評論
打印
投資顧問Jerry跟客戶Frank見面，向他推銷一種投資想法。
Jerry: I believe the iron is hot right now in the field of energy and transportation. Everyone is looking for new ways to reduce energy consumption.
F: Yeah, you're right. I bought a hybrid car last month...saves me as much as 50% in gasoline use!
J: Hybrids are the hottest thing on the market these days, and I think they fill a niche right now, but I'm betting that the future belongs to fully electric-powered vehicles.
Jerry 覺得，能源和交通是投資的正確方向，一定要趁熱打鐵。Frank表示贊成，說自己上個月剛買了一輛汽電混合動力車hybrid，耗油量少了一半。Jerry承認，汽電混合動力車現在很流行，有自己的市場定位niche, niche is spelled n-i-c-h-e，但他覺得，汽車今后還是要向純電動的方向發展。
F: That might be true. But I manufacture in China. Millions of people there don't even have a gas-powered car yet.
J: Yes...but don't you see? This is a golden opportunity! Millions of middle class Chinese could potentially leapfrog over the old technologies and embrace electric vehicles.
F: It's an interesting idea. I know the government is supporting electric vehicles since many cities have serious air pollution.
Frank的工廠在中國，而中國很多人連汽油動力車都沒有，哪談得上什么純電力車呢？Jerry卻覺得，這是絕好的機會。This is a golden opportunity. 因為中國數以百萬計的中產階級都可以跨越陳舊的技術，直接利用新技術，這里所說的leapfrog蛙跳，是躍過，跨過的意思。Frank覺得，這種想法有道理，因為中國政府為了治理空氣污染，非常支持電動汽車的發展。
J: Just imagine! You could make a lot of money AND help make China a better place for people to live.
F: So you want me to invest in producing electric cars?
J: I think the real area of interest here is batteries. Battery technology needs to catch up. We already have a lot of companies that can make the cars, but batteries are far too expensive.
開發電力汽車，這種既能賺錢，又能改善中國生活環境的事何樂而不為呢？Jerry補充說，他其實不是建議Frank投資電力汽車，The real area of interest is batteries，真有干頭的是電池這一塊，因為battery technology needs to catch up，電池技術還需要改進。Frank會被Jerry說服，投資電力汽車電池技術的開發嗎？我們下次繼續聽。
