外刊阅读
本文选自《Sixth Tone》,大家慢慢“食用”~可以尝试自己做精读,当然也可以直接泛读了解一下相关资讯就可以。
Amazon Turns the Page on
Its Chinese Kindle Bookstore
Amazon’s decision to phase out Kindle in China has sparked an outpouring of sadness among Chinese netizens, as yet another American technology company pulls back from China’s market. Amazon has stopped supplying its e-reader devices to Chinese distributors and plans to shut down its Chinese Kindle ebook store in June 2023, the company announced Thursday.
亚马逊逐步让Kindle退出中国市场的决定让很多中国网民感到悲伤,这是又一家美国科技公司撤出中国市场。亚马逊周四宣布,该公司已停止向中国经销商提供电子阅读器设备,并计划在2023年6月关闭中国Kindle电子书商店。
-
phase out 逐步淘汰;逐步放弃;If something is phased out, people gradually stop using it. 举个例子:They phased out my job in favor of a computer.他们逐步用一台计算机淘汰了我的工作岗位
-
pull back from 退出;退却;If someone pulls back from an action, they decide not to do it or continue with it, because it could have bad consequences. 举个例子:They will plead with him to pull back from confrontation.他们将请求他退出冲突。
-
其实本段的phase out,pull back from,stop supplying,shut down想表达的意思都差不多,就是停止Kindle在中国运营。
-
distributor /dɪ’strɪbjʊtə/ 经销商;配销商;分销商;A distributor is a company that supplies goods to shops or other businesses. 比如说:Japan’s largest software distributor 日本最大的软件分销公司
The firm did not give a reason for its retreat from the Chinese ebook market, but stressed that it was not the result of government pressure or censorship. “As a global business, we periodically evaluate our offerings and make adjustments, wherever we operate,” Amazon said in a statement.
该公司没有给出退出中国电子书市场的原因,但强调这不是政府压力或审查的结果。“作为一家全球企业,我们定期评估我们的产品并做出调整,无论是哪里的运营地,”亚马逊在一份声明中说。
The move is just the latest in a string of pullbacks by U.S. tech companies from China, with Airbnb, LinkedIn, and Yahoo all announcing closures of part or all of their Chinese operations over the past year. Amazon is still active in a number of sectors in China, including advertising and cloud services, Axios reported.
这只是美国科技公司从中国撤出的一系列事件中的最新一起,爱彼迎、领英和雅虎都在过去一年中宣布关闭部分或全部中国业务。Axios报道称,亚马逊仍然活跃在中国的一些领域,包括广告和云服务。
The demise of Kindle has upset many Chinese netizens, who expressed concern about seeing another foreign platform exit the Chinese market.
Kindle的消亡让许多中国网民感到不安,他们对又一个外国平台退出中国市场表示担忧。
-
demise〔曾经存在的某物的〕终止,结束,消亡:the end of something that used to exist,比如说:the imminent demise (=happening soon) of the local newspaper地方报纸的即将停刊
-
upset这里用作动词,表示使心烦意乱;使生气;使心情不好;If something upsets you, it makes you feel worried or unhappy. 举个例子:The whole incident had upset me and my fiancee terribly.整个事件搞得我和未婚妻都心烦意乱。
Kindle entered China in 2013 and quickly emerged as a dominant player in the country’s ebook market. Millions of Kindle devices were sold in China between 2013 and 2018, with annual ebook sales on the Chinese Kindle store rising tenfold over that period to 700,000, domestic media reported.
Kindle于2013年进入中国,并迅速成为中国电子书市场的主导者。据国内媒体报道,2013年至2018年期间,中国销售了数百万台Kindle设备,同期中国Kindle商店的年度电子书销量增长了10倍,达到70万本。
-
dominant /’dɒmɪnənt/占支配或统治地位的;占优势的;显著的;Someone or something that is dominant is more powerful, successful, influential, or noticeable than other people or things. 举个例子:She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。
-
tenfold 十倍(的): ten times as much or as many of something,比如说:•Business has increased tenfold in the past two years.在过去的两年里,业务扩展了十倍。
-
【词根词缀】xx-fold,与数字连用构成副词表示“…倍”;比如说:By the late eighties their number had grown fourfold.到 80 年代末的时候,他们的数量已是原来的 4 倍。
-
此外也可以与数字连用构成形容词also combines with numbers to form adjectives,比如说:One survey revealed a threefold increase in breast cancer.一项调查显示乳腺癌的发病率已是原来的 3 倍。
The rise of Kindle played a key role in driving the development of China’s ebook market, as Amazon partnered with traditional Chinese publishing giants including Zhongxin and Commercial Press on digitization projects.
Kindle的崛起在推动中国电子书市场发展方面发挥了关键作用,因为亚马逊与包括中信和商务印书馆在内的中国传统出版巨头合作开展数字化项目。
It also found creative ways to market Kindle to Chinese consumers. At one point, the firm playfully suggested the e-reader could double up as a cover for cooking instant noodles. Some users responded by installing five-minute timers on their devices as a joke.
它还找到了向中国消费者推销Kindle的创造性方法。该公司一度开玩笑地表示,Kindle阅读器可以兼做泡方便面的盖子。一些用户对此开玩笑说要在他们的Kindle设备上装上五分钟计时器。
But Kindle’s popularity didn’t always translate into strong revenues. Wang Yifei, a language teacher based in the eastern city of Hangzhou, told Sixth Tone she had downloaded dozens of pirated novels and manga onto her Kindle, but had only ever spent 1.2 yuan ($0.18) on the Kindle store.
但Kindle的受欢迎程度并不总是转化为强劲的收入。杭州的一名语言教师王一菲告诉Sixth Tone,她已经在Kindle上下载了几十部盗版小说和漫画,但在Kindle商店只花了1.2元(0.18美元)。
-
translate (sth) (into sth) · (使)转变,变为:· to change sth, or to be changed, into a different form,举个例子:It’s time to translate words into action. 是把言语化为行动的时候了。I hope all the hard work will translate into profits. 我希望所有的辛勤劳动都会有回报。
Analysts, however, said that piracy was only part of the reason why Kindle struggled. Although China grew to become Kindle’s largest market in 2016, the company subsequently lost market share as domestic tech companies launched rival products.
然而,分析师表示,盗版只是Kindle陷入困境的部分原因。尽管中国在2016年成为Kindle最大的市场,但随着国内科技公司推出竞争产品,该公司随后失去了市场份额。
本文由拔丝英语网 – buzzrecipe.com(精选英语文章+课程)收藏,供学习使用,分享转发是更大的支持!由 英语书架原创,版权归原作者所有。