礼节美语 Business Etiquette 241-early-adopters-1

 　　Sara在公司走廊上看到同事Henry.

　　Sara: Hi Henry, how was your weekend?

　　Henry: Excellent! I went down to the mall and got myself one of those new minicomputers.

　　S: You mean the new Orange SuperCom 4? I've seen ads for those on TV! They look really cool.

　　H: They are pretty cool. It has Wi-Fi, a huge memory and super fast processor. Plus, it's so small it fits in a shirt pocket....look, here it is.

　　S: Wow...it's so thin! Hey Mark, check out Henry's new toy!

　　Henry 情绪很好，因为周末他去买了一个最新款的迷你电脑，the new Orange SuperCom4, 有无线宽带，大容量存储，超快处理器。而且，体积小到能装在衬衫口袋里。Sara看了觉得很酷，叫同事Mark过来，check out Henry's new toy. 看看Henry的新玩具。Mark说：

　　M: Ah....the Orange SuperCom 4, eh? It's all the rage these days. - Must've cost you a pretty penny.

　　H: Actually it was a tad bit expensive. I signed up for an early waiting list, but because demand was so strong, I did have to shell out a couple extra hundred dollars for it.

　　M: I saw news reports that people were lining¹ up around the block in front of Orange Computer stores. Some people were even camping out overnight waiting for the store to open!

　　Mark不用看就知道Sara说的是Orange SuperCom4, 因为 It's all the rage these day. 这是现在最潮的。说一件事情是 all the rage 意思是时下最流行的。比如 Skinny jeans are all the rage. 时下最流行穿细腿牛仔裤。Mark猜，It must've cost you a pretty penny. 你一定花了不少钱。cost a pretty penny 是价格不菲的意思。Henry 承认，因为订购的人多，I did have to shell out a couple extra hundred dollars for it. 我确实不得不多交了几百美元。to shell out 意思是出钱。Mark说，新闻里说，为了买这款新电脑，不少人在Orange SuperCom电脑专卖店前大排长龙，甚至有人 camp out overnight 夜里在商店门口露宿。Henry说：

　　H: I didn't camp out, but I did have to stand in line for about four hours.

　　S: Is it really worth all the effort? I'm not that devoted² to anything. If the wait is longer than 15 minutes, count me out.

　　M: Some people are "early adopters" of technology. They just have to get their hands on the latest product.

　　H: Yep, that's me...I got my first computer when I was 14, and from that day onward³ I was hooked⁴. Every time a major new product comes on the market, I've just got to get it! I'll bet I've spent tens of thousands of dollars on IT products over the years.

　　Henry说，自己虽然没彻夜露宿，但确实排了四个小时的队。Sara表示不解，说不管买什么，如果要排十五分钟以上的队，count me out. 我就免了。Mark说，有些人就是科技“潮人”，early adopters of technology. 有什么新产品，他们都得在别人前面用上。They have to get their hands on the latest product. 这里所说的 to get their hands on something 意思是得到。Henry承认自己就是这种人，14岁有了自己的第一部电脑后，I was hooked. 我就着迷了。这么多年，不知道在科技产品上花了多少钱。

1 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

2 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

3 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。

4 hooked   

adj.钩状的，弯曲的

参考例句：

• I first got hooked on scuba diving when I was twelve. 12 岁时我开始迷上了带水肺潜水。
• He hooked his arm round her neck and pulled her head down. 他一只胳膊钩在她的脖子上，把她的头拉低。