As formal parties gear up for elections, Thai democratic politics are returning to a semblance of normality.

当正规党派加紧准备选举的时候，泰国民主政治也好像正在走向正常化。

gear up也可以表示增强紧迫感：

The international community should gear up and work concertedly and conscientiously.

国际社会应增强紧迫感和责任感，携手共进，扎实工作。

5.purchasing power parity：注：购买力平价是根据各国不同的价格水平计算出来的货币之间的等值系数。目的是对各国的国内生产总值进行合理比较。(选自《百度百科》)《金融时报》中的类似表达：

Yet China''s GDP per head, at purchasing power parity, is still about a fifth that of the US.

但以购买力平价计算，中国的人均GDP仍仅为美国的大约五分之一。

6.“达到”用英语怎么说？stand at：（《金融时报》中的类似表达）

The bank anticipates gold prices in a year''s time to stand at $1, 350 a troy ounce.

该行预计，一年内黄金价格将达到每盎司1350美元。

第三段：The internet was still young, too. Less than 1% of Chinese had access to the web back then, compared with some 36% of Americans. As incomes grew and connections proliferated, Mr Ma took full advantage.

互联网那时也才刚起步。当时只有不到1%的中国人可以上网，而美国人约为36%。人们收入逐步增长、互联网迅速普及，马云充分利用了这样的有利条件。“起步”的表达方式？

1. young：《经济学人》中的类似表达：

It sounds like the sort of constitutional fine-tuning to be expected in a young democracy.

这听起来似乎是一个幼稚的民主政治中的体制的微调。

2. have access to：获得，《路透社》中的类似表达：

Private companies retain their profits to finance expansion because only a few have access to bank loans.

民营企业保留利润则是为了给企业扩张提供资金，因为只有少数的民营企业可获得银行贷款。

3.“普及”用英语怎么说？proliferate：(《经济学人》中的类似表达)

The huge increase in the use of social media means that automatic textual analysis of real-time reactions to events is bound to proliferate.

利用社会媒体的情形出现大量增长，这意味着对事件的实时反应自动文本分析注定会大量出现。

4.“充分利用有利条件”用英语怎么说？take full advantage(of）：(《金融时报》中的类似表达)

Managers are trying to take full advantage of this appetite, by launching funds and opening up their businesses to outside investors.

目前，各公司正在发行基金，并向外部投资者开放它们的业务，试图以此充分利用投资者的这种强烈兴趣。

第四段：Thousands of small businesses have since flourished on Alibaba’s platforms. About 1m merchants trade in its virtual emporiums. Its services have helped push China’s economy towards consumption-led growth Last year it boasted sales of $25bn on Singles Day, China''s equivalent of Black Friday when Americans spent a measly $5bn). It has transformed logistics and finance, as well as retailing.

从那时开始，成千上万的小企业在阿里巴巴的平台上蓬勃发展。约有100万商家在其虚拟集市中开展交易。阿里巴巴提供的服务帮助推动中国经济走上了消费型增长之路。