地道美语听力播客:Shopping at the Mall

地道美语听力播客English as a Second Language Podcast (ESLPod)，是一家位于美国加州洛杉矶的英语教育研究机构推出的英文听力会话，于2005年7月23日首播， 主播Dr. Jeff McQuillan为南加州大学的语言学博士， 现专注于外国语学生的英语学习研究。该播客在iTunes store播客的教育子分类中，与Grammar Girl Just Vocabulary常居前三甲.

I needed a new dress for a wedding I was attending next week so I went to the mall during my lunch hour. The mall had a big variety of stores, including two department stores so I was sure to find something that was just right. I found a space in the parking structure and entered the mall through the main entrance. This was right next to the food court.

Okay, where to start?

I headed to one of the two department stores. On the way there, though, I saw a nice dress in a window display of a women's clothing store. I decided¹ to go in. As I walked in, I saw a sales clerk hanging some shirts on a rack. She said, "Hi, can I help you find something?‚"

"Oh, I'm just browsing," I said.

"Okay. Let me know if you need any help." I told her "thanks" and started looking around the store. There were some nice sweaters folded on the shelves and some dress pants on the racks. I made my way toward the back of the store and found the same dress I saw in the window display. And, it was on sale! It was 50% off. I started looking for my size. There were plenty of smalls and larges, but no mediums.

The sales clerk was walking by just then so I asked her, "Do you have any other sizes in the back?" But, I was out of luck. This was all they had.

"But," she said, "I have this dress in a medium and it's been marked down, too. Would you like to try it on?" I said I did and followed her to the dressing² room. She said, "My name is Cheryl. Let me know if you need anything else." I tried the dress on and it fit perfectly³. I liked the color, too.

I took the dress to the register. The sales clerk asked, "Are you ready?" I told her I was and she started ringing me up. The clerk told me the total and asked me, "How would you like to pay for this?‚"

"With my MasterCard," I said and handed her my credit card.

She processed the card and asked me sign the credit card receipt. She handed me a copy and a bag with my new dress in it. She said, "There you go. I hope you like the dress. Thanks for coming in.‚"

I thanked her and left. I couldn't believe I got my shopping done so quickly. There's a first time for everything.

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse
 

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

3 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。