McDonald's U.S. sales roared back in the third quarter with new menu items and attention-grabbing celebrity collaborations.
And the burger giant says more is coming. In a virtual meeting for investors on November 9, McDonald's said a much-anticipated crispy chicken sandwich with pickles — an answer to competitors like Popeye's and Chick-fil-A — will go on sale in the U.S. in early 2021. The company also plans to test McPlant, a plant-based burger in 2021.
語言點提示
1. celebrity collaborations：與名人合作。Celebrity是名人、名流的意思，為高考需要掌握的詞彙。Collaboration：合作。這個詞彙在中高考中可能不那麼常見，比較常見的是cooperation。
2. boost：v. 促進;增加。Boost在經濟類文章中尤其常見，常常用來表示銷售額、營業額、利潤等的增長，且含有「顯著增長」的意思。用來表示「增加」，非常精準和貼切。
3. roared back:（大幅）回升。與boost同，roar back也為經濟類文章中頻繁出現的詞，常常用來形容經濟低迷後的反彈。從roar（咆哮）這個詞也能看出其「回升」的程度。
4. attention-grabbing: adj.引人注目的。該合成詞比較直白易懂，attention：注意力，grabbing：抓住，合起來即可推測出「引人注目的」的意思。
5. much-anticipated：adj. 備受期待的。anticipated為高考詞彙,意思為「預期的；期望的」。
6. answer to:應對、回應、適應。在該詞組中，主要注意介詞「to」的使用，answer to為固定搭配。
McDonald's wouldn't say who might supply the plant-based burger. McDonald's tested pea-protein-based patties from California-based Beyond Meat at Canadian restaurants earlier this year, but it ended the trial in April.
With new choices like spicy chicken nuggets and a meal dealpromotion with rapper Travis Scott, McDonald's exceeded most projections for the third quarter.
McDonald's same-store sales — or sales at locations open at least a year — jumped 4.6 percent in the U.S. Customer traffic fell, but when diners came, they spent more on larger group orders. Dinner was particularly strong, McDonald's said, but other times of day were elevated as well.
It wasn't the same story outside the U.S. Globally, same-store sales fell 2.2 percent between July and September. Sales increases in Japan and Australia were offset by declines in China, Europe and Latin America. Still, that was significantly better than the 24 percent drop the company saw in the second quarter.
語言點提示
1. trial：n.試驗。高考常見詞彙。
2. promotion：n.提升;促銷。高考常見詞彙。在此句中的意思為「說唱歌手特拉維斯·斯科特的聯名套餐促銷」。
3. Jump；fall；elevate為經濟類文章常用詞彙，與「increase」，「decline」，「up」, 「down」等替換使用。多加留意該類詞彙可更快抓住關鍵信息。
4. offset: v.抵消；彌補。該詞雖非高考要求詞彙，但常在閱讀文章中伴隨「increase」，「decline」等出現，用於表示事物的上升、下降間的關係。
5. significantly：adv.顯著地。該詞在高考中出現的頻率較高，需重點掌握。形容詞形式為Significant，意思為「重大的，有意義的」。
McDonald's warned that a resurgence of coronavirus cases in key markets like France, Germany and the United Kingdom could force dining room closures and other restrictions.
"We're pleased with our recovery to date, but we also understand there inevitably will be more starts and stops with the virus resurgences," McDonald's Chief Financial Officer Kevin Ozan said on November 9 in a conference call with investors.
Infections in the U.S. have now begun to surge as well. But 95 percent of U.S. McDonald's have drive-thru windows, which has allowed restaurants to continue to operate even though less than 20 percent have opened their dining rooms. Globally, only 65 percent of McDonald's have drive-thru windows.
Mason Smoot, McDonald's chief U.S. restaurant officer, said drive-thru represents around 70 percent of McDonald's sales in its top markets, and the vast majority of new restaurants McDonald's is building will have drive-thru windows. Smoot said the company is testing automatic order-taking at drive-thrus to improve accuracy. It's also testing express drive-thru lanes for mobile order pickups.
語言點提示
1. resurgence：n.再現；再起。在此句中的意思為「新冠肺炎病例的再次爆發」。該詞相對於中高考而言難度稍高。
2. inevitably：adv.不可避免地；必然地。形容詞形式為inevitable，意思為「不可避免的；必然的」。二者都有較大機率出現在中高考的各大題型中。
3. surge: v.洶湧；起大浪，蜂擁而來。在此句中的意思為「激增」，「如今美國的感染病例也已經開始激增」。該詞雖然不屬於中高考大綱詞彙，但在文章中出現的機率還是比較高的。
4. drive-thru：全稱「Drivethrough」，俗稱「得來速」。常見應用場景是Drivethrough restaurant，也就是汽車穿梭餐廳，提供不必下車的快餐外帶服務，取餐快，不聚集。疫情的當下，「得來速窗口」在美國尤為流行。
5. vast majority：絕大多數；大部分。中高考高頻詞組，需重點掌握。
McDonald's said digital ordering — through mobile orders, in-store kiosks and delivery — is expected to make up 20 percent of system-wide sales this year, or more than $10 billion. The company hopes to build on that with a new app, MyMcDonald's, which will be launched in six markets by the end of 2021.
The app will let customers participate in a new loyalty program and get targeted dining offers. It's designed to make it easier to order,whether for carryout or delivery. Around 28,000 McDonald's restaurants worldwide now offer delivery, the company said.
McDonald's cut menu items, including all-day breakfast, to make it easier and faster to fill orders during the pandemic. Even as sales improve, the company said, it wants to be careful about how much complexity it's adding. It also plans to emphasize its core products — beef, chicken and fries — which make up 70 percent of its sales.
"We're going to be thoughtful and judicious as we add back to our menu," said Joe Erlinger, McDonald's U.S. president.
語言點提示
1. launched: v.啟動；開始。在此句中的意思為「推出」，「新應用MyMcDonald's將於2021年底在六大市場推出」。該詞為高考高頻詞彙，需靈活掌握其含義。
2. participate in: 參加。近義詞：take part in。兩者常在中高考中輪流出現，後接動詞ing形式。participate in後也可直接接名詞，例如此句中的「participate in a new loyalty program」，意思為「參加新忠誠計劃」。
3. make it easier: 原形為make it easy：使其變得容易。中高考高頻詞組。在此句中的意思為「使訂餐更便捷」。
4. whether...or...：無論是...還是...。中高考基礎詞組，需熟練運用。例句：Whether or not we're successful, we can be sure that we did our best.不管成功與否，我們確已盡了最大努力。
5. be careful about：當心，注意。固定搭配，中高考常考詞組，需熟記介詞「about」。
6. core products: 核心產品。
7. judicious：adj. 明智的；頭腦精明的；判斷正確的。在此句中，與「thoughtful」連用可解釋為「深思熟慮的」。
The new chicken sandwich, for example, will replace a smaller, less-popular one. And meal promotions with celebrities like Scott — and, more recently, Colombian singer J Balvin — feature core items that have been on McDonald's menu for decades.
The $6 Scott meal, for example, includes a Quarter Pounder, fries and a Sprite. The meal promotion with Scott, introduced in September, was the first time McDonald's featured a celebrity's name on its menu since a Michael Jordan-branded meal deal in 1992.
McDonald's also got a lift from the September introduction of spicy McNuggets. It was the first time the company had introduced a new flavor since McNuggets debuted in 1983.
Third quarter net income rose 10 percent to $1.8 billion. Earnings, adjusted for one-time items, were $2.22 per share.
That surpassed Wall Street's expectations of $1.91 per share, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
Revenue fell 2 percent to $5.4 billion. That was in line withexpectations.
Shares of the Chicago company were flat at $216.29 in afternoon trading.
語言點提示
1. feature：v. 以...為特色。Feature比較常見的用法是作為名詞使用，意思為「特色；特徵」，但如將其作為動詞運用在作文裡，能使作文增色不少。此句的意思是「與斯科特等名人——以及最近的哥倫比亞歌手巴爾文聯名的套餐促銷，給麥當勞幾十年來的核心菜品增加了特色」。
2. lift: n.電梯；舉起；提高。在中高考中，該詞比較常見的意思為「電梯」或者「舉起」，但在跟經濟有關的應用場景中，lift常常表示價格，銷量或者營業額等的提升。如在此句中，意思為「銷量的提升」。
3. debuted：v.初次登臺。該詞相對於中高考而言稍難。在此句中的意思為「首次推出」。
4. net income, earnings, revenue：意思分別為「淨利潤」，「收入」，「收益」。經濟學常用詞彙。其中，earnings和revenue都有「收入；收益」的意思，區別在於revenue一般指的是企業扣除費用前的日常經營收入，而earnings一般指的是企業扣除費用後的日常經營收入。
5. surpassed：v.超過。其近義詞overcome, exceed等在中高考中更為常見。
6. in line with：符合；與...一致。中高考常見短語。例句:Wage increases must be in line with inflation. 工資的增長必須與通貨膨脹率一致。在上文中指符合預期。
7. flat：adj.平的。在中高考中，考察的比較多的是其名詞含義：平地；公寓。在此句中，flat作為形容詞使用，意思為「平的（股票）」。