閱讀暖身
15年前杭州的一間破舊的公寓內誕生的阿里巴巴，目前在中國大陸拿下80%以上的客戶市占率。今年九月中旬在紐約掛牌上市，市值狂飆超過二千億美元，打破證交所多項記錄，創辦人馬雲從一則中國傳奇變成了世界傳奇Jack Ma。 進入本文前，請先想想如何表達以下說法：
a) 遠見卓識者
b) 永續價值
c) 勤勉的
Decades ago, in the city of Hangzhou, a small Chinese boy wanted to learn English so badly that he rode his bike for 45 minutes every day in order to go to a hotel to talk to foreigners. He would show them around the city for free so that he could practice his English. Now, this boy has turned into—arguably—the most successful businessman in China. His name is Ma Yun, also known as Jack Ma.
數十年前在中國杭州市，一個小男孩非常熱衷於學習英語，他每天騎45分鐘單車前往某間飯店，只為了能和外國人說英語。他免費帶他們遊市區，以獲得練習說英語的機會。如今這個小男孩已成為中國最成功的企業家。 他是馬雲，西方人稱他為Jack Ma。
Hailed as a great a) visionary, Ma constantly reminds his colleagues of Alibaba Group’s priorities: Customers come first, then employees, then shareholders. He firmly believes that the only way to create long-term value for shareholders is to create b) sustainable value for customers. So, customers must come first. Next come his employees, because customers cannot be satisfied without happy, c) diligent and passionately committed employees.
被譽為一位偉大的夢想家，馬雲不斷提醒同事們阿里巴巴集團的經營理念：客戶第一，員工第二，股東第三。他堅信為股東創造長期價值的唯一方式，是為客戶創造永續價值。因此之故，客戶應該最受重視。接下來是員工，因為如無快樂、勤奮、全心奉獻的員工，就不會有心滿意足的客戶。
Jack Ma also 1) puts a premium on corporate social responsibility. In January 2009, in response to criticism of the practice of killing sharks for their fins, Alibaba Group decided to ban the sale of shark fin products on its e-commerce websites. In May 2010, Ma declared his company would begin to earmark 0.3 percent of annual revenue to environmental protection.
馬雲也對社會企業責任高度重視。2009年1月，由於屠殺鯊魚來取得魚翅的做法飽受抨擊，阿里巴巴集團決定禁止在該公司電子商務網站販售魚翅。2010年5月，馬雲宣佈，該公司每年將捐贈0.3%營收給環境保護。
In a speech made in 2011, Ma 2) shed some light on the secret of Alibaba’s success. “We never think about making money. Rather, we think about how we can create value for society, for the people, and for the customers. Because we don’t think about making money, we make a lot of money.” Indeed, following the company’s IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014, Alibaba is now valued at $228.5 billion--making it significantly larger than Facebook.
在2011年所作的一場演講中，馬雲多少透露了阿里巴巴成功的秘訣。「我們從未想要賺錢。我們只思考如何為社會、大眾、客戶創造價值……就因為沒有想要賺錢，我們賺了很多錢。」的確，2014年9月在紐約證券市場掛牌交易後，阿里巴巴現今市值2,285億美元，將臉書市值遠遠拋在後面。
口語詞彙:
1 put a premium on高度重視，高度評價
Premium這個字不太好解釋，出自拉丁文，英文借用過來，可解作「保險費」、「（為取得某些東西而付的）額外費用」或「獎賞」。例句:
- My insurance premiums add up to $10000 a year. 我一年保險費用總共是一萬元。
- You have to pay a premium for the use of a well located shop. 你要一個位置好的店面，就得多花點錢。Premium也可以當形容詞，意思是「優質的」，像premium service就是中文的「加值服務」。premium wine是好酒。Put a premium on或是place a premium on延伸意思為「高度重視」。
2 shed (some) light on闡明某事
- The presentation you have made is brilliant, but the manager has suggested that you do more research to shed some light on your hypothesis. 你所做的報告極為精采，不過經理建議你做進一步的研究，以闡明你的假設。
