零距離美語會話[娛樂]Lesson 2:I love going to the mall

Two I love going to the mall.
我愛逛商場。

1 Introduction
A Clothing is pretty expensive in America. As a general rule prices are fixed, so don’t try bargaining for anything, except at some private sales and flea markets. Of course, when they buy a car, they will negotiate.
衣服在美國相當昂貴。一般來說，價格是固定不變的，所以都用不着討價還價，除非是私人買賣，跳蚤市場。當然，當他們買車時，他們還是會協商價格的。
B Going shopping with foreigners is a good way to make friends with them. Especially in China, you can be the guide, and also learn to say a lot of common things in English.
和老外去購物是和他們結交朋友的好辦法。尤其在中國，你可以做他們的嚮導，同時還可以用英語學說很多常見的物品。
C In American, people pay sales tax on many items that they buy. For example, clothing, cigarettes, soda, and gasoline are taxable items. However, they don’t pay sales tax on food at the grocery store, unless the food they buy is prepared and ready to eat (at a restaurant, a supermarket or deli.
在美國，很多商品是要付銷售稅的。舉例來說，衣服、煙、汽水和汽油都是打稅物品。然而，雜貨店的食物就不需交銷售稅，除非是已經做好可以吃的食物（像餐館、超市、熟食店的）。

2 Sample Sentences
1. The leather shoes were priced at 1,000 RMB.
這雙皮鞋標價一千人民幣。
2. You can always bargain here, but goods tend to come and go quickly so if you like it, buy it now!
你可以總在這裏討價還價，但是商品似乎來去得快，所以如果你喜歡，現在就買！
3. Where can I buy an English - language newsPaper?
哪兒能買到英文報紙？
4. I want something like this.
我想要一件這樣的。
5. I like the blue one in the window.
我喜歡櫥窗裏的那個藍色的。
6. What is it made of? Will this material shrink?
這是什麼料子？ 這種料子縮水嗎？
7. Is it color-fast / crease resistant / synthetic / pure cotton / silk / genuine leather / hand-made / imported / made here?
這種料子不退色/抗皺/人造纖維/純棉/真絲/真皮/手工做的/進口的/本地生產的？
8. How long will it take to alter?
改一下需要多長時間？
9. I’d like some shoelaces / shoe polish / moisturizing cream.
我要買鞋帶/鞋油/潤膚霜。
10. Can you show me how it works?
能教我怎麼用嗎？
11. I’d like a blouse / jacket made to measure.
我想定做一件短上衣/上衣。
12. Can I pay by traveler’s cheque? / Do you accept credit cards?
能用旅行支票付款嗎？/ 能用信用卡付款嗎？

3 Conversations
1. At the mall.
Anna Garcia is visiting her friend, Grace, in Tampa, Florida.
Grace: Come in and have some coffee, Anna. The kids have just gone out to the mall to hang out with their friends.
Anna: I saw a lot of teenagers when Alan and I were there yesterday.
Grace: They spend hours there, especially on weekends.
Anna: Speaking of that trip, Alan bought a shirt at a department store, but the sleeves are too long. Do you know a seamstress1 or tailor2 who can shorten them?
Grace: I know several. But wouldn't it be easier to take the shirt back and exchange it for the right size?
Anna: Isn't that complicated3?
Grace: No, it's easy. We'll just take the shirt back to the men’s department and show them the sales slip4. They'll exchange it for the correct size or give you a refund5.
Anna: We? Do you want to go with me?
Grace: Sure. I love going to the mall.
Anna: What do you do there… hang around6, like the kids?

Helpful Information:
At most stores, one can always exchange products or even get a refund within a certain amount of time if he or she still has the sales slip and the product is in good condition.
在多數商店，在一定的期限內，一個人總是可以去兌換商品或者甚至退到錢，如果他/她還有售貨發票，並且物品還完好無損。
【譯文】
——安娜，進來喝杯咖啡。孩子們剛出去和他們的朋友們逛購物中心。
——昨天我和艾倫在那裏的時候看到很多青少年。
——他們在那裏玩幾個小時，尤其在週末。
——說起那次旅行，艾倫在商場買了一件襯衣，但是袖子太長了。你認識什麼裁縫師可以將它們弄短一點嗎？
——我知道幾個。但是把襯衣拿回去換個合適的尺寸不容易一些嗎？
——那樣不復雜嗎？
——不，很簡單。我們只要把襯衣拿到男裝部，給他們看銷售發票。他們要麼會換個合適的尺寸，要麼會把錢退給你。
——我們？你想和我一起去？
——好哇，我愛逛商場。
——你去那兒做什麼……閒蕩，像那些孩子一樣？

2. Bargain Hunting.
Saturday morning in Atlanta.
Liz: Why are you reading the classifieds7? What do you need?
David: I'm looking for a bookcase, but I don't want to buy a new one.
Liz: Are you having any luck?
David: Not really. There aren't any used bookcases listed. But there are a few rummage sales8 on Saturday. I think I'll go to them.
Liz: Do you mind if I go with you?
David: Not at all. These private sales are great places to bargain. And sometimes you can find terrific things among all the junk.
Liz: I learned to negotiate9 from my mother. I thought I was pretty good at bargaining, but I had a problem the other day at Kimble's Department Store.
David: What happened?
Liz: I wanted to buy a beautiful wool sweater for my girlfriend. It was priced at forty dollars, so I started by offering the salesclerk thirty.

Additional Information：
In America, supermarkets usually mail their sales papers to customers. Also flea markets are popular, too. Sometimes you can get a like new name-brand product there at a very low price for a couple of dollars. One of the things that make flea markets appealing to Chinese is that most prices are open to negotiation. It seems to be a Chinese tradition to haggle over the price of virtually anything that is bought.
在美國，超市通常把他們的產品促銷簡介寄給顧客。同樣地，跳蚤市場也很受歡迎。有時你可以在那裏低價買到一件比較新的名牌產品，比如說幾美金。跳蚤市場受中國人歡迎的其中之一就是大部分價格都有可能協商。中國的傳統似乎是差不多任何可以購買的產品都可以討價還價。
【譯文】
——你爲什麼在看這些分類廣告？你需要買什麼？
——我想找個書架，但是我不想要一個新的。
——有沒有什麼好運氣？
——還沒有。這裏沒有列出任何舊書架。但是星期六有幾個清倉大拍賣。我想去看看。
——你介意我和你一起去嗎？
——一點都不。這些私人買賣很好去還價。而且有時候你可以在這些舊貨中找到一些很好的東西。
——我從我媽媽那裏學會了殺價。我原以爲我很會討價還價，但是不久前一天在金博商場，我就有過一點麻煩。
——發生了什麼事？
——我想爲我女朋友買件漂亮的羊毛衫。標價是四十美金，所以一開始，我就向售貨員出價三十美金。

3. At the Checkout Counter
In line at the checkout counter of a large, modern supermarket.
Roy: Look at this headline10 - Elvis Baby Born on Spacecraft. Where do these tabloids11 get such crazy stories?
Iris: I've often wondered the same thing. I also wonder who reads them. Then I realize that I'm standing here reading them myself.
Roy: It looks as though everyone in line reads them, or at least looks at the headlines.
Iris: I think we picked the right line. This one seems to be moving more quickly than the others.
Roy: Maybe our checker is faster at scanning12 the food.
Iris: I'm glad. We have only about twenty things here, and I'm in a hurry to get home.
(The customer in front of them pays and leaves.)
Checker: Good afternoon, ladies. Paper or plastic?
Iris: Paper bags, please. You know, yours is the fastest-moving line in the store.
Checker: Well, I'll let it go this time, but in the future, please don't use the express line with so many items.
【譯文】
——你看這個標題——埃文斯嬰兒在宇宙飛船上出生。這些小報從哪裏得到這些希奇古怪的故事？
——我也經常想知道這些。我還想知道誰看這些小報。後來我發現只有我自己站着在讀這些東西。
——看起來好像這排的每個人都在看，或許至少在看標題。
——我想我們選對了隊伍。這行隊好像比其他隊移動得快一點。
——也許我們隊的收銀員掃視食品快一點。
——我很高興。我們大概只有二十件商品，我還急着回家呢。（在他們前面的顧客付了錢，走了。）
——女士們，下午好。要紙袋還是塑料袋？
——請給我們紙袋。你這行隊是商店裏結賬最快的。
——這次我就讓你過去，但是以後，請不要買這麼多件物品走快速結賬這條線。

4. Looking for a pair of shoes.
Rita: Hey Joe, what are you doing in this department store?
Joe: Hi, Rita, I'm just looking for a pair of shoes. I won't be here for long.
Rita: Why not? When I go shoe shopping, I have so many options13 for sneakers14 that I spend awhile looking at all of the choices.
Joe: That's my problem. I don't have a lot of options.
Rita: What do you mean? This is a big store, isn't it?
Joe: Yes, but I have unusually big feet. That wouldn't be too much of a problem except that they're also very wide, and only a few brands sell shoes that I can fit into.
Rita: So how do you usually go about15 buying shoes, then?
Joe: Well, first of all, I can only go to certain stores that can guarantee16 me a large selection.
Rita: Well, you're in the right store. If they don't have it, no one will.
Joe: After that I choose something from one of the few brands that I know will fit me. I prefer white, so I ask them to bring me a pair of white sneakers in my size. Since I’m usually only given one or two pairs of shoes that meet my qualifications17, it makes it a very easy choice.
【譯文】
——嗨，喬，你在這家百貨公司幹什麼？
——嗨，瑞塔，我只是想買雙鞋。我不會在這裏呆很久。
——爲什麼不呢？當我去鞋店買運動鞋時，我有很多選擇餘地，所以我要花很長時間看完這些鞋。
——那是我的問題。我沒有很多選擇餘地。
——你什麼意思？這個商店很大，不是嗎？
——是，但我的腳也特別大。本來也不會有太大問題，但是我腳又特別寬，所以只有幾個牌子有我能穿的鞋。
——那麼，你通常怎麼買鞋？
——唔，首先，我只能去那些能保證我有很大挑選餘地的鞋店。
——那你來對了鞋店。如果他們沒有你穿的鞋，其它鞋店也不會有了。
——然後，從我知道的幾種適合我穿的牌子中挑選一種。我比較喜歡白色，因此我要售貨員按照我的尺寸拿給我一雙白色運動鞋。因爲通常只會有一兩雙鞋符合我的尺寸，因此挑選起來就非常容易。

5. Shopping around.
Janet: So what do you think of my new dress?
Karen: I think it's great! I really like the color, and it goes really well with your eyes. I've actually been eyeing that dress at Maxine's for a while now, but I wasn't sure I could afford ninety-five dollars for a dress at the moment.
Janet: Um, ninety-five dollars?
Karen: Yes, that's the price they were advertising it at. I was hoping it might go on sale soon. Why, how much did you pay for it?
Janet: I bought it for one hundred and forty-five dollars at Helen's Boutique18. I didn't know I could get it cheaper somewhere else.
Karen: Of course! Everything at Helen's is overpriced19, and they sell things that you can find at almost every other clothing store! Why didn't you shop around?
Janet: I don't know, I just saw the dress and thought about how pretty it looks and how much I wanted it. I guess I was too impulsive20.

Helpful Information:
The same products may be priced quite differently at different stores. This happens everywhere. Shopping around may take a lot of time, but it can be very worthwhile.
相同的產品，不同的商店，價格都可能很不一樣。這點到處都一樣。所以到處逛逛可能會佔用很多時間，但是有可能很值得。
【譯文】
——那你覺得我的新衣服怎麼樣？
——我認爲非常好！我很喜歡這個顏色，和你的眼睛很相配。我已經注意麥克辛服裝店的那件衣服一段時間了，但當時我不敢肯定我能付得起95美元買件衣服。
——什麼，95美元？
——是的，那是他們做廣告宣傳的價格。我在希望它不久就會降價。怎麼啦，這件你花了多少錢？
——在海倫時裝店我花了145美元買這件。我不知道在其它地方買可以便宜一點。
——當然！海倫時裝店的每件東西都定價過高，而且他們所售的東西差不多在任何一家其他服裝店都能找到！你爲什麼不逛逛其它服裝店呢？
——我不知道，我只是一看見這件衣服，就覺得非常漂亮，並且非常想買。我想我是太沖動了。

4 Words and Expressions
1. seamstress 女裁縫師
2. tailor ((尤指男裝) 裁縫師
3. complicated 複雜的; 難懂的
4. sales slip 銷貨單, 銷貨發票
5. refund 退還, 退款
6. hang around 閒蕩, 徘徊
7. classifieds 分類廣告
8. rummage sale 義賣, 清倉大拍賣
9. negotiate 談判, 協商, 洽談
10. headline 標題;大標題
11. tabloid 小報
12. scanning 電子光束掃掠，掃描
13. option 選擇; 選擇權; 選擇自由
14. sneaker 運動鞋
15. go about 着手幹;做
16. guarantee 保證;擔保
17. qualification 資格, 限制,
18. boutique 流行女裝商店，精品店
19. overpriced 定價過高的
20. impulsive 衝動的;易衝動的