5. Walmart already has revenues nudging 500bn and is beefing up online.
沃尔玛的营业收入接近5千亿美元，并且积极发展其线上业务。
6. Last year cash-flow (before investment) was $16bn, more than quadruple the level five years ago.
去年亚马逊的现金流（投资前）为160亿美元，是5年前的4倍多。
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.
如果亚马逊达到投资者的成功预期，粗算一下它的收入会相当于上市的西方零售和媒体集团利润之和的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.
最盛行的怀疑论莫过于：要配得上如此高的估值，亚马逊的增长速度要盖过现代史上任何一家大公司，它能实现这一目标吗？
9. In an era when executives routinely whinge about pressure to produce short-term results, Amazon is resolutely focused on the distant horizon.
当今时代，执行官经常抱怨短期内提高业绩的压力太大，亚马逊却毅然着眼于长远的未来。
10. Mr. Bezos emphasizes continual investment to propel its two principal businesses.
贝索斯先生强调要不断投资发展亚马逊的两大主要业务。
11. A third virtuous circle is starting to whirl around Alexa, the firm’s voice-activated assistant:
亚马逊的语音助手Alexa，开始催生第三个良性循环。
12. So long as shareholders retain their faith in this model, Amazon’s heady valuation resembles a self-fulfilling prophecy.
只要股东们对这种成长模式有信心，亚马逊的天价估值很可能会成为其未来价值。
13. Their faith is sustained by Amazon’s record.
他们的信心来源于亚马逊的光辉履历。
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.
亚马逊曾经失败过，比如它在智能手机方面的尝试。但现在公司已经开始迅速获利。
15. If Amazon’s approach to time-frames is unusual, so too is the sheer breadth of its activities.
如果说亚马逊的长线发展规划已经算非比寻常，那么其业务范围之广同样令人称奇。
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.
如此大的业务范围让人更易联想到大集团而不是一家零售企业，这也让亚马逊股价看起来虚高：（因此） 股市常用多元化折价来反应贪多嚼不烂的低效业务模式。
17. Seen through this lens, Amazon appears pristine.
从这个角度看，亚马逊似乎没有不良记录。
18. Consumers applaud it; it is the most well-regarded company in America, according to a Harris poll.
消费者赞誉它，哈里斯民调显示：它是美国口碑最好的公司。
19. If it gets anywhere close to fulfilling them, it will attract the attention of regulators.
一旦它接近实现预期，就会引起监管者的注意。
20. But as it grows, so will concerns about its power.
随着亚马逊的成长，针对它影响力的担忧也会增加。
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发展潜力。未来掠夺性定价也就更有可能出现。
Day 3
【学到的有用的半专业词汇】
Self-fulfilled prophecy 自我实现的预言，很多时候星座和占卜靠的就是这个思想
对我的启发是积极的心理暗示是十分必要的，梦想，信念，勇气不能直接带来改变，但能通过行动和选择影响我们的生活。
Conglomerate discount
Conglomerate discount is an economic concept describing a situation when the stock market values a diversified group of businesses and assets at less than the sum of its parts. The explanation of this phenomenon comes from a conglomerate’s inability to manage various and different businesses as well as does focused companies. (fromWikipedia)
多元化折让，股票市场对多元化企业基于其可能的效率低下而进行的市值低估。
Predatory pricing
Predatory pricing is the act of setting prices low in an attempt to eliminate the competition. Predatory pricing is illegal under anti-trust laws, as it makes markets more vulnerable to a monopoly. (from Investopedia)
为了拖垮竞争对手故意调低价格，undercut，越是有资本的越容易用价格牌制胜。
Stucture
Can Amazon live up to its capitalization/valuation
Reasons for optimism: market share(wide range of businesses and its status as a retailer giant), investors' vote of confidence: very prospective in revenues and profits, good reputation
Reasons for doubts: strong rivalry from other cloud computing platforms and traditional retail giants, regulations and challenges from the government, possible legal liabilities.
Conclusion: Shareholders are right to believe in Amazon's potential. But as we know, with growth comes the true struggle. How will Amazon overtake its competitors and meet the high expectations? Amazon has two striking development strategies—long-term view and new forays into other businesses. Either can play out in two ways. Merits and demerits are obvious: the potential is enormous but there are too many uncertainties and efficiency may be at stake. Also its rivals will not stand still and government will be watchful.
I think the most amazing thing about Amazon is logistics support and cloud computing. Two-hour delivery and huge database on consumer preferences can make a big difference.
I hope Amazon can inspire similar enterprenership.More companies should focus on the distant horizon instead of the low hanging fruits.
