Topic 1 Amazon’s Empire
1. The former bookseller accounts for more than half of every new dollar spent online in U.S.
在美国互联网消费每一美元，亚马逊就占了超过一半。
2. Since the beginning of 2015, its share price has jumped by 173%, seven times quicker than in the two previous years.(and 12 times faster than the S&P 500 Index)
自从2015年初，亚马逊的股价升了173％，是前两年的七倍。（比标准普尔500指数快了12倍）
3. With a market capitalization of some 400bn, it is the fifth most valuable firm in the world.
亚马逊的市值约4000亿美元，是全球市值第五的公司。
4. Never before has a company been worth so much for so long while making so little money: 92% of its value is due to profits expected after 2020.
从来没有一家公司能够在那么长时间内赚着很少的钱却保持这么高的市值：其92%的市值来源于2020年后的盈利估值。
5. Walmart already has revenues nudging 500bn and is beefing up online.
沃尔玛已经有接近5000亿美元的收入并且积极发展在线业务。
6. Last year cash-flow (before investment) was $16bn, more than quadruple the level five years ago.
上一年投资前的现金流是160亿美元，比五年前的四倍还多。
7. If it makes as much money as investors hope, a rough calculation suggests its earnings could be worth the equivalent of 25% of the combined profits of listed Western retail and media firms.
如果亚马逊真的像投资者所期待的赚到那么多钱，有一个粗略的计算显示出，它的收入将会是相当于西方所有上市公司和媒体公司加起来的利润的25%。
8. Ground for skepticism does not come much more fertile than this: Amazon will have to grow faster than almost any big company in modern history to justify its valuation.
这是对亚马逊的怀疑的最有力的证据：亚马逊需要比现在历史上任何一家公司都增长得快，才能证明对它的估值是合理的。
9. In an era when executives routinely whinge about pressure to produce short-term results, Amazon is resolutely focused on the distant horizon.
当下，很多高管都在抱怨机遇短期目标所带来的压力，而亚马逊则坚定不移的关注着它的长期目标。
10. Mr. Bezos emphasizes continual investment to propel its two principal businesses.
Bezos强调持续的资金来推动亚马逊两个主要业务发展的重要性。
11. A third virtuous circle is starting to whirl around Alexa, the firm’s voice-activated assistant:
第三个良性循环是关于该公司的语音助手-Alexa。
12. So long as shareholders retain their faith in this model, Amazon’s heady valuation resembles a self-fulfilling prophecy.
只要股东对这一模式保持信念，亚马逊这一令人激动的估值就像是一个自我满足的预言。
