As a symbol of American conquest, it’s easy to forget how McDonald’s was first received over seas. Back in 1974, Britons queued

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问题     As a symbol of American conquest, it’s easy to forget how McDonald’s was first received over seas. Back in 1974, Britons queued for hours at the opening of a Mickey D’s in London. (46)When the Golden Arches sprang up in Moscow not long after the fall of the Berlin wall, they were celebrated as a sign of liberation. In 1994, the drive-through line on opening day in Kuwait City was seven miles long.
    What to make, then, of McDonald’s recent warning to Wall Street, when it announced that it will post its first quarterly loss in 37 years as a public company? (47)For much of the past decades, McDonald’s has been the most typical high-growth multinational, jumping from success to success and building a uniquely American empire. The number of its restaurants worldwide rose by a third in the past eight years alone—to 30,000, including some 17,000 outside the United States. Along the way, it has become a model for entrepreneurial success, a case study in how to "go international" and succeed.
    Has the juggernaut maxed out? McDonald’s execs say, not. "I don’t think that’s a lair view at all," says Mike Love, a vice president for corporate affairs, noting, for example, the company’s plans to add 300 new restaurants next year to the 6,000 already in place in Europe. Still, there’s no question that the troubled financials represent a striking turnaround for a proud company that’s long been synonymous with Pax Americana. (48)The secret of McDonald’s magic has always been an "aspirational" thing, says a retired marketing director in Hong Kong. "If you could eat hamburgers and drink Coke, you could taste part of the American dream."
    (49)It’s tempting to suspect that the company’s problems might reflect a broader geopolitical backlash against the United States and its global culture. And there have been protests—from Mexico to France—even bomb attacks in India and Lebanon. But according to the experts, that’s not what’s hobbling McDonald’s today. To a surprising degree, the corporation has been tripped up by its own mistakes. "This is not about protesters", says Alan Rugman, a professor of international business. "The company is in trouble because its business model is out of date."
    McDonald’s has been obsessed with rapid growth since its founding in 1955. (50)Earning steady rent and fat royalties from its chains, while enforcing rigid standards for quality and cleanliness, the McDonald’s model produced stunning annual average revenue growth of 24 percent from 1965 to 1991. As competition grew stiffer at home, the company increasingly turned overseas in the 1990s, opening 2,000 restaurants globally in 1996, the peak year of expansion.


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答案麦当劳成功的秘密一直源于一种精神上的渴望,正如香港的一位前任市场主管所言,"如果一个人开始吃汉堡喝可乐,他就接触到了美国梦的一部分"。

解析 本部分由两个句子组成,前一句为简单句,第二句为主从复合句,包含一个if引导的条件状语从句。翻译时注意词性转换和词义引申。An "aspirational" thing字面意思为"渴望的东西",这样译出不够优美,将形容词转换为名词,译成"精神上的渴望",在不改变语义的情况下,使得译文更通顺,质量更高。taste原意为"品尝",由于后面的宾语是美国梦,因此引申为"接触"。
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