Scalpers dial up trouble for iPhone release

 　　BEIJING, Jan. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Conflicts among hundreds of scalpers raring to stock up on the new iPhone 4S are casting a shadow over the gadget's launch on the Chinese mainland on Friday.

　　Over the weekend, scalpers from two groups bickered¹ and shoved each other when standing² in line to purchase iPhone 4 at Apple's Sanlitun store, said witnesses.

　　Workers from two Apple stores in Beijing told China Daily the stores have not started online bookings for the iPhone 4S so far.

　　"More than 1,000 of us have gathered to buy all the available iPhone 4 this morning," said a scalper hawking³ the phone outside the Sanlitun store on Sunday.

　　"We'll come again on Friday for iPhone 4S. You'll have no hope of getting an iPhone 4 or 4S from the store, but only from us."

　　The scalpers are asking 4,450 yuan (705 U.S. dollars) for an 8-gigabyte iPhone 4, and 5,450 yuan for a smuggled⁴ iPhone 4S. Apple sells an 8-gigabyte iPhone 4 on the mainland for 3,988 yuan.

　　An Apple employee at the Sanlitun store who declined to give her name told China Daily on Monday that the store was aware the scalpers may be planning to besiege⁵ the iPhone 4S launch, and the store has prepared for that.

　　Calls to the public relations office of Apple China went straight to voice mail.

　　Police of the Sanlitun police station refused China Daily's interview request.

　　An officer of the property management company of the Sanlitun Village shopping mall, where the store is located, said on Sunday they had not been informed about the weekend fracas⁶ outside of the Apple store.

　　But on Monday afternoon, staff members of the company dispersed⁷ the scalpers by sealing off part of the store's entrance.

　　Workers at the Sanlitun store and property management staff confirmed two groups of scalpers fought on Saturday afternoon and Sunday when jumping the line or stopping each other to pay to get an iPhone 4.

　　Since October 2010, Apple has ceased direct sales of iPhone 4 at its retail⁸ outlets⁹ in Beijing and Shanghai and is only accepting online orders or reservations and schedules pick-up at stores to curb¹⁰ rampant¹¹ scalping.

　　But the registration¹² system for reserve and pick-up has become "momentarily unavailable because of heavy traffic volume" in recent days, said Apple's website.

　　A scalper in his 30s outside the Sanlitun store boasted they had "hacked¹³" Apple's reservation page. He described himself an "unofficial salesman" of Apple.

　　Defending the actions of scalpers that lead to consumers having to pay more, he said "it's not our fault but Apple's, because they put too few products in the mainland market."

　　This is not the first time scalpers have targeted Apple products.

　　Two men and two women suffered minor¹⁴ injuries outside the Sanlitun store during a clash between a worker and angry customers as Apple fans waited to buy iPhone 4 and the newly released iPad 2 in May 2011.

　　According to reports, the incident started when a worker confronted an alleged¹⁵ scalper for jumping the line. This led to a verbal conflict in which the alleged scalper was thrown against the corner of an outside wall, causing injuries to his face and wrist

1 bickered   

v.争吵( bicker的过去式和过去分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The afternoon sun bickered through the leaves. 午后的阳光闪烁于树叶之间。 来自辞典例句
• They bickered over [about] some unimportant thing. 他们为芝麻小事争吵。 来自辞典例句

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 hawking   

利用鹰行猎

参考例句：

• He is hawking his goods everywhere. 他在到处兜售他的货物。
• We obtain the event horizon and the Hawking spectrumformula. 得到了黑洞的局部事件视界位置和Hawking温度以及Klein—Gordon粒子的Hawking辐射谱。

4 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

5 besiege   

vt.包围，围攻，拥在...周围

参考例句：

• The Afghan air force was using helicopters to supply the besieged town.阿富汗空军正用直升机向被围城镇提供补给。
• She was besieged by the press and the public.她被媒体和公众纠缠不休。

6 fracas   

n.打架；吵闹

参考例句：

• A couple of mobsters were rubbed out in a fracas with the law.几个暴徒在与警方喧闹的斗争中丧命。
• The police were called in to stop the fracas.警察奉命去制止骚乱。

7 dispersed   

adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的

参考例句：

• The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
• After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。

8 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

9 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

11 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

12 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

13 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

14 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

15 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为