李勁松

1.hideous（Para. 1）adj. 令人厭惡的;非常可怕的

His family was subjected to a hideous attack by the gang. 他一家子遭到了匪幫的可怕襲擊。

2.chore（Para. 1）n. 日常事務(wù);令人厭煩的任務(wù)

This is something of a chore and is quite easy to forget to do. 這種事情有點(diǎn)繁雜，而且很容易忘記做。

3.scooter（Para. 1）n. 小型摩托車

On the scooter we sang some of the old songs. 在摩托車上，我們唱起了老歌。

4.slalom（Para. 1）v. 進(jìn)行障礙滑雪賽;曲折前進(jìn)

She drove with reckless speed， slaloming in and out of the stalled cars. 她發(fā)瘋似的開車，在拋錨的車輛間繞進(jìn)繞出。

5.ingredient（Para. 2）n. 成分;要素;因素

Investment in new product development is an essential ingredient of corporate success.

注入資金開發(fā)新產(chǎn)品是公司成功的必要因素。

6.offshoot（Para. 2）n. （組織等的）分支;分支機(jī)構(gòu)

The company was originally an offshoot of Bell Telephone. 該公司原本是貝爾電話公司的一家分支機(jī)構(gòu)。

7.revenue（Para. 3）n. （公司、機(jī)構(gòu)的）收益;收入

Strikes have cost ￡20 million in lost revenues. 罷工造成的損失達(dá)2，000萬英鎊。 8.slaughter（Para. 4）v. 屠宰（動(dòng)物）

Lack of chicken feed means that chicken farms are having to slaughter their stock. 飼料不足意味著養(yǎng)雞場將不得不宰殺雞。

9.jollity（Para. 4）n. 歡樂;歡鬧

a night of riotous jollity 狂歡的夜晚

10.expat（Para. 5）（short for expatriate）n. 居住在國外的人;僑民

British expats living in Spain 生活在西班牙的英國僑民

11.vend（Para. 5）v. 售賣

I believe that those who vend these computing systems and sell about 20 to 30 a year will find that the cloud becomes a new and more lucrative channel. 我相信，對(duì)那些每年推銷20至30套數(shù)據(jù)處理系統(tǒng)的人來說，云計(jì)算將成為更具營利性的經(jīng)營途徑。

12.equivalent（Para. 6）adj. 等同的;等值的

a qualification which is equivalent to a degree 相當(dāng)于學(xué)位的資歷

African cities are tasty markets for food?delivery apps. The continent has 21 of the worlds 30 fastest?growing urban areas， where an expanding middle class boasts smartphones and spare cash. These cities also have hideous traffic， so its a chore to drive a car to a restaurant. But delivery scooters can slalom through jams.

These were the ingredients that made possible the rise of several food?delivery start?ups in Africa. Jumia Food delivers meals to urban dwellers in 11 countries. In South Africa Mr D Food competes with Uber Eats， an offshoot of the American ride?hailing app. Tupuca has been bringing meals to residents of Angolas capital， Luanda， since 2016.

Like its peers Tupuca began by connecting hungry users with restaurants. Delivering prepared food still accounts for most of its revenue. The firms 140 drivers make 17，000 deliveries a month for consumers who spend an average of $40 per order. Since October， however， users of the Tupuca app have begun to see other options alongside pizzas， burgers and sushi. They can buy coal， petrol， fruit and vegetables. Or they can purchase live animals， such as chickens （$7 for a big clucker， $5 for a middling one）， pigs （$124 and $103） or goats （$82 and $64）.

①To offer these animals， Tupuca has teamed up with Roque Online， a start?up named after Mercado Roque Santeiro， a huge， open?air informal market in Luanda that was closed by the nanny state （保姆式國家） in 2011.②Roque Online employs an army of runners who track down the best produce. ③They buy the goat， say， take it to a driver and， before too long， the animal is on its way to a party （where it will be slaughtered amid great jollity）.

Erickson Mvezi， Tupucas CEO， says the new feature is “breaking down barriers between informal and formal markets”. Luanda has a sizeable middle class， plus plenty of expats and a rich elite. But it also has millions of poor people living in slums wedged between skyscrapers. More than a third of households have at least one person living by informal vending. Through Tupuca and Roque Online they can sell to more people.

In the West many people fret that the gig economy encourages insecure work. But in sub?Saharan Africa， where the informal economy is equivalent to more than a third of GDP， about twice that in rich countries. By opening bigger markets for vendors， technology may help them grow richer， one goat at a time. No kidding.

——From The Economist