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，這樣才能在實際托福考試中游刃有余輕松應對，這其中比較常用也比較方便地一個提升閱讀實力的方式就是利用各類英文報刊雜志文章進行精讀與泛讀練習。下面我們來看一篇經濟學人雙語文章：網約車之戰。
網約車之戰
Lyft大提升
美國第二大網約車公司從優步的困境中受益
Ride-hailing wars
Lyft’s big lift
America’s number two ride-hailing firm has benefited from Uber’s struggles
一家公司的壞消息常常是另一家公司的好運氣。多年來，叫車應用Lyft都被它看似不可阻擋的對手優步(Uber)壓制。優步開拓新市場，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。優步沒有公開上市的股價，如果有的話，股價也一定會反映出公司近來的麻煩：被控侵犯知識產權，職場文化也受到調查。但據數據提供商TXN Solutions稱，Lyft在美國的市場份額已從五個月前的18%升至現在的25%，這從側面證實了優步的危機。 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.
Lyft一點也不像典型的硅谷公司。和優步不同，它并不渴望統治全球，而是只在美國運營。它也沒有特別把自己當回事。多年來，Lyft一直把毛茸茸的粉色大胡子貼在車前，方便乘客認出Lyft的司機。公司還鼓勵乘客和司機碰一碰拳頭并坐在前排(不過它現在放松了這套禮儀規范，以吸引更多顧客)。 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的創始人羅根·格林(Logan Green)和約翰·齊默(John Zimmer)把早期的重點放在善待司機上，比如乘客可以通過應用給司機小費。硅谷有很多人都把Lyft這種討喜的行為視為會被優步打敗的跡象(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。2014年，優步的老板特拉維斯·卡蘭尼克(Travis Kalanick)曾試圖收購Lyft。 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.
但Lyft的文化卻成為了一種資產。優步引發的爭議，包括卡蘭尼克某次被拍到痛罵一位司機，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。在線調查公司Survey Monkey稱，美國轉用Lyft的人里有一半都說公司聲譽是主因。 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.
6月6日，優步稱，性騷擾調查結果出爐后，公司已經解雇了20名員工(由前司法部長牽頭的另一項更大范圍的調查即將得出結果)。一位投資了優步的風險資本家說，被人看見自己上優步的車，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。 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.
這也反映出投資人對網約車業務的觀念變化。以前很多人認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，但現在他們相信，人們在交通上的花費足以讓不止一家公司成功。Lyft的聯合創始人齊默將網約車服務比作無線通訊市場，在這個市場上，幾家公司各自擁有高質量的覆蓋率和大量客戶。 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.
當然，在網約車服務中提供良好的“覆蓋率”，讓車輛在幾分鐘內就能到達乘客所在的位置，這需要資源。Lyft的首席財務官布萊恩·羅伯茨(Brian Roberts)說：“我們還處在建造‘手機基站’的階段。這很費錢。”但是，精力仍然集中在地理區域和戰略上也許對公司有利。Lyft的注意力不像優步那樣分散。優步不僅在向全球擴張，還在拓展新的業務線，如送餐和貨運。 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.
Lyft對自動駕駛汽車的策略也與眾不同。優步不惜投入重金研發自己的自動駕駛技術，以防范有朝一日另一種不需要司機的服務介入，以更低的價格削弱優步的競爭力。而Lyft卻對其他公司開放自己的網絡，包括谷歌的姊妹公司、開發自動駕駛汽車的Waymo(這家公司指控優步盜取商業機密)。 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認為，齊心協力勝過閉門造車，因為發展自動駕駛技術有太多的不確定性。6月，Lyft宣布還會和一家名為nuTonomy的自動駕駛創業公司合作，nuTonomy的無人車將在波士頓展開測試。有一種風險確實存在：Waymo和其他合作伙伴可能會用Lyft的數據完善自身的無人駕駛技術，然后推出與Lyft競爭的網約車服務。但這種可能性看起來還很遙遠。 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)
在不遠的將來，Lyft可能會發現，讓自己保持與眾不同變得更難了。優步已經開始模仿它的一些成功的策略，比如給小費，而且還在徹底改革自己的企業文化。很多開網約車的司機現在都同時接兩家公司的單，這意味著乘坐Lyft的車已不再是件獨特的事。 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.
Lyft已經贏得四分之一的美國市場，這有助于兩家公司都轉向盈利。2016年，Lyft虧損約6億美元，優步虧損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。萊特瑞認為，優步現在已經接受了要與Lyft共存的現實。要想在美國達到健康盈利，從而為海外擴張買單并且穩住緊張的投資人，優步將不得不控制促銷支出。這樣，Lyft也就不再那么需要花費重金補貼司機和乘客了。它現在已經不再向新注冊的客戶提供50美元免費乘車券了(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)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.
