Topic1： Amazon
Words and expressions
1.capitalization n.资本市值
The company’s market capitalization hit $149bn at the end of 1999.
With a market capitalization of some $400bn, it is the fifth-most-valuable firm in the world.
2.fertile a.富饶的；能产生好结果的
The Internet providesa fertile breeding
ground for this sort of behavior toflourish.
Cyberspace is the most fertile ground for a piece of self-growth ethical.
3.tick off查迄；责备
The first censuses did little more than tick off the number of people living in a particular house.
It is easy to tick off some of the pitfalls.
4.nudge v.轻推；向。。靠拢
nudge policy towards nationalism推动政策向民族主义靠拢
nudge along the process of global rebalancing推进全球再平衡过程
Walmart has revenues nudging$500bn.
5.beef up加强；增强
beef up air force
beef up the essay 充实论文
6.whinge v./n.抱怨
syn: whine, moan
have a whiny e抱怨
7.entice v.诱使；引诱
entice more customers
The prisoner tried to entice the guard from his duty.
8.heady a.冲动的；轻率的;振奋人心的
There were heady predictions of dollar parity with the euro.曾经有过振奋人心的美元和欧元平价的预言。
Those heady days of youth flied away like a bird.
9.debacle n.崩溃；灾祸
His first performance was a debacle, for the audience booed him off the stage.
In recent years, what started as a debacle has turned into a nightmare.
10.crank n.古怪、脾气差的人；v.启动
*crank out制作；完成
He is just a crank. His ideas are insane.
Crank out the work重新开始工作
Crank out the project赶这个项目
The business is staring to crank out cash.
11.reminiscent of sb./sth.回忆起
A wingspan this large is more reminiscent of a conglomerate企业集团；联合大公司than a retailer, which makes Amazon’s share price seem even more bloated膨胀: stockmarkets typically apply a “conglomerate discount” to reflect their inefficiencies.
12.pristine a.崭新的；未开发的
pristine interstellar materials 原始星际物质
preserve the pristine essence and pioneering spirit of the United States 保存着美国的原生景色与开拓精神
13.inflammatory a.煽动性的；令人发怒的
He gave an inflammatory address to the audience.
The posting of inflammatory content on Facebook
14.predatory a.压榨性的；掠夺性的
predatory competitors
makes predatory pricing more tempting
好句
1.Ground for skepticism does not come much more fertile than this. 【比喻】
2.Walmart already has revenues nudging $500bn and is beefing uponline.
3.A third virtuous circle is starting to whirl around Alexa. 【注意circle和whirl进行搭配】
4.So long as shareholders retain their faith in this model, Amazon’s heady valuation resembles a self-fulfilling prophecy自我实现的预言.
5.If Amazon’s approach to time-frames is unusual, so too is the sheer breadth of its activities.
6.Google stands accused of using its clout as a search engine to extend its power to adjacent businesses.【stand用的很好】
7.Success will bring it into conflict with an even stronger beast: government.
背景知识
1. 标准普尔500指数覆盖的所有公司，都是在美国主要交易所，如纽约证券交易所、纳斯达克交易的上市公司。与道琼斯指数相比，标准普尔500指数包含的公司更多，因此风险更为分散，能够反映更广泛的市场变化。
2. 市值（Market Capitalization，简称Market Cap）是一种度量公司资产规模的方式，数量上等于该公司当前的股票价格乘以该公司所有的普通股数量。市值通常可以用来作为收购某公司的成本评估，市值的增长通常作为衡量该公司经营状况的一个关键指标。
3. conglomerate discount 集团化折价(或多元化折价)：集团化企业的市场价值，低于所估计出来的各个子公司的市场价值之和。多元化经营主要优势之一应该是分散风险，可几十年前很多公司就发现，投资者不喜欢这种模式。比起投资一家旗下业务众多的综合性大企业，投资者更愿意自己在各行业配置多元投资组合，因为综合性大企业往往有着信息不对称，效率低下，结构臃肿等诸多弊病。
4. 掠夺性定价（predatory pricing）又称劫掠性定价、掠夺价、有时亦称掠夺性定价歧视，是指一个厂商将价格定在牺牲短期利润以消除竞争对手并在长期获得高利润的行为。掠夺性定价是一种不公平的低价行为，实施该行为的企业占有一定的市场支配地位，他们具有资产雄厚、生产规模大、分散经营能力强等竞争优势，所以有能力承担暂时故意压低价格的利益损失，而一般的中小企业势单力薄，无力承担这种牺牲。其次，掠夺性定价是以排挤竞争对手为目的的故意行为，实施该行为的企业以低于成本价销售，会造成短期的利益损失，但是这样做的目的是吸引消费者，以此为代价挤走竞争对手，行为人在一定时间达到目的后，会提高销售价格，独占市场。
反思
很多句子的意思理解太浅了，主要原因是缺乏背景知识，比如“self-fulfilling prophecy"、“predatory pricing”、“conglomerate discount”的理解就很浅，做神句翻译的时候也明显太逐字翻译了。另外第一次接触思维导图，很没头绪，要多多坚持自己整理逻辑，强调每段落句首句尾的关系。
