这是 一直夫妇 的第 488 篇文章
01 视频讲解
今天我们换个形式——视频+文字,同步讲解。因为视频讲得比较详细,所以这次的文字部分我主要把一些要点提炼了出来,大家可以在此基础上,通过看视频丰富自己的笔记。
02 语法 & 词汇
“Rock and roller cola wars, I can’t take it any more!” cried Billy Joel in his chart-topping song from 1989, “We didn’t start the fire”. He had had enough of the intense marketing battle between America’s fizzy-drinks behemoths. As the underdog, PepsiCo had stunned its bigger rival, Coca-Cola, by signing Michael Jackson, the era’s biggest musical star, to promote its brand in a record-setting $5m deal.
语法分析
As the underdog, PepsiCo had stunned its bigger rival, Coca-Cola, by signing Michael Jackson, the era’s biggest musical star, to promote its brand in a record-setting $5m deal.
拆主干:PepsiCo had stunned its bigger rival.
the era’s biggest musical star 为 Michael Jackson 的同位语。
结尾的不定式为目的状语,说明签约 MJ 的目的是为了宣传百事。
chart-topping song : 排行榜冠军歌曲,我们在《鬼灭之刃 》那篇提到过一个类似的动词短语,top the chart
start the fire : 字面意思是防火,引申为「开战」
intense marketing : 激烈的竞争
fizzy-drinks : 碳酸饮料
behemoths : 巨头
underdog : 处于下风的人
The cola wars became a cultural phenomenon. Credit for that goes to Donald Kendall, PepsiCo’s legendary former boss, who died on September 19th aged 99. A gifted salesman, he rose quickly through the ranks from his start on the bottling line to become the firm’s top sales and marketing executive at the tender age of 35. Seven years later he was named CEO. In 1974 he injected a dose of fizzy capitalism into the Soviet Union, which allowed Pepsi to become the first Western product to be legally sold behind the iron curtain. By the time he stepped down as boss in 1986, PepsiCo’s sales had shot up nearly 40-fold, to $7.6bn. His legacy continues to shape the industry.
Credit for that goes to... : 这个句型大家可以记下来,表示「某件事归功于某人」
bottling line : 瓶装水生产线
at the tender age of 35 : tend age 指的是「年幼时期,未成熟时期」。但是 35 已经不年幼了,所以这个表达在这里的意思是「年仅 35 岁」
inject : 注入
iron curtain : 详见视频
step down : 卸任
shoot up:暴增
40-fold : 40 倍,两倍:two-fold
Mr Kendall offered a mix of strategic vision, principled leadership and marketing flair. Two years after taking charge he acquired Frito-Lay, a leading purveyor of snacks, giving PepsiCo an advantage from diversification that persists to this day. PepsiCo’s revenues last year of $67bn dwarfed Coca-Cola’s $37bn in sales. Decades before Black Lives Matter he named African-Americans to top jobs, making PepsiCo the first big American firm to do so—staring down racists including the Ku Klux Klan, which organised a boycott.
语法分析
Decades before Black Lives Matter he named African-Americans to top jobs, making PepsiCo the first big American firm to do so—staring down racists including the Ku Klux Klan, which organised a boycott.
拆主干:He named African-Americans to top jobs.
后面的 making 部分和 staring down 部分都是现在分词短语作状语,结尾的 which 引导了一个非限制性定语从句,修饰前面的 Ku Klux Klan。所以都不是句子的主干成分。
a mix of... :集……于一身,综合具备……
flair :天分,才能。和 gift,talent 类似,和 for 搭配
Jo has a flair for languages.
乔有语言天赋。
purveyor :供应商
dwarf :使某人相形见绌
stare down :蔑视
But his masterstroke was the all-out marketing blitz against Coca-Cola , long the global market leader in non-alcoholic beverages. The two firms had competed for decades, but they mostly fought low-grade battles. Mr Kendall changed that, by forcing both companies into an advertising arms race. In 1975 Coca-Cola spent around $25m on advertising and PepsiCo some $18m. By 1985 those figures had shot up to $72m and $57m, respectively. In 1995 Pepsi outspent Coke by $112m to $82m.
masterstroke :绝招;高招
all-out :全力以赴的,竭尽全力的:
We're going all out to win.
我们竭尽全力争取胜利。
marketing blitz :大型营销活动
The campaign was launched with a nationwide publicity blitz.
这是一场遍及全国的大规模的广告宣传活动。
low-grade :意思是 of low quality「质量差的;劣质的」
respectively :分别
outspend :开支超过某人
This was a risky gambit for both cola rivals. But it paid off in two ways. First, it helped fizzy drinks win a greater “share of throat” (a term coined by Roberto Goizueta, a former boss of Coca-Cola, who died in 1997). They went from 12.4% of American beverage consumption in 1970 to 22.4% in 1985. And though Coca-Cola maintained its lead in that period, with over a third of the market, PepsiCo’s share shot up from 20% to a peak of over 30% in the 1990s. Last year carbonated-drinks sales totalled $77bn in America, and over $312bn globally. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo remain dominant.
gambit :策略,去年大火的《女王的棋局》,又名《后翼弃兵》,其英文名是 The Queen's Gambit。
pay off :取得成功; 奏效:
Teamwork paid off.
团队合作获得了成功。
share of throat :饮料行业术语,字面意思是「喉咙份额」,指的是一家公司在全球饮料市场中的占有率
maintain its lead :独占鳌头
dominant :地位等无法撼动的
2021 外刊精读训练营
2021 外刊精读训练营
上课时间:4 月 9 日(下周五)
上课形式:7 节视频课+文字讲义
点击下方图片可看训练营的介绍文章: 我做出了一个艰难的决定
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