BEC中級閲讀材料：成功之道

下面是小編整理的關於成功之道的商務英語閲讀材料，提供給大家複習參考。

When I am interviewed, I am occasionally asked: “What is the secret of business success?”

If I knew the perfect answer, I would have made far fewer mistakes over the years; in truth I suspect there are many ingredients. Nevertheless, as an exercise, I have noted below a number of contributing factors that I think matter more than most.

● Work for yourself. To be self-employed can be lonely, and is likely to be hard work. But ultimately you will gain the rewards for your efforts if you are right – as long as you are lucky. You can certainly earn a handsome living working in a big bank or an accountancy firm, but you will never achieve a spectacular capital gain, or change the world in the way that an entrepreneur can by fulfilling their dream.

● Be in the right place. History shows that growing markets, where entrepreneurs are encouraged, offer greater opportunities than places where there is stagnant demand, high tax and lots of regulation. On that basis, anyone with little to lose who is living in the west should emigrate to the east: it's what I advise anyone under the age of 30 to do. This is a harsh verdict, and inevitably there are thousands of exceptions. But it is undeniable that far more new millionaires and billionaires are being minted in countries such as India and China than in Europe. Growing gross domestic product, expanding populations, low costs and modest tax rates offer a powerful combination that the west simply cannot match.

● Learn how to borrow. An ability to find and use debt is a factor in most stories of great wealth. Even if banks are not extending much credit right now, the cycle will turn and eventually they will reopen for business. I was slow to realise the fundamental importance of using debt. Many entrepreneurs overdo it at the top, and end up losing many of their leveraged assets when prices fall. But somehow they rarely go bankrupt, and very often reappear with new bankers in tow when the cycle turns.

參考譯文：

在我接受採訪時，偶爾會有人問我：“企業成功的祕訣是什麼?”

如果我當初知道正確答案，那麼這麼多年來我會少犯很多錯誤;實際上，我認為成功的要素有許多。不過，我還是嘗試着列出了以下幾個在我看來最重要的影響因素。

● 為自己工作 自己當老闆可能會很孤單，而且可能工作繁重。但只要你走運，而又判斷正確，你最終會為自己的付出獲得回報。在一家大銀行或會計師事務所打工，你肯定能生活得不錯，但你永遠不會獲得豐厚的資本收益，或者像企業家那樣實現夢想，改變世界。

● 佔取地利 歷史經驗表明，相對於需求低迷、税賦沉重、監管嚴格的市場，鼓勵創業的成長型市場會提供更大的.機遇。有鑑於此，所有沒什麼可失去的西方人，都應該移居東 方：對30歲以下的年輕人，我都是這樣建議的。這是個粗略的判斷，必然存在諸多例外。但不可否認，印度和中國等國創造的新科百萬富翁和億萬富翁，要遠遠多 於歐洲。國內生產總值(GDP)不斷增長，人口持續增加，成本低廉，税賦適中，這些因素的強大組合令西方難以望其項背。

● 學習如何借債 獲得並利用債務的能力，是大多數鉅額財富故事中的一個要素。即使目前各銀行發貸不多，但週期會轉向，銀行最終會再次向商業敞開大門。我花了很長時間才認識 到利用債務的根本重要性。許多企業家在信貸高峯期做得太過火，最終在資產價格下跌時失去了大量槓桿資產。但他們很少破產，往往會在週期轉向時，攜手新的銀 行家捲土重來。

　　拓展閲讀：2016年BEC中級閲讀材料之聯合國貿易

全球去年FDI創1.5萬億美元新高，聯合國(UN)初步數據顯示，去年全球外國直接投資(FDI)猛增至創紀錄的1.5萬億美元，超過此前於2000年創下的1.4萬億美元峯值水平。Worldwide foreign direct investment surged to a record $1,500bn last year, surpassing the previous peak of $1,400bn in 2000, according to preliminary UN figures.

聯合國貿易和發展會議(Unctad)在昨日發佈的報告中表示，去年下半年的金融震盪並未衝擊總體外國直接投資流動，不過2008年的前景更加不確定。The UN Conference on Trade and Development said in its report released yesterday that financial turmoil in the second half of last year had not hit overall FDI flows, although the outlook for 2008 was more uncertain.

美元走軟可能鼓勵了流入美國的外國投資，由於企業和其它持有不斷升值貨幣的投資者紛紛搶購廉價美國資產，美國成為外國直接投資的最大接收國，吸引外國直接投資估計達1930億美元。Dollar weakness may have encouraged inward investment to the US, the largest recipient attracting an estimated $193bn (€131bn, ￡98bn) in FDI, as companies and other investors with funds in appreciating currencies snapped up cheap American assets.

2007年富國和窮國吸引的外國直接投資都出現強勁增長，其中三分之二流向工業化國家，剩餘三分之一流向發展中國家和俄羅斯等“轉型”國家。Rich and poor countries alike saw strong growth in FDI in 2007, with two-thirds going to industrialized nations and the rest to developing and “transition” countries such as Russia.

受飛速發展的能源行業推動，去年外國對俄羅斯的投資躍升70%，至近500億美元。Foreign investment in Russia, propelled by its booming energy sector, jumped 70 per cent last year to nearly $50bn.

聯合國貿易和發展會議表示，外國直接投資反映出全球許多地區的強勁經濟表現，以及在企業利潤高企和收購資金充裕的推動下，跨境併購活動活躍。Unctad said the growth in FDI reflected a strong economic performance in many parts of the world and buoyant cross-border mergers and acquisitions activity fuelled by high corporate profits and an abundance of cash for purchases.

然而，在去年夏天的信貸緊縮之後，2007年下半年的併購交易額有所下降。聯合國貿易和發展會議警告，世界經濟各種下行風險可能影響2008年的前景。However, the value of M&As declined in the second half of 2007 following the summer’s credit squeeze. Various downside risks for the world economy could affect prospects for 2008, Unctad warned.

“全球外部失衡持續存在、匯率大幅波動、利率不斷上升和通脹壓力不斷加劇，以及大宗商品價格高企和波動，造成的風險可能對全球外國直接投資流動產生降温影響。”“Continuing global external imbalances, sharp exchange rate fluctuations, rising interest rates and increasing inflationary pressures, as well as high and volatile commodity prices, pose risks that may have a chilling effect on global FDI flows.”

英國緊隨美國之後，以1710億美元的外國直接投資流入，成為去年第二大新增外國投資接收國，法國以1230億美元位居第三。歐盟(EU)是吸引外國直接投資最多的地區，佔2007年全部外國投資額的40%。After the US, the UK was the second biggest host to new foreign investment last year with FDI inflows of $171bn, followed by France at $123bn. The European Union was the largest host region, accounting for 40 per cent of all inflows in 2007.

中國仍然是發展中國家中吸引外國直接投資最多的國家，其金額從2006年的690億美元，略微下滑至670億美元，但香港吸引的投資從430億美元上升至540億美元，增幅逾四分之一。巴西、墨西哥和新加坡並列第三，去年均吸引了約370億美元的外國直接投資。FDI flows to China, still the biggest recipient among developing countries, de-clined slightly from $69bn in 2006 to $67bn, but investment in Hong Kong was up by more than a quarter from $43bn to $54bn. In equal third place, Brazil, Mexico and Singapore all netted about $37bn in FDI last year.