听力文摘：超市的数字把戏

The Supermarket Numbers Game

Have you ever gone to the store just for milk, but walked out with eight sale-priced cans of something you’d never tasted and eight candy bars? How does that happen?

Dr. Brian Wansink of the University of Illinois Food & Brand Lab studied how people make decisions in stores.

The results are interesting not only for merchandisers hoping to increase sales, but customers trying to resist the temptation¹.

One way stores increase sales is that standby of merchandising, the multiple² unit price. That’s when a sign lists the price for several items, instead of one, say, 4 cans for $4.

Of course, you could buy one, but it’s hard to resist the suggestion to buy more. Wansink found that multiple unit pricing increased sales by almost a third.

Here’s an even more astounding³ technique. When Wansink put up a sign that said, “Buy Snickers Bars for your Freezer,” people tended to buy one.

Next though, he changed the sign to read, “Buy 18 Snickers Bars for Your Freezer.”

It probably sounded ridiculous to customers too, but they tripled⁴ their purchases to three candy bars, on average.

The limit sign is another trick of the numbers that increases sales, even though stores usually intend it to do just the opposite. Let’s say soup is marked way down, to bring in customers.

The addition of a sign limiting purchase to 12 cans had a dramatic⁵ effect in Wansink’s study, increasing sales by 112%!

To resist the power of supermarket suggestion, write a grocery list at home, including how much you need. At the store, remember how the numbers games work!

1 temptation   

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？

2 multiple   

adj.多个(或多项、多种)的；n.（数）倍数

参考例句：

• The number 8 is a multiple of 4.八是四的倍数。
• The most common multiple births are twins,two babies born at the same time.最常见的多胎是双胞胎，两个婴儿同时出生。

3 astounding   

adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词)

参考例句：

• There was an astounding 20% increase in sales. 销售量惊人地增加了20%。
• The Chairman's remarks were so astounding that the audience listened to him with bated breath. 主席说的话令人吃惊，所以听众都屏息听他说。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 tripled   

v.（使）增至三倍( triple的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The enemy tripled his strength. 敌军把兵力增加到原来的三倍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He tripled his income. 他使他的收入增加两倍[增至三倍]。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 dramatic   

adj.引人注目的；戏剧的；演戏的

参考例句：

• She plays a very dramatic woman with flashing eyes.她饰演一位双眼闪光的引人注目的妇人。
• His speech was dramatic.他的演说激动人心。