本期原文选自The Economist 2016-9-3的Leaders板块Uberworld，释义来自牛津高阶七版、剑桥高阶学习词典英汉双解第3版、有道词典等网络资源。如果您也在学习The Economist，欢迎订阅我的文集The Economist，一起学习交流。

Uberworld

The world’s most valuable startup is leading the race to transform the future of transport “LET’S Uber.” Few companies offer something so popular that their name becomes a verb. But that is one of the many achievements of Uber, a company founded in 2009 which is now the world’s most valuable startup, worth around $70 billion. Its app can summon a car【1】in moments in more than 425 cities around the world, to the fury of【2】taxi drivers everywhere. But Uber's ambitions, and the expectations underpinning its valuation, extend much further: using self-driving vehicles【3】, it wants to make ride-hailing【4】so cheap and convenient that people forgo car ownership altogether. Not satisfied with shaking up【5】the $100-billion-a-year taxi business, it has its eye on【6】the far bigger market for personal transport, worth as much as $10trillion a year globally.

【1】summon a car叫车；summon a meeting召集会议；summon assistance/help/reinforcements请求援助/帮助/增援

【2】to the fury of sb令某人勃然大怒；类似的用法to sb' surprise令某人吃惊，to sb's advantage对某人有利

【3】self-driving vehicle自动驾驶汽车，无人驾驶汽车；self-driving需要与self-drive区别开，self-drive是驾驶自己的车（去度假）的或者租车人自行驾驶的

【4】ride-hailing叫车；ride动词含义是搭乘、乘坐；hail招手（请出租车或公共汽车停下）

【5】shake up重组，重大调整；名词shake-up

【6】have sb's eye on sth看中，想要得到

Uber is not alone in this ambition. Companies big and small have recognised the transformative potential of electric, self-driving cars, summoned on demand【7】. Technology firms including Apple, Google and Tesla are investing heavily in autonomous vehicles【8】; from Ford to Volvo, incumbent【9】carmakers are racing to catch up. An epic struggle looms【10】. It will transform daily life as profoundly as cars did in the 20th century: reinventing【11】transport and reshaping cities, while also dramatically reducing road deaths and pollution.

【7】summoned on demand随叫随到；on demand的本意是“一经要求”，在通信领域可以译为“点播”，例如VOD（video-on-demand点播电视），GOD（Game On Demand点播游戏）

【8】autonomous vehicle自动驾驶汽车，与前面提到的self-driving vehicle类似

【9】incumbent现任的，在职的；也可以作名词

【10】loom隐现；loom large令人担忧，令人惊恐

【11】reinvent sth/oneself (as sth) 以新形象出现; 另一个类似的词组come across as，给人留下……印象（Yahoo上的一个例句：You wouldn't think a prince would be like this. He doesn't come across as a prince. (说明威廉王子非常平易近人) ）

The wheels of change

In the short term Uber is in pole position【12】to lead the revolution because of its dominance of chauffeured【13】ride-hailing, a part of the transport market that will see some of the fastest growth. Today ride-hailing accounts for less than 4% of all kilometres driven globally, but that will rise to more than 25% by 2030, according to Morgan Stanley, a bank. The ability to summon a car using a smart phone does not just make it easy for individuals to book a cheaper taxi. Ride-sharing services【14】like UberPool, which put travellers heading in the same direction into one vehicle, blur the boundaries between private andpublic transport. Helsinki and other cities have been experimenting with on-demand bus services and apps that enable customers to plan and book journeys combining trains and buses with walking and private ride-sharing services. Getit right, and public-transport networks will be extended to cover the “lastmile” that takes people right to their doorsteps. This will extend the market for ride-hailing well beyond the wealthy urbanites who are its main users today.

【12】pole position有利位置

【13】chauffeured专车的；chauffeur源于法语，本意是“司机”

【14】Ride-sharing services拼车服务；Ride-sharing拼车

But in the longer term autonomous vehicles will drive the reinvention of transport. The first examples have already hit the road【15】. Google is testing autonomous cars onstreets near its headquarters in Mountain View. A startup called nuTonomyrecently launched a self-driving taxi service in Singapore. Tesla’s electriccars are packed full of driver-assistance technology. And within the next few weeks Uber itself will offer riders in Pittsburgh the chance to hail anautonomous car (though a human will be on hand to take back the wheel if needed).

【15】hit the road上路

Self-driving cars will reinforce trends unleashed by ride hailing, making it cheaper and more accessible. The disabled, the old and the young will find it easier to go where they want. Many more people will opt out of【16】car ownership altogether. An OECD study that modelled the use of self-driving cars in Lisbon found that shared autonomous vehicles could reduce the number of cars needed by 80-90%. As car ownership declines, the enormous amount of space devoted to parking—as much as a quarterof the area of some American cities—will be available for parks and housing instead.

【16】opt out of 退出，放弃；opt in to选择参与

It is not clear which companies will dominate this world or how profitable it will be. Uber will not win in its current form: a ride-hailing business which depends on human drivers cannot compete on roads full of self-driving cars. But this existential threat is spurring the firm’s innovation (see page 17). With its strong brand and large customer base, Uber aims to establish itself as the leading provider of transport services in a self driving world. It is also branching out into【17】new areas, such as food delivery【18】and long-distance cargo haulage【19】using autonomous trucks. There is logic in this ambition. Carmakers lack Uber’s experience as a service provider, or its deep knowledge of demand patterns and customer behaviour.

【17】branch out (into sth)涉足，拓展

【18】food delivery送餐

【19】long-distance cargo haulage长途货运

But firms that pioneer【20】new technological trends do not always manage to stay on top. Think of Nokia and BlackBerry in smart phones, Kodak in digital cameras or MySpace insocial networking. Much will depend on which firm best handles the regulators.Technology companies have a history of trying new things first and asking forpermission later. Uber’s success in ride-hailing owes much to this recipe, yet when it comes to autonomous vehicles, the combination of vague rules and imperfect technology can have deadly consequences.

【20】pioneer开创

Even for the winners, it is not clear how great the rewards will be. As more firms pile into ride-sharing, and autonomous vehicles become part of the mix, the business may prove to be less lucrative than expected. By matching riders with drivers, Uber can offer transport services without owning a single vehicle, and keep the lion’s share of the profits. But if its service becomes an integral part of urban transport infrastructure, as it hopes, Uber could end up being regulated, more highly taxed, broken up or all of the above. In a self-driving world, Uber might also have to own and operate its own fleet【21】, undermining its “asset-light” model. The would-be【22】high-margin digital disrupter would then look more like a low-margin airline.

【21】fleet车队

【22】would-be想要成为……的，准；would-be college student准大学生

The great road race

For now Uber is the firm to beat in the race to transform the future of personal transport. Unlike Apple or Google, it is singularly focused on transport; unlike incumbent carmakers, it does not have a legacy【23】car-manufacturing business to protect. Its recent rapprochement【24】with Didi, its main rival in China, has removed a major distraction, allowing it to devote its $9 billion war chest【25】to developing new technology. Its vision of the future is plausible and compelling. It could yet prove a Moses【26】company, never reaching its promised land—it might end up like Hoover【27】, lending its name to a new product category without actually dominating it. But whether Uber itself wins or loses, we are all on the road to Uberworld.

【23】legacy遗产，遗留（问题）；通信领域的legacy code遗留代码

【24】rapprochement和解，友好关系的恢复；本文中是指滴滴出行、优步中国合并，此前The Economist 2016-8-6的Leaders板块China's Tech Trailblazers中曾提到优步当时决定将自己的中国业务卖给其中国对手滴滴出行。

【25】war chest专款，专用资金

【26】Moses摩西，公元前13世纪犹太人的民族领袖，是犹太教、基督教、伊斯兰教和巴哈伊信仰等宗教里极为重要的先知。出埃及记（Exodus）中记载，摩西受上帝之命，率领被奴役的希伯来人逃离古埃及，前往富饶之地——迦南地。经历40多年的艰难跋涉之后，在就要到达目的地时他去世了。从此希伯来人摆脱了被奴役的悲惨生活（此释义参考360百科）。

【27】Hoover胡佛；1907年，Hoover品牌创始人Spangler发明了世界上第一台电动清洁机，这就是现代吸尘器的原型。1908年，Hoover收购了Spangler的设计，并开始大批量生产此款吸尘机（此释义参考360百科）。

【知识点汇总】

1. 关于叫车服务的词汇：叫车 summon or hail a car/vehicle/ride；叫车服务ride-hailing service；拼车ride-sharing；随叫随到 summoned on demand；专车的chauffeured；自动驾驶车/无人驾驶车 self-driving vehicle/autonomous vehicle，（区别）自驾游self-drive tour/road tour；上路 hit the rode；车队fleet

2. 交通运输类词汇：送餐food delivery；长途货运 long-distance cargo haulage

3.  To 的用法：令某人勃然大怒 to the fury of sb； 令某人吃惊to sb' surprise，对某人有利to sb's advantage

4. 有时间意义的词：现任的，在位的 incumbent，in office，想要成为的，准 would-be；遗留、遗产 legacy

5.专用意义的词语：专款，专用资金 war chest；专车的chauffeured

6. 两个法语词源的词汇：rapprochement 和解、关系恢复； chauffeur 司机

7. 文学典故：Moses摩西，源于《圣经》第二卷《出埃及记》

8. 相反意义的成对词语：选择参与和选择退出 opt in to，opt out of

9. 表示出现的词语：隐现，隐约可见loom，令人担忧，令人惊恐 loom large；以新形式出现，以新形象示人 reinvent sth/oneself (as sth); 给人留下……印象come across as

10. 表示有利地位的词语：（汽车、自行车比赛的）首发位置、最有利位置 pole position

注：本文仅供学习交流之用，不代表作者观点。