纪录片《美国商业大亨传奇》 掌控全局(17)

Oftentimes I'm asked do you have to be ruthless to be very successful?

经常有人问我是否一定要冷酷无情才能获得成功

And I say, you do not have to be ruthless, you have to be smart.

我说并不一定 但一定要聪明

Smart is the key word.

聪明才是关键字

You have to be smart.

你必须有聪明的头脑

Rockefeller hires a team of scientists to try to find a use for the toxic¹ substance.

洛克菲勒雇了一个科学家团队 尝试找到这种有毒物质的用途

First they create small products....like synthetic² beeswax and petroleum³ jelly.

首先 他们得到了一些小产品 例如合成蜂蜡和凡士林

But Rockefeller becomes convinced gasoline has a bigger potential.

洛克菲勒坚信汽油还有更大的潜能

The quest to create a more powerful motor leads to the development of the internal combustion⁴ engine.

为了创造出更强的马达 人们发明了内燃机

The exact properties that make gasoline so dangerous, also make it the perfect fuel to power this engine.

让汽油非常危险的那些性质 现在却让它成为了内燃机的绝好燃料

You're always looking for the next innovation.

你总需要寻找下一个创新点

The next niche⁵. The next product improvement. The next service improvement.

下一个有利可图的市场 下一个产品改进 下一个服务改进

You're always trying to get better.

你需要一直努力去变得更好

The timing⁶ is perfect for Rockefeller.

时机对于洛克菲勒而言再好不过了

Already in possession of the world's largest supply of gasoline, he starts using gasoline powered engines to run machines in his refineries⁷.

作为世界上最大的汽油供应商 他开始使用汽油为炼油厂的机器提供动力

The efficiency and power of the engine quickly make it the standard in factories across the country.

效率和动力的优势很快让这种引擎成为了全国工厂的标配

But when the engine is put on wheels......creating what's being called "the horseless carriage".....Rockefeller realizes that gasoline could be even bigger than kerosene⁸.

之后这种引擎又被连到轮子上 创造出了所谓的"无马四轮车" 洛克菲勒认识到汽油比煤油具有更广阔的前景

1 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

2 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

3 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

4 combustion   

n.燃烧；氧化；骚动

参考例句：

• We might be tempted to think of combustion.我们也许会联想到氧化。
• The smoke formed by their combustion is negligible.由它燃烧所生成的烟是可忽略的。

5 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

6 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

7 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

8 kerosene   

n.(kerosine)煤油，火油

参考例句：

• It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
• Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电，有煤油灯。