CNN Marketplace 2006-04-26

Michelle Wright: Higher gas prices are making many Americans rethink the way they commute¹ to their jobs.

Ed McCarthy: The shock at the gas pump has been building gradually, how much can motorists take? According to Virginia Miller² with the American Public Transit³ Association, not a lot more because ridership on buses is growing in places like L.A..

Virginia Miller: The rail ridership has risen almost 11.4% just in the first quarter 2006, and the bus ridership has increased by 7%.

Ed McCarthy: In Chicago, John Challenger heading an outplacement firm, preaches the value of telecommuting.

John Challenger: Companies could for very low cost put computers or take advantage of home computers that allow people to start working from home. That's gonna be good for everybody.

Ed McCarthy: Employees reported increased interest in telecommuting following Katrina. Ed McCarthy, CNN.

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Michelle Wright: Consumer confidence remains⁴ high, in fact it’s reached its highest level in almost 4 years, according to the Conference Board. Board director Lynn Franco says the strong job market is helping⁵ to offset⁶ the rising gas prices.

Lynn Franco: The fact that the labor⁷ market, you know, has been growing at such a strong pace over the last few months, had really kind of put the brakes on an negative impact that we may have seen, you know, from rising prices at the pump.

Michelle Wright: The index rose to 109.6. This reading is the highest level since May of 2002. Sales of previously⁸ owned homes are up again slightly, according to the National Association of Realtor's chief economist⁹ David Lereah.

David Lereah: We had five consecutive¹⁰ drops in home sales, and now we’ve had back-to-back gains. Er, so certainly, the housing markets are plateauing right now, even in the face of rising mortgage rates.

Michelle Wright: Existing home sales edged up 0.3% last month. The march increase followed a bigger 5.1% jump in February.

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Michelle Wright: And eBay has a new online store that doesn't look anything like the eBay we’re used to.

Carrie Lee: There is no bidding, "eBay Express", as it’s called, sells merchandise for a fixed¹¹ price only. And the store carries everything from cookware to electronics to books, and unlike the usual eBay setup, if you buy items from multiple sellers, you can put them all in the same shopping cart.

Michelle Wright: CNN's Carrie Lee.

Michelle Wright: With CNN Radio Marketplace, I'm Michelle Wright.

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WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS

telecommute: to work at home by the use of an electronic linkup with a central office.

1 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

2 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

3 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

9 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

10 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

11 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。