经济学人:优步第一把交椅:新时代的考验(上)

 　　Business 商业

　　Uber: Gear change 优步：换挡

　　A new era begins at Uber as Travis Kalanick steps down. 随着拉维斯·卡兰尼克（Travis Kalanick）辞去Uber首席执行官一职，优步进入新时代。

　　“We have a lot of attention as it is. I don't even know how we could get more,” Travis Kalanick, the boss of Uber, said last year. 优步的老板特拉维斯·卡兰尼克（Travis Kalanick）去年说：“事实上我们得到了很多的注意力，我甚至不知道如何才能得到更多了。”

　　The ride-hailing giant found a way. 这个叫车的巨人找到了一条路。

　　Mr Kalanick failed to manage the fallout from a series of high-profile blunders and scandals. 对于之前重大失误和丑闻带来的一系列后果，卡兰尼克（Kalanick）先生处理的很失败。

　　On June 20th he resigned as chief executive officer of the firm he co-founded in 2009. 在6月20日，他辞去了他在2009年共同创立的公司的首席执行官的职务。

　　Uber is facing several crises, including senior executive departures, a lawsuit¹ over alleged² intellectual-property theft,  Uber正面临数场危机，包括高管离职、涉嫌侵犯知识产权的诉讼、

　　claims about sexual harassment³ and a federal probe into its use of potentially illegal software to track regulators. 有关性骚扰的指控以及联邦政府对其使用非法软件跟踪监管部门的调查。

　　Mr Kalanick had previously⁴ said he would take a leave of absence, in part to deal with a personal tragedy—the death of his mother in a boating accident. 卡兰尼克（Kalanick）此前曾表示，他将休假，部分是为了处理个人悲剧——他母亲在一次乘船事故中死亡。

　　That was not enough for investors⁵ in Uber, who asked him to make his leave permanent. 但这对那些要求他让他永远离职的Uber投资者来说是远远不够的。

　　Uber will not change overnight. Uber是不会在一夜之内做出重大改变的。

　　Mr Kalanick trained it to be unrelentingly competitive, aggressive and ready to break rules. Uber总裁卡兰尼克（Kalanick）先生表示自己所打造的品牌公司是可以大胆地竞争、有闯劲以及勇于打破常规的。

　　That culture helped make it the most prominent private American technology firm, with a valuation of nearly $70bn. 这样的一种公司文化使Uber一跃成为美国杰出私人科技公司，创造了近700亿美元的产业估值。

　　But the impact of Mr Kalanick's self-styled “always be hustlin'” approach has been stark⁶. 然而，卡兰尼克先生“时刻处于危机之中”的思想已经产生了与之前相反的效应。

　　Uber's controversies⁷ have dented⁸ its brand, hurt its ability to recruit the best engineers and cost it customers in America, who are defecting to its rival, Lyft. Uber的风言风语逐渐影响了该品牌的发展，不仅妨碍了公司招募优秀的工程师，导致了大量的美国客户流失到了竞争对手：Lyft （来福车）的手下。

　　The identity of Mr Kalanick's replacement⁹ will be crucial. 因此，卡兰尼克（Kalanick）先生的职位调动对于Uber公司的命运极其重要。

1 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

2 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

3 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 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

6 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

7 controversies   

争论

参考例句：

• We offer no comment on these controversies here. 对于这些争议，我们在这里不作任何评论。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon. 围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。 来自辞典例句

8 dented   

v.使产生凹痕( dent的过去式和过去分词 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等）

参考例句：

• The back of the car was badly dented in the collision. 汽车尾部被撞后严重凹陷。
• I'm afraid I've dented the car. 恐怕我把车子撞瘪了一些。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。