本期原文選自The Economist 2016-9-3的Leaders板塊Uberworld，釋義來自牛津高階七版溉奕、劍橋高階學(xué)習(xí)詞典英漢雙解第3版挟纱、有道詞典等網(wǎng)絡(luò)資源。如果您也在學(xué)習(xí)The Economist腐宋，歡迎訂閱我的文集The Economist，一起學(xué)習(xí)交流檀轨。

Uberworld

The world’s most valuable startup is leading the race to transform the future of transport “LET’S Uber.” Few companies offer something so popular that their name becomes a verb. But that is one of the many achievements of Uber, a company founded in 2009 which is now the world’s most valuable startup, worth around $70 billion. Its app can summon a car【1】in moments in more than 425 cities around the world, to the fury of【2】taxi drivers everywhere. But Uber's ambitions, and the expectations underpinning its valuation, extend much further: using self-driving vehicles【3】, it wants to make ride-hailing【4】so cheap and convenient that people forgo car ownership altogether. Not satisfied with shaking up【5】the $100-billion-a-year taxi business, it has its eye on【6】the far bigger market for personal transport, worth as much as $10trillion a year globally.

【1】summon a car叫車胸竞；summon a meeting召集會議；summon assistance/help/reinforcements請求援助/幫助/增援

【2】to the fury of sb令某人勃然大怒参萄；類似的用法to sb' surprise令某人吃驚卫枝，to sb's advantage對某人有利

【3】self-driving vehicle自動駕駛汽車，無人駕駛汽車讹挎；self-driving需要與self-drive區(qū)別開校赤，self-drive是駕駛自己的車（去度假）的或者租車人自行駕駛的

【4】ride-hailing叫車；ride動詞含義是搭乘筒溃、乘坐马篮；hail招手（請出租車或公共汽車停下）

【5】shake up重組，重大調(diào)整怜奖；名詞shake-up

【6】have sb's eye on sth看中浑测，想要得到

Uber is not alone in this ambition. Companies big and small have recognised the transformative potential of electric, self-driving cars, summoned on demand【7】. Technology firms including Apple, Google and Tesla are investing heavily in autonomous vehicles【8】; from Ford to Volvo, incumbent【9】carmakers are racing to catch up. An epic struggle looms【10】. It will transform daily life as profoundly as cars did in the 20th century: reinventing【11】transport and reshaping cities, while also dramatically reducing road deaths and pollution.

【7】summoned on demand隨叫隨到；on demand的本意是“一經(jīng)要求”歪玲，在通信領(lǐng)域可以譯為“點播”迁央，例如VOD（video-on-demand點播電視），GOD（Game On Demand點播游戲）

【8】autonomous vehicle自動駕駛汽車滥崩，與前面提到的self-driving vehicle類似

【9】incumbent現(xiàn)任的岖圈，在職的；也可以作名詞

【10】loom隱現(xiàn)钙皮；loom large令人擔(dān)憂蜂科，令人驚恐

【11】reinvent sth/oneself (as sth) 以新形象出現(xiàn); 另一個類似的詞組come across as，給人留下……印象（Yahoo上的一個例句：You wouldn't think a prince would be like this. He doesn't come across as a prince. (說明威廉王子非常平易近人) ）

The wheels of change

In the short term Uber is in pole position【12】to lead the revolution because of its dominance of chauffeured【13】ride-hailing, a part of the transport market that will see some of the fastest growth. Today ride-hailing accounts for less than 4% of all kilometres driven globally, but that will rise to more than 25% by 2030, according to Morgan Stanley, a bank. The ability to summon a car using a smart phone does not just make it easy for individuals to book a cheaper taxi. Ride-sharing services【14】like UberPool, which put travellers heading in the same direction into one vehicle, blur the boundaries between private andpublic transport. Helsinki and other cities have been experimenting with on-demand bus services and apps that enable customers to plan and book journeys combining trains and buses with walking and private ride-sharing services. Getit right, and public-transport networks will be extended to cover the “l(fā)astmile” that takes people right to their doorsteps. This will extend the market for ride-hailing well beyond the wealthy urbanites who are its main users today.

【12】pole position有利位置

【13】chauffeured專車的短条；chauffeur源于法語崇摄，本意是“司機”

【14】Ride-sharing services拼車服務(wù)；Ride-sharing拼車

But in the longer term autonomous vehicles will drive the reinvention of transport. The first examples have already hit the road【15】. Google is testing autonomous cars onstreets near its headquarters in Mountain View. A startup called nuTonomyrecently launched a self-driving taxi service in Singapore. Tesla’s electriccars are packed full of driver-assistance technology. And within the next few weeks Uber itself will offer riders in Pittsburgh the chance to hail anautonomous car (though a human will be on hand to take back the wheel if needed).

【15】hit the road上路

Self-driving cars will reinforce trends unleashed by ride hailing, making it cheaper and more accessible. The disabled, the old and the young will find it easier to go where they want. Many more people will opt out of【16】car ownership altogether. An OECD study that modelled the use of self-driving cars in Lisbon found that shared autonomous vehicles could reduce the number of cars needed by 80-90%. As car ownership declines, the enormous amount of space devoted to parking—as much as a quarterof the area of some American cities—will be available for parks and housing instead.

【16】opt out of 退出慌烧，放棄逐抑；opt in to選擇參與

It is not clear which companies will dominate this world or how profitable it will be. Uber will not win in its current form: a ride-hailing business which depends on human drivers cannot compete on roads full of self-driving cars. But this existential threat is spurring the firm’s innovation (see page 17). With its strong brand and large customer base, Uber aims to establish itself as the leading provider of transport services in a self driving world. It is also branching out into【17】new areas, such as food delivery【18】and long-distance cargo haulage【19】using autonomous trucks. There is logic in this ambition. Carmakers lack Uber’s experience as a service provider, or its deep knowledge of demand patterns and customer behaviour.

【17】branch out (into sth)涉足，拓展

【18】food delivery送餐

【19】long-distance cargo haulage長途貨運

But firms that pioneer【20】new technological trends do not always manage to stay on top. Think of Nokia and BlackBerry in smart phones, Kodak in digital cameras or MySpace insocial networking. Much will depend on which firm best handles the regulators.Technology companies have a history of trying new things first and asking forpermission later. Uber’s success in ride-hailing owes much to this recipe, yet when it comes to autonomous vehicles, the combination of vague rules and imperfect technology can have deadly consequences.

【20】pioneer開創(chuàng)

Even for the winners, it is not clear how great the rewards will be. As more firms pile into ride-sharing, and autonomous vehicles become part of the mix, the business may prove to be less lucrative than expected. By matching riders with drivers, Uber can offer transport services without owning a single vehicle, and keep the lion’s share of the profits. But if its service becomes an integral part of urban transport infrastructure, as it hopes, Uber could end up being regulated, more highly taxed, broken up or all of the above. In a self-driving world, Uber might also have to own and operate its own fleet【21】, undermining its “asset-light” model. The would-be【22】high-margin digital disrupter would then look more like a low-margin airline.

【21】fleet車隊

【22】would-be想要成為……的屹蚊，準厕氨；would-be college student準大學(xué)生

The great road race

For now Uber is the firm to beat in the race to transform the future of personal transport. Unlike Apple or Google, it is singularly focused on transport; unlike incumbent carmakers, it does not have a legacy【23】car-manufacturing business to protect. Its recent rapprochement【24】with Didi, its main rival in China, has removed a major distraction, allowing it to devote its $9 billion war chest【25】to developing new technology. Its vision of the future is plausible and compelling. It could yet prove a Moses【26】company, never reaching its promised land—it might end up like Hoover【27】, lending its name to a new product category without actually dominating it. But whether Uber itself wins or loses, we are all on the road to Uberworld.

【23】legacy遺產(chǎn)进每，遺留（問題）；通信領(lǐng)域的legacy code遺留代碼

【24】rapprochement和解命斧，友好關(guān)系的恢復(fù)田晚；本文中是指滴滴出行、優(yōu)步中國合并国葬，此前The Economist 2016-8-6的Leaders板塊China's Tech Trailblazers中曾提到優(yōu)步當(dāng)時決定將自己的中國業(yè)務(wù)賣給其中國對手滴滴出行贤徒。

【25】war chest專款汇四，專用資金

【26】Moses摩西接奈，公元前13世紀猶太人的民族領(lǐng)袖，是猶太教通孽、基督教序宦、伊斯蘭教和巴哈伊信仰等宗教里極為重要的先知。出埃及記（Exodus）中記載背苦，摩西受上帝之命互捌，率領(lǐng)被奴役的希伯來人逃離古埃及，前往富饒之地——迦南地行剂。經(jīng)歷40多年的艱難跋涉之后秕噪，在就要到達目的地時他去世了。從此希伯來人擺脫了被奴役的悲慘生活（此釋義參考360百科）厚宰。

【27】Hoover胡佛巢价；1907年，Hoover品牌創(chuàng)始人Spangler發(fā)明了世界上第一臺電動清潔機固阁，這就是現(xiàn)代吸塵器的原型壤躲。1908年，Hoover收購了Spangler的設(shè)計备燃，并開始大批量生產(chǎn)此款吸塵機（此釋義參考360百科）碉克。

【知識點匯總】

1. 關(guān)于叫車服務(wù)的詞匯：叫車 summon or hail a car/vehicle/ride；叫車服務(wù)ride-hailing service并齐；拼車ride-sharing漏麦；隨叫隨到 summoned on demand；專車的chauffeured况褪；自動駕駛車/無人駕駛車 self-driving vehicle/autonomous vehicle撕贞，（區(qū)別）自駕游self-drive tour/road tour；上路 hit the rode测垛；車隊fleet

2. 交通運輸類詞匯：送餐food delivery捏膨；長途貨運 long-distance cargo haulage

3. ?To 的用法：令某人勃然大怒 to the fury of sb； 令某人吃驚to sb' surprise，對某人有利to sb's advantage

4. 有時間意義的詞：現(xiàn)任的号涯，在位的 incumbent目胡，in office，想要成為的链快，準 would-be誉己；遺留、遺產(chǎn) legacy

5.專用意義的詞語：層蛭希款巨双，專用資金 war chest；專車的chauffeured

6. 兩個法語詞源的詞匯：rapprochement 和解霉祸、關(guān)系恢復(fù)筑累； chauffeur 司機

7. 文學(xué)典故：Moses摩西，源于《圣經(jīng)》第二卷《出埃及記》

8. 相反意義的成對詞語：選擇參與和選擇退出 opt in to脉执，opt out of

9. 表示出現(xiàn)的詞語：隱現(xiàn)，隱約可見loom戒劫，令人擔(dān)憂半夷，令人驚恐 loom large；以新形式出現(xiàn)迅细，以新形象示人 reinvent sth/oneself (as sth); 給人留下……印象come across as

10. 表示有利地位的詞語：（汽車巫橄、自行車比賽的）首發(fā)位置、最有利位置 pole position

注：本文僅供學(xué)習(xí)交流之用茵典，不代表作者觀點湘换。