时代周刊 亚马逊进军医疗保健行业（1）

Amazon (and friends) takes on a new industry: health care

亚马逊（及其朋友）探索新领域：医疗保健

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A company defined by utterly¹ ruthless efficiency sets its sights on the flabbiest part of the U.S. economy?

当一家以绝对无情的效率著称的公司将目光瞄准了美国经济最脆弱的环节会怎样？

We shall see, now that Amazon has announced that it—

这一问题的答案很快就会揭晓了，因为亚马逊已经宣布，公司将

along with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and the banking² behemoth JPMorgan Chase

携手沃伦·巴菲特的伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司和银行巨头摩根大通银行

will be entering the dominion³ of health care.

进军医疗保健行业。

“The three of our companies have extraordinary resources,

“我们三家公司拥有非凡的资源，

and our goal is to create solutions that benefit our U.S. employees, their families and, potentially, all Americans,”

我们的目标是开发有利于我国员工及其家庭，也有可能是所有美国人的项目，”

said JPMorgan chairman Jamie Dimon on Jan. 30,

摩根大通董事长杰米·戴蒙1月30日表示，

treading lightly (“potentially”) on the enormous implications (“all Americans”) that were apparent.

这句话明显有着重大含义（即“所有美国人”）但他只做了蜻蜓点水般的阐释（用了“也有可能”一词）。

As it takes shape, the as-yet-unnamed joint⁴ enterprise will nominally⁵ serve, without seeking profit,

随着这家尚未透露姓名的合资企业逐渐成型，在不考虑利润的前提下，其在名义上服务的，

only the 1.2 million people who work for the three companies.

不过是在这三家公司工作的120万员工

But the clear and worthy⁶ goal is to confront the Gorgon⁷ that has stymied⁸ politicians for decades.

但其明确而值得肯定的目标是对抗几十年来一直困扰着政治家们的高更集团

The triumvirate combines the savvy⁹ integrity of the Oracle¹⁰ of Omaha, as America’s most admired investor¹¹ is known

三巨头汇聚了“奥马哈先知”，也即美国最受尊崇的投资者的沃伦·巴菲特的长于信誉，

the leadership status and financial muscle of the country’s largest bank and, crucially, Amazon.

摩根大通作为美国最大银行的领导地位和财政实力以及最为关键的亚马逊。

The retail¹² and tech giant has flourished by innovating¹³ relentlessly¹⁴ and expanding omnivorously¹⁵.

通过不断创新和全面扩张，这个零售和科技巨头得到了蓬勃发展。

Word that Amazon was entering health care immediately depressed¹⁶ the value of old-school health-insurance companies.

亚马逊准备进军医疗保健领域的消息一出，老派医疗保险公司的估值立马下跌。

Anyone who has been a customer of either knows why.

任何一位购买过其中一家的产品的人都知道这其中的原因。

The U.S. health care system is the antithesis¹⁷ of Silicon¹⁸ Valley.

美国的医疗体系可以说是硅谷所代表的科技企业的对立面。

Grossly inefficient¹⁹ and userunfriendly, it may be the least transparent²⁰ enterprise outside the Kremlin—and just as awash in money.

效率极低，对用户也不够友好的医疗体系可能是克里姆林宫以外最不透明的企业——同时也是一个浸泡在金钱海洋里的行业

The $3.3 trillion that Americans spent on health care in 2016 was close to Germany’s entire GDP that year.

2016年美国人在医疗保健上的投入高达3.3万亿美元，接近德国当年的全部国内生产总值。

It accounted for an astounding²¹ 18% of the U.S. gross domestic product—

在美国的国内生产总值中也占到了18％的比例，简直令人咂舌。

twice the share other developed countries typically spend on health—

其他发达国家通常用于医疗保健的比例的两倍——

and produced a return on investment that would get any CEO fired.

其投资回报率低到可以让任何一位CEO被轰下台。

Life expectancy²² in the U.S. is actually going down.

实际上，美国的预期寿命也在下降。

1 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

2 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

3 dominion   

n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图

参考例句：

• Alexander held dominion over a vast area.亚历山大曾统治过辽阔的地域。
• In the affluent society,the authorities are hardly forced to justify their dominion.在富裕社会里，当局几乎无需证明其统治之合理。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 nominally   

在名义上，表面地； 应名儿

参考例句：

• Dad, nominally a Methodist, entered Churches only for weddings and funerals. 爸名义上是卫理公会教徒，可只去教堂参加婚礼和葬礼。
• The company could not indicate a person even nominally responsible for staff training. 该公司甚至不能指出一个名义上负责职员培训的人。

6 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

7 gorgon   

n.丑陋女人，蛇发女怪

参考例句：

• They would not be devoured by this gorgon of the East.他们不愿被这个东部的女妖怪吃掉。
• The Gorgon,Miss Springer,the games mistress came back to gave me a raspberry.那个女妖魔，体育教师斯普林杰小姐，又回来把我教训一通。

8 stymied   

n.被侵袭的v.妨碍，阻挠( stymie的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Relief efforts have been stymied in recent weeks by armed gunmen. 最近几周的救援工作一直受到武装分子的阻挠。 来自辞典例句
• I was completely stymied by her refusal to help. 由于她拒不相助， 我完全陷入了困境。 来自互联网

9 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

10 oracle   

n.神谕，神谕处，预言

参考例句：

• In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候，她祈祷神谕来指引她。
• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。

11 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

12 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

13 innovating   

v.改革，创新( innovate的现在分词 )；引入（新事物、思想或方法），

参考例句：

• In this new century, the company keeps innovating and developing new products. 新世纪伊始，公司全面实施形象工程及整合营销，不断改革创新，开发高新产品。 来自互联网
• Beijing is backward most prime cause is innovating at system lack. 北京落后的最根本原因在于制度缺乏创新。 来自互联网

14 relentlessly   

adv.不屈不挠地；残酷地；不间断

参考例句：

• The African sun beat relentlessly down on his aching head. 非洲的太阳无情地照射在他那发痛的头上。
• He pursued her relentlessly, refusing to take 'no' for an answer. 他锲而不舍地追求她，拒不接受“不”的回答。

15 omnivorously   

adv.随手地

参考例句：

16 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

17 antithesis   

n.对立；相对

参考例句：

• The style of his speech was in complete antithesis to mine.他和我的讲话方式完全相反。
• His creation was an antithesis to academic dogmatism of the time.他的创作与当时学院派的教条相对立。

18 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

19 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。

20 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

21 astounding   

adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词)

参考例句：

• There was an astounding 20% increase in sales. 销售量惊人地增加了20%。
• The Chairman's remarks were so astounding that the audience listened to him with bated breath. 主席说的话令人吃惊，所以听众都屏息听他说。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。