英语博客(A cup of English):021 Crazy sales.

　　Beginners.
Do you enjoy shopping? Do you do it very often? Are there many shops where you live? Here in Wenatchee, a small town, we have a few shopping areas. Some stores are well known; others are privately¹ owned, small businesses. I like shopping when I have plenty of time. Sometimes, though, it is stressful. One of the most stressful days to shop is the day after Thanksgiving. Most stores have big sales. The word is BARGAIN. On every shop door you can see numbers: fifty percent off, seventy five percent off, even ninety percent off! Because the sales are so good, most people do their Christmas shopping. They can save a lot of money. The main problem is that there are too many people. Crowds, noise, traffic, pushing, tired children crying, oh it's a crazy day. It is a part of this culture, the way people live here, but, I must say, it can be quite stressful.
Grammar notes.
Questions: reverse² verb and subject, exs: Do you enjoy/hate/go....?
Are there trees/ books/ people/ many (s.t.)...?  Is there a person/ toy/ telephone/ bus etc?
Related³ vocabulary: bargain, sale, price, cost, expensive, cheap, change, dollars, percent, percentage.
Advanced.
Have you ever been around so many people that you felt trapped? It's a feeling called claustrophobia. It is unpleasant to say the least. You want to run away into an open place where there is quiet and fresh air. You could get this feeling in lots of places: airplanes, boats, trains, hospitals. But, what about shopping? Last year, in an effort to get my Christmas shopping out of the way early, I tried, for the first time, shopping the day after Thanksgiving. I regretted it. It's not that it is a bad idea, it's just that I didn't have the correct system. You really need to know what you are doing. Veteran⁴ shoppers get up early, about five o'clock, dress themselves in several layers of warm clothes, so they are never too hot or too cold, - they can always peel off a few layers if they need to. They have the car full of gas, and equipped with tissues⁵, hand sanitizer, a charged cell phone, cds of tranquil⁶ music, and vitamin C snacks. And, last but not least, they have the all-necessary list of coupons⁷. This year, I did all of that,....well, okay, apart from the getting up at five o'clock. I also discovered a secret weapon that defended me against the onslaught of noise and stress. My iPod. Thanks to the iPod, I sailed smoothly⁸ through the chaos⁹, taking my time, selecting items calmly, and totally distracted¹⁰ by my wonderful downloaded programs. Do you think I should let the secret out?
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: claustrophobia, trapped, anxious, nervous, escape, system, to regret, to peel off (skin of fruit and clothes), tissues, coupons, weapon, secret, onslaught, stress, chaos.
Verbs and phrases: Have you ever....? Exs: Have you ever been to St. Petersburg? Has he ever tried smoked salmon¹¹? Has it ever snowed here?Did they ever return your call? Did she ever repay¹² you?

1 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

2 reverse   

v.推翻，颠倒，反向；n.反面，逆境；adj.反向的

参考例句：

• His answer was just the reverse of what I expected.他的回答正好与我期望的相反。
• Please reverse the positions of two pictures.请把两张图片的位置倒转过来。

3 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

4 veteran   

n.老兵；经验丰富的人，老手

参考例句：

• My grandfather is a veteran of the Second World War.我祖父是二战时的老兵。
• We often asked the veteran workers for advice.我们常常向老工人求教。

5 tissues   

n.组织( tissue的名词复数 )；薄纸；棉纸；一套

参考例句：

• The teacher showed the students the pictures of brain tissues. 老师给学生们看脑组织的图片。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Give some face tissues to me. 给我些面巾纸。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 tranquil   

adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的

参考例句：

• The boy disturbed the tranquil surface of the pond with a stick. 那男孩用棍子打破了平静的池面。
• The tranquil beauty of the village scenery is unique. 这乡村景色的宁静是绝无仅有的。

7 coupons   

n.礼券( coupon的名词复数 )；优惠券；订货单；参赛表

参考例句：

• The company gives away free coupons for drinks or other items. 公司为饮料或其它项目发放免费赠券。 来自辞典例句
• Do you have any coupons? 你们有优惠卡吗？ 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语

8 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

9 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

10 distracted   

a.注意力分散的，思想不集中的

参考例句：

• When working, one should concentrate and not allow oneself to be distracted. 工作时要集中精力，不要分心。
• Noise outside distracted her mind from her studies. 门外的噪音使她心神不宁，无法集中注意力学习。

11 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

12 repay   

v.偿还，报答，还钱给

参考例句：

• I feel honor bound to repay the money I borrowed.我觉得有责任归还我借的钱。
• I must repay her for her kindness.我必须报答她的恩惠。