EXPLORATIONS - Shopping on the Internet

EXPLORATIONS¹ – December 18, 2002: Shopping on the Internet

By Paul Thompson

(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. It is the holiday gift-giving

season in the United² States. More and more people are using their computers and the Internet to buy their holiday

gifts. Today we tell how the computer and the Internet are changing the way people buy products.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen-ninety-five, a small company began selling books from its headquarters³

in the western city of Seattle, Washington⁴. It was an unusual company. It did not

have a store you could visit. The only way you could buy a book from the company
was to use a computer linked with the Internet.

The name of the company is Amazon-dot-com. It was one of the first businesses to offer products for sale using
the Internet. The company made it easy to buy almost any book you wanted. You used your computer to link
with the company so you could read about many different books. When you found the book you wanted, you
placed an order and typed the number of your credit⁵ card to pay for it. A worker at the Amazon Company placed
the book in a box and usually mailed it to you the next day. It was really very simple.

VOICE TWO:

Buying products using a computer and the Internet seemed very unusual in nineteen-ninety-five. At first, many
people did not think is was safe to type their credit card information on the Internet. However, buying a book
from Amazon.com was very easy. For many people, buying a book from Amazon.com was their first attempt at
buying anything on the Internet.

Today, Amazon.com sells books to millions of people in more than two-hundred-twenty countries. It is one of the
most successful companies linked to the Internet. And, Amazon no longer sells just books. It sells toys, music,
games, electronic⁶ equipment, and even computers.

Because of Amazon.com’s success, many other companies began selling products with the aid of a computer
linked to the Internet. Some of the first were other book companies, like Barnes and Noble⁷. Today, thousands of
large and small companies offer their products on the Internet. Buyers use their computers to order and pay for
products. The company sends the products to the buyers. A few companies offer many more things on their Web⁸
sites than in their stores. For example, Barnes and Noble offers more than one-million books, far more than in
any one store.

VOICE ONE:

Business experts say buying products using the Internet is becoming increasingly⁹ popular. They say buying on
the Internet has increased as much as thirty-six percent over last year. Experts say people spent almost ten-
thousand-million dollars buying products on the Internet during the first nine months of this year.

Buyers are expected to spend almost fourteen-thousand-million dollars more during the last three months of this
year. This large increase in buying is because of the holiday gift-giving season. The holiday buying season in the


United States usually begins the day after Thanksgiving, the fourth Thursday in November. It continues until
Christmas Day, December twenty-fifth.

VOICE TWO:

Many stores in the United States depend on the holiday season for as much as fifty percent of their yearly¹⁰ profits.
A poor holiday season for a store can cause serious financial problems. Many businesses quickly learned¹¹ they
could increase their holiday sales by offering¹² their products on the Internet.

Buying products with the aid of a computer is a quickly expanding sales idea. However, the idea of buying a
product without ever visiting the store is not new. Only the method of buying has changed. This method of
business has a very old name. It is called “mail order.
”

VOICE ONE:

In eighteen-eighty-six, a young man named Richard Sears bought several watches. Mister¹³ Sears worked for the
Minneapolis and Saint¹⁴ Louis Railroad¹⁵ Company. He sold the watches to other railroad workers. He soon hired a
young watchmaker named Alvah Roebuck to make more watches. The Sears and Roebuck Watch Company soon
settled¹⁶ in Chicago, Illinois.

Mister Sears and Mister Roebuck knew that the majority of Americans lived on farms. They did not live close to
stores where they could buy the products they needed.

The Sears and Roebuck Watch Company soon began offering many other products that could be bought from
their Chicago store. The Sears and Roebuck company could offer products for much less money than local stores.

VOICE TWO:

In eighteen-ninety-five, the Sears and Roebuck Company began printing a book that listed the products the
company sold. The book had five-hundred-thirty-two pages.

This kind of book is called a catalog¹⁷. The Sears and Roebuck Catalog offered for sale almost every kind of
equipment a farmer might need. It also offered clothing and shoes for men, women and children. It offered
stoves, tables, chairs, glassware and bicycles. People could buy firearms, rings, watches, toys and many, many
other products. The huge catalog had pictures of the products and told how to order and pay for the products. The
Sears, Roebuck and Company Catalog was really the sales computer of its day.

VOICE ONE:

Perhaps the most unusual product ever sold by the Sears and Roebuck Company was a house. From nineteen-oheight until nineteen-forty, the Sears and Roebuck Company offered several different sized houses that could be
ordered through the catalog. Each house arrived at the nearest railroad station. It came with everything needed to
build the house -- more than thirty-thousand parts.

This included wood, paint, nails¹⁸ electric wire, pipes for water and a seventy-five page book. The book told how
to build the house. Sears, Roebuck and Company sold more than seventy-five-thousand of these built-it-yourself
homes.

Other companies also sold this kind of house. Perhaps the most famous of these houses is the one in California¹⁹
where former President Richard Nixon was born. That house is now part of the President Richard Nixon Library
at Yorba Linda, California.

VOICE TWO:

The Sears company still prints several different catalogs²⁰. People can read about a product in the catalog and buy
it by calling Sears on the telephone. They can also link with the company on the Internet and buy the product.
Shoppers can pay extra money to have the product sent to their home, or they can pick it up at one of the many
Sears stores.

The story of the Sears Company is not different from many other companies. Large companies like Sears and


even very small companies now use the Internet as a business tool.

VOICE ONE:

Experts who study the business use of the Internet say people buy more items²¹ for their home than any other
product. This includes tables, chairs, lights, paintings, and rugs²². The experts say the Internet sales of these things
have increased one-hundred-forty-six percent over last year.

People ordered sixty-six percent more clothing than last year, thirty-one percent more books and twenty-five
percent more electronic devices²³.

A huge winter storm affected²⁴ much of the Eastern United States at the beginning of this month. One business
report said the storm might have caused even more people to buy holiday gifts using their computers. The report
said it was easier for people to buy products from their nice warm homes than to travel to a store in the middle of
a snow or ice storm.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen-ninety-five when Amazon.com began selling books, few items were for sale on the Internet. That has
changed greatly. Now you can buy almost anything you want. There are even companies that help private
individuals sell items on the Internet. Recently a man in Santa Rosa, California, offered a Russian-built jet²⁵ fighter
warplane for sale.

The plane had once belonged to the Air Force of Poland. The man said he wanted at least twenty-five-thousand
dollars for the aircraft²⁶. But he said the plane needed to be repaired before it could fly. And he said it no longer
had its machine guns!

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

This Special English program was written and produced by Paul Thompson. This is Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another EXPLORATIONS program on the Voice of
America.

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1 explorations   

探险旅行( exploration的名词复数 )； 搜寻； 考察； 勘探

参考例句：

• Our underwater explorations also helped to confirm the theory. 我们的水下考察也有助于证实这个理论。
• The geographical explorations had revealed the inadequacies of the existing maps. 地形勘查揭露出现有地图的不妥之处。

2 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

3 headquarters   

n.司令部，指挥部；总部，总店

参考例句：

• Several great guns from the headquarters are coming to see us today.总部的几个大人物今天要来看我们。
• The bank has its headquarters in Pairs.这家银行的总行在巴黎。

4 Washington   

n.华盛顿特区(是美国首都)

参考例句：

• His birthplace is Washington,but he lives in San Francisco.他出生于华盛顿，但住在旧金山。
• They, together with my father,have gone to Washington.他们和我父亲一起去华盛顿了。

5 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。

6 electronic   

adj.电子的；n.[-s]电子学，电子设备

参考例句：

• It is an electronic device with many uses.这是一部具有多种用途的电子仪器。
• Father needs a new electronic shaver.爸爸需要一个新的电子剃须刀。

7 noble   

n.贵族；adj.高贵的，高尚的，贵族的，辉煌的

参考例句：

• He is a noble man,we all admire him.他是一个道德高尚的人，我们都敬佩他。
• Niagara falls is a noble sight.尼亚加拉瀑布是一壮观的景色。

8 web   

n.网，蛛丝，蹼，织物，圈套，卷筒纸；vi.生蹼，形成网；vt.织蜘蛛网于，使落入圈套

参考例句：

• The spider weaves a web.蜘蛛织网。
• You mean the World Wide Web?你是说国际互联网？

9 increasingly   

adv.逐渐地，日益地，逐渐增加地

参考例句：

• Rivers are being increasingly made use of by man. 河流正在日益为人类所利用。
• I find it increasingly difficult to live within my income.我发现靠收入过日子越来越难了。

10 yearly   

adj.每年的，一年一度的；adv.一年一次地

参考例句：

• The flower show is a yearly event in our town.我们镇上的花展一年举行一次。
• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。

11 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

12 offering   

n.提供，奉献物，牲礼

参考例句：

• What is your competition offering?你的竞争者提出的条件是什么？
• The police are offering a big reward for information about the robbery.警方出大笔赏金要求提供那起抢劫案的破案线索。

13 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

14 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

15 railroad   

n.铁路；vi.由铁路运输

参考例句：

• The railroad connects two cities,namely,New York and Chicago.这条铁路连接两个城市，即纽约与芝加哥。
• My brother is working on the railroad.我兄弟在铁路系统工作。

16 settled   

a.固定的；稳定的

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled without acrimony. 没有唇枪舌剑，这场纠纷就解决了。
• a settled way of life 安定的生活方式

17 catalog   

n.目录(册)vt.将…编入目录，将…编目

参考例句：

• Can you catalog all these books?你能给所有这些书编目录吗？
• You can look for the book in the library catalog.你可以在图书馆的图书目录上查找这本书。

18 nails   

n.钉子( nail的名词复数 )；钉状物；指甲；趾甲v.钉住( nail的第三人称单数 )；抓住；证明…不属实；揭露

参考例句：

• Stop biting your nails! 别咬指甲！
• He joined up the two pieces of wood together with nails. 他用钉子把两块木头接起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 California   

n.加利福尼亚(美国)

参考例句：

• He was elected governor of the state of California.他当选为加州州长。
• We were driving on a California freeway.我们正沿着加利福尼亚的一条快车道驾车行驶。

20 catalogs   

目录，目录册，目录簿( catalog的名词复数 )； [美]大学概况一览； 登记，记载

参考例句：

• Some catalogs provide data on motions, variability, duplicity, etc. 有的星表还提供了运动，是否变光以及双星、聚星等等的资料。
• Yes, here are some catalogs and brochures. 有的，这里是一些目录和小册子。

21 items   

n.物料项目 （任何一种自制或采购的零部件或组装件，如最终产品、部件、子部件、零件或原材料）；条( item的名词复数 )；一项；一则；一件商品（或物品）

参考例句：

• Bulky items will be collected separately. 大件物品将分开收集。
• Customers with ten items or less can use the express lane. 购买十件商品以内的顾客可使用快速购物通道。

22 rugs   

n.小块地毯( rug的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• rugs handmade by local craftsmen 由当地工艺师手工制作的小地毯
• Try to avoid colours that jar when choosing curtains and rugs. 选择窗帘和地毯时，尽量避免颜色不调和。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 devices   

n.设备；装置( device的名词复数 )；花招；（为实现某种目的的）计划；手段

参考例句：

• electrical labour-saving devices around the home 节省劳力的各种家用电器
• modern labour-saving devices such as washing machines and dishwashers 诸如洗衣机和洗碗机之类的现代化省力设备

24 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

25 jet   

n.喷气发动机，喷气式飞机；v.喷出，喷射

参考例句：

• Put a match to the jet to light the gas.将火柴放在煤气喷嘴上点燃煤气。
• I don't see the jet of your plan.我不明白你的计划的要点。

26 aircraft   

n.飞机 (单复数同)

参考例句：

• Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
• They have placed an order with us for three new aircraft.他们向我们订购了三架新飞机。