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2008年ESL之购物 03 Finding a Bargain

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    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)

 

03 Finding1 a Bargain

GLOSSARY2

to go overboard – to do too much of something; to do something to an extreme* They went overboard at the free buffet3 lunch, eating so much that they felt sick afterwards.

outlet4 mall – a large building with many stores that sell inexpensive products that either didn’t sell well in regular stores or have small problems* If you need to get a lot of suits for work, you can get them less expensively atoutlet malls than at regular malls.

bargain – a deal; something that has a very low price; something that costs much less than it normally5 does; a good value for the money you pay* At just $65, the jacket was a bargain, since it normally costs almost $300.

discounted – being sold at a price that is lower than usual; on sale* This week, all of the store’s history books are discounted 10%.

heaven – paradise6; a place and time where everything is perfect and one is completely happy* I love to eat ice cream, so working in an ice cream store would be heaven!

reduced price – a price that is lower than normal for a certain period of time* The car dealership7 is advertising8 reduced prices on all of its cars this week.

on sale – with a lower-than-normal price for a certain period of time* The store is putting all of its women’s shoes on sale next week.

to knock another (amount) off the price – to lower the price of something by acertain amount* Amanda bargained at the outdoor market until the seller9 agreed to knock another $13 off the price of the table she wanted to buy.

half-price – 50% of the regular price* This half-price printer was only $35. It normally costs $70.

special offer – a promotion10; something that a store offers to give to a customerduring a certain period of time* The computer store has a special offer this month: if you buy a new computer,you automatically11 get a free scanner and web camera.

to resist – to be able to stop oneself from doing something that one wants to do* I could lose a lot of weight if I could learn to resist eating dessert every day.

bargain basement – the underground floor of a store where things are sold very inexpensively* Everything on the first floor of that store is very expensive, but if you go to thebargain basement you can find some great deals.

two for the price of one – a promotion where a customer pays for only one itemand receives a second one for free; buy one, get one free* Admission12 to the zoo is two for the price of one on Thursdays, so I am going totake my niece there next Thursday.

cheap – inexpensive; not costing very much money; with a low price* This restaurant is really cheap!  You can get a three-course meal for only $4.99.

breather – a break; a pause in an activity; a short period of time to rest* After working in the yard all day, Hal took a 20-minute breather before startingto clean out the garage.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS1.  How many sweaters did Georgia pay for?

a)  Three.

b)  Four.

c)  Five.

2.  Why did Georgia come home?

a)  Because she was feeling out of breath.

b)  Because the bargain basement closed.

c)  Because she needed to rest a little bit.

______________WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

bargainThe word “bargain,” in this podcast, means something that has a very low priceand costs much less than it normally does: “Her airline ticket was a bargain!  Shepaid only $250 to fly across the country.”  A “bargain” is also an agreementbetween two people to do something for each other: “They made a bargain thathe would cook and she would wash the dishes.”  As a verb, “to bargain” means to negotiate13, or to argue and discuss prices until both the seller and buyer agreeon the final price: “Do you like bargaining at farmers’ markets?”  Finally, thephrase “to bargain on (something)” means to believe that something will happenand to prepare for it: “They planned an outdoor wedding, bargaining onsunshine.”

cheapIn this podcast, the word “cheap” means inexpensive: “Simple cell phones arecheaper than phones that have cameras and full-color screens.”  The word“cheap” also means something that is poor quality: “If you want to get a betterjob, you need to stop wearing such cheap suits to your interviews.”  If a person is “cheap,” it means that he or she is not generous and does not like to sharemoney with other people: “Francine is so cheap that she mixes her children’s milk with water so that it will last longer.”  Finally, the phrase “on the cheap”

means doing something for less money than it normally costs: “I want to learnhow to travel in Western Europe on the cheap.”

CULTURE NOTEPeople who want to save money while shopping have many “options” (choices)in the United States.  Outlet malls, for example, are large buildings with many stores that sell things that are cheaper than usual, either because they didn’t sellwell in regular stores or because they have “flaws” (small problems).  “Factory stores” are stores that sell everything made for one specific brand.  Factory storeprices are usually much cheaper than prices for the same products at regularstores, where the items are sold “alongside” (next to) other brands.

Other people like to go to “discount stores.”  These stores don’t always have thesame products.  Instead, the “store buyers” (store employees who buy things tosell in the stores) look for good bargains and then buy those items in “largevolumes” (with many pieces of the same thing) to sell them to customers inexpensively.  It can be difficult to find what you are looking for in a discountstore, but sometimes it is a good idea to go there and see what is available forsale.

“Secondhand stores” offer inexpensive clothing, jewelry14, and furniture that havealready been used by other people.  Sometimes secondhand goods are in poorcondition, but other times they are almost new.  This is especially true in wealthy neighborhoods, where people sometimes use things only two or three times before getting rid of them.

Finally, many stores have “sample sales” when they want to get rid of products that they no longer plan to sell.  For example, many clothing stores display asample on a “mannequin” (a statue that is used to display clothing) and then,when that item is no longer for sale, want to get rid of the sample.  They do this through a sample sale, offering it at a reduced price.

______________Comprehension Questions Correct Answers:  1 – b; 2 – c

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPTWelcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 355: Finding aBargain.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode16 355.  I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California.

Visit our website at eslpod.com.  There you can download a Learning17 Guide forthis episode to help you improve your English even faster.

This episode is called “Finding a Bargain.”  It’s a dialogue between Manuel andGeorgia about Georgia’s trip to the store.  Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Manuel:  Wow, I’ve never seen so many shopping bags in my life.  I can guess where you’ve been.

Georgia:  I did go overboard a bit today.  I went to the outlet mall and I foundsome real bargains.  Nearly everything was discounted.  I was in shoppingheaven!

Manuel:  I can see that. Georgia:  My favorite store had reduced prices for all of its sweaters, so I boughtfive.  They were already on sale, but the store knocked another $5 off the price.  Igot them at half-price!  I was going to buy three, but the store had a special offer:

If you buy four, the fifth one is free. Manuel:  But doesn’t that mean you spent more money, since you bought fivesweaters when you only wanted three?

Georgia:  How could I resist?  They were being sold at bargain basement prices. At another store, the sale items were two for the price of one.  I’ve never seenthings in that store so cheap.  Manuel:  Where are you going now?

Georgia:  I’m going back to the outlet stores, of course.  I just came home for alittle breather.  There’s more shopping to be done!

Manuel:  Try to leave a few things for the other shoppers!

[end of dialogue]

Our dialogue begins with Manuel saying, “Wow, I’ve never seen so many shopping bags in my life,” meaning those are a lot of “shopping bags,” the bags that you use from the store to carry things back home.  He says, “I can guess where you’ve been.”  Georgia says, “I did go overboard a bit today.”  “To gooverboard” means to do too much of something, to do something to an extreme. If you go to a buffet lunch where you can eat as much food as you want, it’s important not to go overboard.

Georgia says she went to an “outlet mall.”  A “mall” is a large building full ofstores, where you go shopping.  An “outlet mall” is where companies sell clothingand other things at a cheaper price than at the regular stores.  It is usually aplace where you find clothing that wasn’t very popular, or perhaps may havesome small problems; these are sold at “outlet malls.”  Many of the big clothingcompanies sell their clothes at these outlet malls when they can’t sell them in theregular stores.

Georgia said she found some real bargains.  A “bargain” is something that costs less than it usually would.  The word “bargain” actually has a couple of differentmeanings; take look at our Learning Guide for some additional18 explanations. Georgia says that nearly everything in the store was discounted.  “To bediscounted” means to be sold at a price that is lower than usual.  Anotherexpression for this would be “on sale.”  This was “discounted” – this was “onsale.”  Georgia says, “I was in shopping heaven!”  “Heaven” is a place whereeverything is perfect, where one is completely happy – that’s the idea.  Someonemay say, “I went to the comic book convention19 and I was in heaven,” or, “I was inSpider-man heaven,” meaning it was a very happy place for me to be.

Manuel says, “I can see that” – I can see you were in shopping heaven.  Georgiasays, “My favorite store had reduced prices for all of its sweaters.”  A “reducedprice” is the same as a discounted price, when the price is lower than normal fora certain amount of time.  She says that she bought five sweaters, “They werealready on sale (they were already discounted), but the store knocked another $5off the price.”  “To knock (a certain amount) off the price” means to lower theprice, to make the price less than it was before.  You may say, “My mechanic20 knocked off $20 on my bill to fix my car.”  He reduced the price $20 – he“knocked off” $20.  Of course, the bill was $1,000, so it wasn’t very much!

Georgia says, “I got (the sweaters) at half-price” – at 50 percent off, or 50 percentdiscount.  “I was going to buy three,” she says, “but the store had a special offer.” A “special offer” is sometimes called a “promotion,” when the store offers to givethe customer something special or something at a lower price for a certainamount of time.  The offer was if you buy four sweaters, you can get a fifthsweater for free.  Georgia was only going to buy three, but she bought four,because then she would get five sweaters.

Manuel says, “doesn’t that mean you spent more money (than you were going tospend)?”  Georgia says, “How could I resist?”  “To resist” means to be able tostop yourself from doing something that you want to do.  For example, you wentto the buffet and you went overboard.  Now, you’re at home, and you have apiece of apple pie in your refrigerator.  You have to resist that temptation21 – thatdesire – to eat the pie; you have to stop yourself from doing it.  I say you have tostop yourself – I don’t have to stop myself!

Georgia says the sweaters “were being sold at bargain basement prices.”  The“basement” is the part of a building or a house that is below ground – that is underneath22 the ground.  The term “bargain basement” refers to the fact thatsome stores used to sell things cheaply – put things on sale – in the basement ofthe store – in the bottom of the store, and so we have this expression “bargainbasement.”  So, these were “bargain basement prices,” they were low prices.

“At another store,” she continues, “the sale items were two for the price of one.” Sometimes we just say they were “two for one,” you buy one thing, and you get asecond thing free.  She says, “I’ve never seen things so cheap” – so inexpensive,with such a low price.  The word “cheap” actually has a couple of differentmeanings, also, in English; take a look at the Learning Guide for some moreexplanation.

Manuel says, “Where are you going now?”  Georgia says, “I’m going back to theoutlet stores, of course.  I just came home for a little breather.”  A “breather”

(breather) here means a break – a pause in an activity, a short time for you torest.  “I’m going to take a breather,” or, I’m here just for a breather.”  She says,“There’s more shopping to be done,” meaning she has more shopping she wantsto do.  Manuel says, “Try to leave a few things for the other shoppers,” meaningdon’t buy the entire store my love!

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of dialogue]

Manuel:  Wow, I’ve never seen so many shopping bags in my life.  I can guess where you’ve been.

Georgia:  I did go overboard a bit today.  I went to the outlet mall and I foundsome real bargains.  Nearly everything was discounted.  I was in shoppingheaven!

Manuel:  I can see that. Georgia:  My favorite store had reduced prices for all of its sweaters, so I boughtfive.  They were already on sale, but the store knocked another $5 off the price.  Igot them at half-price!  I was going to buy three, but the store had a special offer:

If you buy four, the fifth one is free. Manuel:  But doesn’t that mean you spent more money, since you bought fivesweaters when you only wanted three?

Georgia:  How could I resist?  They were being sold at bargain basement prices. At another store, the sale items were two for the price of one.  I’ve never seenthings in that store so cheap.  Manuel:  Where are you going now?

Georgia:  I’m going back to the outlet stores, of course.  I just came home for alittle breather.  There’s more shopping to be done!

Manuel:  Try to leave a few things for the other shoppers!

[end of dialogue]

The script15 for this episode was written by a woman who works23 so hard she coulduse a breather, too: Dr. Lucy Tse. From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan.  Thanks for listening.  We’ll seeyou next time on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan.  This podcast is copyright24 2008.

 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 finding 5tAzVe     
n.发现,发现物;调查的结果
参考例句:
  • The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
  • That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。
2 glossary of7xy     
n.注释词表;术语汇编
参考例句:
  • The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
  • For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便,我们在附录中也提供了术语表。
3 buffet 8sXzg     
n.自助餐;饮食柜台;餐台
参考例句:
  • Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐?
  • Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗?
4 outlet ZJFxG     
n.出口/路;销路;批发商店;通风口;发泄
参考例句:
  • The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
  • Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。
5 normally ln8zVb     
adv.正常地,通常地
参考例句:
  • I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
  • My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。
6 paradise KKJxT     
n.伊甸乐园,天堂
参考例句:
  • My house had a small backyard,the paradise of children.我那幢房子有一个小后院,那是孩子们玩耍的乐园。
  • On a hot day a dip in the sea is sheer paradise.热天洗个海水澡是十分令人惬意的事。
7 dealership Kv6zWa     
n.商品特许经销处
参考例句:
  • The car dealership has a large inventory of used cars. 这家汽车经销商拥有数量庞大的二手车。
  • A key to this effort is the experience in the dealership. 达到这个成果的关键是销售的体验。
8 advertising 1zjzi3     
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。
9 seller Rzrwv     
n.售货者,畅销品
参考例句:
  • I hope for this book to become a best seller.我希望这本书会成为一本畅销书。
  • She drove a hard bargain with the seller.她狠杀卖主的价。
10 promotion eRLxn     
n.提升,晋级;促销,宣传
参考例句:
  • The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
  • The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级,加了薪。
11 automatically xPjyx     
adv.不加思索地,无意识地,自动地
参考例句:
  • The machine cycles automatically.这台机器自动循环运转。
  • She had automatically labelled the boys as troublemakers.她不假思索地认定这些男孩子是捣蛋鬼。
12 admission 6Kuyx     
n.允许进入;承认;入场费,入会费,入场券
参考例句:
  • We attached a condition to his admission to our school.我们对准许他入校附加了一个条件。
  • By her own admission,she was responsible for the accident.她自己承认,事故应该由她负责。
13 negotiate rGtxc     
v.洽谈,协商,谈判,顺利通过,成功越过
参考例句:
  • I'll negotiate with their coach on the date of the match.我将与他们的教练磋商比赛的日期问题。
  • I managed to negotiate successfully with the authorities.我设法同当局进行了成功的协商。
14 jewelry 0auz1     
n.(jewllery)(总称)珠宝
参考例句:
  • The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
  • Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。
15 script 2Z4x4     
n.剧本,广播稿;文字体系;笔迹,手迹
参考例句:
  • It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
  • The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。
16 episode Titzy     
n.(作品的一段)情节,插曲,系列事件中之一
参考例句:
  • The episode was a huge embarrassment for all concerned.这段小插曲令所有有关人员都感到非常尴尬。
  • This episode remains sharply engraved on my mind.这段经历至今仍深深地铭刻在我的心中。
17 learning wpSzFe     
n.学问,学识,学习;动词learn的现在分词
参考例句:
  • When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时,常会从车上掉下来。
  • Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。
18 additional rJTyM     
adj.添加的,额外的,另外的
参考例句:
  • It is necessary to set down these additional rules.有必要制定这些补充规则。
  • I think we can fit in an additional room.我想我们可以再加建一间房子。
19 convention KYFza     
n.惯例,习俗,常规,会议,大会
参考例句:
  • How many delegates have checked in at the convention?大会已有多少代表报到?
  • He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。
20 mechanic 4CRxt     
n.技工,机(械)工,机修工
参考例句:
  • The mechanic made the necessary adjustments to the engine.机械师对发动机作了必要的调整。
  • He is a mechanic who buys and sells cars on the side.他是一个兼营买卖汽车的技工。
21 temptation Dpmwf     
n.诱惑,引诱;v.引,诱
参考例句:
  • I should congratulate you that you resisted the temptation.我应向你祝贺,你抗住了这种引诱。
  • Will they be able to resist the temptation to buy?他们能忍住诱惑不买吗?
22 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
23 works ieuzIh     
n.作品,著作;工厂,活动部件,机件
参考例句:
  • We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
  • The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。
24 copyright XZRyV     
n.版权,著作权
参考例句:
  • He retained the copyright of his book.他保留此书的著作权。
  • This company has a proprietorship of the copyright.这家公司拥有版权所有权。
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TAG标签:   购物英语  ESL英语
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