◎陳科芳 浙江外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院

域外采風(fēng)

蘋(píng)果：從手機(jī)到汽車

◎陳科芳 浙江外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院

導(dǎo)讀

本期閱讀材料選自《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》（The Economist），這是一份由倫敦經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人報(bào)紙有限公司出版的雜志，于1843年9月由詹姆士·威爾遜創(chuàng)辦。創(chuàng)辦的目的是“參與一場(chǎng)推動(dòng)前進(jìn)的智慧與阻礙我們進(jìn)步的膽怯無(wú)知之間的較量”，這句話被印在每一期《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》雜志的目錄頁(yè)上。雜志的大多數(shù)文章寫(xiě)得機(jī)智、幽默、有力度，嚴(yán)肅又不失詼諧，并且注重于如何在最小的篇幅內(nèi)告訴讀者最多的信息，其封面設(shè)計(jì)也往往很有特色。雜志主要關(guān)注政治和商業(yè)方面的新聞，但是每期也有一兩篇針對(duì)科技和藝術(shù)的報(bào)道，以及一些書(shū)評(píng)。雜志中所有文章都不署名，而且往往帶有鮮明的立場(chǎng)，但又處處用事實(shí)說(shuō)話，因?yàn)槠渲骶巶冋J(rèn)為：寫(xiě)出了什么東西，比出自誰(shuí)的手筆更重要。從2012年1月28日的那一期開(kāi)始，《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》雜志開(kāi)辟了中國(guó)專欄，為有關(guān)中國(guó)的文章提供更多的版面。《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》有意識(shí)地將自己看作是一份國(guó)際性雜志，其報(bào)道不僅僅局限于或偏重于英國(guó)或歐洲，因此其80%以上的讀者是在英國(guó)以外地區(qū)。其全球發(fā)行量據(jù)報(bào)道大約有半數(shù)銷往北美洲，20%在歐洲大陸，15%在英國(guó)，10%在亞洲。

要讀懂這類文體的材料，除了對(duì)相關(guān)主題知識(shí)有所了解之外，基本的一些詞匯也是需要掌握的。首先需要了解一些專有名詞，包括The Economist《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》、The Wall Street Journal《華人街日?qǐng)?bào)》、BMW寶馬、Volkswagen大眾、Tesla特斯拉、Elon Musk埃隆·馬斯克公司、Google谷歌等。平時(shí)同學(xué)們需要盡量多看報(bào)，多聽(tīng)新聞，雙語(yǔ)版的更佳。需要掌握的名詞包括：auto business,tech industry,debut,swarms of,venture,legions of,the massive hit,gross profit margins,compliance,newbie,firm, emission,entrepreneur,malware,rivalry等，需要掌握的動(dòng)詞包括 showcase,infiltrate等，其他詞性的詞匯包括lucrative,rigorously等。雖然面上顯得詞匯量要求比較高，其實(shí)在上下文中，結(jié)合語(yǔ)境和主題知識(shí)，完全可以很好地推測(cè)出詞匯的意義，不必因?yàn)樵~匯望而生畏。

從邏輯脈絡(luò)來(lái)看，本文的開(kāi)頭指出蘋(píng)果公司立志涉足新領(lǐng)域即開(kāi)發(fā)新型汽車，接下來(lái)說(shuō)明了蘋(píng)果公司為該目標(biāo)所做的準(zhǔn)備工作，隨后指出汽車開(kāi)發(fā)和手機(jī)開(kāi)發(fā)是有區(qū)別的，最后指出蘋(píng)果公司選擇開(kāi)發(fā)iCars還是有其自身優(yōu)勢(shì)的。同學(xué)們?cè)陂喿x過(guò)程中，會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)主題知識(shí)的幫助非常大，如果事先了解蘋(píng)果公司的動(dòng)態(tài)和跟其關(guān)聯(lián)的業(yè)界動(dòng)態(tài)的話，會(huì)比較容易讀懂這篇文本。由此可見(jiàn)，平時(shí)的閱讀量和知識(shí)面對(duì)閱讀理解是多么重要。

閱讀材料

Business:Apple From iPhones to iCars

Apple is entering the auto business,but the road ahead could be rough.Having redefined the personal-computer and mobile-phone industries,Apple has set its sights on a new,moving target.

The darling of the tech industry is aiming to debut an electric car in 2019,according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.For years there had been speculation that Apple had auto ambitions.It has been hiring swarms of engineers to work on the project,code-named Titan,which now employs around 600.

With around$200 billion stored up,Apple certainly has enough cash to spend on a new venture.Its legions of fans are always eager to see it launch a new offering that makes a splash.Its most recent product,the Apple Watch,has not been the massive hit some analysts expected,and Apple’s launch event earlier this month was rather dull,showcasing mainly tweaks to existing products.Launching a car would be far more daring and,in theory,highly lucrative.Global car sales were worth around$2 trillion last year.

However,there are many things about the car business that make it quite unlike peddling phones.The replacement cycle for an iPhone is a mere two years.Consumers hold on to their cars for far longer.To make business sense,Apple’s cars would need to earn returns comparable to those of its existing products.But gross profit margins like Apple’s current 40%or so are something most large-scale carmakers can only dream of.At BMW,one of the most profitable of these,such margins are around 20%.

An even more important factor is that,as demonstrated by all thisweek’s attention on Volkswagen,cars are more heavily regulated than consumer electronics.Compliance with safety standards and emissions rules is likely to be more rigorously enforced in future.That is a tricky prospect for even the most experienced carmaker,let alone an industry newbie.

The firm’s capabilities in mobile devices will be an advantage,as cars become ever more connected to the internet.But the risks associated with connected cars are of a different order to those with mobile phones.This week it was revealed that malware had infiltrated some of the smartphone apps sold in Apple’s store,including two of the most popular apps in China.This was embarrassing but not disastrous.If similar malware got into an Apple car,the results could be deadly.

Such concerns are not enough to discourage tech firms from driving at full speed into the car business.Leading the way is Tesla,a maker of upmarket electric vehicles set up by Elon Musk,a successful tech entrepreneur.Google is working on a self-driving vehicle and an operating system for cars,and recently hired a former motor-industry executive to run its autonomous car project. Apple’s decision to enter the motor industry may be fuelled in part by not wanting to leave Google with control of the dashboard and cars’operating systems.Their rivalry is turning into a road race.