每日英語跟讀 Ep.782: To Woo Amazon, Nothing's Too Weird
Business leaders in Tucson, Arizona, have tried to mail Amazon’s chief executive, Jeff Bezos, a 21-foot cactus. The largest conference room in the Tulsa, Oklahoma, mayor’s office has been converted to a war room, with 50 volunteers poring over videos of Bezos.
In Philadelphia, hundreds of Wharton Business School students have a new fall semester assignment: Pitch the city to Amazon. And the mayor of Ottawa, Ontario, flew to Seattle last week to walk as close to Amazon’s headquarters as is publicly accessible.
亞歷桑納州土桑市的商界領袖試圖郵寄一株21呎高的仙人掌給亞馬遜執行長傑夫．貝佐斯。奧克拉荷馬州土爾沙市市長辦公室最大的一間會議室已改為戰情室，50名志工正在鑽研貝佐斯的各項影片。
在費城，賓州大學華頓商學院的數百名學生有一個新的秋季班作業：向亞馬遜推銷費城。加拿大安大略省渥太華市市長上周則飛往西雅圖，在對大眾開放的區域內，走到最靠近亞馬遜總部的地方。
“It’s like ‘The Amazing Race,'” said Jim Watson, the mayor of Ottawa. “You’ve got this cast of characters running toward the Holy Grail.”
Amazon, on the hunt for a place to build a second headquarters, where it plans to invest $5 billion and create 50,000 jobs, has begun an enormous competition among cities across North America. With a loose set of requirements such as proximity to an airport and walkability, the e-commerce behemoth has set officials on a journey to sell their towns, with the aim of getting in on what some are calling one of the largest economic development deals of the century.
渥太華市長吉姆．華森說：「它就像 《驚險大挑戰》。有這麼一堆角色衝向聖杯。」
亞馬遜正在尋找建造第二個總部的地點，計畫投資50億美元，創造5萬個就業機會。這項計畫已在北美各城市之間掀起巨大的競爭。由於開出的一系列條件十分寬鬆，如靠近機場、適宜步行等，亞馬遜這家電子商務巨擘已讓一些官員踏上推銷他們城市的旅程，目的是成為號稱本世紀最大經濟開發交易案的一份子。
That sometimes means going to extreme lengths to draw Bezos’ eye. Is Bezos impressed?
“We’re energized by the response,” said Adam Sedo, an Amazon spokesman. “We invited cities to think big, and we are starting to see their creativity.”
有時這意味得走極端才能吸引貝佐斯的眼光。貝佐斯被我們打動了嗎？
亞馬遜發言人亞當．塞多說：「這種回響很令人鼓舞。我們邀請各城市放膽去設想，而我們已開始看到他們的創意。」
For Jeff Cheney, the mayor of Frisco, Texas, a city of 160,000 about a half-hour drive from Dallas, the courtship includes offering to build his city around Amazon.
“Our city’s only about 60 percent built out, so we’ve got a lot of available land where we can build to suit,” Cheney said. “We play to win. We’re innovators. We’re forward thinkers, and we’re serious.”
對德州佛里斯科市長傑夫．錢尼來說，追求亞馬遜的方法包括提議以亞馬遜為中心建造城市。佛里斯科市距達拉斯約半小時車程，人口16萬。
錢尼說：「我們的城市只開發了約6成，我們還有很多可用的土地，可配合要求建造。既然加入了競爭就非贏不可。 我們是創新者。 我們是前衛的思想家，而且我們是認真的。」
City applications are not due until Oct. 19, but Cheney has already sent a video letter to Amazon. The video opens on him holding an Amazon box and saying, “Amazon, you’re growing your business, and we want to grow with you.” Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, is seen talking about catching the “Frisco Flu,” which the mayor’s office said was a phrase Jones came up with. Cheney also gets a Jamba Juice (Jamba Juice is based in Frisco).
In Canada, the selling point is, well, Canada.
城市申請的截止日期為10月19 日，但錢尼已發送了一封影片信函給亞馬遜。影片一開始是他手拿一個亞馬遜紙箱說道：「亞馬遜，你正在發展你的事業，我們希望和你一起成長。」職業美足聯盟球隊達拉斯牛仔隊東家傑里．瓊斯則將他得了「佛里斯科流感」掛在嘴上，市長辦公室說，這是瓊斯自己想出來的一句台詞 。錢尼則是得到一杯Jamba果汁（Jamba果汁集團總部在佛里斯科）。
在加拿大，唔，賣點就是加拿大。
Source: https://paper.udn.com/udnpaper/POH0067/319070/web/
更多跟讀練習單元，就在http://www.15mins.today/daily-shadowing
用email訂閱就可以收到所有15mins.Today最新節目通知。