经济学人109:每一点信息都有大用

 　　Business Loyalty¹ cards and insurance Every little helps

　　商业 购物卡与保险 每一点信息都有大用

　　As it pushes into finance, Tesco's Clubcard gives it a competitive edge

　　随着特斯科向金融行业进军，会员卡制度赋予了它竞争优势（不确定）

　　SOME young drivers get tanked up and wrap their cars round lampposts; others drive carefully, and sober.

　　一些年轻的司机给车加满油，把车停在路灯柱旁；其他的却细心驾驶保持清醒。（此处我认为可大胆以为 外行看热闹，内行看门道）。

　　Insurers would love to collect more background information on the personal habits of those buying motor, household and life policies, but do not want to put off potential customers with intrusive² questionnaires.

　　保险公司愿意收集那些购买汽车，家居用品及人寿保险的人们的个人习惯信息，但是却不愿意用有侵扰性的问卷惹他们的潜在客户不高兴。

　　So they end up pooling groups of people by such basic factors as age, occupation and postcode, which means that some low-risk customers are lumped in with risky³ ones and subsidise their cover.

　　所以他们最终选择收集一些人的基本信息，如年龄、职业和邮编，着意味着高风险顾客和低风险顾客聚集在一起，这样可以弥补他们的损失。

　　If only insurers could stealthily gather a few titbits about their potential policyholders' consumption habits.

　　如果保险公司能够暗地里得到他们潜在的投保人的一些消费习惯就好了。

　　Such hints might help them more accurately⁵ target those customers least likely to make claims, and attract them with better rates.

　　这些暗示信息可能帮助他们更加准确的找到最不可能索赔的顾客，用更加实惠的保险费率吸引他们。

　　As it happens, Tesco routinely collects such information from holders⁴ of its Clubcard loyalty card.

　　恰巧，特斯科按照惯例会收集其会员购物卡主的这些信息。

　　As it bulks up in financial services, that may give Britain's largest supermarket chain an edge over traditional insurers.

　　随着他们金融服务业务的膨胀，这给了英国最大的超市连锁店超越传统保险公司的优势。

　　To give an obvious example, it would be worth offering pet insurance to someone who has started buying kitty-litter.

　　举个明显的例子，向一个开始购买猫咪使用的褥草的人提供宠物保险再合适不过了。

　　Buying lots of booze does not make you a drunk-driver, but someone who buys little or none seems less likely to be one.

　　买很多就不能说明你会是个醉驾者，但是不买或是很少买酒的人成为醉驾者的可能性就小多了。

　　Buyers of window locks are likely to be more security-conscious, and so on.

　　购买窗锁的人们可能更加关注安全，等等。

　　Tesco declined to discuss how it uses Clubcard data for this article.

　　特斯科拒绝谈论他们是怎样利用会员信息的。

　　But a group of students at the London School of Economics carried out a class project in which they made several applications for Tesco car insurance.

　　但是一群来自伦敦经济学院的学生实施了一个计划，他们想特斯科提交了几份汽车险申请。

　　When they gave the number of an unused Clubcard it earned a 1% discount. When they gave the same personal details but quoted the numbers of heavily used Clubcards, the discounts varied⁶ greatly, reaching 18%.

　　他们提供没有使用过的会员卡号时，只得到了1%的优惠，但是当他们提供了相同的个人信息，但提供了使用很频繁的会员卡号时，折扣变动很大，甚至达到18%.

　　To paraphrase⁷ Tesco's slogan, it seems that every little scrap⁸ of information helps.

　　或许可以这样解释特斯科公司的标语，似乎点点滴滴的小信息都有大用处。

1 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

2 intrusive   

adj.打搅的；侵扰的

参考例句：

• The cameras were not an intrusive presence.那些摄像机的存在并不令人反感。
• Staffs are courteous but never intrusive.员工谦恭有礼却从不让人感到唐突。

3 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

4 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。

5 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

6 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

7 paraphrase   

vt.将…释义，改写；n.释义，意义

参考例句：

• You may read the prose paraphrase of this poem.你可以看一下这首诗的散文释义。
• Paraphrase the following sentences or parts of sentences using your own words.用你自己的话解释下面的句子或句子的一部分。

8 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。