英语博客(A cup of English):Going out of business

Beginners.

There are signs of the financial crisis¹ in different parts of the town where I live. We hear on the news about people losing their jobs and their houses. Certain shops have closed, and so the buidings are empty. But, in another way, there is growth in the town. There is a lot of new buildings that are almost finished. Just down the road from my house, a new hotel is almost ready. I drive past it most days when I bring my children home from school, and we comment on the progress. "Hey, mum, they've put in the windows! Cool." They have asked me if we can stay in the hotel one night when it is finished. "But darlings, I don't want to spend two hundred dollars to sleep in a hotel, if our house is just around the corner." I don't think they understand my reasoning. So, in some ways we see the effects of the credit² crisis, and in other ways we don't. Other, more industrial parts of the country, have clearer signs of financial problems. Here, we live in a rural³ community that is actually growing, as more and more people are moving away from Los Angeles and other big cities. When businesses close, it is usually a quiet thing. The people lose their jobs, and the building is emptied. However, there is one business here that is advertising⁴ its closing. It is making money out of 'going out of business'.

Grammar notes.

Related⁵ vocabulary: financial, rural, growth, reasoning, progress.

Exs:

I think he has financial difficulties; he has recently sold his business and his house.

This rural community was established by farmers.

That species⁶ of tree has rapid growth. In one year it will grow six feet!

We should finish painting the house, then go on holiday. My reasoning is that we will be able to totally relax after finishing the project.   OR

There is no reasoning with him. He won't listen to anyone's opinion!

That little girl has made great progress in mathematics.

Advanced.

A few months ago, while I was driving around, I saw a person next to the main road, holding up a sign that read, "Going out of business. Everything must go!" followed by an address. I wondered if it was a business that I had gone to see a couple of years ago that was supposed to be going out of business. When I had gone in the buiding, which was poorly lit, like an old garage, I was immediately annoyed that I had taken the trip. Why had I bothered? It looked just like a yard sale, with cheap items badly arranged on shelves and on the floor. The advertising had caught my attention and made me curious, so I had taken the time to drive there. But this new 'going out of business' sign must be for a different business. I didn't think anything else about it, until, a couple of months ago, I saw the same sign, held up by a pretty young woman in the center of town. "Well, they haven't gone out of business yet!" I said to myself. Then, just a couple of days ago, another man, quite close to our street, was waving a sign that said the same thing. I wondered what the other passersby⁷ thought. Are they curious about the business? Will they be encouraged to go and find a bargain? And, more importantly, is the business going to close or not? I have a feeling that someone is making good money by pretending to be broke.

Grammar notes.

 Related vocabulary: to arrange, shelves, a couple of, a passerby⁸.

Use of the past participle as an adjective⁹.

Exs:

The lady took a long time to arrange the flowers in the vase.

The shelves in the supermarket were nearly bare.

A couple of months ago we bought a sofa. It wasn't delivered until a couple of days ago.

As I drank my coffee in the cafe, I watched the passersby outside.

The medal was presented to the first place athlete.

The swimming pool wasn't finished in time for the summer.

The egyptian tomb was emptied of its treasures.

The building is being meticulously¹⁰ planned.

The statue will be designed with national hero in mind.

 

1 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

2 credit   

n.信用，荣誉，贷款，学分；v.归功于，赞颂，信任

参考例句：

• I credit him with a certain amount of sense.我认为他有一定的见识。
• He got the credit,and we did the dirty work.他得荣誉，我们做不讨好的工作。

3 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

4 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

5 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

6 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

7 passersby   

n. 过路人(行人,经过者)

参考例句：

• He had terrorized Oxford Street,where passersby had seen only his footprints. 他曾使牛津街笼罩了一片恐怖气氛，因为那儿的行人只能看到他的脚印，看不到他的人。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• A person is marceling on a street, watching passersby passing. 街边烫发者打量着匆匆行人。

8 passerby   

n.过路人，行人

参考例句：

• We had our photo taken by a passerby.我们请了一个路人为我们照相。
• A passerby heard her screams and rushed to her aid.一个过路人听见她的尖叫，便冲过去帮助她。

9 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。

10 meticulously   

adv.过细地，异常细致地；无微不至；精心

参考例句：

• The hammer's silvery head was etched with holy runs and its haft was meticulously wrapped in blue leather. 锤子头是纯银制成的，雕刻着神圣符文，而握柄则被精心地包裹在蓝色的皮革中。 来自辞典例句
• She is always meticulously accurate in punctuation and spelling. 她的标点和拼写总是非常精确。 来自辞典例句