读新闻,学雅思英语| Uber全球一片争议逆风高飞

2015年10月06日 悉尼环雅


Will Boris Johnson make us give up Uber?

老翟点评:Uber绝对是一个划时代的产品,它改变的人们的出行方式,就像Iphone改变了我们的通讯方式一样。无论现在它面临什么样的非议和争论,但是我相信这种改变是不可避免的,因为真正决定一项创新生死的不是政策,而是人们的需求。


What's the future for Uber? As the controversial car-sharing service becomes increasingly popular with consumers, regulators seem to be busy putting up roadblocks. So will that put the brakes on the company's expansion?

In the past few years, Uber has turned the process of booking a taxi on its head in many cities around the world.

A mobile phone app, it allows you to check for cars in your area, book one with a click, and have it charged - usually at a cheaper price than a traditional taxi - to your credit card.

But while Uber's user numbers have soared, it's far from universally welcome.

老翟点评:

soar: 雅思写作词汇,表示急速增加。

In Paris, Uber has already had to withdraw the cheapest service it provides, after violent attacks on some of its drivers earlier this year.

And last week two of the company's senior executives were hauled before a French court, accused of deceptive commercial practices and complicity in illegal activities.

老翟点评:

complicity: guilt as an accomplice in a crime. 同谋,共犯。


In Amsterdam, Uber's European headquarters was raided as part of a criminal investigation into whether the company is offering illegal taxi services.


And in the last few days London's transport authority has proposed regulations that, if implemented, could seriously undermine the way Uber operates in the UK capital.

老翟点评:

undermine:erode the basis or foundation of sth. 从根本上损坏,看来英国的措施应该是最严厉的。

The list of travails goes on and on. Uber has seen its services banned around the world in cities from Seoul, and New Delhi, to next year's Olympic hosts Rio de Janeiro.

老翟点评:

travail:painful things, 痛苦的事情。

On top of all that, the European Commission is examining whether Uber is violating competition rules, and the European Court of Justice is deciding whether it's a transport company or a digital service, which could prompt changes to how it operates.

Meanwhile, a court on Monday in London is due to decide whether the app used to track the driver's route is a taximeter or not, a definition, which again, will determine the path ahead.

老翟点评:大家都在头疼如何定义这个公司,因为它前所未有,因为它改变了时代。

Plenty of fight

It makes you wonder that Uber isn't thinking of innovating a cut-price legal service for its own purposes, as it doggedly argues its corner on point after point.

老翟点评:doggedly: 顽强的。

A company with less self-belief and shallower pockets might be deterred by all this.

老翟点评:

Deter: discourage from doing sth.这句话表明Uber有自信,同时有钱去应对这些质疑和挑战。


What is Uber?

Uber let's you book a freelance cab using an app on your phone or computer

It first launched in San Francisco in 2011 and now operates in 60 countries across the world

Customer numbers have risen dramatically. One million Londoners now use Uber

Your journey is tracked on GPS and payment is through a pre-registered credit card

Uber offers different services in different markets, most using professional cab drivers, but it's the peer-to-peer service, UberPop, which allows private individuals to offer a seat in their own car, that is causing most controversy


But Uber is famous for its shoot first, argue later approach, and accustomed to brazening out criticism.

The company started out with a small investment by its original founders, Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick, who is now the company's chief executive, and has since raised billions of dollars in venture capital from the likes of Baidu, Google and Goldman Sachs.

Now, with a market valuation of $50bn (£33bn), the firm has good reason to feel invincible.

Stuart Miles, founder of the tech media website, Pocket Lint, says it would take a lot to derail Uber's ambitious plans.

"They have enough fight in them, enough resources to keep pushing and pushing, because they have so much money," he says.

"Their ultimate goal is [that consumers think] - why would you need a car in a city when there's always an Uber a few feet away? They want to stop people buying cars altogether."

老翟点评:

The truth is, one way or another, these changes will happen because younger, more affluent service buyers are not going to accept not changing their lives, just as tech has changed their lives in other ways.

我相信改变一旦出现,就不可能倒退回去。所以Uber终将会因为我们的选择而胜出。

affluent:富裕的,wealthy放在一起做词伙。下次想说富裕的人的时候,不要只有wealthy,rich在脑子里,试试affluent吧。





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