经济学人:优步第一把交椅:新时代的考验(下)

 　　Uber's board will seek an experienced boss, perhaps a woman. 当下，董事会正在寻找一位成熟老练的总裁，众人猜测是一位女性。

　　He or she will need experience running a multinational¹. 这位总裁将要担负起运营一家大型跨国公司的重担。

　　Whether the board should hire someone with a background in transport (perhaps from an airline or logistics firm) or a candidate from the technology industry is unclear. 所以，董事会究竟会聘请与交通行业部门（也许是航空或物流公司）有关的人，还是科技公司的人，我们尚未得知。

　　Some have suggested that Sheryl Sandberg, who serves as number two at Facebook, would be a good choice, but she may not be willing to jump. 有人推测，脸书(Facebook)的二当家雪莉·桑德伯格（Sheryl Sandberg）是个不错的人选，但是她并不一定愿意跳槽。

　　Investors² in Uber have accepted that Mr Kalanick will stay on the company's board (along with his co-founder and another early executive,  优步的投资者接受了卡尼克将继续留任公司董事会（和其联合创始人以及另一位早期高管一起，

　　he controls the majority of super-voting shares) so he is likely to have a strong influence on the firm. 他掌控着大部分的超级投票权股份），因而他可能仍对公司有着举足轻重的影响力。

　　He will need to exercise restraint. 他需要克制。

　　Twitter, an internet company that is struggling to attract more users,  互联网公司推特（Twitter）正在挣扎于争取更多用户，

　　found it hard to settle on a clear strategy in part because several co-founders who once ran it continued to serve on the board and second-guessed the boss. 他们发现这样很难找到一个明确的战略，因为曾经运营它的几个联合创始人继续留任在董事会上而且会事后批评在任老板。

　　Mr Kalanick's departure should be enough to placate³ some alienated⁴ customers. 卡兰尼克（Kalanick）先生的离职应该足以安抚一些流失掉的客户。

　　Regulators may treat Uber more kindly⁵, too. 监管者也可能更善待优步。

　　Abroad, its scandals have barely registered. 在国外，丑闻几乎没有被媒体报道过。

　　In the first quarter of this year it notched⁶ up record revenues, of $3.4bn. 今年第一季度它取得了创纪录的收入-----34亿美元。

　　Its losses, of around $700m, are still high but diminishing. 它约为7亿美元的损失虽然很高，但是在递减。

　　The next chief executive will need to decide whether to chase growth and endure continued steep losses, or cut back on international expansion in order to make more money. 下一任首席执行官将需要决定是否要追求增长同时忍受持续的巨额亏损，还是削减国际扩张来赚更多的钱。

　　After watching Mr Kalanick push the pedal to the metal, Uber's investors may hope that a more conservative era—in terms of finances as well as culture—is about to begin. 看到卡兰尼克（Kalanick）先生踩足油门的全速行驶后，优步的投资者们可能希望看到一个财务和文化方面更为保守的时代------这即将开始。

1 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

2 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

3 placate   

v.抚慰，平息(愤怒)

参考例句：

• He never attempts to placate his enemy.他从不企图与敌人和解。
• Even a written apology failed to placate the indignant hostess.甚至一纸书面道歉都没能安抚这个怒气冲冲的女主人。

4 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

6 notched   

a.有凹口的，有缺口的

参考例句：

• Torino notched up a 2-1 win at Lazio. 都灵队以2 比1 赢了拉齐奧队。
• He notched up ten points in the first five minutes of the game. 他在比赛开始后的五分钟里得了十分。