Gina带美国老板Jason去购物。
Gina: Good morning, Jason. How did you sleep? 早上好，詹森，昨晚睡得好吗？
Jason: Pretty well, thanks. Still feeling the effects of jet lag a bit, but last night I got at lease six hours of rest. 挺好的，谢谢。但是还是有点受时差的影响，但是昨晚我睡了至少6个小时。
G: Great! So, are you ready for a full day of shopping? 很好，你做好全天购物的准备了吗？
J: Yep. Let's do it. I'm pretty excited! 是的。我们出发吧。我挺激动的！
G: I know a place that should be perfect. It's called the "China Friendship Shopping Center" and it's pretty much like an American mall-except with more variety. You can even buy a live chicken there if you want. 我知道一个很不错的地方。叫中国友谊购物中心，有点像美国的商场，就是商品的种类不是很全。如果你需要的话，在那儿甚至可以买到活着的鸡。
Jason虽然有时差，但晚上睡得不错，做好了去购物的充分准备。Gina要带他去“中国友谊购物中心”，It's just like an American mall, 跟美国的购物中心很象，mall is spelled m-a-l-l, mall, mall，是美国购物中心的通称，mall，里有很多店家，出售各种商品。
J: Live chicken? (Chuckle) Thanks, but no thanks. So...tell me about bargaining. How can I do it like a local? 活着的鸡？（咯咯）谢谢。跟我说说砍价吧。我怎样才能像个当地人那样砍价呢？
G: Well. I'll be honest and say you'll never be as good at bargaining as a local person. You're a foreigner and the sellers can see that. But...if you're smart, you can get bargains that are not too far away from the "local price." 嗯，老实说我从来都不擅长像个当地人那样砍价。你是外国人，买家能看得出来。但是，如果你很聪明，也能砍到和当地人差不多的价。
J: Cool! Teach me! 酷！教教我！
Jason听说购物中心还能买到活鸡，觉得很好笑，说thanks, but no thanks，意思是谢谢，但不必了。Jason让Gina教他讨价还价，bargain is spelled b-a-r-g-a-i-n, bargain, 是砍价的意思，Gina说，你长一张老外脸，不可能 as good at bargaining as a local person，意思是不可能象本地人一样砍价，local is spelled l-o-c-a-l, local，意思是当地人。不过如果懂行的话，还是能拿到跟本地人差不多的价格的。
G: For starters, you want to do a lot of scouting first. You've got to know what things cost. 首先，你要大致心里有个数，那些东西大概值多说。
J: Someone told me to go to a convenience store and see how much a soft drink or a tube of toothpaste costs. The idea is that by comparing the prices of those items, you can figure out the relative prices of everything else. 有人告诉我有个便利店可以知道软饮料或者牙膏得多少钱。办法就是通过比较这些商品的价钱，你能知道其他同类的商品需要花多少。
G: That could be helpful. But when you go into a shopping center...prices become very flexible. You have to be able to read the market. 那很有用。但是当你去购物中心……价格是浮动的，你需要知道这样的行情。
Gina说，Jason首先要去摸清情况，scout is spelled s-c-o-u-t, scout, scout，是搜集信息的意思。有人曾告诉Jason, 可以找个便利商店，a convenience store, 看看饮料、牙膏等生活用品的价格，了解大概齐的价格标准。但是Gina说，到了购物中心，价格弹性就会变得很大，所以还是要学会read the market，弄懂市场行情。
scout v. 侦察，刺探；寻找；物色（人才等） |