The sharing economy brings tycoon lifestyles within reach of some
原文链接：http://www.economist.com/news/business-and-finance/21710767-thanks-companies-such-netjets-getmyboat-and-thirdhomecom-merely-rich-can-upgrade
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LAMENTING/lə'mentiŋ/the rise of inequality is one of the few growth industries in an age ofstagnation/stæɡˈneʃən/. One authority on the American wealthy, Robert Frank of CNBC, a TV channel, worries that the rich are “floating off” into their own country. Chrystia Freeland, ajournalist-turned-politician,frets/frets/aboutthe rise of the “new global super-rich” and the fall of everyone else. Charles Murray, America’sgloomiest/'ɡlumi/social scientist, warns/wɔrn/that society is “coming apart” as the richretreat intotheirgated communities.
LAMENTING/lə'mentiŋ/adj.悲伤的；悲哀的
stagnation/stæɡˈneʃən/n.停滞；滞止
journalist-turned-politician记者出身的政治家
frets/frets/about 当心
gloomiest/‘ɡlumi/悲观的
adj. 黑暗的；沮丧的；阴郁的
retreat into 回退
gated communities 封闭社区
At the top of the income scale, however, a small counter-trend is observable.Never before have so many people been able to get access to theaccoutrements/ə'kʊtrəmənts/oftycoonery[tai'ku:nəri]—private planes, luxury/'lʌɡʒəri/yachts/jɑt/, fancy cars andinterior/ɪn'tɪrɪɚ/-designed, exclusive homes. There is only so muchcomfortto be had from the fact that it is easier for the merely rich tolay claim tothe lifestyle of the super-rich. But as a result of a combination of new technologies and businesses, that isnonetheless/'nʌnðə'lɛs/what is happening.
accoutrements/ə'kʊtrəmənts/
n. 军人的配备；服装
tycoonery[tai'ku:nəri]
[总称]企业家；商人
大亨的作为；巨头的地位
yachts/jɑt/
vi. 乘游艇，驾游艇
n. 游艇，快艇；轻舟
n. (Yacht)人名；(英)约特
interior/ɪn'tɪrɪɚ/-designed室内设计
lay claim to
lay a claim to:主张
Tycoon living begins with a private jet.Whereasyachts aredispensable/dɪ'spɛnsəbl/(not everyone wants to float around for weeks with the same dinner companions) private jets arenecessities/nə'sɛsəti/for theaspiring/ə'spaɪərɪŋ/billionaire. They save valuable time. Even first-class passengers have to wait an hour or so for their flights. Private-jet owners canturn upwhen they want and climb on board. The planes can double as flying offices, and you don’t have to worry about other passengerseavesdropping/'ivz,drɑpɪŋ/on yourdealsorobjecting toyour spreading papers. The flight is smoother (private jets typically fly at 45,000 feet), the seats are morethrone/θron/-like, and you can bring your pets.
dispensable/dɪ'spɛnsəbl/
adj. 可有可无的；非必要的
necessity/nə'sɛsəti/
n. 必需品（necessity的复数）
aspiring/ə'spaɪərɪŋ/
adj. 有抱负的；追求…的；高耸的
v. 立志（aspire的ing形式）
eavesdropping/'ivz,drɑpɪŋ/
n. 偷听；窃取
v. 窃听；偷听（eavesdrop的ing形式）
throne/θron/
n. 王座；君主；王权
vi. 登上王座
vt. 使登王位
No longer do you need a net worth in the hundreds of millions of dollars to have one.With 700 jets, NetJets is now the fifth-largest airline by number of planes, after Southwest Airlines, and it has access to thousands of private airports. Its main innovation was to apply the principle offractional/'frækʃənl/ownership, or time-sharing, to theultimate/'ʌltəmət/executive tool. Customers buy a share in a jet which entitles/ɪn'taɪtl/them to, say, 200 hours of travel a year.
fractional/'frækʃənl/
adj. 部分的；[数] 分数的，小数的
ultimate/'ʌltəmət/
adj. 最终的；极限的；根本的
n. 终极；根本；基本原则
entitles/ɪn'taɪtl/使…有权利
NetJets is skilled at providing its rich clients with anentrée'ɒntreɪ/into the cultural world of the super-rich, withhard-to-gettickets to events such as Art Basel, a series of artfairs/fεə/, and to private dinners withcelebrities/sə'lɛbrəti/.The company is also finding ways to bring down the cost: one of its latest ideas is the private-jet equivalent ofLondon
entrée'ɒntreɪ/n. 正餐前的小菜；开胃菜（entree
hard-to-get
fairs/fεə/
n. 定期集市；低级烟；赛会（fair的复数形式）
abbr. 联邦航空情报检察系统（Federal Aviation Information Retrieval System）
celebrities/sə’lɛbrəti/
n. 名人；名声
Underground’s electronic ticket, theOyster/'ɔɪstɚ/card. Rather than buying a share in a jet you can buy a pre-paid card that entitles you to a certain number of flying hours a year, with 25 hours’ worth of flights adding up to about €155,000 ($163,435).
Oyster/'ɔɪstɚ/
n. 牡蛎，[无脊椎] 蚝；沉默寡言的人
The sharing economy was hardly inspired by the needs of the rich. But in some ways it suits them perfectly. The whole idea depends on people havingspare/spɛr/assets that they are willing to rent out to total strangers. Who has more idle assets than the super-rich? And who loves extra income more than people who have spent their lives accumulating money?On the other side of the market,bustling/'bʌsliŋ/plutocrats/'pluːtəkræt/are anever-presentsource of demand for temporaryaccommodation/ə,kɑmə'deʃən/and bursts of luxury. The system can even have a strange public-relations benefit. A wealthy boss who makes use of NetJets won’t need to explain to his shareholders why he bought a jet,even ashe treats the one he flies onas thoughit were his own.
spare/spɛr/assets
adj. 多余的；瘦的；少量的
bustling/'bʌsliŋ/
adj. 熙熙攘攘的；忙乱的
plutocrats/'pluːtəkræt/
n. 财阀；富豪
accommodation/ə,kɑmə’deʃən/
n. 住处，膳宿；调节；和解；预订铺位
even as 正如
as though 好像
Uber, aride-hailingfirm, and Airbnb, an accommodation-sharing service, areprominent/'prɑmɪnənt/in the luxury market as well as the mass market. Uber offers yacht trips in Dubai (UberYacht) and helicoptercommutes/kə’mjʊt/inSão Paulo(UberCopter). Airbnb does a booming trade in luxury apartments in London, Hong Kong and theCaribbean/ˌkærəˈbiən/. There are providers in almost everycranny/'kræni/of the luxury landscape. GetMyBoat, a San Francisco-based company, gives customers access to motorboats, luxury houseboats, yachts andjet skis/ski/in 7,100 places around the world. Stratajet sells tickets on empty legs on private jets for the price of a business-class ticket or even less. Staller, which describes itself as the “Airbnb for horses”, helps horse-owners rent stalls/stɔ:lz/nearequestrian/ɪ'kwɛstrɪən/competitions. A home-sharing club calledThirdHome.comallows people with just a couple of homes to live as if they have a dozen.
prominent/'prɑmɪnənt/
adj. 突出的，显著的；杰出的；卓越的
cranny/'kræni/
jet skis/ski/
n. 摩托艇
equestrian/ɪ'kwɛstrɪən/
adj. 马的；骑马的；骑术的
n. 骑手；骑马者
The sameconstraintsthat affect the wider sharing economy—NIMBY pressure groups who put their interests above the common good andregulatorswho fail to adapt to new technology—findechoes/ˈɛko/in the luxury market. With its helicopter service from Manhattan to the Hamptons/'hæmptən/, Blade/bled/hasimmeasurably/ɪ'mɛʒərəbli/improved the life of those New Yorkers who weekend on Long Island. That hasn’t preventedcurmudgeons/kɝ'mʌdʒən/in Battery Park and Brooklyn Heights from complaining about theoccasionalwhump-whump-whumpover their heads.
echoes/ˈɛko/
vt. 反射；重复
vi. 随声附和；发出回声
n. 回音；效仿
Hamptons/'hæmptən/
n. 汉普顿斯（美国度假胜地）
Blade/bled/
n. 叶片；刀片，刀锋；剑
immeasurably/ɪ'mɛʒərəbli/
adv. 无限地；广大无边地；不能测量地
curmudgeons/kɝ’mʌdʒən/
n. 脾气坏的人，乖戾的人；吝啬鬼；存心不良的人
whump-whump-whump嘭嘭嘭
From merely rich to Uber rich
Methods of managing wealth as well as consuming it aretrickling['trikl]down. Until recently only people calledRockefellerandMorgancould afford so-called “family offices” that manage their investments, taxes andcharitable/'tʃærətəbl/giving (and get entry into the besthedge/hɛdʒ/funds). Now people with as little as $5m to invest can afford to do so thanks to aboomin so-called “multi-family” offices. Banks such as Citigroup have set up multi-familydivisions/də'vɪʒən/. Evenblue-bloodedwealth advisers such as Rockefeller & Co, in Manhattan, are offering family-office services to the “merely”crowd.
trickling['trikl]
v. 流出；使滴下（trickle的ing形式）
charitable/'tʃærətəbl/
adj. 慈善事业的；慷慨的，仁慈的；宽恕的
hedge/hɛdʒ/funds对冲
family offices家族理财室
divisions/də'vɪʒən/.
n. [数] 除法；部门；分配；分割；师（军队）；赛区
blue-blooded
adj. 贵族的；纯种的
That things are getting better for more rich people does notcontradict/'kɑntrə'dɪkt/Mr Frank’s broader worry, but among the Art Basel classit is anotable/'notəbl/shift/ʃɪft/.Once upon a timeyou had to be born rich to join the global elite/ɪˈlit/.Then you had to make a hundred million dollars, and then the thresholdrose to a billion. Now goods and services that used to beconfined/kən'faɪnd/to a handful of tycoons are available to themillionaireorpretend-millionaire next door, thanks to the magic of the sharing economy. The super-rich may be floating off into their own country.But more people can join them, even if temporarily, than ever before.
notable
adj. 值得注意的，显著的；著名的
n. 名人，显要人物
elite/ɪˈlit/
n. 精英；精华；中坚分子
confined/kən’faɪnd/
adj. 狭窄的；幽禁的；有限制的；在分娩中的
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At the top of the income scale, however, a small counter-trend is observable.
No longer do you need a net worth in the hundreds of millions of dollars to have one.
The company is also finding ways to bring down the cost
On the other side of the market
That things are getting better for more rich people does not contradict Mr Frank’s broader worry
it is a notable shift.
Once upon a time you had to be born rich to join the global elite.
But more people can join them, even if temporarily, than ever before.