乔布斯传 第350期:苹果坠落(3)

 　　By 1996 Apple's share of the market had fallen to 4% from a high of 16% in the late 1980s. 到1996年，苹果的市场份额已经从80年代末的高达16%下降到4%。

　　Michael Spindler, the German-born chief of Apple's European operations who had replaced Sculley as CEO in 1993, 1993年取代斯卡利担任苹果CEO的迈克尔·斯平德勒，

　　tried to sell the company to Sun, IBM, and Hewlett-Packard. 试图把公司卖给太阳微系统、IBM和惠普。

　　That failed, and he was ousted¹ in February 1996 and replaced by Gil Amelio, a research engineer who was CEO of National Semiconductor². 失败后，斯平德勒在1996年2月被吉尔·阿梅里奥取代，吉尔是一位研发工程师，曾任国家半导体公司的CEO。

　　During his first year the company lost $1 billion, 在他任期的第一年，苹果公司亏损了10亿美元，

　　and the stock price, which had been $70 in 1991, fell to $14, even as the tech bubble was pushing other stocks into the stratosphere. 股票价格从1991年时的70美元暴跌到14美元，而当时，高科技泡沫正把其他股票的价格推向史无前例的高点。

　　Amelio was not a fan of Jobs. Their first meeting had been in 1994, just after Amelio was elected to the Apple board. 阿梅里奥并不是乔布斯的粉丝。他们第一次见面是在1994年，当时阿梅里奥刚刚被选入苹果的董事会。

　　Jobs had called him and announced, "I want to come over and see you." 乔布斯给他打电话说，“我想过去见你。”

　　Amelio invited him over to his office at National Semiconductor, 阿梅里奥于是邀请他到国家半导体公司的办公室，

　　and he later recalled watching through the glass wall of his office as Jobs arrived. 后来阿梅里奥回忆了当时透过办公室的玻璃墙看着乔布斯到来的情景。

　　He looked "rather like a boxer³, aggressive and elusively⁴ graceful⁵, or like an elegant jungle cat ready to spring at its prey⁶." 他看起来“像个拳击手，富有攻击性又带着难以捉摸的优雅，或者说像一只高贵的丛林猫，时刻准备扑向猎物”。

　　After a few minutes of pleasantries -- far more than Jobs usually engaged in -- he abruptly⁷ announced the reason for his visit. 他们寒暄了几分钟--这已经远远超过了乔布斯习惯的长度，然后乔布斯突然宣布了他的来意。

1 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

2 semiconductor   

n.半导体

参考例句：

• In the beginning,engineers hoped to use semiconductor lasers.在开始时，工程师们希望能够利用半导体激光器。
• The main agent of the company brand semiconductor sales.本公司主要代理各品牌半导体销售。

3 boxer   

n.制箱者，拳击手

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。

4 elusively   

adv.巧妙逃避地，易忘记地

参考例句：

5 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

6 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

7 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。