美国有线新闻 CNN 感恩节购物季开启 黑色星期五由来大起底

 

AZUZ: If NASA were to track American shopping habits through the seasons, it'd be expecting the whole country to light up in the days ahead.

The traditional holiday shopping season used to start with Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and continue up to Christmas. It's when retail¹ companies launch sales and shoppers go on the hunt for gifts, lines wrapping around stores, people racing² down the aisles³, trying to get the best deals. This was the norm and still is in some places, but with department stores and online retailers⁴ constantly changing the dates of these sales, in many cases, holding them earlier than Thanksgiving, shopping season is now a dynamic event, with no fixed⁵ dates.

Safe to say though that by Black Friday, which is this Friday, it's in full swing.

REPORTER: Black Friday sounds kind of scary, and it was. Black Friday first referred to the collapse⁶ of the U.S. gold market in 1869. A century later, Philadelphia police used Black Friday to describe chaos⁷ and congestion⁸. Downtown streets were clogged⁹ with hoards¹⁰ of shoppers headed to the big department stores.

Retailers hated the term but then tried to reinvent it. It was the day their profits went from red to black — so they said.

Black Friday really started catching¹¹ on in the '80s and '90s pushed by the growth of big box stores.

Today, it's all about bargains and Black Friday's dark roots are for the history books.

1 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。

2 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

3 aisles   

n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊

参考例句：

• Aisles were added to the original Saxon building in the Norman period. 在诺曼时期，原来的萨克森风格的建筑物都增添了走廊。
• They walked about the Abbey aisles, and presently sat down. 他们走到大教堂的走廊附近，并且很快就坐了下来。

4 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

5 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 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。

8 congestion   

n.阻塞，消化不良

参考例句：

• The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
• Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

9 clogged   

（使）阻碍( clog的过去式和过去分词 )； 淤滞

参考例句：

• The narrow streets were clogged with traffic. 狭窄的街道上交通堵塞。
• The intake of gasoline was stopped by a clogged fuel line. 汽油的注入由于管道阻塞而停止了。

10 hoards   

n.（钱财、食物或其他珍贵物品的）储藏，积存( hoard的名词复数 )v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She hoards her money - she never spends it. 她积蓄钱，但从来不花钱。 来自辞典例句
• A squirrel hoards nuts for the winter. 松鼠为过冬贮藏坚果。 来自辞典例句

11 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。