问答题 THE ON-DEMAND ERA IS UPON US. ARE YOU READY?
A powerful transformation is taking, place, Powered by e-business, inspired by new ideas, based solely in reality.
On-demand: An on-demand business is highly responsive to the dynamic demands of customers, partners and employees.
Sease and respond: An environment in which you must .be able to react quickly to unpredictable changes in markets and customer needs.
Automatic technology: Enables an IT infrastructure to be self-configurating, self-protecting, self-optimizing and self-healing.
Fantasy: Vision without execution. Imagination without the invention to back it up .
Reality: There is time machine. You need a partner you can trust.
Your customers will demand that you be more responsive, more flexible and more resilient.
They will expect you to build products only when they are ordered—to literally deliver things "on demand," with unprecedented personalization and customization.
Your suppliers, partners and every department in your company will demand tighter integration of your most critical business processes—so they can deliver faster, better and more cheaply.

【正确答案】一种迎合需求的商业时代正在到来。你做好了准备吗?
现在正在发生着一个转变，这个转变以电子商务为动力，并受到各种新观念的鼓舞，现实情况是它唯一的基础。
迎合需求：一种迎合需求的商业活动就是对顾客、商业伙伴和雇员的动态要求总是给予积极回应。
敏感与反应：你必须对你所在的现实环境中市场和：顾客需求方面所发生的意想不到的变化快速做出反应。
自动化技术：这种技术应当，能够使信息技术的基本设施及时得到自我架构更新，自我保护、自我优化和自我恢复。
敢于幻想：幻想而不行动；设想没有某种发明的支持该怎么办?
现实情况：要有时间机制。你需要一个能信得过的伙伴。
在这个时代，你的顾客将要求你回应更快，更加灵活和更加愉悦。他们期待你只在他们订购你的产品时才生产这些产品。并要你以前所未有的个性化和客户化为他们发货。
你的供货商、你的同事和你公司里的每一个部门都要求你把最严格的经营程序紧密地统一起来，从而使他们能够多快好省地把货发出去。

【答案解析】[题目精解] 1．the On-Demand-Era(迎合需求的时代)是一个复合词组构成的术语，译时注意要译成一个整体，若已有现成译法，就要按现成译法。
2．A powerful transformation is taking place．Powered by e-business，inspired by new ideas， based solely in reality：这两句本是一句话，分开来是为了强调这个商业时代的特点。电子商务(e-business)包括很多内容，如电子销售、网上订货、网上交易等。
3．On-demand和highly responsive紧紧扣起来。强调要迎合需求，就要快速做出反应，慢了就会贻误商机。
4．Sense and respond：An environment...这一部分语法上有点矛盾。作者使用Sense and respond这两个英语动词，但an environment是名词，这也是广告用语的不规范之处。 environment后的定语从句中“市场和顾客需求方面所发生的难以预料的变化”这个词组要译好， unpredictable changes指“难以预料的变化”。
5．Automatic technology：enables an IT infrastructure to be self-configurating，self-protecting，self-optimizing and self-healing的冒号前后本是一个句子。但译时需要分开翻译。其中 configurating本指“构形”。与前面搭配译成“自我架构更新”。
6．time machine在翻译时应当注意，不能译成“时间机器”，而是指“时间机制”，“时间因素”。
7．They will expect you to build products only when they are ordered—to literally deliver things“on-demand，”with unprecedented personalization and customization这句话翻译时应注意两个they的指代关系。第一个They指顾客；第二个They指“货物、产品”。后面的things也是指代products的。with unprecedented personalization and customization作方法状语“以前所未有的个性化和客户化”。