Chinese tech companies plan to steal American cloud giants’ thunder

精读的解析大部分来源于菠萝包，感谢~

WHICH of the world’s tech giants boasts the fastest-growing computing cloud? Many would guess either Amazon or Google, which operate the world’s largest networks of data centres, but the correct answer is Alibaba. In 2016 the cloud-computing business of the Chinese e-commerce behemoth grew by 126%, to $675m. Growth is unlikely to slow soon. Simon Hu, president of Alibaba Cloud, wants it to “match or surpass” Amazon Web Services (AWS) by 2019.

1. steal one’s thunder 抢了某人的风头（或功劳）；抢先讲（或做）

We all know that it's not cool for a bridesmaid to steal the bride's thunder. 我们都知道在婚礼上伴娘不能抢了新娘的风头。

2. boast [bəʊst] v. 有（值得自豪的东西）

3. behemoth [bɪˈhiːmɒθ] 

Behemoth是《圣经》旧约中记载的“巨兽”，在后世用来比喻巨大的事物、庞大的体系、超级大人物、巨头、巨无霸公司等等，和giant的含义大致相同。

同义词：guru（重音在前面），tycoon（重音在后面），magnate（重音在前面）

4. surpass  重音在后面

That is a stretch: AWS is estimated to have generated revenues of about $17bn in 2017. But Alibaba’s cloud (known locally as Aliyun) is one of a thriving group: China’s cloud-computing industry as a whole is growing rapidly. Even more intriguing than its speedy expansion is the fact that China’s cloud is different to that of Western firms in important ways.

5. stretch

原意是 the last part of a track before the end of a race 即“临近终点的一段跑道”，所以“That is a stretch”的意思是阿里巴巴离这个目标还有一段距离，即实现目标还很难。

6. thriving [ˈθraɪvɪŋ] adj.欣欣向荣的，兴旺发达的 = prosperous 

同义词：booming, flourishing

7. intriguing [ɪnˈtriːgɪŋ] adj. （由于奇特、神秘或出人意料而）非常有趣的，有迷惑力的

The technology that China’s cloud-computing providers use is not so dissimilar. Indeed, the fact that Western tech firms have released much of the necessary code as open-source software made it easier for them to get going. “That brought us to the same starting-line,” says Xilun Chen, the chief executive of EasyStack, which builds clouds for many Chinese firms.

8. get going (on sth)= to start doing sth 开始… 

9. starting-line n. [C] 起跑线

与starting line 相关的词汇还有：the finishing line 终点线

What varies is how the technology is used—a result of the respective roots of cloud computing. In the West the first customers were startups and only later, bigger firms. In China the cloud grew out of consumer services, including Taobao, Alibaba’s e-commerce marketplace, and the online games offered by Tencent, the second-biggest online firm. As a result, many cloud services are not yet ready for complex, mainstream corporate applications, says Evan Zeng of Gartner, a research firm.

10. mainstream [ˈmeɪnstriːm] adj. 主流的，主要的  

As these services develop, however, there is huge potential. In the West almost all firms have long had sophisticated inhouse information-technology systems, which many are hesitant to abandon. In contrast, the IT of most Chinese companies is underdeveloped. “They can jump directly to the cloud,” says Ji Xinhua, the founder and chief executive of UCloud, a smaller but fast-growing cloud provider.

11. sophisticated [səˈfɪstɪkeɪtɪd] adj. （机器、系统、方法等）复杂的；精密的；尖端的 

12. have long done sth 很久以来就…，长期以来都… 

People have long known that marriage is the tomb of love. 人们很久以来就知道婚姻是爱情的坟墓。

注意 long 在这里不是形容词，而是副词，相当于 for a long time，表示“长期地，长久地”。

13. be hesitant to do sth | be hesitant about (doing) sth 犹豫的；踌躇的；不情愿的 

同义词： be unwilling to do sth｜be reluctant to do sth｜balk at sth｜flinch at sth

For years the government has vowed to go green, yet made little progress. It has flinched at reining in dirty industries, wary of the mass job losses that seemed likely to ensue. 多年来，政府立誓要走绿色道路，但进展甚微。它在抑制污染行业方面畏缩不前，担心引发大规模失业。