商业周刊:麦当劳CEO史蒂夫·伊斯特布鲁克使麦当劳陷入冰寒时节(6)

In the burger wars, it's been besieged¹ by cooler competitors with cult² followings, including Shake Shack³, Five Guys, and In-N-Out.

在汉堡大战中，麦当劳被一些更酷的竞争对手围困，其中有狂热的追随者，包括奶昔小屋餐厅（Shake Shack）、五小子汉堡店（Five Guys）和进出汉堡（In-n-Out）。

Earnings⁴ began to stagnate⁵ at McDonald's in 2013 and crashed by almost a fifth, to $4.7 billion, the following year as diners deserted⁶.

2013年，麦当劳的收入开始停滞。第二年，随着食客的减少，收入下降了近五分之一，高达47亿美元。

Four months before stepping down in March 2015, Don Thompson, Easterbrook's predecessor⁸, lamented⁹ that the company had failed to evolve "at the same rate as our customers' eating-out expectations."

在2015年3月卸任前的四个月，伊斯特布鲁克的前任唐·汤普森感叹道，公司未能以“与顾客外出就餐预期的相同速度”发展。

As insurgents¹⁰ claimed an ever-growing share of the market McDonald's had created, the morale¹¹ at the old headquarters in Oak Brook⁷

反对者声称，麦当劳创造的市场份额不断增长，位于伊利诺州橡树溪的原有总部的士气开始低落。

—a tranquil¹² if uninspiring 1970s amalgam¹³ of gray cubicles¹⁴ set in a parkland in Illinois—began to sap.

它坐落在公园里，是一个建于20世纪70年代的安静、缺乏活力的灰色小隔间。

The company's strategic quagmire¹⁵ took on a superstitious¹⁶ quality when the estate itself became a hive of bad omens¹⁷, with parts of the office complex flooding on an annual basis.

公司的战略困境呈现出一种迷信的性质，因为房地产本身就成了一个不祥之兆的蜂巢，部分办公楼每年都会被洪水淹没。

Easterbrook became global chief brand officer in 2013.

2013年，伊斯特布鲁克成为全球首席品牌官。

The following year, he traveled to Cupertino, Calif., to sit down with Tim Cook, Apple Inc.'s CEO, to discuss being a launch partner for the Apple Pay mobile payment system.

第二年，他前往加州库比蒂诺，与苹果公司首席执行官蒂姆·库克坐下来讨论成为苹果付费移动支付系统的发布合作伙伴。

The card readers McDonald's used lacked the necessary technology, so Easterbrook had a digital add-on installed on every machine at its 14,000 locations in the U.S.

麦当劳使用的读卡器缺乏必要的技术，因此，伊斯特布鲁克在其美国14000家分店的每台机器上都安装了一个数字插件。

Easterbrook first joined McDonald's in the finance department in London in 1993, and spent the majority of his career there.

伊斯特布鲁克是在1993年时，第一次加入麦当劳在伦敦的财务部门，并在那里度过了职业生涯的大部分时间。

After graduating with a natural sciences degree from Durham University,

他从达勒姆大学获得自然科学学位，

where he played competitive cricket alongside the future England captain, he worked as an accountant for the partnership¹⁸ that would become PwC.

在校期间，与未来的英格兰板球队队长一起比赛。毕业后，他在即将成为普华永道会计师事务所的合伙企业担任会计。

1 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

2 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

3 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

4 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

5 stagnate   

v.停止

参考例句：

• Where the masses are not roused,work will stagnate.哪里不发动群众，哪里的工作就死气沉沉。
• Taiwan's economy is likely to stagnate for a long time to come.台湾经济很可能会停滞很长一段时间。

6 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

7 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

8 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

9 lamented   

adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫
• We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

11 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

12 tranquil   

adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的

参考例句：

• The boy disturbed the tranquil surface of the pond with a stick. 那男孩用棍子打破了平静的池面。
• The tranquil beauty of the village scenery is unique. 这乡村景色的宁静是绝无仅有的。

13 amalgam   

n.混合物；汞合金

参考例句：

• To counter this myth,we explained that we're really an amalgam of little guys.为了打破这个神话，我们解释说，我们确实是由一群小小的老百姓所组成的混合体。
• American literature is to our eyes a curious amalgam of familiar and strange.我们认为，美国文学把我们所熟悉的和陌生的东西奇妙地结合起来了。

14 cubicles   

n.小卧室，斗室( cubicle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Security guards, operating inside bullet-proof glass cubicles, and speaking through microphones, scrutinized every arrival and departure. 警卫们在装有防弹玻璃的小室里值勤，通过麦克风细致盘问每一个进出的人。 来自辞典例句
• I guess they thought me content to stay in cubicles. 我猜他们认为我愿意呆在小房间里。 来自互联网

15 quagmire   

n.沼地

参考例句：

• On their way was a quagmire which was difficult to get over.路上他俩遇到了—个泥坑,很难过得去。
• Rain had turned the grass into a quagmire.大雨使草地变得一片泥泞。

16 superstitious   

adj.迷信的

参考例句：

• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。
• These superstitious practices should be abolished as soon as possible.这些迷信做法应尽早取消。

17 omens   

n.前兆，预兆( omen的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The omens for the game are still not propitious. 这场比赛仍不被看好。 来自辞典例句
• Such omens betide no good. 这种征兆预示情况不妙。 来自辞典例句

18 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。