高级商务英语(一)

Unit 1:The Empire Strikes back

1.“When you want to create a climate and culture of hyper-growth, you really need to live and breathe emerging markets.”

When you want to create a climate or culture of a super fast growing organization, you really need to come to emerging markets and feel in person what it is like living and working there.

2.which brings together all of Big Blue's operations outside North America and western Europe.

which brings all of IBM's operations (units) outside North America and western Europe under its leadership.

https://www.360docs.net/doc/e213637500.html,tin America now reports to Shanghai.

now under the leadership of Shanghai.

4.based on the right cost, the right skills and the right business environment

if the cost is relatively low, the skills are up to standard, and the business environment is favorable

5.horizontally and globally

It can pool all human resources of IBM and allocate them in an optimal way among business units across the world.

6.Why IBM relatively painless sell PC department?

When Lenovo, a Chinese PC company, acquired the business division of IBM, a global giant of the USA, there was no loss of face or national disgrace involved in this because it was considered nothing but an exchange of commodities.

7.hot labour markets in emerging markets are causing extremely high turnover rates.

the booming labour markets in emerging markets are causing fast flow of talents from one firm to another.

8.IBM reckons that its global reach gives it an edge in recruitment and retention over local rivals.

its global expansion helps it maintain a competitive advantage over local competitors in terms of the talents it hires and the longer time it keeps the talents

9.thanks to an infrastructure boom that promises to span everything due to fast growth in the infrastructure construction business, which is estimated to cover every possible project from...

10.There is still a striking lack of executives from emerging markets at the top of developed-country multinationals

There are still very few local executives who can climb to the top management of developed-country multinationals.

11.the breadth and depth of management talent

breath=varied and diversified management talents

depth=experienced and seasoned management talents

Head of strategy:策略发展总监hyper-growth:super fast growth Emerging market:新兴市场growth markets：成长型市场；增长型市Big blue：nickname for IBM国际商业机器公

Perennial：long-lasting; recurring; enduring

line business：An LOB (line-of-business) is a general term that describes the products or services

offered by a business or manufacturer. In some large enterprise cultures, the term line-of-business (LOB) is used as a synonym for corporate division.

cutting-edge：leading-edge; sophisticated; hi-tech Commoditised：converted into a commodity

Outsourcing：外包The contracting or subcontracting of noncore activities to free up cash, personnel, time, and facilities for activities in which a company holds competitive advantage. Companies having strengths in

other areas may contract out data processing, legal, manufacturing, marketing, payroll accounting, or other aspects of their businesses to concentrate on what they do best and thus reduce average unit cost. Outsourcing is often an integral part of downsizing or reengineering. Also called contracting out.承包

Upstarts：firms that have risen suddenly to a position of power or wealth 新贵

Pools：group of people available for work when required 可招之即来的一些人:

a pool of doctors available for emergency work 为应付紧急情况而待命的一些医生

Turnover rate：A human resources metric which expresses the number of employees lost through firing, attrition and other means compared to the total number of employees in the company.人员流动率

chief procurement officer：A chief procurement officer (CPO) is an executive role focused on sourcing, procurement, and supply management for an enterprise.首席采购官

sales pitch：推销游说

Pitching：trying directly to persuade governments to buy this business or to make a deal with governments for this business

Blueprint：a set of proposals/plans

expatriate managers；expat managers：海外派遣经理

at short notice：with notification only a little in advance

bottom-of-the-pyramid：An economic term referring to the largest but the poorest socio-economic group constituting more than 2.5 billion people that live on less than $2.50 a day.金字塔底层

executive suites：The term "executive suites" referred to the suite of offices on or near the top floor of a skyscraper where the top executives of a company work, usually including at least the president or chief executive officer, various vice presidents and their staff.行政套房Poach：legally catch猎取

Unit 2:The Harry Potter Economy

1.“the tip of a publishing iceberg”

constituting the smallest proportion of total sales generated by the publishing house

2.there was no point bidding against the firm for a children's title

It was impossible to beat the firm in the competition for the market of

children's books.

3.an article in the New York Times asked “Harry who?

Two new adventure stories are now in the swim: the Greek myths, and the Arthurian legends. The Harry Potter model is out of fashion.

4.The project appeared “too British for the studios but too big to be

a British production

The movies appeared "too British for the American studios to manage well, but they are also too expensive to be produced solely in UK."

5.her “worst nightmare”was that her hero would end up on the side of fast-food containers

the image of her hero (Harry Potter) would be printed on the side of fast-food containers, which Rowling thought would impact negatively the image of her hero.

6.Given the rise of digital media and piracy, Harry Potter may be seen as a high-water mark in the industry.

no film other than Harry Potter can make such remarkable achievements in the film industry, especially in box office performance.

Division:Alternative term for business unit. 部门

market-testing:市场测试；销售实验；市场定位技术

snowball effect:滚雪球效应；滚雪球似地迅速增大的效应；雪球效果Turnover:营业额, 成交量

Revenues:money that a business or organization receives over a period of time, especially from selling goods or services (income)

Outfit:a business firm engaged in a particular form of commercial enterprise

Pundits:a person who knows a lot about a particular subject and who often talks about it in public; an expert

revenue streams:收益源；盈利源A company's revenue stream is the amount of money that it receives from selling a particular product or service. (BUSINESS)

The events business, she said, was crucial to the group in that it provides a constant revenue stream

Blitz:an advertising or publicity blitz is a major effort to make the public aware of something.

On December 8 the media blitz began in earnest.

master toy licence:原版使用许可；主许可执照

Unit 4:Silicon Valley visionary who put Apple on top

1.ground-breaking product

In the hi-tech industry, people had been guessing about for months what Apple's latest revolutionary product would be before it was debuted.

2.there are no second acts in American life

No second act means you get one shot at the brass ring of success and even if you manage to grab it, life inevitably goes downhill to a tragic anti-climax.

It seems 99% of persons get this wrong, considering that it's always quoted in the context of someone or another's re-emergence on the scene after going into an eclipse. Fitzgerald did NOT mean there are no second chances in American life-but that American lives tend not to have middle acts, when the fruits of our early labors can be appreciated, before going into the inevitable decline of old age.

3.there are no second acts in American life does not come more decisively than this.

There is nothing more definitely challenging F. Scott Fitzgerald's much-quoted witticism that there are no second acts in American life than the act of Steve Jobs whose successful comeback had proved Fitzgerald wrong.

4.Of all the fingers that Apple has poked into Microsoft’s eyes over the years, none can have rankled as much as the early success of the iPad.

Of all the blows that Apple has dealt to Microsoft over the years, the early success of the iPad has inflicted the most pain to Microsoft.

5.it points to a future beyond the computer mouse

it points to a trend where the computer mouse is no longer a

must-have peripheral.

6.and a world without Windows.

and a computer world no longer dominated by Windows because Apple's Macintosh has come onto the stage. (IOS vs. Android)

7.Sales of cheaper notebook computers are already suffering.

The sales of cheaper notebook computers are already beginning to decline. The number of consumers buying Apple's iPad or upscale, higher-priced Mac computers is on the rise/increase.

8.a company that has drawn on the openness of the web itself as the model for its own smartphone software.

a company whose Android system for smartphones is based on the open Linux kernel and that advocates that the software for smartphones

shall not be restricted on the open platform.

9.The sophistication of his touch-screen devices is a long way from Mr. Job’s rudimentary start in the garage of his adoptive parents in suburban northern California.

It took Mr. Jobs a long long time to develop his highly sophisticated touch-screen devices, beginning with some simple devices in the garage of his adoptive parents in the suburban northern California.

10.There was little in Mr. Jobs’ beginnings that gave a hint of what was to come.

Nothing in Mr. Jobs' humble beginnings suggested that he would be so successful in the years to come.

11.Mr. Jobs’spiritual aspirations left him with little use for either shoes or soap 6 for long periods。

Back from his spiritual pursuit in India, Mr. Jobs did not wear shoes or take a shower for a long time, which made his co-workers extremely worried.

12.That means pushing relentlessly forward rather than milking old successes –even ones as significant as the iPod.

That means he pushes forward an innovative project persistently and unyieldingly rather than dwelling/resting on old successes; he is even not

satisfied with achievements as significant as the iPod.

13.Others now have Apple in their sights, forcing Mr. Jobs into the competitive moves that would once have seemed out of character. Others now see Apple as their target to pursue (enemy to conquer), which forced Mr. Jobs to take countermeasures so as to gain competitive advantages over his rivals, but this seemed quite unusual for Mr. Jobs for he was often too proud to care about competing with others.

14.a prouder Steve Jobs would not have let out the door.

Steve Jobs was too proud to admit that he had imitated the product of others and thus limited the use of Ping to iTunes users only. In other words, it had not been released for public trial.

Visionary:If you refer to someone as a visionary, you mean that they have strong, original ideas about how things might be different in the future, especially about how things might be improved.

vision :愿景；视觉；远见

In business, vision is foresight - the capacity to envisage future market trends and plan accordingly

Vision Statement

An aspirational description of what an organization would like to achieve

or accomplish in the mid-term or long-term future. It is intended to serve as a clear guide for choosing current and future courses of action.

Mission Statement.

A written declaration of an organization's core purpose and focus that normally remains unchanged over time. Properly crafted mission statements (1) serve as filters to separate what is important from what is not, (2) clearly state which markets will be served and how, and (3) communicate a sense of intended direction to the entire organization.

A mission is different from a vision in that the former is the cause and the latter is the effect; a mission is something to be accomplished whereas a vision is something to be pursued for that accomplishment. Also called company mission, corporate mission, or corporate purpose.

Sidelined: to prevent sb from playing in a team, especially because of an injury: The player has been sidelined by a knee injury.

to prevent sb from having an important part in sth that other people are doing: The vice-president is increasingly being sidelined.

washed up:No longer successful or needed; finished; done.

written off:If you write someone or something off, you decide that they are unimportant or useless and that they are not worth further serious attention.

Seal:To establish or determine irrevocably: Our fate was sealed. Rebound:(especially business) a positive recovery/reaction that happens after sth negative

whipped up:to try to make people feel strongly about something; stirred up

Disparagingly:slightingly; derogatorily; express a negative opinion of

reality distortion field:现实扭曲力场

Reality distortion field (RDF) is a term coined by Bud Tribble at Apple Computer in 1981, to describe company co-founder Steve Jobs' charisma and its effects on the developers working on the Macintosh project. Tribble said that the term came from Star Trek. Later the term has also been used to refer to perceptions of his keynote speeches (or "Stevenotes") by observers and devoted users of Apple computers and products.

The RDF was said by Andy Hertzfeld to be Steve Jobs' ability to convince himself and others to believe almost anything with a mix of charm, charisma, bravado, hyperbole, marketing, appeasement and persistence. RDF was said to distort an audience's sense of proportion and scales of difficulties and made them believe that the task at hand was possible.

suspension of disbelief:Suspension of disbelief or willing suspension of disbelief is a term coined in 1817 by the poet and aesthetic philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who suggested that if a writer could infuse a "human interest and a semblance of truth" into a fantastic tale, the reader would suspend judgment concerning the implausibility of the narrative. Suspension of disbelief often applies to fictional works of the action, comedy, fantasy, and horror

initial public offering IPO:首次公开募股首次公开发行；首次公开招股

The first sale of stock by a company to the public. Companies offering an IPO are sometimes new, young companies, or sometimes companies which have been around for many years but are finally deciding to go public. IPOs are often risky investments, but often have the potential for significant gains. IPOs are often used as a way for a young company to gain necessary market capital.

Rankled:cause lasting bitterness or resentment

Digerati:People who are knowledgeable about digital technologies such as computer programming and design

conjured from nothing:If you conjure something out of nothing, you make it appear as if by magic.

premium prices :Premium pricing溢价政策(also called image pricing or prestige pricing) is the practice of keeping the price of a product or service artificially high in order to encourage favorable perceptions among buyers, based solely on the price. The practice is intended to exploit the tendency for buyers to assume that expensive items enjoy an exceptional reputation or represent exceptional quality and distinction. A premium pricing strategy involves setting the price of a product higher than similar products. This strategy is sometimes also called skim pricing because it is an attempt to “skim the cream” off the top of the ma rket. It is used to maximize profit in areas where customers are happy to pay more, where there are no substitutes for the product, where there are barriers to entering the market or when the seller cannot save on costs by producing at a high volume.

Luxury has a psychological association with premium pricing. The implication for marketing is that consumers are willing to pay more for

certain goods and not for others. To the marketer, it means creating a brand equity or value for which the consumer is willing to pay extra. Marketers view luxury as the main factor differentiating a brand in a product category.

venture capitalist：风险资本家；风险投资家；风险投资人

A venture capitalist is a person who invests in a business venture, providing capital for start-up or expansion. Venture capitalists are looking for a higher rate of return than would be given by more traditional investments.

Generally, venture capitalists are looking for returns of 25 percent and up.

What's the difference between a venture capitalist and an angel investor?

A venture capitalist is a professional investor. He or she manages a fund and is looking for suitable investments for that fund. An angel investor is an individual who, while also looking for a suitable investment, is also looking for a personal opportunity.

In other words, the venture capitalist may have no business experience

applicable to the industry your company is involved in, and is focused on the potential rate of return your company can provide. An angel investor often has business experience relevant to your company and is interested in adding value to your company, as well as making a return on his or her investment.

Stint=tenure：A stint is a period of time which you spend doing a particular job or activity or working in a particular place.占有（职位）

Visionary:If you refer to someone as a visionary, you mean that they have strong, original ideas about how things might be different in the future, especially about how things might be improved.有远见的、有预见性的

Milking：If you say that someone milks something, you mean that they get as much benefit or profit as they can from it, without caring about the effects this has on other people.

call the shots：定调子(ALSO call the tune; wear the trousers)to be in the position of being able to make the decisions which will influence a situation exercise authority or be in charge

Lieutenant：an assistant with power to act when his superior is absent;

deputy副手

Pragmatism means thinking of or dealing with problems in a practical way, rather than by using theory or abstract principles.实用主义

Mass Market：大众市场；大规模市场；大量市场

Un-segmented market in which products with mass appeal products (aspirin, orange juice, soft drinks, paperback romances, etc.) are offered to every customer through mass retailers or independent stores, and promoted through mass media.

Niche Market：小众市场

Expediency= convenience means doing what is convenient rather than what is morally right. (FORMAL) eg：This was a matter less of morals than of expediency.利己、方便

Concern：firm; company; business

me-too：a company's me-too product is one that is designed to be similar to a very popular product made by another company

sand their fingers down：sand down: to make a surface smooth by rubbing it with sandpaper

Antitrust：反托拉斯的, 反垄断的

In the United States, antitrust laws are intended to stop large firms taking over their competitors, fixing prices with their competitors, or interfering with free competition in any way.

Unit 5:The post-modern craving for creativity

1.Pixar achieved its dominance by making astonishing shifts in what was thought possible in animated filmmaking.

Pixar became a market leader by making the impossible possible in animated filmmaking: they had made amazing groundbreaking achievements in the existing animation world.

2.unproductive recreations offering no more value than a little R&R. The purpose of recreations is not to generate profits or incomes but to get nothing but a little rest and entertainment.

3.placing this type of work on a par with the financial industry. making creative work rank equally with the financial work.

4.And what role does creativity play in energy brands and how does it drive consumers to gravitate toward them?

How does creativity contribute to vigorous and dynamic brands and how does it attract consumers gradually and irresistibly to them?

5.maybe “progress” isn’t all that it’d been made out to be? maybe it had been found out by people that modernism means much

more than "progress" only.

6.deriving meaning out of life eludes many of us day by day.

Many of us seems to forget what they live for.

7.Like nine-year-olds wrestling with the question of Santa Claus Like children of nine years old who are always uncertain about whether Santa Claus really exists

8.consumers are torn between wanting to believe modernist promises and being too savvy to suspend disbelief.

consumers are very ambivalent矛盾的: on one hand, they want to believe what the modernist has promised; on the other hand, they do not want to believe in modernism blindly because they know very well that modernism cannot solve all their problems,

e.g. understanding the meaning of life or human purpose.

9.It’s a conflict that few marketers can recognise.

We know consumers do not want to be deceived 欺骗by marketing, but we also know no consumers will buy our products without marketing 10.Yet we’ve found that creative brands transcend their skepticism of marketing, allowing them to believe with no sense of hypocrisy, thus resolving the conflict.

Yet we've found that creative brands clear the doubts in the head of consumers and make them believe in a real sense what is promoted in marketing. In this way, creative brands have solved the conflict