 China's bike-sharing frenzy is collapsing 中国的共享单车热潮正在崩塌 frenzy：n.狂怒; 狂乱，狂暴; 极度的激动; collapsing：倒塌，晕倒 Chinese bike-sharing services have gotten billions of dollars in venture funding in the past 18 months. 在过去的18个月里, 中国的自行车共享服务获得了数十亿美元的风险投资。 venture funding： 风险投资 Recent struggles suggest that perhaps the service over expanded, and they highlight the issues that face other bike-sharing companies worldwide. 最近的挣扎表明, 也许这个服务过度开发了, 它们突现了世界各地的自行车共享公司所面临的问题。 over expanded： 扩展过度 Bike-sharing companies – with their capital-intensive, cash-burning, ride-subsidizing business model – were among the hottest startups in China. They’ve attracted $2 billion in venture funding over the 18 months of the frenzy. They now count over 40 platforms, though the industry is dominated by huge piles of mutilated, stolen, and abandoned bicycles and by two unicorns (valued over $1 billion), Mobike and Ofo, that kicked off the frenzy and carve up 95% of the market. 自行车共享公司有其高资本、耗现金、乘骑补贴的商业模式，是中国最炙手可热的初创企业之一。在18月的热潮中, 它们吸引了20亿美元的风险投资资金。尽管主导这个行业的是大量的肢解，偷盗和废弃的自行车，以及Mobike 和 Ofo，这两个开启了这个狂热并瓜分95%的市场的独角兽(编注：风险投资行话， 指价值超过10亿美元的公司)，现在提供共享单车的平台已逾40多个。 capital-intensive：资金密集型的; cash-burning：烧钱的 subsidize：补贴 dominate： 统治，控制，主导 mutilated：严重残害…的身体，使残缺不全，肢解 abandoned：遗弃的 unicorns：独角兽 carve up： 瓜分 But this is how quickly a frenzy can deflate. 但这一个狂潮这么快就撒了气。 On Thursday, Chinese media reported that Mingbike, with operations in major cities, had laid off 99% of its staff, after consumers had complained that they’d been unable to get their deposits of 199 yuan (about $30) back. Some of the laid-off employees “posted complaints on social media saying their salary had been withheld for several months,” according to the South China Morning Post。 星期四, 中国媒体报道说, 在主要城市运营的小鸣单车已经解雇了99% 的员工, 此前消费者抱怨说, 他们无法拿回他们已付的199元 (约合30美元)押金。据《南华早报》报道, 一些下岗员工 "向社交媒体抱怨说,他们的工资已经被扣了几个月了”。 lay off：解雇 deposit： 押金 In response to the latest closure and growing risk of deposit refunds, Chinese authorities have stepped in, with Ministry of Transport spokesman Wu Chungeng saying on Thursday that local governments would play a major role in ensuring protection of consumer rights. He added that regulations for the industry were being drawn up by authorities. 为了应对最新的倒闭和不断增加的押金退款风险, 中国当局已经介入, 交通部发言人吴春耕在星期四说, 地方政府将在保障消费者权益方面发挥重要作用。他补充说, 当局正在制定有关行业的规定。 stepped in：介入 ensure： 确保 draw up：起草 But Mingbike’s collapse was just the latest. Earlier this month, Bluegogo, the third largest bike-share outfit, collapsed. It had claimed 20 million registered users at its peak and operated 600,000 bikes. It has raised $90 million from VCs, including aptly named Black Hole Capital, based in Beijing, which led the last funding round, $58 million, in February this year. It only took eight months to burn through this money. 但小鸣单车的崩盘却是最近的事。本月早些时候, 第三大自行车共享公司小蓝单车垮了。在其顶峰期间，该公司有2000万注册用户, 并经营60万辆自行车。该公司从风投中筹集了9000万美元, 风投公司里包括名字恰当的北京 “黑洞资本”。 “黑洞资本”在今年2月的最后一次融资轮中领投，这轮筹集了5800万美元，但仅仅八个月，这笔钱就被花光了。 Bluegogo’s users saw their 199 yuan deposits go up in smoke. 小蓝单车的用户眼看着他们的199元押金打了水漂。 claim： 声称，认领 aptly： 恰当的 The rapid proliferation of dockless bicycle rentals has caused headaches for city authorities, not just in China but globally, as users park them indiscriminately, blocking the way for pedestrians and traffic. Bicycles have been found dumped in rivers, abandoned on open land, and hanging in trees, to name a few examples. 无固定泊位的自行车租赁的迅速扩散, 不仅在中国, 而且在全球范围内, 给城市当局带来了麻烦, 因为用户无处不停, 阻碍了行人和交通。举几个例，自行车被发现扔在河里, 被遗弃在大空场上, 挂在树上。 proliferation：扩散 dock(less): 码头，泊位 （无） indiscriminately： 肆意的 pedestrians： 行人 abandon：遗弃 In June, the first bike-share outfit toppled: Wukong Bike – though it had been founded only six months earlier. It took user deposits and VC funds with it, citing a “strategic company restructuring.” The company operated 1,200 bikes in the southwestern city of Chongqing. The business model: Initially, Wukong was charging users a tiny fee, but later all rides were free. Most of the bikes disappeared because they didn’t have a GPS tracking device. 在 6月, 第一家共享自行车公司翻了: 悟空自行车-尽管它仅仅在6个月前才建立。说是要进行“战略性重组”，它倒台时也带走了用户押金和风险投资资本。该公司在西南城市重庆经营1200辆自行车。其商业模式: 最初, 悟空向用户收取了少量费用, 但后来所有的骑行都是免费的。大多数的自行车消失了, 因为这些车没有GPS跟踪装置。 toppled：倾倒; 摇摇欲坠; 倾斜得好倾斜得好像要跌倒一样; tiny：极小的 By the time the company decided the devices were necessary, it had run out of money and failed to raise more. 当该公司决定GPS设备是必要的时候, 它已经用光了钱, 并没能再筹到钱。 raise：筹钱 A further problem emerged, apparently, when users found out that Chongqing is hilly, and that cycling up these hills is hard. 另一个问题显然出现了，那就是用户发现重庆的丘陵地势对骑车上山非常困难。 The two largest bike-share companies, Mobike and Ofo, follow a similar strategy of very low fees, “ride for free” periods, and other inducements, in this capital-intensive industry where real revenues are hard to come by. But they have the cash for now to burn in large amounts. According to Caixin: 两家最大的自行车共享公司,Mobike 和Ofo,遵循一个类似的低收费、“免费骑” 和其他奖励刺激并行的策略,在这个资金密集型投入的行业, 真正的收入是很难得到的。但根据”财经新闻“说，他们现在有大量的现金投进运作。 emerge： 呈现出来 apparent： 明显的 hilly： 丘陵地势的 inducement：奖励，鼓励，刺激 come by:得到 Mobike is backed by at least $1 billion in investments, including from Tencent and Bertelsmann, while Ofo enjoys a comparable capital pool, with investments from Ant Financial Group, Coatue Management, and others. Mobike 得到至少10亿美元的投资支持, 这包括从腾讯和Bertelsmann公司, 而Ofo也享有类似的资金池, 这些投资来自蚂蚁金融集团, Coatue Management及其它公司。 backed by:支持 capital pool： 资金池，资金总库 The first bike-share company already went public in August: Changzhou Youon Public Bicycle System raised 644 million yuan ($96 million). Its shares soared for the first four days and closed at 100.30 yuan on August 31, nearly quadrupling its IPO price of 26.85 yuan. But in less than three months since then, the share price has plunged 44%, to a new post peak low of 56.45 yuan. 第一家共享自行车公司已于8月上市: 常州永安公共自行车系统筹集6亿4400万元人民币 (合9600万美元)。其股价在头四天飙升, 于8月31日收盘100.30 元, 这几乎是其 IPO 价格26.85 元的四倍。但在不到三月的时间里, 股价已经暴跌 44%, 到了峰值后最新低位56.45 元。 soar：升空，高飞 quadruple：翻四倍
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