听播客学英语 141 慈善商店

 　　In many towns in England, the main shopping street is called “High Street”. We often use the expression “high street” to mean the main shopping street of any town or suburb¹, no matter what its real name is. Or we talk about “the high street” to mean shopping facilities generally, particularly shops that people use every day like food shops. So, when a newspaper writes about “high street prices”, for example, they just mean the prices of everyday things that people might buy in high street shops.

　　And we often complain that high street shops are the same boring shops everywhere in England. Many high street shops are branches of big national chains. For example, there is Next, and Marks and Spencer, which sell clothes; and WH Smith, which sells stationery², books and magazines; and Boots, the chemists; and Woolworths, where you can buy almost anything, provided³ that it is cheap and made of plastic. You can find these shops in most high streets in England. In most high streets, too, you will find one or more charity⁴ shops.

　　Charity shops are shops which are run by charities⁵ to help them raise money. People bring things that they no longer want, and the charity shop sells them to other people. What sort of things? Clothes, shoes, hats, bags, children’s toys, books, CDs, crockery, kitchen things, mugs⁷ commemorating⁸ the wedding of Charles and Diana – all sorts of things, in other words.

　　The first charity shop was set up in 1947. Since then, charity shops have become very successful in England. There are over 7000 of them altogether. They raise well over ?100 million each year for the charities that own them. They are cheap to run. Often they occupy shop premises⁹ that no-one else wants, and where the rent is low. Most of their staff are volunteers. The shops do not have to pay tax on their profits. The charity OXFAM, which helps people in developing¹⁰ countries, has the best-known charity shops in England, but there are many others, including shops run by small local charities.

　　I enjoy visiting charity shops. They are all different, unlike¹¹ the big high street shops. There is always a chance that I will find something really interesting or unusual. Here are some of the things I have learned¹² about charity shops:

　　they have a special smell, of old clothes.

　　women are much more likely than men to give used clothes to a charity shop, and more likely to buy clothes there.

　　people who bought CDs of really bad bands ten years ago eventually give the CDs to a charity shop.

　　if you go to a charity shop in an area where well-off people live, you can often find expensive designer¹³ clothes at bargain prices.

　　it always takes three charity shop volunteers to operate the till.

　　Finally, here is another way in which charity shops are really useful to busy families in modern Britain. Your children arrive home. They tell you proudly that they are in a play at school. And they need costumes¹⁴ – before tomorrow. No problem. Give them ?5 and send them to the nearest charity shop. They will come back with some amazing rubbish. They will take it to school next day to wear in the school play. Everyone will say they look wonderful. And when they come home again – why, you can take it all back to the charity shop, of course.

　　Photo of charity shop window by World of oddy/flickr. There is a mug⁶ commemorating the wedding of Charles and Diana at the front of the window!

1 suburb   

n.郊区，郊外，近郊

参考例句：

• Toward the suburb the houses begin to thin out.靠近市郊的地方房屋渐渐稀少。
• Disneyland is in Los Angeles suburb.迪斯尼游乐场在洛杉矶的近郊。

2 stationery   

n.文具；(配套的)信笺信封

参考例句：

• She works in the stationery department of a big store.她在一家大商店的文具部工作。
• There was something very comfortable in having plenty of stationery.文具一多，心里自会觉得踏实。

3 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。

4 charity   

n.慈悲，博爱，慈善团体，施舍

参考例句：

• He founded the charity in memory of his late wife.他兴办那个慈善机构以纪念他已故的妻子。
• He gave a handsome sum of money to charity.他向慈善团体捐了一笔相当可观的钱款。

5 charities   

n.慈爱( charity的名词复数 )；救济金；慈善团体；宽厚

参考例句：

• Many charities sent money to help the victims of the famine. 许多慈善机构捐款赈济饥民。
• Certain charities are exempt from VAT registration. 某些慈善机构无须进行增值税登记。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 mug   

n.大杯(有柄的)

参考例句：

• What colour is the mug?这个杯子是什么颜色的？
• Place one tea bag in your favorite mug.把茶叶袋子放在你喜欢的杯子里。

7 mugs   

n.脸( mug的名词复数 )；圆筒形有柄大杯；容易受骗的人；一缸子（的量）

参考例句：

• There are three coffee mugs on the table. 桌子上有三个大咖啡杯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The gin was served out to them in handleless china mugs. 杜松子酒装在没有把手的中式杯子里。 来自英汉文学

8 commemorating   

v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements. 他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The post office issued a series commemorating famous American entertainers. 邮局发行了一个纪念美国著名演艺人员的系列邮票。 来自互联网

9 premises   

n.建筑物，房屋

参考例句：

• According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
• All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。

10 developing   

adj.发展中的

参考例句：

• Transport has always been the key to developing trade.运输一直是发展贸易的关键。
• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。

11 unlike   

adj.不同的，不相似的；prep.不像，和...不同

参考例句：

• She's very unlike her mother.她一点也不像她母亲。
• It's unlike him to be late;he's usually on time.他不是会迟到的那种人，他通常很准时。

12 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

13 designer   

n.设计者，制图者

参考例句：

• Carolyne is a fashion designer.卡罗琳是一名时装设计师。
• He was a set designer.他是一个布景设计者。

14 costumes   

n.服装；装束

参考例句：

• The costumes and lighting in the play were restrained. 这出戏的服装和灯光都很朴实。
• The waitresses are all done up in costumes. 女服务生都穿着制服。