When competition is fierce and elbows are flying, nothing is more natural than the desire to climb atop the heap. The biggest fi

admin2010-02-22  36

问题     When competition is fierce and elbows are flying, nothing is more natural than the desire to climb atop the heap. The biggest firms in most industries have an edge. They probably became the biggest by being the best. (46)They tend to become more efficient as they grow, reaping economies of scale, thus increasing their margins and their advantage over smaller rivals. Being large enough to shape an industry can help. And when the national champion is faltering, there is a fair chance politicians will consider it too big to fail.
    (47)So you might think that it’s time to crack open a few cans of the stuff at PepsiCo, which this week surpassed Coca-Cola in market value for the first time in 112 years of crazy competition. And yet, without wishing to spoil Pepsi’s party, the case for celebration is not so clear-cut. As America has discovered in the geopolitics business, being number one is not much fun.
    As soon as a firm climbs above the sharp elbows of its rivals, it starts getting pelted with the eggs of anti-business activists. People who hate big business aim high. (48)So while big, bad Wal-Mart is mocked, Target has in the past couple of years easily cut the benefits of its non-union workers. And when was the last time you saw an anti-globalization mob destroy a Burger King outlet?
    (49)Unlike Microsoft, which is loathed by many for its monopoly power, Apple has not had to contend with thousands of young hackers fighting to poke holes in the security of its operating systems. While Nike was inundated with complaints about its "sweat shops" in poor countries, Adidas steadily improved its brand, and has recently acquired Reebok to emerge as a strong number two. If only Ebenezer Scrooge had lived across town from a bigger rival, the ghosts of Christmas might have picked on the other guy, and left the poor curmudgeon to a good night’s sleep.
    As protesters get better at running media campaigns, the second-best advantage may even be growing. (50)Firms such as Ford, Burger King and Target do not have documentary-makers queuing up to attack them in such films as "Roger and Me" (General Motors), "Super Size Me" (McDonald’s) or "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price". Even if the runner-up does get caught doing something unpopular, it can pin the blame on merciless competition from the evil number one.


选项

答案像福特汽车、汉堡王、Target超市这样的公司,是不会有纪录片导演争先恐后地像在《罗杰和我》里攻击通用汽车,在《超大码的我》里攻击麦当劳,在《低价高成本》里攻击沃尔玛一样,攻击它们的。

解析 本句为简单句。主干结构是Firms do not have sb. doing sth. to do sth.,分词短语queuing是宾语documentary-makers的补足语,不定式短语to attack them是目的状语。翻译时注意词义的完整性。句中出现了许多耳熟能详的品牌,翻译时尽量将其意思翻译完整。例如Ford不能直接译成"福特",而是完整译成"福特汽车"。虽然可能对Target这个品牌不太熟悉,但是通过前文的内容,可以推断这是个超市,因此将其译成Target超市即可。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/GL44777K
0

随机试题
最新回复(0)