听播客学英语 262 世界上最昂贵的三明治

 　　Selfridges is the name of a big store in central London. There are also Selfridges stores in Birmingham and Manchester. Selfridges is upmarket – that means, many of the things that it sells are exclusive¹, high-quality or simply expensive. Do Selfridges sell fridges? I don’t know, but if they do, the fridges are expensive ones. There is a food department in Selfridges. Last week, the food department started to sell a new sort of sandwich. The sandwich contains beef from a rare Japanese breed of cattle, foie gras, unpasteurised brie cheese, black truffles and a number of other expensive ingredients. The sandwich is big – it weighs about 600 grams, and contains 2,500 calories. But the biggest thing about the sandwich is its price – ?85. Yes, you heard that right, eighty-five pounds. In a shop just along the road from Selfridges, you can buy two decent² pairs of shoes for ?85. The newspapers report that Selfridges sold about 12 of these sandwiches on the first day. Many people have said that this super-expensive sandwich is a gimmick³. A gimmick is something which you do to get noticed, often in order to sell something. For example, if you are selling cars, and you advertise that you will give away a free television with every car you sell, that would be a gimmick. Is Selfridge’s sandwich a gimmick? I think it is a very successful gimmick. The whole country now knows that Selfridges sell sandwiches.

1 exclusive   

adj.不包括的，不算在内的，独有的，独享的

参考例句：

• The hotel charges 6 pounds a day,exclusive of meals.这家旅馆一天收六英镑，不包括饭钱。
• This bathroom is for the President's exclusive use.这间浴室是总统专用的。

2 decent   

adj.象样的，不错的，体面的，正派的，恰当的

参考例句：

• We want to raise our children to be decent men and women.我们盼望把孩子们培养成优秀人才。
• There isn't even a decent table in this room.这屋里连张像样的桌子也没有。

3 gimmick   

n.(为引人注意而搞的)小革新，小发明

参考例句：

• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。
• It is just a public relations gimmick.这只不过是一种公关伎俩。