Week 5 全球購物狂歡節(光棍節)

How Alibaba turned an obscure, made-up 

Chinese holiday into a $14.3 billion shopping extravaganza that's bigger than Black Friday

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• Nov. 14, 2015, 8:57 AM by Jeremy Berke reporter
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• Alibaba turned Single’s Day, the Chinese holiday for the single-set, into a huge economic opportunity through a savvy marketing blitz.
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• The company raked in $5 billion during the first 90 minutes of the sae, totaling $14.3 billion in just 24 hours largely through its online shopping platforms, Taobao.com and Tmall.com.

Students at Nanjing University first celebrated Single’s Day in 1993 as an appreciation of, you guessed it — being single. They picked November 11 (11/11) as an ode to the loneliness of the number one.

But Single’s Day was never meant to be a somber affair. Just like couples buy each other presents on Valentine’s Day, Single’s Day is an opportunity to treat yourself, and buy the things you’ve always wanted.

Yue Xue, a ‘dating consultant’ in Beijing explained to Time last year that the concept of being single in China is a recent development. “China used to be a society where there was no dating culture,” Xue said. “There was no going on dates to turn into a relationship. You see someone, if you can marry them or you never see them again.”

Singlehood only gained widespread acceptance in China because of Western films and television shows. And just as Valentine’s Day has become a juggernaut for consumption, so has Single’s Day.

Alibaba launched a massive marketing push around Single’s Day in 2009, offering special “Double 11” deals.

Their timing was perfect. E-commerce has exploded in China, leading to a 5,740% growth in Alibaba’s “Double 11” sales between 2009 and 2013, the Atlantic reports.

In the last couple years, Alibaba, once known only as an online retailer akin to Amazon, has moved aggressively into the entertainment space, launching a television production arm, and purchasing an online-streaming service that’s popular in China.

“Jack Ma (Alibaba’s CEO) is building Alibaba as the hub of all things commerce, whether it be physical goods bought and sold online, or now virtual goods and services,” Brian Buchwald, the CEO of consumer intelligence firm Bomoda told the LA Times.

And Alibaba has combined their expansion with brilliant marketing. On Wednesday, Alibaba aired a three-hour television special, “Tmall’s Double-11 Night Carnival” in order to drum up excitement for the insane “Double-11” deals.

The extravagant show included Kevin Spacey as President Frank Underwood from the show House of Cards delivering a two-minute message to would-be Chinese shoppers.

Daniel Craig, of 007 fame also made an appearance, as did singer Adam Lambert and a host of Chinese celebrities, the LA Times reports.

As the clock struck midnight, and the Double-11 deals officially opened, viewers of the broadcast at home could play along in online game show segments, where they could compete for the chance to buy Cadillacs for 15 cents, according to the LA Times.

For comparison purposes, Alibaba made only $9.3 billion in 2014’s Single’s Day sale, $5 billion less than this year, amounting to a 57% jump in sales.

Mobile purchases accounted for 72% of purchases in 2015, up from 43% in 2014, according tothe Atlantic.

It was a good day for Alibaba.

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-alibaba-made-143-billion-on-singles-day-2015-11

Structure of the Lead :

Who : single

when : November 11
What : Alibaba launched a massive marketing push around Single’s Day in 2009, offering special “Double 11” deals.
Why : Single’s Day was never meant to be a somber affair
How : Alibaba earned totaling $14.3 billion in just 24 hours largely through its online shopping platforms, Taobao.com and Tmall.com.

Key Words : 

1.consultant : 顧問
2.Atlantic : 大西洋
3.insane : 精神錯亂的、瘋狂的
4.aggressively : 侵略地、攻擊地
5.extravagant : 奢侈的、浪費的
6.drum UP : 糾集、召集、激起
7.Singlehood : 單身男子（女子）8.Carnival : 狂歡節、嘉年華會9.juggernaut : 駭人的毀滅力量10.broadcast : 廣播、播送

Week 4 美醫師殺獅王

Zimbabwe won't press charges against                     Cecil the Lion's killer

Updated 0451 GMT (1151 HKT) October 13, 2015 by Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN

Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist and big-game hunter who killed Cecil the Lion while on a July hunting expedition, won't face charges in the beloved big cat's death, a Zimbabwean minister said Monday.

There has already been ample publicity surrounding the lion's death, said the country's minister of environment, water and climate, Opa Muchinguri.

"If you talk to him, tell him that tourists are welcome here," she said. "No hunting, though."

Palmer and his family faced threats and saw worldwide protests unfold, including demonstrations outside his Bloomington office after the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force reported that Cecil was lured out of Hwange National Park and shot with a compound bow.

Cecil lived another 40 hours until the hunters tracked him down and shot him with a gun, the conservation group said. He was then skinned and beheaded.

The hunters also tried to destroy the GPS collar that Cecil was wearing as part of a research project backed by Oxford University, according to the conservation group.

Palmer said in interviews with The Associated Press and the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he couldn't see the collar because it was buried beneath Cecil's mane. He also said that it was not illegal to kill a collared lion.

Social media took aim under the hashtag Walter Palmer. "A poor excuse of a human being," "a killer" and "Satan" were just a few of the Twitter insults hurled in his direction. A Facebook page devoted to shaming Palmer still has more than 17,000 members.

Celebrities such as model Cara Delevingne, actress Alyssa Milano and TV host Sharon Osbourne -- who have a combined total of 8.39 million followers -- joined in as well.

"I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt," Palmer said in a statement in late July. "I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt."

Palmer disappeared for a spell and shuttered his office, River Bluff Dental, as he weathered the storm of criticism and threats. He returned to work last month.

Two Zimbabweans have been charged in the case, and before Monday, officials there had said they wanted Palmer extradited to face charges.

The 55-year-old dentist had indicated that he'd cooperate, although he said he had yet to be contacted by anyone about the investigation.

Cecil's killing apparently was not the first time Palmer landed into trouble while hunting. A man with the same name and age, and from the same town, illegally killed a black bear in Wisconsin several years ago, according to court documents.

That individual pleaded guilty to making false statements knowingly to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was sentenced to one year on probation and ordered to pay a fine of nearly $3,000, records show.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/12/africa/zimbabwe-cecil-lion-walter-palmer-no-charges/index.htm

Structure of the Lead :

Who : Walter Palmer

When :  October 13, 2015

What : Walter Palmer won't face charges in the beloved big cat's death

Why : Cecil was lured and killed out of Hwange National Park

How : Walter Palmer returned to work

Key Words :

1. expedition : 探險、考察

2. Minnesota : 明尼蘇達州

3. Oxford University : 美國牛津大學

4. shut : 關閉

5. Zimbabweans : 辛巴威人

6. Satan : 撒旦、魔鬼

7. extradite : 引渡

8. Hwange National Park : 萬蓋國家公園

9. hashtag : 標示 " # " 號

10. Wisconsin : 威斯康星洲