Phrases
1. account for
a. to form the total of sth :The former bookseller accounts for more than half of every new dollar spent online in America.
b. to explain the reason for sth or the cause of sth: He has to account to his manager for (= tell his manager and explain) all his movements.
2. cloud computing 云计算
3. cable channel 有线电视
4. work on
to spend time repairing or improving sth
Yet Amazon's shareholders are working on the premise that it is just getting started.
His dancing technique is good, but he needs to work on his fitness.
5. market capitaliation 市值 MarketCap
6. due to
because of
92% of its value is due to profits expected after 2020.
A lot of her unhappiness is due to boredom.
7. tick off
It is easy to tick off some of the pitfalls.
8. beef up
to make sth stronger or more important
Walmart already has revenues nudging $500bn and is beefing up online.
We need to find some players to beef up the team.
Your report on the new car park is fine, but why don't you beef it up with some figures?
9. achieve unprecedented goals
10. whinge about
to complain
In an era when executives routinely whinge about pressure to produce short-term results.
11. short-term results vs. distant horizon
12. virtuous circle vs. vicious circle
13. whirl around
to (cause sth to) turn around in circles
A third virtuous circle is starting to whirl around Alexa, the firm's voice-activated assistant.
14. crank out
(informal) to produce sth with no special care or effort
But the business is starting to crank out cash.
Like clock-work, he cranks out a new book every year.
15. logistics firms 物流公司；search engines 搜索引擎；social networks 社交网络
16. reminiscent of
making you remember a particular person, event, or thing
A wingspan this large is more reminiscent of a conglomerate than a retailer, which makes Amazon's share price seem even more bloated.
That song is so reminiscent of my adolescence.
17. air-freight hub 空运货物集散地
18. cash register （现金）收银台
19. drone delivery 无人机派送
20. equivalent of
A rough calculation suggests its earnings could be worth the equivalent of 25% of the combined profits of listed Western retail and media firms.
Ten thousand people a year die of the disease-- that's the equivalent of the population of this town.
21. legal liability 法律责任
22. chip away
to break a small piece off sth by accident
The comparative immunity from legal liability of digital platforms is being chipped away.
23. predatory pricing 掠夺性定价
a situation in which a company offers goods at such a low price that other companies cannot compete with it
Investors value Amazon's growth over profits; that makes predatory pricing more tempting.
The airline has reduced its prices so sharply that it has been accused of predatory pricing.
24. breadth of activities 经营范围
Words
1. activate
v. to cause sth to start 激活
a virtual voice-activated assistant
The alarm is activated by the lightest pressure.
2. premise
n. an idea or theory on which a statement or action is based
Yet Amazon's shareholders are working on the premise that it is just getting started.
They had started with the premise that all men are created equal.
3.fertile
* fertile ground for sth
a situation or place which produces good results or a lot of ideas
Ground for skepticism does not come much more fertile than this.
British politics remains very fertile ground for comedy.
4. pitfall
n. a likely mistake or problem in a situation
It is easy to tick off some of the pitfalls.
The store fell into one of the major pitfalls of small business, borrowing from suppliers by paying bills late.
5. propel
v. to push or move sth to sp, often with a lot of force
Mr Bezos emphasises continual investment to propel its two principal businesses, e-commerce and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
* propel sb into/to/towards sth
to cause sb to do an activity or be in a situation
The film propelled him to international stardom.(the quality of being famous, esp. for an actor)
6. lure
v. to persuade sb to do sth or go sp by offering them sth exciting
In e-commerce, the more shoppers Amazon lures, the more retailers and manufacturers want to sell their goods on Amazon.
She was lured into the job by the offer of a high salary.
He has lures his victim to a deserted house.
7. entice
v. to persuade sb to do sth by offering them sth pleasant
The adverts entice the customer into buying things they don't really want.
A smell of coffee in the doorway enticed people to enter the shop.
enticement (n)
One of the enticements of the job is the company car.
.8. heady
a. having a powerful effect, making you feel slightly drunk or excited
In the heady days of their youth, they thought anything was possible.
9.prophecy
n. a statement 预言
So long as shareholders retain their faith in this model, Amazon's heady valuation resembles a self-fulfilling prophecy.
These doom and gloom prophecies are doing little to help the economy.
* prophesy
v. to say that you believe sth will happen in the future
He prophesied that the present government would only stay four years in office.
I wouldn't like to prophesy what will happen to that marriage.
10. debacle
n. a complete failure, esp. because of bad planning and organization
It has had its failures-- its attempt to make a smartphone was a debacle.
The collapse of the company was described as the greatest financial debacle in US history.
11.quadruple四; triple三; double二
12. sheer
a.(complete) used to emphasize how very great, important, or powerful a quality of feeling is; nothing except
If Amazon's approach to time-frames is unusual, so too is the sheer breadth of its activities.
The sheer size of the country makes communications difficult. 幅员辽阔
13. conglomerate
n. a company that owns several smaller businesses whose products or services are usually different
the financial/industrial conglomerate
* corporation
n. a large company or group of companies that is controlled together as a single organization
a multinational corporation
14.presumably 大概
Such tools could presumably serve other customers, too.
15. utility
n. a service that is used by the public
utility bills
Some think that Amazon could become a new kind of utility: one that provides the infrastructure of commerce, from computing power to payments to logistics.
16.pristine
a. (approving) new or almost new , and in very good condition
Seen through this lens, Amazon appears pristine.
Washing machine for sale-- only two months old and in pristine condition.
17.well-regarded
a. used to describe sb or sth about which people have a good opinion
The airline is well-regarded by passengers.
Consumers applaud it; it is the most well-regarded company in America.
18.boon
n. sth that is very helpful and improves the quality of life
AWS is a boon to startups, too.
Guide dogs are a great boon to the partially sighted.
19. clout
n. power or influence over other people or events
In Europe, Google stands accused of using its clout as a search engine to extend its power to adjacent businesses.
The Queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.
20. inflammatory
a. intended or likely to cause anger or hate
the posting of inflammatory content/language/remarks
21. vetting 审核
the vetting of drivers on Uber
Amazon Studios is trying to disrupt this process right now through crowd sourcing the vetting process.
Terms
1. Conglomerate discount is an economic concept describing a situation when the stock market values a diversified group of businesses and assets at less than the sum of its parts. The explanation of this phenomenon comes from a conglomerate's inability to manage various and different businesses as well as do focused companies. Therefore, the market penalizes a multi-division firm and attaches a lower multiple to its earnings and cash flows, thus creating the discount. However, the opposite concept, called conglomerate premium.
集团化折价（或多元化折价）是指，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化投资组合，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。这就是众所周知的“集团化折价”。但是这个概念似乎更适合制造业主导的20世纪，在21世纪物联网，大数据分析，机器智能兴起的时代，是略显过时的。
2. S&P 500 index 标准普尔指数500是记录美国500家上市公司的一个股票指数。
3. 掠夺性定价
掠夺性定价又称劫掠性定价、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。