Groupon牵手腾讯进入中国

    LOS ANGELES/SHANGHAI, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Daily-deals website Groupon goes live in China on Monday, bringing its popular brand of Internet retail¹ to the world's most populous² nation.
    GaoPeng.com, funded by Groupon, the Tencent (0700.HK) Collaboration(合作,协作) Fund and Yunfeng Capital, will begin accepting email registrations³ from local consumers, with daily deals promoting local merchants to debut⁴ in March.
    However, analysts(分析家） cast doubts over how successful Groupon can be in China given the numerous group-buying websites that are already active in the country.
    "Discounts will always be popular but the question is, will Groupon be more popular than the other websites," said Paul Wuh, a Hong Kong-based analyst⁵ with Samsung Securities.
    "There are many entrenched⁶ companies already offering this product," Wuh said.
    Taobao, China's largest consumer e-commerce website, launched a group-buying website last year, while other sites such as Mei Tuan and Man Zuo have also sprung up. Popular portal websites such as Tencent's QQ and Sohu.com (SOHU.O) have also launched group-buying websites.
    China had almost 19 million group-buying users at the end of 2010, according to government statistics（统计）.
    Wuh said the move is generally positive for Tencent as it signals that China's largest Internet firm is further expanding its operations its core revenue driver of games.
    Groupon had been widely reported to be scouting⁷ out locations and workers in China, seeking the global expansion its plethora⁸ of rivals have not embarked⁹ upon.
    Groupon, the two-year-old start-up that has met bankers about an initial public offering and which sources say rebuffed a $6 billion advance from Google Inc (GOOG.O) -- has seen phenomenal growth.
    It has grown to about 50 million users from 3 million across 500 cities in 40 countries over the course of 2010.
    But the competition is intensifying¹⁰, with the likes of LivingSocial expanding in the same space and a plethora of websites springing up globally that specialize in deals for niche¹¹ markets.
    Groupon recently completed a $950 million round of financing on its way to pondering an IPO, which sources have said would be one of the largest technology IPOs of 2011. [ID:nN10289323]
    Its venture capital backers and late-stage investors¹² include Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Mail.ru Group, Maverick¹³ Capital, Silver Lake and Technology Crossover Ventures.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

2 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

3 registrations   

n.登记( registration的名词复数 )；登记项目；登记（或注册、挂号）人数；（管风琴）音栓配合（法）

参考例句：

• In addition to the check-in procedures, the room clerks are customarily responsible for recording advance registrations. 除了办理住宿手续外，客房登记员按惯例还负责预约登记。 来自辞典例句
• Be the Elekta expert for products registrations in China. 成为在中国注册产品的医科达公司专家。 来自互联网

4 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

7 scouting   

守候活动，童子军的活动

参考例句：

• I have people scouting the hills already. 我已经让人搜过那些山了。
• Perhaps also from the Gospel it passed into the tradition of scouting. 也许又从《福音书》传入守望的传统。 来自演讲部分

8 plethora   

n.过量，过剩

参考例句：

• Java comes with a plethora of ready-made types.Java配套提供了数量众多的现成类型。
• A plethora of new operators will be allowed to enter the market.大批新的运营商将获准进入该市场。

9 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

10 intensifying   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的现在分词 )；增辉

参考例句：

• The allies are intensifying their air campaign. 联军部队正加大他们的空战强度。 来自辞典例句
• The rest of the European powers were in a state of intensifying congestion. 其余的欧洲强国则处于越来越拥挤的状态。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

11 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

12 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

13 maverick   

adj.特立独行的；不遵守传统的；n.持异议者，自行其是者

参考例句：

• He's a maverick.He has his own way of thinking about things.他是个特异独行的人。对事情有自己的看法。
• You're a maverick and you'll try anything.你是个爱自行其是的人，样样事情都要尝试一下。