乔布斯传 第461期:蒂姆·库克(2)

 　　Jobs's successes came at a cost, since velvety¹ diplomacy² was still not part of his repertoire³. 乔布斯的成功来之不易，因为“怀柔政策”仍然不在他的原则之内。

　　When he decided⁴ that a division of Airborne Express wasn't delivering spare parts quickly enough, 当他发现安邦快运下属的一家分公司运送零件的速度不够快时，

　　he ordered an Apple manager to break the contract. 他让苹果公司的一个经理去终止合约。

　　When the manager protested that doing so could lead to a lawsuit⁵, Jobs replied, 这位经理说这样做可能会导致法律诉讼，乔布斯回答：

　　"Just tell them if they fuck with us, they'll never get another fucking dime⁶ from this company, ever." “你就告诉他们，如果他们糊弄我们，那他们永远别想从我们这儿再拿到一分钱。”

　　The manager quit, there was a lawsuit, and it took a year to resolve. 那位经理辞职了，案子闹上了法庭，用了一年的时间才解决。

　　"My stock options would be worth $10 million had I stayed," the manager said, “如果我能继续待下去，我的股票期权现在会值1000万美元，”那位经理说，

　　"but I knew I couldn't have stood it -- and he'd have fired me anyway." “但是我知道我不可能拥有了--无论如何，他都会把我炒了。”

　　The new distributor was ordered to cut inventory⁷ 75%, and did. 新的经销商被规定把库存减少75%，最终也做到了。

　　"Under Steve Jobs, there's zero tolerance⁸ for not performing," its CEO said. “乔布斯丝毫不能容忍差错。”这家公司的CEO说。

　　At another point, when VLSI Technology was having trouble delivering enough chips on time, 当VSLI公司出现问题无法按时送来足够的芯片时，

　　Jobs stormed into a meeting and started shouting that they were "fucking dickless assholes." 乔布斯在会议上大发雷霆，大骂他们是“没有生殖器的混蛋”。

　　The company ended up getting the chips to Apple on time, 最终，VSLI还是把芯片准时送到了苹果公司，

　　and its executives made jackets that boasted on the back, "Team FDA." 该公司的高管们还专门做了背后印有“FDA团队”的夹克衫。

1 velvety   

adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的

参考例句：

• a velvety red wine 醇厚的红葡萄酒
• Her skin was admired for its velvety softness. 她的皮肤如天鹅绒般柔软，令人赞叹。

2 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

3 repertoire   

n.(准备好演出的)节目，保留剧目；(计算机的)指令表，指令系统， <美>(某个人的)全部技能；清单，指令表

参考例句：

• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。
• He has added considerably to his piano repertoire.他的钢琴演奏曲目大大增加了。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 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。

6 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

7 inventory   

n.详细目录，存货清单

参考例句：

• Some stores inventory their stock once a week.有些商店每周清点存货一次。
• We will need to call on our supplier to get more inventory.我们必须请供应商送来更多存货。

8 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。