托福雙語閱讀素材：網(wǎng)約車之戰(zhàn)

想要提高托福閱讀水平，我們一定要在日常生活中有意識地增加英語閱讀量，提升語感和熟練度，這樣才能在實(shí)際托福考試中游刃有余輕松應(yīng)對，這其中比較常用也比較方便地一個提升閱讀實(shí)力的方式就是利用各類英文報(bào)刊雜志文章進(jìn)行精讀與泛讀練習(xí)。下面我們來看一篇經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人雙語文章：網(wǎng)約車之戰(zhàn)。

Ride-hailing wars

Lyft’s big lift

America’s number two ride-hailing firm has benefited from Uber’s struggles

網(wǎng)約車之戰(zhàn)

Lyft大提升

美國第二大網(wǎng)約車公司從優(yōu)步的困境中受益

ONE firm’s bad news is often another’s good fortune.(寫作句型) For years Lyft, an app that offers on-demand rides(詞匯翻譯), was outdone by its seemingly unstoppable rival, Uber, which zoomed into new markets and grabbed a near-$70bn valuation, the largest of any private American tech firm in history. Uber does not report a share price that would register(小詞活用)its recent troubles, which include one investigation into alleged intellectual-property theft and another into its workplace culture. But that Lyft’s market share in America has risen from 18% five months ago to 25% now (according to TXN Solutions, a data provider) is a gauge(小詞活用)of the larger firm’s crisis.

一家公司的壞消息常常是另一家公司的好運(yùn)氣。多年來，叫車應(yīng)用Lyft都被它看似不可阻擋的對手優(yōu)步(Uber)壓制。優(yōu)步開拓新市場，取得了近700億美元的估值，成為美國歷史上估值最高的私營科技公司。優(yōu)步?jīng)]有公開上市的股價，如果有的話，股價也一定會反映出公司近來的麻煩：被控侵犯知識產(chǎn)權(quán)，職場文化也受到調(diào)查。但據(jù)數(shù)據(jù)提供商TXN Solutions稱，Lyft在美國的市場份額已從五個月前的18%升至現(xiàn)在的25%，這從側(cè)面證實(shí)了優(yōu)步的危機(jī)。

Lyft is far from a typical Silicon Valley company. Unlike Uber, it does not lust for world domination and it operates only in America. Nor does it take itself especially seriously. For years it identified its drivers by pink, fuzzy moustaches fastened to the front of cars, and encouraged riders to fist-bump their drivers and sit in the front seat (though it has now relaxed this etiquette to attract more customers).

Lyft一點(diǎn)也不像典型的硅谷公司。和優(yōu)步不同，它并不渴望統(tǒng)治全球，而是只在美國運(yùn)營。它也沒有特別把自己當(dāng)回事。多年來，Lyft一直把毛茸茸的粉色大胡子貼在車前，方便乘客認(rèn)出Lyft的司機(jī)。公司還鼓勵乘客和司機(jī)碰一碰拳頭并坐在前排(不過它現(xiàn)在放松了這套禮儀規(guī)范，以吸引更多顧客)。

Its founders, Logan Green and John Zimmer, put an early emphasis on being nice to drivers, for example by allowing people to tip through the app. Many in Silicon Valley viewed such cuddly behaviour as a sign that Uber would trounce it. The two do not just compete for passengers; each also tries to woo(小詞活用)the other’s drivers. In 2014 Uber’s boss, Travis Kalanick, attempted to buy Lyft.

Lyft的創(chuàng)始人羅根·格林(Logan Green)和約翰·齊默(John Zimmer)把早期的重點(diǎn)放在善待司機(jī)上，比如乘客可以通過應(yīng)用給司機(jī)小費(fèi)。硅谷有很多人都把Lyft這種討喜的行為視為會被優(yōu)步打敗的跡象(寫作句型)。這兩家公司不僅在爭乘客，也在努力爭取對方旗下的司機(jī)。2014年，優(yōu)步的老板特拉維斯·卡蘭尼克(Travis Kalanick)曾試圖收購Lyft。

But Lyft’s culture has turned out to be an asset. Uber’s controversies, including Mr Kalanick being caught on video berating a driver, have helped its rival—particularly on America’s liberal-minded west coast, where people are more squeamish(寫作句型)about using a brand associated with sexism. Half of those who have switched to Lyft in America say that company reputation was the chief reason, says Survey Monkey, an online-polling firm.

但Lyft的文化卻成為了一種資產(chǎn)。優(yōu)步引發(fā)的爭議，包括卡蘭尼克某次被拍到痛罵一位司機(jī)，都為它的競爭對手提供了助力，尤其是在思想開明的美國西岸，那里的人要更不能忍受涉嫌性別歧視的品牌。在線調(diào)查公司Survey Monkey稱，美國轉(zhuǎn)用Lyft的人里有一半都說公司聲譽(yù)是主因。

On June 6th Uber said it had fired 20 employees after the conclusion of an investigation into sexual harassment (the result of a broader probe, led by a former attorney-general, is due soon). One venture capitalist who has backed(小詞活用)Uber says he is embarrassed to be seen getting into its cars. It seems no coincidence that in April Lyft said it had raised another $600m from investors, valuing the firm at $7.5bn, around a third more than its previous mark.

6月6日，優(yōu)步稱，性騷擾調(diào)查結(jié)果出爐后，公司已經(jīng)解雇了20名員工(由前司法部長牽頭的另一項(xiàng)更大范圍的調(diào)查即將得出結(jié)果)。一位投資了優(yōu)步的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)資本家說，被人看見自己上優(yōu)步的車，他感到很難為情。4月，Lyft稱已從投資人那里又融得6億美元，公司估值達(dá)到75億美元，比上一輪融資提高了約三分之一，看來這一切并非偶然。

That also reflects a change of mind among investors over the ride-hailing business. Having thought of it as a winner-takes-all market, in which one big company has a near-monopoly in each country, plenty now believe people will spend enough on transport for more than one player to prosper.(寫作句型) Mr Zimmer, Lyft’s co-founder, compares ride-hailing to the wireless-carrier market, in which several companies boast high-quality coverage and plenty of customers.

這也反映出投資人對網(wǎng)約車業(yè)務(wù)的觀念變化。以前很多人認(rèn)為這是個贏家通吃的市場，一家大公司在每個國家都有近乎壟斷的地位，但現(xiàn)在他們相信，人們在交通上的花費(fèi)足以讓不止一家公司成功。Lyft的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人齊默將網(wǎng)約車服務(wù)比作無線通訊市場，在這個市場上，幾家公司各自擁有高質(zhì)量的覆蓋率和大量客戶。

Offering good “coverage” in ride-hailing so that rides can arrive within a few minutes, of course, requires resources. “We’re at the stage of building cell towers. That’s expensive,” says Brian Roberts, Lyft’s chief financial officer. But it may help the firm that it remains geographically and strategically focused. It has fewer distractions than Uber, which in addition to expanding globally is pushing into new business lines, like food delivery and trucking.

當(dāng)然，在網(wǎng)約車服務(wù)中提供良好的“覆蓋率”，讓車輛在幾分鐘內(nèi)就能到達(dá)乘客所在的位置，這需要資源。Lyft的首席財(cái)務(wù)官布萊恩·羅伯茨(Brian Roberts)說：“我們還處在建造‘手機(jī)基站’的階段。這很費(fèi)錢。”但是，精力仍然集中在地理區(qū)域和戰(zhàn)略上也許對公司有利。Lyft的注意力不像優(yōu)步那樣分散。優(yōu)步不僅在向全球擴(kuò)張，還在拓展新的業(yè)務(wù)線，如送餐和貨運(yùn)。

Lyft’s strategy on self-driving cars is also distinctive. Uber is investing heavily to build its own autonomous technology, guarding against the chance(寫作句型) that another service could come in without drivers and undercut it on price. But Lyft has opened up its network to other firms, including Waymo, a self-driving car unit that is Google’s sister company (and which has accused Uber of stealing trade secrets).

Lyft對自動駕駛汽車的策略也與眾不同。優(yōu)步不惜投入重金研發(fā)自己的自動駕駛技術(shù)，以防范有朝一日另一種不需要司機(jī)的服務(wù)介入，以更低的價格削弱優(yōu)步的競爭力。而Lyft卻對其他公司開放自己的網(wǎng)絡(luò)，包括谷歌的姊妹公司、開發(fā)自動駕駛汽車的Waymo(這家公司指控優(yōu)步盜取商業(yè)機(jī)密)。

Collaborating with others is better than building expertise in-house, Lyft reckons, because so much uncertainty surrounds the evolution of autonomous technology. In June Lyft announced another relationship, with an autonomous-driving startup called nuTonomy, which will start testing cars in Boston. There is a risk that Waymo and other partners may try to perfect their own self-driving technology with Lyft’s data and then launch a competing ride-hailing network, but that seems a distant possibility.(寫作句型)

Lyft認(rèn)為，齊心協(xié)力勝過閉門造車，因?yàn)榘l(fā)展自動駕駛技術(shù)有太多的不確定性。6月，Lyft宣布還會和一家名為nuTonomy的自動駕駛創(chuàng)業(yè)公司合作，nuTonomy的無人車將在波士頓展開測試。有一種風(fēng)險(xiǎn)確實(shí)存在：Waymo和其他合作伙伴可能會用Lyft的數(shù)據(jù)完善自身的無人駕駛技術(shù)，然后推出與Lyft競爭的網(wǎng)約車服務(wù)。但這種可能性看起來還很遙遠(yuǎn)。

In the immediate future Lyft may find it harder to keep differentiating itself. Uber has mimicked some of its successful tactics, such as tipping, and is overhauling its culture. Many ride-hailing drivers now work for both services, which means travelling in a Lyft car is no longer unique.

在不遠(yuǎn)的將來，Lyft可能會發(fā)現(xiàn)，讓自己保持與眾不同變得更難了。優(yōu)步已經(jīng)開始模仿它的一些成功的策略，比如給小費(fèi)，而且還在徹底改革自己的企業(yè)文化。很多開網(wǎng)約車的司機(jī)現(xiàn)在都同時接兩家公司的單，這意味著乘坐Lyft的車已不再是件獨(dú)特的事。

The fact that Lyft has won a quarter of the American market could help both firms’ profits. In 2016 it lost around $600m and Uber $2.8bn. They formerly seemed likely to spend money fighting to the point of “mutually assured destruction”, says Vincent Letteri of KKR, an investment firm that recently put cash into Lyft (after declining to join in two previous funding rounds). Uber now accepts that Lyft is there to stay; it will have to rein in promotional spending if it wants to achieve healthy profits in America to pay for expansion abroad and to reassure nervous investors, says Mr Letteri. Lyft will have less need to spend heavily on subsidies for drivers and riders. It has stopped its practice of offering new customers $50 in free trips to sign up. Lyft still wants to be nice, but has no wish to be taken for a ride.

Lyft已經(jīng)贏得四分之一的美國市場，這有助于兩家公司都轉(zhuǎn)向盈利。2016年，Lyft虧損約6億美元，優(yōu)步虧損28億美元。投資公司KKR的文森特·萊特瑞(Vincent Letteri)說，之前它們看起來像是要競相砸錢，直到“同歸于盡”。在拒絕參加Lyft前兩輪融資后，KKR最近投資了這家公司。萊特瑞認(rèn)為，優(yōu)步現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)接受了要與Lyft共存的現(xiàn)實(shí)。要想在美國達(dá)到健康盈利，從而為海外擴(kuò)張買單并且穩(wěn)住緊張的投資人，優(yōu)步將不得不控制促銷支出。這樣，Lyft也就不再那么需要花費(fèi)重金補(bǔ)貼司機(jī)和乘客了。它現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)不再向新注冊的客戶提供50美元免費(fèi)乘車券了(寫作句型)。Lyft依舊想與人為善，但也不會想做冤大頭。(寫作句型)