【听音频，也可猛戳左下角“阅读原文”】
This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English dot com.
这里是bbclearningenglish.com英语六分钟节目。
Rob: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English with me, Rob.
大家好，欢迎收听英语六分钟,我是罗伯。
Finn: And me, Finn.
我是费恩。
Rob: Hello Finn. Well, Happy New Year to you. Here we are in 2014, the festive season is over – so Finn, did all that Christmas shopping break the bank?
你好费恩。新年快乐。现在到了2014年，节日假期已经结束——费恩,圣诞节购物没让你破产吧？
Finn: You mean, did I spend too much money? Well, yes I did, but I put most of it on plastic – my credit card – so I’ll pay for it next month.
你的意思是，我花了太多的钱？嗯，是的，但是我大多数情况下是用信用卡支付，所以我可以下个月付款。
Rob: Well, clearly you didn’t have enough money to buy me a present! Anyway, today we are talking about shopping and a relatively new style of shopping called showrooming.
好吧，很明显你没有足够的钱给我买礼物了！不管怎样，今天我们要谈论的就是购物，与之相关的还有一种新型的购物——先逛店后网购。
Finn: Yes, showrooming – this is where customers visit shops to see and test products before going online to buy them.
是的，先逛店后网购——消费者在网购前会去实体店测试产品。
Rob: We’ll be discussing that soon and looking at vocabulary to do with shopping. But before we do, Finn, you’re a man who likes to shop - but do you know which country has the most people who shop online? Is it: a) The United Kingdom b) The USA or c) Korea
我们接下来就会谈论这种网购并学习一些和网购相关的词汇。但在开始前，费恩，你是一个爱购物的人，但你知道网购人数最多的是哪个国家吗？是：a）英国b）美国c）韩国
Finn: Well, I know the internet is very big in Korea but I think the USA has more online shoppers.
我知道韩国的网络很发达，但是我觉得美国网购的人更多。
Rob: OK, well, I’ll let you know the answer at the end of programme. So today we’re talking about how technology is changing the way we shop and how it could spell disaster – or be very bad for – the high street.
我会在节目的最后告诉你答案。所以今天我们谈论的是技术是如何改变我们购物的方式的以及它是如何给高街带来灾难的。
Finn: The high street – this is a term we use in Britain to mean the collection of everyday shops that we normally see in our town centres. Things like shoe shops, newsagents, supermarkets.
高街——这个词在英国意思是我们在市中心常见的日常商店的聚集地。比如鞋店、报摊、超市。
Rob: We know that the high street is competing with the internet. I buy things like CDs, electrical goods and food online, from the comfort of my home.
我们知道高街和网络是竞争的。我喜欢在舒适的家里从网上购买CDs、电器和食物。
Finn: Ah but have you ever ‘showroomed’ before, Rob? That means going to a shop, having a look at something and then going home to buy it online.
但是你曾经有没有先逛店后网购，罗伯？意思是到商店看看实物是什么样的，然后回家从网上买。
Rob: Yes, I bought a camera at a knock-down price online, although it was from the same retailer as the shop that I saw it in. I know I’m not alone in doing this though. Research by a company called Foolproof, found 24% of people ‘showroomed’ while Christmas shopping last year.
是的，我在网上以最低的价格购买了一个相机，尽管我买的相机和我之前在店里看到的那个是同一个零售商。我知道不是只有我一个人这样做。一家叫Foolproof的公司做过调查，发现去年有24%的人在圣诞期间都是先逛店后网购。
Finn: And a market research company called TNS found one third of consumers around the world said they used this tactic – or this type of shopping.
一家叫TNS的市场研究公司发现世界上有三分之一的人曾用过这种手段，或这种类型的购物。
Rob: Now, although people do it to try and save money, there are other reasons for this too, as we can hear from the Head of Technology at TNS UK, Amy Cashman. See if you can hear what the three reasons are:
现在，尽管人们这样购物的目的是尝试和省钱，但也有其他的原因，我们可以听一下TNS的技术总监艾米·卡什曼是怎么说的。看看你能不能听出来这三个原因是什么：
There’s basically three main points that this kind of behaviour can overcome. People are short on time, short on money and they want reassurance about the products they are buying. So they use the internet in store and online on their mobile which we found is particularly prevalent, to do things like try and get to the bottom of where they can find a cheaper price elsewhere but also get information, product reviews and also do things like look at store layouts and see where products are so they can go and find them faster.
这种购物行为基本上可以克服三点。人们缺少时间，缺少钱，同时还想要保证他们所购买的产品。所以我们发现一种很普遍的现象——人们在店里用手机上网查找价格最低的商家，还要查看商品信息，产品评论，并看看商店的布局以及商品所处的位置以便他们能够快速找到商品。
Finn: So she says there are three main reasons for people to showroom: They are short on time, short on money, and they want reassurance.
所以她说人们先逛店后网购有三个主要的原因：他们缺少时间缺少钱，同时还想要保证质量。
Rob: Yes, reassurance – so they want to know what the product really looks like and they want to be confident they are buying the right thing.
是的，保证——所以他们想知道产品真正的样子同时他们想确认他们要买的是对的。
Finn: I think that’s true, I like to inspect what I am buying. If you go to a shop and look at the real thing, you get a much better idea of what it’s like than from a photo on the internet or in a catalogue – but I also want a bargain – in other words, the best price.
是这样的，我喜欢检查我想要买的东西。如果你去商店看看实物，你会对想要买的东西有更清楚的认识，比从网上的照片或一份目录上看要好得多。但是我还希望能便宜点——换句话说，最优惠的价格。
Rob: That’s why Amy Cashman said customers sometimes use the internet in store – so in the shop – to ‘get to the bottom of’ where they can get it cheaper. We could say they use the internet to shop around.
这就是为什么艾米·卡什曼说消费者有时候会在商店用网络来得到更加便宜的东西。我们可以说他们使用网络来逛街。
Finn: That’s a good phrase, meaning to look around for the best deal. Using a smartphone is an increasingly popular way to do this.
这是一个很好的短语，意思是搜寻最低价格。用智能手机这样做是越来越受欢迎的方式。
Rob: Smartphones are also useful for getting product reviews – these are the kind of opinions or comments about the product.
智能手机也对获取产品反馈很有帮助——关于产品的意见或评论。
Finn: Yes, and you can also use smartphones to scan the barcodes on the product and compare prices that way.
是的，你也可以用智能手机来扫描产品条形码，比较价格。
Rob: So it seems browsing – that’s looking at things to buy – but not actually purchasing something in store – is set to increase. Does this mean the death of the high street, Finn?
所以只是看看要买的东西，但并不真的在店里购买这种购物方式在增加。这难道意味着高街的死期了吗，费恩？
Finn: I think it will have to adapt or make changes. It could try to compete on price more or offer more incentives when you are in the shop.
我认为高街必须要适应或者作出改变。当你在店里购物的时候，它们可以尝试着降低价格或者提供更多的购物奖励来提高自己的竞争力。
Rob: Incentives – these are things to encourage you to buy the product there and then. Perhaps a discount voucher or a free gift?
奖励就是鼓励你当场就买东西。也许是打折优惠券或免费礼物吗？
Finn: And we mustn’t forget that buying in a shop means you can get expert advice from the sales assistant and you can get good aftercare.
并且一定要记住在商店买东西意味着你可以从导购那得到专家的建议，同时还能得到很好的售后服务。
Rob: Well, I didn’t need expert advice buying my Christmas presents this year.
今年我购买圣诞礼物不再需要专家建议了。
Finn: Oh, why was that?
为什么呢？
Rob: Well, I bought gift vouchers for everyone! Now Finn, it’s time to see if you belong to the nation with the biggest online shoppers. Earlier I asked you if you knew which country has the most people who shop online - is it: a) The United Kingdom b) The USA or c) Korea
好吧，我给每个人都送了礼品券！现在费恩，是时候看你的国家是否是网购人数最多的国家了。之前我问你是否知道哪个国家的网购人数最多：a）英国b）美国c）韩国
Finn: I said b) The USA.
我说的是b）美国。
Rob: A good guess but you were wrong. The answer is the UK.I don’t know if it means we’re the laziest people or just the best bargain hunters! Well, that’s it for this programme. Please join us again for 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.
猜的很好，但是你错了。答案是英国。我不知道这是不是意味着我们是最懒惰的人或者说是最会买便宜东西的人！好了，以上就是今天的节目了。请记得收听我们下期的节目。
Both: Bye.
再见。
That was 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English dot com.
以上是bbclearningenglish.com英语六分钟节目。
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