原文赏析

Why are we playing so much in plumbers?

为什么要付这么多钱给那些管道工

We run a refinery.

我们运营着一家炼油厂

So, we start making our own pipes.

我们可以拥有自己的管道

At this rate, we'll be lucky if we break even this year.

按照这个价格 幸运的话 我们今年就能收回成本

If you wanna call it a day, John, just say.

如果你想就此结束 约翰 你可以直接说

I should go.

我要走了

Is everything all right?

一切都还好吗

It's fine.

很好

At the age of twenty-seven,

27岁那年

Rockefeller is in the early stages of building his refining business,

洛克菲勒正处在初涉炼油行业的阶段

but his company is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.

而他的公司正面临着破产的重大风险

Vanderbilt sees him as someone he can manipulate to his advantage.

范德比尔特把他看成是自己可以利用的人

An exclusive deal to ship Rockefeller's oil

运输洛克菲勒所产石油的独家交易

will guarantee that the Commodore's trains stay filled with cargo.

将能保证船长的火车充满货物

Vanderbilt invites Rockefeller to meet with him in New York.

范德比尔特邀洛克菲勒到纽约见他

For the young oil man, the meeting is the opportunity of a lifetime.

对于这个年轻的油商 这次会谈将会影响他的一生

A way out of his troubles,

他将有机会摆脱困境

and a way to save his company from complete collapse.

让自己的公司免于破产

Rockefeller, he respected Vanderbilt.

洛克菲勒非常崇拜范德比尔特

He could see what he had achieved.

他看得到他的成就

Vanderbilt was setting the pattern and the archetype

洛克菲勒将范德比尔视为自己的榜样

of what Rockefeller himself wanted to be.

他也想成为范德比尔特这样的人

He wanted to be the Vanderbilt of petroleum.

他想成为石油业的范德比尔特

That's the way he saw himself.

这就他的自我认知

As Rockefeller prepares for his trip to New York,

洛克菲勒为去纽约做准备时

Vanderbilt's plan is set in motion.

范德比尔特的计划就已经开始行动了

视频资料

视频资料

洛克菲勒、范德比尔特、卡内基、阿斯托、福特和摩根，他们的名字几乎是美国梦的近义词，也代表着美国梦的历史。他们转变了他们所接触的每个行业：石油、铁路、钢铁、船运、汽车，还有金融。他们的付出改变了一个国家。出身贫寒，他们却多次涉足总统选举，设立经济政策，影响他们那个年代——内战到大萧条时期。他们，被称为造就美国的人。

重点讲解

1.run a hotel/store/language school 经营一家旅店/商店/语言学校

how to run a business 如何管理企业

Stop trying to run my life (= organize it) for me.

别老想操纵我的生活。

want more say in how the company is run.

想要在公司的经营管理上拥有更多的发言权

a badly run company 经营不善的公司

state-run industries 国家经营的行业

例句：I did not know that my grandfather was the first foreigner to run a hotel in Qingdao and where that hotel had stood.

我不知道外祖父是第一个在青岛开旅馆的外国人，并且还有房子在那里。

2.break even 收支平衡

例句：Whatever you make, you have to sell a certain amount to break even.

不管你做什么，你都要卖出一定数额才能达到收支相抵。

3.call it a day 结束一天的工作；到此为止；停止

例句：After forty years in politics I think it's time for me to call it a day (= to retire).

从政四十年,我想现在也该退休了。

4.teeter on the brink/edge of sth 处在(灾难或危险)的边缘；濒临

例句：Without these more fundamental changes, these populations will teeter on the brink of disaster year after year.

没有这些更多的根本变革，这些人民将年复一年挣扎在灾害的边缘。

5.manipulate (sb into sth/into doing sth) (暗中)控制,操纵,影响（贬义）

manipulate public opinion左右公众舆论。

例句：Don't manipulate them into eating what you want them to eat, going where you want them to go, or doing what you want them to do under the guise of love.

别以爱为幌子操控他们吃你想让他们吃的东西，去你想让他们去的地方，或做你想让他们做的事。

6.advantage over sb 优于某人

a big/great/definite advantage 大的/很大的/确定的优势

an unfair advantage不公平的有利因素(指有利于自己、但并不有利于对手)

have the advantage of … …是优势

be at an advantage (= have an advantage) 处于优势

例句：I somehow felt that I had one prominent advantage over these gentlemen, and that was, good character.

我总觉得自己有超过这两位先生的显著的优点，那就是我的名声好。