星巴克进入中国近20年，财报可谓芝麻开花节节高，直到这个季度……最新一季的星巴克财报显示，其中国地区的营收略有下滑。而这个数字在最近两个季度先是放缓再是下滑，起因竟是一家今年1月刚开业的中国本土的咖啡——瑞幸。

　　而就在昨天，瑞幸咖啡(luckin coffee)刚刚宣布完成2亿美元B轮融资，投后估值22亿美元。从消费体验到融资扩张，这家新兴的品牌到底倚靠什么独门绝技撼动了星巴克呢?小美人鱼VS小鹿， 究竟谁会跑赢下一程呢?

　　Investors may worry that the trade war will wreak havoc on Starbucks Corp.’s prospects in China, its second-largest market. The real concern isn’t any kind of patriotic boycott but competition from a homegrown challenger.

　　资本市场也许会担忧贸易战会大肆影响星巴克在中国这个全球第二大市场的前景。但真正的忧患其实并不在此，而是来自一家崛起中的中国本土品牌。

　　Luckin Coffee, which officially launched in January, already has more than 1,500 stores in 21 cities across China. Starbucks, whose mainland adventure began in 1999, has more than 3,400 outlets in 140 cities. Both are racing to expand further: Luckin is aiming for 2,000 stores by year end; Starbucks is planning 6,000 by 2022.

　　瑞幸咖啡，今年1月才问世，现在已经在全国21个城市开设了超过1500家门店。而1999年进入中国的星巴克，目前在140个城市拥有超过3400家门店。这两家品牌都在比拼扩张速度——瑞幸要在今年年底开到2000家店，而星巴克计划到2022年开到6000家店。

　　The coffee upstart is a unicorn, worth more than $1 billion by July. An ongoing funding round could raise that valuation to as much as $2 billion, according to Reuters. Though that still makes it a David to the Starbucks Goliath, steeper competition led the U.S. company to post lower revenue from China in its most recent quarter.

　　这家咖啡行业的后起之秀已经堪称独角兽，到今年7月，估值已高达10亿美元。而根据路透社的报道，瑞幸正在进行的一轮融资将使这个数字达到20亿美元!即使如此，相比星巴克，瑞幸的体量还相差悬殊，但双方愈演愈烈的竞争也致使星巴克最近一季度在中国的营收有所下降。

　　Starbucks's revenue from China fell quarter-on-quarter in the September period for the first time in three quarters.

　　9月以来，星巴克在中国出现了三个季度以来的首次业绩下滑。

　　At first glance, a billion-dollar-plus valuation for a coffee shop might seem mind-boggling. Yet the Beijing chain deserves full marks forfiguring out Chinese consumers better than the American behemoth.

　　乍看起来，超过10亿美元的估值着实耀眼。但和星巴克相比，真正懂得中国消费者的习惯，才是这家总部设在北京的咖啡品牌真正值得称道的。

　　These days in China, no retailer can flourish without the two Ds — being delivery-friendly and digitally savvy. Luckin capitalized on the long queues at Starbucks stores and made a business of delivering orders made and paid for on its app. While the startup does have some stores with seats and tables, a large number of its outlets are “pickup kitchens” or delivery points. And importantly, a cup of Luckin coffee is cheap, costing 30 percent less than one from Starbucks.

　　现如今的中国，零售业没有哪家可以离开了两个“D”还能做得好的。两个“D”分别说的是送货便捷和在手机端操作方便。瑞幸解决了星巴克下单和取餐要排队等候的不便，顾客可以在手机端解决一切问题。当然瑞幸确实也开设了实体店，但这些实体店基本上还都是制作点和取货点。还有一点很重要，瑞幸的价格更亲民，比星巴克要低30%。

　　今日语言点

　　1) mind-boggling adj. 令人难以置信的

　　近义词：unbelievable / incredible

　　We were pushed to create mind-boggling growth rates, but nobody ever asked about profit.

　　公司敦促我们追求匪夷所思的增长率，却从没有人过问利润方面的问题。

　　2) deserve full marks for 应该得满分

　　相当于我们熟悉的 do well in …，相近的表达还有 deserve credit for …

　　Our team deserves full marks for accomplishing the task in time.

　　我们的团队这次按时完成了任务，应该得满分。

　　3)behemoth c.n. 巨头(指规模庞大、实力雄厚的公司或机构)

　　This country is fast becoming the behemoth of the global economy.

　　这个国家正在迅速成为全球经济中的庞然大物。

　　At first glance, a billion-dollar-plus valuation for a coffee shop might seem mind-boggling. Yet the Beijing chain deserves full marks for figuring out Chinese consumers better than the American behemoth.

　　乍看起来，超过10亿美元的估值着实耀眼。但和星巴克相比，真正懂得中国消费者的习惯，才是这家总部设在北京的咖啡品牌真正值得称道的。

　　今天这一段咱们重点来聊聊 yet 的用法。最早接触 yet 是在完成时，在否定句中，表示“还没”、“尚未”，比如：

　　They had not yet decided what to do at the weekend.

　　他们还没想好周末要干什么。

　　Yet 另一个基本的用法是和不定时 to do 连用，也表示“还没”、“尚未”，比如：

　　The greatest change we have yet to make depends on you and me.

　　最伟大的改变我们还没有做到，而这全靠你和我了。

　　除了最基础的用法， yet 还有其他灵活的用法，比如与 once / again / another连用，表示“再”：

　　To make things worse, he has made yet another mistake.

　　更糟糕的是，他接着又犯了一个错误。

　　而在今天这个段落中， yet 则表示转折，在句首相当于 But / However, / Anyway, 。在一个相对长难的段落中，插入 yet 这种较为简短的“小词”，可以让读者得以从冗长的内容中“跳脱”出来，使文段更易于阅读。

　　简化这一段的词汇和句型，我们可以这样理解：

　　At first, it is hard to believe that a coffee shop can be worth of over a billion dollars. But Beijing-based Luckin does a better job than Starbucks in understanding and adapting to the behavior of Chinese consumers’.